Growing Your Hope

'Lord, where do I put my hope?' Psalm 39:7 NLT

The bible tells us to ask for more faith, because without faith "it is impossible to please God." Faith and hope go hand in hand. In Psalm 39:7 David asks the question, "where do I put my hope?" So if you find yourself in a place were you are asking that question:

 (1) Admit how you feel. That doesn’t mean sitting around wallowing in negativity; it means trusting God enough to acknowledge how you really feel. Pretending things are fine when they’re not, makes it harder to get back up. We all have down times. The Psalmist asked God to help him cope with despondency (Psalms 42–43). And at one point Paul was under so much pressure he ‘despaired even of life.’ (2 Corinthians 1:8 NKJV)

(2) Identify the source. Discouragement often comes on the heels of a setback or disappointment. Did something you set your heart on fall apart? Were your hopes unrealistic to start with? Did somebody let you down? Or is your dejection coming from a generalised feeling of burnout?

(3) Talk with a trusted counsellor. Solomon said, ‘…there is safety in having many advisers.’ (Proverbs 11:14 NLT) Don’t let pride prevent you from opening up to those who will listen empathetically and respond wisely. Talking to the right people can lessen your sense of isolation, and also pave the way for others who are hurting to do the same.

(4) Be open before God. He, not fate or circumstances, gets to write the last chapter. Maybe He’s trying to teach you something or redirect your energies. David said, ‘Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in You.’ When your hope is in God, He replaces discouragement with confidence so that what you’re going through can become a path to spiritual growth.

You are Loved!

When Prayer Is Hard Work (1)

Laboring fervently for you in prayers.' Colossians 4:12 NKJV

Paul writes, ‘Epaphras, who is…always laboring fervently for you in prayers.’ Sometimes praying for others feels like ‘laboring’. You have a hard time just uttering a few words even. Once you understand and accept that prayer won’t discourage you. You can smile and tell yourself, ‘This is the way the Bible says it will be sometimes.’

G. Campbell Morgan said, ‘A man may offer a prayer, beautiful in diction and perfect in the number of its petitions. But if it gives him gratification afterwards, that prayer cannot have been truly prayed.’ What did he mean? Simply this: you’ll feel good after you’ve prayed, but your goal isn’t to feel good about the fact that you have prayed, or that you felt particularly good during the process.

Observe: (1) Prayer is a duty. It’s like going to work. You do it because it’s a commitment, and because of the rewards it brings.
(2) Prayer is a discipline. The old–timers used to talk about ‘praying through’. Through what? Through fatigue, through fears, and every other form of resistance and distraction. When you enter the ‘prayer zone’, Satan will fight you at every turn. But when you stand in the name of Jesus, the powers of darkness will retreat and you’ll prevail (John 14:13–14).
(3) Prayer is a delight. It won’t happen every time, but if you’re faithful to the place of prayer there’ll be times when your whole being will be conscious that God is present, answering your prayer and giving you guidance. And even when the answer isn’t completely clear, you’ll leave His presence saying, ‘Now I have peace about it.’

You are Loved!

Practice Happiness [3]

'We wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our...Saviour, Jesus Christ.' Titus 2:13 NIV

The last segment in Practicing Happiness is that we must remember that Hope brings happiness. But also remember skepticism never can. You may be alive when Christ returns, or you may be resur-rected to meet Him in the air. Either way, Jesus is coming again! Don’t let doubters or false date–setters dull your sense of hope.

Ray Bakke shares this story: ‘I knew an old Glasgow professor named McDonald, who, along with a Scottish chaplain, was put in a prisoner–of–war camp. A high wire fence separated the Americans from the British, and McDonald was put in the American barracks. The Americans had a little homemade radio and were able to get news from the outside. Every day McDonald would take a headline or two to the fence and share it with the chaplain in the ancient Gaelic language, indecipherable to the Germans. One day news came that the German High Command had surrendered. McDonald took the news to his friend, then watched him disappear into the barracks. A moment later a roar of celebration came from inside. Life in that camp was transformed. Men walked around singing and shouting, waving at the guards, even laughing at the dogs. When the German guards finally heard the news three nights later, they fled into the dark, leaving the gates unlocked. The next morning, Brits and Americans walked out as free men. Yet they had truly been set free three days earlier by the news that the war was over.’ The certainty of Christ’s soon return sets you free to hope, to rejoice in the worst of circumstances, and to live with purpose. For God’s redeemed people, the best is yet to come!

You are Loved!

Practice Happiness [2]

'The Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before.' Job 42:10 NKJV

Ever thought how helping others brings happiness? I read a story about a ragged looking child that stood looking into a candy shop window one day. A man came along and observed the scene, took him inside and said to the saleslady, ‘Fill a bag with every kind of sweet he wants.’ The boy couldn’t believe his luck. As he filled his mouth with sugary delights, his benefactor asked, ‘Is that good, son?’ He nodded in the affirmative: ‘Uh huh.’ Then the man asked, ‘Could I have some?’ Immediately the boy’s look of joy turned to fear, and clutching the bag he ran away shouting, ‘Mine, mine!’

Happiness doesn’t come by getting; it comes by forgetting yourself and living for others. Job, one of the richest men in his day, lost his health, his wealth, and his family. It’s hard to imagine, right? Then an amazing thing happened: ‘The Lord restored Job’s losses, when he prayed for his friends.’ (Job 42:10 NKJV) Job actually got back twice what he lost. How? By reaching out to others instead of dwelling on his own problems. And that principle still works today. Jesus warned, ‘Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.’ (Luke 12:15 NKJV) God blesses you for one reason: to make you a blessing to others. You’re not supposed to be a warehouse—but a clearing house. For every verse in Scripture that promises material success, there’s another that speaks of the dangers of hoarding. So Todays Thought is: helping others brings happiness, but selfishness never can.

You are Loved!

Practicing Happiness (1)

'Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them.' John 13:17 NIV

Did you know that Holiness can bring happiness? The opposite is true with sin, it never can. Sometimes we find this hard to believe because for a season sin can look like happiness.

The story’s told of a mother saying to her son, ‘Be good, and have fun.’ He replies, ’Please make up your mind!’ How revealing! Today the word ‘holiness’ has got a bad reputation. Some see it as a list of all the things the church says you can’t do. Others recall those who claimed to practise holiness, but came across as rigid, joyless, narrow and judgmental.

So let’s define it: ‘Holiness is the whole of Christ in the whole of life.’ Furthermore, holiness vanishes when you talk about it; it only becomes attractive when you live it. ‘The blessing of the Lord makes one rich, and He adds no sorrow with it.’ (Proverbs 10:22 NKJV) The only thing that adds no sorrow is the blessing of the Lord.

James writes, ‘When desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full–grown, brings forth death.’ (James 1:15 NKJV) When we’re immature we think we can sin and get away with it, but as we grow wiser and more mature we know better. You’ll never meet a smoker who recommends his or her habit. And you’ll meet very few who shipwrecked a marriage, recommending an affair. The law of the harvest is: ‘...whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.’ (Galatians 6:7 NKJV) Sin destroys your capacity for happiness. A loving parent doesn’t want to see their children get hurt—and God is a loving parent. David, who tasted the bitter fruits of sin first–hand, wrote, ‘Worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness.’ (Psalm 29:2 KJV) Holiness is a beautiful thing when you fully understand and practise it.

You are Loved!

The Devotion Factor [3]

We must Understand Biblically the Basis for Compassion

If you have been a Christian long enough you have heard the debate over grace and works; faith and deeds. We spent a long time in Ephesians two and the phrase everyone loves is “we have been saved by grace through faith.” Who doesn’t love God’s grace? It’s the coolest thing ever. But Paul’s thought doesn't stop there.

If you go on a bit further in Eph 2:10 he goes on to say that you are “Gods masterpiece created to do good works.” This phrase here refers to works of compassion. What Paul is saying is that every believer was created to love humanity as a whole.

I wish I could float and blow up soap every week to keep you excited. But as your pastor it isn’t my job to keep you excited or entertain you or somehow keep you fully devoted to God. That’s your job. You must have a love and devotion that comes from your heart.

To be a compassionate church means we must not just consider the idea of serving through acts of compassion, but we must live it so our community sees it.

If we embrace the idea of worship being more than just songs we sing on Sunday morning; but as a lifestyle that is devoted to the fact we were saved from something very nasty and given grace to have relationship with our God through Jesus Christ; it changes us. I worship him because I love him. I’m created to do amazing things for him; and God gifts me with spiritual gifts that can truly affect people. If we embrace that it will change your life and our church forever.

Lastly as a church we must learn to Talk Jesus to People.

What I’ve been sharing ultimately leads us to this. How do I impact my little world for Jesus? Our desire as a church is that everyone in a sense buys into our mission vision. We won’t go far if you don’t.

As you can see we believe that God wants this church to be a compassionate force in this community. This isn’t the next model we are following as a church. This is what I believe God is challenging each of us to be and do.

I will never forget coming to the realization that most outsiders did not see the church as a force for good. Think about that for a minute. Those who live in our community don’t look at the church as a positive force.

 et me give you an example. “A pastor in our network who had some friends who are not followers of Christ asked them what they thought of his church. They said this: here is what we struggle with. We think the church has this amazing mission to make a difference in society but it doesn’t fulfill it. I hear you talk a lot about ideas to make your services better in hopes of drawing more people to sit for an hour on Sunday and stare at the back of some one’s head, but that is not Christianity as we understand it. Yet we spend weekends working our tails off to give hope to discarded people through food drives or mentoring programs. I think we are more like Christ than you.”

Listen, I’m not telling you we shouldn’t meet to worship God on Sunday’s, I know if we didn’t that might excite a few of you. But what I am saying is that we need to be and do in a different way; that compassionately reaches our world for Christ.

A lifestyle of devotion to God means we will desire to sings songs of praise to Him because we love Him. But true and genuine love will embrace a lifestyle that does so much more; it will impact people who impact other people who will impact other people.

Let me close with this. 

Isaiah 58:10-11 “If you give food to the hungry and satisfy those who are in need, then the darkness around you will turn to the brightness of noon. And I will always guide you and satisfy you with good things. I will keep you strong and well. You will be like a garden that has plenty of water, like a spring of water that never goes dry.”  

Let’s be the spring of life!

 

You are Loved!

The Devotion Factor [2]

The Devotion Factor [2]

 

We must Become a Church that is an Agency of Compassion

If you go back to Acts 2 you get a glimpse of what the church should be and can be.

Acts 2:42-47 “They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.”

 Let me break this down:

They were:
Committed
Devoted
Faithful
Loving
Spirit Filled
Community Orientated

This practical application of what the church was can be our biggest factor of success as we love God as a church. My desire for you and our church is that we are successful. That God blesses us and that doesn’t happen magically. It requires each of us and this church “{to Embrace a lifestyle of Devotion to God}” 

That means we are so devoted to God we don’t have to advertise. People will see how we follow and love Christ and just want to be a part of it. We have no reason to believe that Jesus or the early church was involved in compassion to try and draw a crowd. Instead this compassionate response to the culture sprung from a deep well of genuine love for people.

When Jesus was preaching one day he saw the crowd had grown large and it was about time to eat. He had love and compassion on them and asked the disciples what kind of food supplies they have? The disciples said not enough send them home. They disciples had no interest at this point in helping people from Christ's perspective. Jesus looked at them and said let me teach you something valuable. He said give me the food you have, 2 fish and five loaves, he blessed it, and over 4000 people were fed.

What was the lesson?

If you go back to Mat 25:37-40 Jesus is sharing this parable and he says, "Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?' "The King will reply, 'Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.” 

 

More Tomorrow...

You are Loved!