2012-01-18 - Ministry - The Heart of Humility Matt. 18:4, Luke 14:10, James 4:10, Phil. 2:5,7-8 Have you ever made a goal in your life to become a humble person? Have you ever prayed consistently over a period of time for God to give you a humble heart? Jesus shocked the crowds following him that day when he declared for all men to change and become like little children or they would not enter the kingdom of heaven! Then he lifts up the quality of humility in a child's heart and commands his disciples to have this heart! The world teaches us that humility is soft, weak, passive, no convictions. Jesus was certainly not this! He was a man of convictions, fearless with the opposition, and pressed on resolutely about his goals! However, he washed the disciples feet, touched the leper, served the crowds, and obeyed the Father in everything. One of the real tests comes in serving. Jesus made himself nothing, became a servant, and humbled himself on the cross for us! Do people know me to be a serving person? How do I feel when I am serving-awesome? Do I serve only when I want to serve and what I want to do if it serves my interests?Jesus came to serve and not to be served! He came to give his life as a ransom for many! Whoever wants to be great among you must be your slave! Matt. 20:26-28 Questions:
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2012-01-31 - Ministry - The Burden of Jesus Matthew 11:25 Jesus calls the weary and burdened to Himself and promises rest for them. The rest that He refers to is not to stop working and be idle. He is calling us to give Him the burdens of our souls. He calls us to take his yoke upon us. What is this yoke? The yoke of caring about others. The yoke of humility. It takes far less energy to be humble that it does to be prideful. It is much easier to be gentle than it is to be terse or gruff. Jesus beckons us to learn from Him. Really the yoke of Christ would finally lead him to the cross. That does not seem easy or light. In fact, our purpose to evangelize the world in this generation is neither easy nor light. The attitude that we are called to have is one of humility and gentleness. Questions/Followup:
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2012-02-12 - Ministry - But Because You Say So Luke 5:1-11 Peter's faith was ebbing with the tide. No fish, no breakfast. After a frustrating night of fruitless fishing he was struggling to accept a carpenter's fishing tip to let down the nets yet again. Yet Peter softened his will to the Master's will and obeyed out of faith. He had no other reason to believe he would even get a nibble at the net. As the fish came in Peter got that sinking feeling of realizing the depth of his own sin. He deferred to Jesus and knew he did not deserve to be in the Master's presence. I am struck by Peter's decision to follow Christ's command to let down the net again even though years of experience and an empty-netted night begged him not to. Sometimes experience can breed cynicism because we are used to certain results and have formed certain expectations. Cynicism replaces obedience and robs us of faith. It gives us a reason to not have to believe because "we have been there, done that" and it has never work. Peter's humility is convicting and his responsiveness to Jesus is a powerful example. We can easily be deceived by experience that has result in fruitless and netted us nothing. Is your evangelism producing fruit? Maybe you are letting your nets down in the wrong place or in the wrong way. Find a new fishing hole. Consider reaching out to different kinds of people. |
2012-10-03 - Prayer of the Righeous - God is Crawling (part II) We think he could never accept us just as we are Peter: Go away from Lord - Luke 5:8 When Jesus started getting too close, he was afraid Legion: Ran from Jesus when he saw him - Mark 5:6 He was wearing a mask of anger and violence and self-destructive habits to hide the pain inside his hear We feel too sinful to let him in Our relationship suffer because we are afraid of rejection because of lack of closeness with God He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand - Psalms 40:1-2 He is willing to get dirty and and get involved with the real you Confession and humility you closer He will not reject you no matter how dirty you are Are you afraid of rejection to the point of finding it difficult to pray? |
2014-03-18 - Teach Them to Fear the Lord (part II) The fear of the Lord one keeps away from evil - Proverbs 16:6 How one may avoid the snares of death - Proverbs 14:2 Fear of the Lord causes our other fears to go away
How blessed is the man who fears the LORD - Psalms 112:1-2 Prayerfully ask God to help us develop a strong fear of the Lord Training them to fear the Lord sets them up to live with incredible wisdom and success:
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2015-02-11 - Lead By Example Everyone must turn from their evil ways and stop all their violence - Jonah 3:7-8 The biggest enemy of godly leaders is not leading by example Leading by example has always been one of a leader's greatest goals
Jonah warned the Ninevites of God's coming judgement and wrath Their king responded by instructing his people to:
...in hopes that God would change his minds and spare the city The king of the Ninevites humility and leading by example saved his city from judgement and wrath When you do as you say in life, you make it far easier for everyone around you to do the same |
2015-02-26 - God enables us You must go wherever I send you and say whatever I tell you - Jeremiah 1:7-8 Lord called Jeremiah to prophesy against the rebellious nation of Isreal - God chose him to be God's mouthpiece He lacked confidence because Jeremiah hadn't grasped the truth that God never calls us to do something without first equipping that person first God wants us to see our own weakness and his need for God's empowerment Jeremiah was the right person for the call because he was God called and God enabled The Lord has you where he wants you - in a place of humility and dependence on Him for the power you need to succeed. |
2015-05-13 - Wise and Humble Leadership He had become powerful, he also became proud, which led to his downfall - 2 Chronicles 26:16 It takes a man of true humility to keep his feet on the ground over the long haul when he is given power and authority over others Uzziah, Judah's tenth king, was not such a man His long and sometimes distinguished reign came to an unfortunate end because of his arrogant thirst for power Uzziah expressed his arrogance by entering the sactuary though this job was reserved for his priest Had Uzziah remained humble, he might have become one of the nation's greatest kings - instead, he spent his later years shut away from people in a leper colony Do you understand your place in the big picture? |
2015-05-18 - Wisdom to Listen Can we find anyone else like this man so obviously filled with the spirit of God - Genesis 41:38 One of a man's most important traits is his willingness to listen The Pharaoh that lived during Joseph's lifetime had the humility to listen and thus saved countless lives Pharaoh sent for Joseph, who was in prision at the time, and asked him what his dreams meant Pharaoh listened to Joseph and appointed him to administer to the food program through the coming drough Have you learned to listen? God places people in your life with the purpose of giving you wisdom and direction |
2015-05-23 - Influence from Within Never before had there been a king like Josiah who turned to the Lord will all his heart and soul and strength - 2 Kings 23:25 Josiah did what was pleasing to the Lord's sight - 2 Kings 22:2 His background did not set him up for greatness - his father was a wicked king that drug Judah into idolity For Josiah, it wasn't a matter of where he had come from but where he was headed:
Making a difference in the lives of people around you begins with changes within yourself |
2015-06-27 - Path to Greatness We want to sit in places of honor next to you - Mark 10:37 Culture doesn't always value putting others' needs and desires first but that is exactly what is needed to achieve greatness James and John wanted Jesus to give them the two highest seats of honor when Jesus assumed his throne This did not set well with the rest of the disciples - likely wanted this too The path to greatness is found by serving others - this seems backward Your humility will be richly rewarded |
2015-07-15 - Don't Rock the Boat They incited a rebellion against Moses, along with 250 other leaders - Numbers 16:2 Korah was a strong man who organized a corp of leaders with the intention of usurping Moses' authority and installing his own very of the preisthood He forgot what happened to Aaron and Miiam when they challenged Moses' leadership - Numbers 12 Korah was a special leader but he wanted more than what God had given him God removed them from their positions and removed them from the earth altogether Some of God's greatest leaders have been willing to rock the boat but they also have a strong grasp of respecting authority When we submit to those in authority, we demonstrate a key condition for God's blessing: humility! |
2015-08-09 - Just Like You Whay are you doing this? We are merely human beings - just like you! - Acts 14:15 Paul and his missionary companion Barnabas demonstrated an attitude of humility and tolerance as they faced sin in the city of Lystra When they healed a cripped man, Paul and Barnabas watched in horror as the people began to worship them They did respond to the people in anger or disgust - rather they continued to love these sinners them even though they hated the sin Paul and Barnabas sent a message that they were no better than anyone else - all of them together were sinners saved by God's grace What kind of message are you sending to those around you? |
2015-10-10 - True Humility I am humble and gentle at heart - Matthew 11:29 The apostles could see how genuinely humblr and gentle Jesus was Humility came from freely leaving heaven to take on human flesh so he might save all who come to him in faith Jesus never struck back at those who did him harm but called on his Father to forgive them He could expect them to be huble ad gentle because that is what he was like Some men do not consider humility as a strong quality to follow Humility was a quality of the strongest man who ever live, Jesus Christ |
2015-12-02 - Support I am the one who needs to be baptized by you - Matthew 3:14 The most famous best supporting actor in the New Testament is John the Baptist Men in the Old Testament said he would prepare the way for the Messiah's coming John preached the message of God had given him and welcomes the star of the show, Jesus Christ John repeated had to set the record straight about his own identity He demonstrated further humility when Jesus approached him to be baptized John initally protested that he not Jesus should be baptized but he obeyed Jesus request What if God asked you to play a similar role to a colleage at work or church leader? |