2013-07-01 - Becoming a Chain Breaker (part I) Men need to realize how much is at stake We need to ask God to break the chains in our lives and from our past Children are not punished for the sins of their parents, they are definitely affected and negatively influenced by them. You matter the circumstances of your birth, you were not an accident - Acts 17:24-27 Chains present in all of our lives:
God is the ultimate Chain Breaker
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2014-02-24 - Heart Hindrances (part II) Continuing the “heart hindrances” that will push your chidren away.
You must keep your radar up to sense if you have your children’s hearts Questions to continously ask:
Too many men foolishly refuse to apologize because they’re trying to save face and don’t want to look bad.
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2015-02-10 - The To Do List Jeshua and Zerubbabel joined his fellow priests in rebuilding the alter of the God of Israel - Ezra 3:2-3 Ask yourself what tops your list of things to do, if spending time with God is not, then it is time to make an adjustment Their actions created a buzz - they insisted on rebuilding the alter before rebuilding the city wall "Can't that wait?" "Don't these guys understand the danger we face?" Jeshua and Zerubbabel understood without God's protection, their enemies would destroy them, wall or no wall They remembered what happened to the previous wall builder - they forgot to include God and their wall came tumbling down Does anything on your to do list come before spending time with God? When you make time with GOd your top priority, you invite blessings on all the other items on the list. |
2015-02-13 - Tap into Your Power Source Jesus got up and went out to an isolated place to pray - Mark 1:35 Jesus understood better than anyone else the importantce of tapping into the heavenly power source Jesus didn't allow anything to get in the way of his prayer times Busy men often complain of burnout, Jesus never did Jesus had a packed schedule without losing his focus or his energy He considered regular prayer time virtal to his personal well-being and effectiveness How much more should we spend time daily with the One who empowers us? |
2015-02-14 - Praise Your Wife My darling, you are as beatiful as Jerusalem - Song of Solomon 6:4 Solomon understood the value of speaking passionately to his beloved His words overflows with love, affection, intimacy, and passion It models the kind of inimate coomunication you can enjoy with your wife The words should be personal and thoughtful - take the lead! How do you rate the passion and fun in your marriage?
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2015-02-20 - Just Enough Give me neither poverty nor riches - Proverbs 30:8-9 Agur understood "The Law of Just Enough" Feeling of discontent will cause a man to do strange things
Having just enough to feel satisfied but not so much that they neglect their provider Failure to be content with whatever God gives you can lead to a boatload of trouble - 1 Timothy 6:6-10 |
2015-02-25 - Savior's Love The disciple Jesus loved - John 13:23 He referred to himself as "the disciple Jesus loved" John understood Jesus' love for him was God's love He probably had the most acute awareness of his Master's love John found the motivation and empowerment to do courageous and selfless things in Christ's name through love He had no doubts of the savior's love - John freely gave and served Does your family and friends know beyond all doubt that you love them? |
2015-03-10 - All Good Things You rule over everything - 1 Chronicles 29:12 David understood that although he had worked hard, God was the source of all his accomplishments King David realized no one, whatever his station in life, ever receieves anything good apart from God David died at a ripe old age, having enjoyed long life, wealth, and honor - 1 Chronicles 29:28 God loves hearing you declare him as your source of all good things Allow others to see God at work in your life and open yourself to additional blessings |
2015-03-21 - Heart in the Right Place The LORD accepted Abel and his gift - Genesis 4:4 What did Gid find so accepable about Abel's sacrifice? Abel had a grasp of the faith that pleased God He understood that any right standing he enjoyed before the Lord came from his abiding faith in a God who rewares that who trust him Anything that you do for God becomes an acceptable offering when you do it with a heart full of faith Had Cain presented his offereing with the same heart of faith, God would gladly have accepted his sacrifice |
2015-04-09 - Where Credit is Due They realized this work had been donw with the help of our God - Nehemiah 6:16 Nothing keeps a man's feet on the ground like remembering that everying blessing he has comes from the hand of God Nehemiah understood the importance of giving God the credit in all things Order of events:
Nehemiah knew when he gave God the credit that the swiftness of the rebuilding project would be a warning to Jeruslem's enemies There is no self-made men - only men who recognize the God who made them What good thing is God doing in your life right now? Have you given him the credit?
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2015-04-23 - Use Your Gifts You gave me five bags of silver to invest and I have earned five more - Matthew 25:30 The Bible explains the importance of good strewardship Faithful handling of a small amount leads to more responsibility - Matthew 25:21 The wise and faithful servant understood the wealth he was using belonged to his master One reason God entrusts you with spiritual gifts is so you can produce fruit for him What make it difficult for you to see yourself as a steward? |
2015-05-24 - Defend Whats Right Listen carefully to these decrees and regulations, obey them so that you may live - Deuteronomy 4:1 Each of us naturally tends to think we have the right to adopt our our set of morals, standards, and spirituality Beleivers in Christ must reject such a belief Moses delivered an uncompromising message of strict obedience of God with no tolerance for sin He understood the importance of setting righteous standards for the people Moses faithfully walked this (not sinless) despite being labeled as:
Do you have the courage to risk anger, resentment, oppositon, or insults to follow God? God does not ask for perfection but a spirit-empowered obedience |
2015-05-29 - Opportunity Knocks Jesus sat wearily beside the well; soon a Samaritan woman came to draw water - John 4:6-7 Jesus understood the importance of making the best use of every opportunity to preach and teach his message He was ready for the opportunity to share his message with the people of Samaria via the woman he jusr meet Jesus' words made a lasting impression on the woman, her neighbors - John 4:39 They were stunned that she meet the Messiah Life will present you with opportunities to serve God through serving others |
2015-06-17 - Words of Correction Take a cenus of all the tribes of Israel - so I may know how may people there are - 2 Samuel 24:2 It is apporopriate and even necessary to speak words of correction, even when those words are not warmly received Joab spoke up to King David, "Why do you want to do this?" - 2 Samuel 24:3 Joab apparently understood that David's orders came out of his reliance on superior military strength rather than the might of heaven Though Joab warned King David not to go through with the cenus, the king did it anyway and paid a terrible price |
2015-07-13 - God Won't Give You Up With his love, he will calm all your fears - Zephaniah 3:17 Zephaniah understood that God never "cuts his losses" with those who belong to him He approved of reforms but also wanted them to understand they needed changes within themselves In the book of Zephaniah, he:
God still loved his people and wanted more than anything for them to turn back to him God takes sin very seriously and will never look the other way when you fail him. He still will not give up on you |
2015-07-24 - Seeing Is Believing He healed my eyes and yet you don't know where he comes from? - John 9:30 The Jewish reglious leaders constantly opposed his and couldn't see past their own legalism and tradition long enough to see the miracle The blind man and others understood who Jesus was because he witnessed the miracles with open minds and hearts Jesus demonstarted God's power, the man did as Jesus said, and receive the gift of sight:
The Jewish leaders took issue to Jesus "working" on the Sabbath Ex-blind man: If this man were not from God, he couldn't have done it - John 9:33 When we receive spiritual insight that changes our lives, we need to tell others what God has done - we were blind but now we see! |
2015-07-31 - Submission Jesus returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them - Luke 2:51 It is easy to ignroe the yield signs God puts up for us We enjoy God's blessing and protection when we heed the warning signs As the Son of God, Jesus knew his identity He understood that to grow into a perfect man of God, he needed to honor his earthly mother and father Everything Jesus did, said, and thought sprang from the fact that he had yielded his own will to his Father - John 5:30 Jesus built his life on a solid foundation of submission What foundation have you build your life on? |
2015-08-10 - True Leader An elder... an honorable position - 1 Timiothy 3:1 Timothy faced the daunting responsibility of picking the right leaders for his congregation Paul instructed Timothy to look for leaders with:
Timothy understood that God had called all believers to live by a higher standard than the world around them Being a church leader means consistently demonstrating the kind of character worthy of being emulated |
2015-08-20 - Balanced Approach You will not stay angry with your people forever, because you delight in showing youe unfailing love - Micah 7:18 The Bible is largely a book about finding balance - between God's hattred for sin and his desire to completely forgive the sinner Micah understood this balance Challenges:
Opportunites:
Repentant hearers had hope for better things ahead Are there people in your life who need to see both sides of God's nature? |
2015-08-23 - Replaced Kill him and release Barabbas to us - Luke 23:18 Barabbas no doubt arose the morning of his scheduled execution and felt dread What he didn't know that morning was he would live to see another day because Someone would save his life and take his place Jesus understood the augish - he sweat, wept, and begged if only there was another way There wasn't Pilot tried to secure Jesus' release but the people weren't having it We don't know what Barabbas did following his reprieve but he surely remembered Jesus as the one who died in his place We should think of Jesus in the same way |
2015-09-24 - Harmonious Service There's a young boy here with five barley loaves and two fish - John 6:8-9 Only once does the New Testament mention Andrew's name without connecting him with Peter - John 12:22 Andrew is last mentioned with the remaining elven disciples - Acts 1:13 He established his reputation on bring people to Jesus:
Andrew recognized his role and understood and accepted it You play an important role like Andrew - bring people to him one by one
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2015-10-22 - Glimpse of Jesus He ran ahead and climbed a sycamore fig tree beside the road where Jesus would pass by - Luke 19:4 Zacchaeus understood his wretched condition well He understood more than anyone how despartely he needed forgiveness Zacchaeus sensed he obtain forgiveness by making contact with Jesus Many of us would have given up and gone home but Zacchaeus found a way Jesus recongnized Zacchaeus' willingness and desparation and his life changed forever How uncomfortable are you willing to be to spend time with Jesus? |
2015-10-26 - Message Make the Man While I was with you I would forget everything expcet Jesus Christ - 1 Corinthians 2:2 People who encoutered Paul understood what was most important to him: Christ sin-defeating death and grave-defeating life He spent most of his life observing the Jewish laws and traditions but now everything was about Christ Paul made it a point to forget everything else besides Christ:
Paul had more education and experiences more than anyone but chose to focus on one simple message of faith and love Does your life convey the simple message that Jesus loves them? |
2015-10-31 - Happy Marriage She is your equal partner in God's gift of new life - 1 Peter 3:7 Peter was a married man who understood how God expected him to treat his wife - to honor them You should remain humble in your marriage and avoid exalting yourself over your wife Treating them apporpriately help not to hinder (our sin) our prayers Do you want a happy, peaceful life? Treat your wife with understand, compassion, and respect |
2015-11-20 - Confirmation Then I will know that you are going to help me rescue Israel as you promised - Judges 6:37 Some move out courageously and say, "Lets get started!" while others need to test the waters before taking their steps of faith Gideon was a man of God who needed to be sure; was not a from a lack of faith He apparently wasn't sure of he heard God correctly he asked God twice for a sign of confirmation Gideon wanted to know without a doubt that he understood God's calling God wasn't angry when Gideon asked him to confirm his commands and he won't be angry with you either |
2015-11-22 - Eyes of Faith The Lord opened the young man's eyes - 2 Kings 6:17 The king of Syria had sent his army to the city of Dothan and surrounded it at night Elisha's servant saw the enemy's chariots, horses, and soliders had surrounded them Naturally, this fearful young man ran directly to his master who was a man of faith Elisha knew that prayer was just what was needed - the servant eyes were then opened Elisha already understood the situation he faced was just a chance for God to demonstrate his glorious power |
2015-11-25 - Hospitality Come and stay with us... I have a room all ready for you and a place prepared for the camels - Genesis 24:31 Hospitality is a lifestyle that God commands his people to adopt When God's people are in need, be ready to help them - Romans 12:13 Laban, brother-in-law of Isaac, understood the blessing of practicing hositality because he had recieved it himself Eliezer traveled to find a wife for Abraham's son, Issac, Laban welcomed him into his home and card for his camels Being hospitable to Abraham's servant held a blessing - Rebekah, Laban's sister, would become Isaac's wife and would be in the lineage of Jesus Christ |
2018-01-29 - Reason for His Study (part II) James lived under the same roof and did not understand him Paul lived far from him but understood him completely Understand a character - akin to the deepest tendencies and aspirations It is impossible to become too familiar with the way He is the express image of the Father's person The more we study him, the richer is our knowledge of the heart of God We fix our minds on him - how he looked at things, felt toward things, how things affected him |
2018-03-30 - The Orginality of Jesus No one in Jesus' day raise the question of whether he was original or not No personality like that of Jesus had ever been encased in flesh before Jesus began by reading a scripture in Isaiah that others had read but they did not understand it meaning Religion is partly ceremony and partly ethics Jesus emphased mercy instead of sacrifice Accent in his teaching was full of assurance, certainty and authority He never hesitated, speculated, or showed any indication of a wavering mind - I tell you the truth Jesus was the complete man He was differernt from all other men that had ever been and he said so |