Pentecost-The Impact of the Holy Spirit

Ezekiel 36:25-27 ²⁵ I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. ²⁶ I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷ And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

Silent Prayer

Last week we celebrated Pentecost, the birth of the church and the reality that when the Holy Spirit fills a person’s life they can be used of God to communicate the Gospel to people in fresh new and varied ways so that people can understand who Jesus is. When the Holy Spirit fills a believer they have a supernatural ability to connect the Gospel with the heart of another person. When Peter preached on the day of Pentecost, Acts 2 tells us people were “cut to the heart.” It wasn’t just a motivational message they heard that gave them some things to think about. No, it impacted them at the deepest level of their being. They had a change of heart that resulted in a change of life.

Do you know how hard it is to change a heart? I truly believe only God can change a heart. People get very committed to their way of life. People get very good at defending why they do what they do, and to change a heart is a difficult thing. That’s what makes it a miracle! But that is what the Holy Spirit specializes in! He is the Ultimate Heart and Life Changer. Who knows, but what He might want to change a few hearts and lives there this morning? Anyone open to that?

The role of the Holy Spirit is multi-faceted in the life of a believer. Using our Ezekiel passage, I want us to see a four-fold process, a four-fold work that the Holy Spirit wants to accomplish in our lives.

Cleansing

Removing

Depositing

Governing

CLEANSING

Listen to verse 25 again: “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean.”

I believe the cleansing piece starts at the moment of salvation. When we confess our sins to God, He forgives us. When we receive Christ as Savior we are placed in a clean relationship with God. We have a clean slate with God. The Holy Spirit cleanses us from sin and presents us to God as if we haven’t sinned. Spiritually, we find relief when we are cleansed of our sin. And relief is a good thing!

You know what it is like to be caked in mud from working in the yard, or to have fish guts under your finger nails from filleting your catch, or to have dried paint on your hands from a family room remodel or to have slosh on your hands after you have loaded the dishwasher with dirty dishes or how your hands feel after you have just changed a baby’s diaper . . . you can’t wait to wash your hands! Until you get your hands cleaned there is a feeling of “yuck” that is sort of sticking to you and the only solution is a good washing.

In a very real sense, until we come to Christ, we live with a feeling of “yuck.” Our sin is yucky, dirty, vile. We can’t flick it off. We can’t wear gloves to cover it. It is a constant state of “yuck.” We know on the inside something isn’t right. There is a stain. We are guilty, and guilt is heavy and pervasive. Only the blood of Jesus can cleanse us of that “yuck,” and His blood is applied through the work of the Holy Spirit. So, the Holy Spirit is involved in the salvation process.

Too often, though, people stop there when it comes to acknowledging the Spirit or seeking the Spirit’s work in their lives. It’s like salvation gives them just enough relief from the heaviness of sin and they catch their spiritual breath enough to sort of limp through life. But the work of the Spirit isn’t supposed to be just a one-time deep breath, but it is to be an ongoing experience that is supposed to impact our whole life.

The Spirit wants to cleanse our whole lives. The end of verse 25 speaks to this whole-life cleansing the Spirit wants to do: I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols.

REMOVING

This step, this process of being cleansed from impurities and idols is critical if we are going to live a Spirit-filled life. If we cling to idols and cling to impurities we can’t receive the full, undiluted power of the Holy Spirit and be given to being Spirit-led or be given to cultivating spiritual gifts. Holy Spirit power and the gifts the Holy Spirit gives to believers add quality and dimension to a believer’s life that you don’t want to miss. Many people do, however, miss that dynamic power and miss the development of spiritual gifts in their lives when they cling to worthless idols.

If we are holding idols in our hands and hearts we can’t also be containers for the power of the Holy Spirit. Before we can be filled with power each day, we need to be cleansed of anything that would stand in the way. But we have to want to be clean. We have to want to let go of our idols in order to give the Holy Spirit room to work in our lives. If we will determine to let go of them, the Holy Spirit will remove them from us.

Idols are things we turn to for escape, for comfort, for some kind of relief. They are things we put hope in, and things we tie our dreams to and are things we base our emotional satisfaction and stability on. The problem with earthly idols is that they only help for a minute and wind up hurting more than they help, and they mislead us when it comes to our future productivity, stability, joy, and peace.

To get the most out of a love relationship with God, we have to have undivided hearts. We have to put our whole heart into experiencing Him and being faithful to Him. When we do, we have a greater connectedness to that which will comfort, to that which will bring relief, to that which will give us hope, to that which will help us dream, to that which will enable us to have the right attitude and emotional outlook on our circumstances.

An idol-free life helps us to be fully devoted to pursuing the heart of God with our whole heart. The greatest commandment in all of Scripture is that we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength. Listen, God will never give us a command in Scripture without making a way for us to accomplish it. If we have a desire for Christ alone, we can ask the Holy Spirit to remove idols from us and to give us the freedom and focus we need to pursue Christ. Do you want the cleansing work of the Spirit this morning?

The Holy Spirit isn’t only just a Taker. He is also a Giver. The next thing I see in this passage is what we can receive from the Holy Spirit. He promises to impart to us a new heart and a new spirit. Revisit verse 26: I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.

DEPOSITING

There is an impartation of a new heart and a new way of wanting to live that the Holy Spirit makes possible. The role of the Holy Spirit is to remake us from the inside out, and He makes a deposit into our hearts and minds to enable us to be transformed. I like to think of this deposit as the spiritual experience of becoming awakened to the possibilities God has for us. Just as we must want to let go of idols and want the Holy Spirit to remove them from us, so too we need to cooperate with this work of the Spirit and have a desire to be open to all God wants to change in us.

While my heart has been shaped by many life experiences, I can think of three major moments in my life when I knew something had been deposited into my heart that changed the course of my life. I absolutely remember the moment when I fell in love with my husband. It was a Tuesday night at 8:00 pm. I had accompanied a friend to a counseling appointment. The counselor was none other than Thom Pratt. I had known him for a few short months before the counseling appointment, but I had never really SEEN him. In that counseling appointment I saw him. I saw how he cared. I saw his compassion. I saw him empathize with a young woman who had suffered some trauma. I saw a Christ-like Spirit in him. I saw a gentleness and concern that was undeniably attractive. And when I saw his heart for her and her need, I opened my heart to love for him. He had no clue what was going on in my mind and heart, but what I felt for him in that minute absolutely changed the course of my life.

Had we not married, I would never be the mother of Hannah and Joshua Pratt. I would never have survived a difficult couple of years in ministry in my previous setting, and I would not be pastoring this church. You see, I had always been fiercely independent and very in control of my life and of the circumstances around me. Letting my guard down and entering into a partnership with a man wasn’t exactly on my list of things to do. But when the emotion of love was awakened in me, when those feelings were deposited into my heart and mind, it was full steam ahead and my only thought was, “How quickly can I hoodwink this guy into feeling the same way?”

I have become a completely different person as a result of allowing my heart to be stirred with passion for my sweet husband. We don’t have time for me to recount the ways I have been molded and shaped to become someone new. Take my word for it; I had a change of heart, and I became someone brand new.

The second experience I would share that has had a profound affect on me is motherhood. Not only did I not have a desire to be married, but also I never had a desire to have children. I didn’t like being pregnant. It wasn’t fun being pregnant. I was high risk with both my pregnancies. I’m only 5’ 2” and already had a head start on my weight gain before I got pregnant (J) and boy was I miserable by about month five. I outgrew all of the XL maternity clothes quickly! I couldn’t sleep lying down. I had to sleep in a recliner. At some point I could no longer waddle around Wal-Mart, so I had to ride the motorized carts at the front of the store. It wasn’t pretty. But after the beautiful ten-pound Hannah Pratt was born, and I took one look at her, my heart grew and changed into something yet again that I had never known.

I took on a new identity. The change in my heart caused me to develop some nurturing skills where there had been little to “none.” The word “sacrifice” took on a whole new dimension, and sacrifice contained an element of joy I had never known. A person who had relied on a reliable, calculated schedule where everything ran according to plan and on time became a flexible, more relaxed and probably more fun person to be around. Again, I had had a change of heart, and I became someone brand new.

The third experience I would recount was when our church in Cincinnati went through a difficult time. Literally in two weeks a church of 700 became a church of 350 as half of the people left in a nasty church split. It was during a time when we were without a senior pastor. The rest of the staff resigned and left after the split, but God didn’t release me. For two years I was the only paid staff pastor and once again, God did something undeniable in my heart. As a worship leader, I found myself start to think all of the time about people and their problems and pain. My prayer life grew as I became burdened for people and had a new desire to help support them, encourage them, and walk alongside them in their trouble. I had a never-before desire to make a difference in people’s lives. I wanted to do something about the brokenness in people’s lives. What was happening was that God was growing in me, the heart of a shepherd-the heart of a pastor. God was changing me, and out of that change came the call to preach which eventually led me here. My change of heart towards people made me a brand new person.

Each one of these heart-change phases took place in the context of an experience or series of experiences. Some of the experiences were exciting and positive mixed with difficulty and challenge. All of them required me giving up control and all of them resulted in a change in my identity.

Such is the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. As we surrender to Him, He makes a deposit in our hearts that results in an alteration of our identity, a shaping of our personality, a shifting of our mindset and priorities. We become who we are meant to become in Christ.

Revisit verse 27 of our text: And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

The final thing this passage tells us about the work of the Spirit is that He is at work to internally govern or lead our lives so that we live in obedience to the heart of God for our lives. This idea of “governing” or being controlled by the Spirit is what it means to be led by the Spirit of God.

GOVERNING

Galatians 5:16-25 ¹⁶ So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. ¹⁷ For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. ¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law.

Don’t misread this text and think that we now live above the law or that the law of God is of no consequence to us and that it can be disregarded. What this verse helps us understand is that as we are led by a new law, the Law the Spirit, which is an internal law. We become moved internally to do what is right and pleases God as opposed to trying to conform to an external set of rules that is posted for us to obey.

Let me liken this transition from external to internal governing to parenting. Children learn to obey the rules because of consequences that they want to avoid. The early goal in parenting is that as children grow their hearts are shaped to understand that disobedience to the “rules” brings consequences. But another level of parenting takes place as children mature to help them develop an internal compass so that they want to choose what is right just because it is right and because it will bless them and be for their benefit to take the right course. Parents want to help their children transition from an external authority to an internal one as they move toward adulthood. I mean if your child is thirty-five and you are still telling him at Thanksgiving dinner not to talk with his mouth full or to quit spitting food on the floor something has been missed along the way. There hasn’t been a shift from external parenting to internal governing.

The Holy Spirit is like a parent, a guardian that is governing us not with external rules and regulations, but with promptings from within. Paul says here in Galatians 5 that when you let the Spirit do His work, He will enable you from within to obey God and to turn your back on your sinful nature. In this way we see that a Holy Spirit change of heart truly results in a change of life, in a change in the way you do life.

Go on in Galatians 5 to verse 22: ²² But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control.

This internal governance of the Holy Spirit produces newness in multidimensional ways. You don’t know the true power of love until you are led from within by the Holy Spirit. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, the way we love people radically changes. Our capacity to give and receive love expands exponentially.

When you are filled with the Holy Spirit the intensity of joy in your life ramps up dramatically because joy comes from the inside of who you are and isn’t based on your circumstances which are going to change constantly.

When you are filled with the Holy Spirit, you will have an unshakeable peace about who you are, whose you are, where you are headed and about God’s ability to hold you together when crises hits. Real peace is never imposed by an external reality, but is an inner experience as the Holy Spirit stands as a governor or “guard” over our heart and mind in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:7) even when your life is crumbling.

When you are filled with the Holy Spirit, there is a sustained patience, a desire to respect God’s timing and want God’s timeline to be played out in your life. You will have an increased patience with people and circumstances even when it looks like it might be a while. Patience is an internal governing property of the Holy Spirit.

When you are filled with the Holy Spirit kindness and goodness are grown in your heart and start to ooze out of your life. You find yourself thinking of others, wanting to serve others, wanting to do what you can to alleviate suffering, to provide support, and to bless people. That happens as the Holy Spirit just brings people to your mind that could use encouragement or as an idea pops into your heart and mind that you have the resources to accomplish. It’s something you are moved and led to do.

When you are filled with the Holy Spirit you develop a steadfastness, a committed way of life, a determination to walk with Jesus. Paul called it “faithfulness,” and this faithfulness spills over into every area of your life. This internal motivation of the Holy Spirit causes you to want to be a faithful spouse, a faithful parent, a faithful friend, a faithful employee, and a faithful member of God’s family.

When you are filled with the Holy Spirit you acquire a gentleness, an ability to deal with stress and pressure without biting people’s heads off or blowing a gasket. The Holy Spirit helps us manage ourselves so that we can be more than appropriate in our response to people even when we are angry or disappointed. The Holy Spirit helps us be generous and grace-giving. That is gentleness.

Finally, Paul says as the Holy Spirit becomes our internal compass we have self-control. We don’t live impulsively. We don’t have to follow every curiosity. We aren’t led into unnecessary temptation because we have an internal instinct to say “no” to activities that could get us in trouble.

The Holy Spirit becomes that governing force in our lives that says, “No, don’t go there.” And it isn’t an experience where we sigh and reluctantly say, “Ok, have it your way,” but it becomes this supernatural desire, it becomes this holy urge it becomes our own will to want what the Spirit is suggesting because we are convinced it is right. We are convinced it will bring us life and blessing and put a smile on the heart of God!

How do we get there? It starts with cleansing. It continues as the Holy Spirit removes our idols. After that, we allow the Holy Spirit to deposit a new heart and new spirit in us, and we embrace the internal governing voice and prompting of the Holy Spirit.

There is no Christian maturity without the work of the Holy Spirit as Ezekiel 36 has outlined. It isn’t possible to be transformed into the image of Christ without the transforming work of the Holy Spirit.

Cleansing

Removing

Depositing

Governing

Have you experienced the Holy Spirit in these specific ways? If you haven’t today you can decide to embrace the full impact of the Holy Spirit in your life.

we are supervised by the Spirit as opposed to being supervised by the law.
Life Application New Testament Commentary.

“Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me” (Psalms 51:11).

What Does God Look Like?

A mother went into the room of her 8-year old daughter, who had a large piece of construction paper on the floor and was coloring on it. “What are you doing?” her mother asked. Without looking up the girl asserted, “I am drawing a picture of God.” “But honey,” her mother replied gently, “No one really knows what God looks like.” This time, the girl stopped drawing, looked up at her mother, and with great confidence asserted, “They will when I am done with this picture.”

At Children’s Hospital in Boston, parents of children who struggle with gender confusion are being encouraged to raise their children according to the gender they want to be. Some of these children are given puberty-delaying drugs in anticipation of surgery and a lifetime of taking opposite sex hormones.[viii]
Nationally, cities, schools and organizations are adopting gender neutral restrooms because ‘women’s’ and ‘men’s’ restrooms only acknowledge a two-gender system.[ix]
The new model for the haircare brand Redken is Lea T, touted as “the first transgender model to become the face of a global cosmetics brand.”[x] (http://www.focusonthefamily.com/socialissues/social-issues/transgenderism/transgenderism-brings-chaos-from-order)

Focus on the Family is dedicated to defending the inherent honor, dignity, value and equality of the two sexes as created in God’s image — intentionally male and female —each bringing unique and complementary qualities to sexuality and relationships.

Each of the two sexes is a glorious gift from God – meant to be offered back to Him either in complementary unity with the other in the context of marriage for procreation and mutual delight or in celibacy for undivided devotion to Christ.

Not only do male and female together reflect the image of God, but their coming together in a marriage relationship to bring forth new life is used in Scripture as the deepest and most intimate analogy of God’s relationship with His people. Throughout both Testaments, God and His people are portrayed as husband and wife or as a groom and bride. The creation account found in Genesis lays out this gender-based, matrimonial picture and sets the stage for the final, eternal union of God and His people — of Christ and His bride — described in the book of Revelation.

Gender matters. In recent years, a revisionist transgender theology has been put forth in some theological circles that violates God’s clearly articulated and intentional design for the sexes — thereby distorting His image and His plan for sexuality, marriage, family and the just and proper ordering of society.

Focus on the Family’s Position

We affirm God’s design for the two sexes — male and female — and marriage between one man and one woman as the place God established for sexual love to occur.
We disagree with revisionist gay and transgender theologies as contradictory to foundational Christian doctrine and the Judeo-Christian sexual ethic.
We oppose the ordination of “transgender” and “transsexual” individuals into the clergy and the celebration of “transgenderism” as one of God’s gifts.
Because “transgenderism” violates God’s intentional design for sex and sexuality, we believe that this is a cultural and theological challenge that we must engage and win. The modern “transgender” movement is systematically working to dismantle the reality of two sexes — male and female — as the Bible and the world have always known this to be. If the transgender lobby succeeds, there will be striking consequences for individuals, marriage, family and society at large.
While God’s intent for sexuality and gender is being turned upside down, we must remember that those who struggle with their gender identity have lived lives of great pain, confusion and rejection. And, just as Jesus went out of his way to reach the outcasts of society, we’re called to humbly share His love embodied in the Gospel, to lift them up in prayer and to allow the Holy Spirit to bring about conviction, healing and transformation.
We affirm the Christian view that to be human is to be holistically united as body and spirit. Scripture teaches that even in heaven believers will have gloriously redeemed physical bodies. In contrast, pro-transgender revisionists hold to the pagan view that the body is a container that the spirit is poured into. As such, they erroneously conclude that either God has mistakenly put an opposite-gendered spirit into the wrong body or that the body is not the real person — that only the spirit is real. As Christians, we believe that God can heal these disconnected, gnostic views and bring restoration and wholeness — where body, soul and spirit are in unity.

We call upon all mothers and fathers to take a proactive role in their children’s development by providing them with strong, Christian example of what it means to be male and female. Some of the problems associated with transgenderism and the confusion and pain it brings, stem from a lack of healthy and good parental involvement and guidance. Children must be taught that, just as each individual life has inestimable worth, so too each sex brings its own unique characteristics of inestimable worth to relationships, family and society.
We are called to proclaim the truth and beauty of God’s design and the redemption of sexual brokenness in our lives and culture through Jesus Christ. Like everyone else, “transgendered” individuals are desperately in need of God’s truth and deserve to know the love and compassion of Christ as shown through His people.

As Christians, our starting point for understanding human sexuality is Scripture. We know from the creation account in Genesis 1 that God creates by “calling forth” by His spoken word (“Let there be…”). We also learn that His creation and ordering of the world involved a series of “separations.” These separations include heaven and earth, light and dark, day and night, morning and evening, clouds and seas, and water and dry land. Profoundly, the Hebrew concept of “separation” is rooted in the word kadosh, which—while often rendered as “holy” in English—here carries the sense of being “set apart” (separated) unto the Lord. Thus, in this series of separations, we see a consecrated and holy ordering, which at its essence reflects a setting apart unto the Creator God of the Universe.
Following this pattern of separation, the creation account then gives a distinct separateness for plants and then seasons, followed by all manner of living creatures found in the seas, on land and in the air. Finally, in Genesis 1:26, we see the pinnacle of God’s creation—mankind—called forth into being. Humans are first created separate from the animals. But we are also told that there is a separation of mankind into two sexes—male and female—wholly complementary, yet each sex uniquely and mysteriously bearing God’s image—the imago Dei. Humans bear the image and likeness of God as male and female. And it is in this way, as men and women, that humanity is called to make visible the invisible Creator God on this planet.
It is out of the diversity and distinctive separateness of male and female that we humans are called to not only reflect the image and likeness of God, but we also represent God in the stewardship of His good and wonderful creation (Genesis 1:28-29). Male and female also reflect God as they come together in unity in marriage and are joined as “one flesh” (see Genesis 2:23-24; Matthew 19: 3-6; Mark 10: 6-9; Ephesians 5:28-32). This coming together as one flesh is unique, in that the sexual union brings forth new life that will also somehow look like God and bear the imago Dei. As we are “fruitful and multiply and fill the earth,” we spread God’s image around the world (Genesis 1:28).
As it was from the beginning, so it is to this very day.

Boundaries God Can Bless

Galatians 5:13-16 ¹³ You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. ¹⁴ The entire law is summed up in a single command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁵ If you keep on biting and devouring each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other. ¹⁶ So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.

Galatians 5:13-16 (MSG) ¹³ It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. ¹⁴ For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom. ¹⁵ If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then? ¹⁶ My counsel is this: Live freely, animated and motivated by God’s Spirit. Then you won’t feed the compulsions of selfishness.

Silent Prayer

It is great news that God has redeemed us from the slavery of sin and that He calls us and enables us to live free. Freedom is a huge blessing, a wonderful gift, and a heavy responsibility. Why do I say freedom is a heavy responsibility? It is because freedom suggests exploration. Freedom suggests permission. Freedom suggests self-expression. Learning to handle freedom is more important than learning to handle money or learning how to drive a car or learning how to live on your own after moving out from under your parents’ roof. This critical skill of learning to manage our freedom, we see is often lacking in young people who leave for college and by Thanksgiving they have become someone their parents’ hardly recognize. Words like, “You were raised better” and “You knew the consequences of doing something like that” are often spoken. And the young people agree. They were educated and warned about the dangers of doing what they just did, and often they are as surprised as anyone that they did those things.

Why is it that someone who was raised in a Christian home where good boundaries were set and good boundaries were taught can often in just a few short months or years live a reckless life that leads to chaos and destruction that they live to regret for years? You’ve seen the TV shows about college kids gone wild and where a crime is committed and people who are interviewed are dumbfounded and in disbelief that the accused could have done whatever it is they are charged with because “that’s not how they were raised” or “that’s now how they have ever been.” What happens to these disciplined, well-monitored and prepared people that they wind up in such trouble? Perhaps it is an inability to deal appropriately with freedom.

It doesn’t just happen with college-age students. It can and does happen to all of us including me. When the promotion comes and we get our own office in which no one is looking over our shoulder . . . How do we manage that freedom? We start to make a little bit more money which gives us some flexibility in our spending and we want to start having more “fun” on the weekends. How do we manage that freedom? Our kids grow up and leave home, and our “empty nest” gives us more time for hobbies and outside interests. How do we manage that freedom? Our job gives us opportunities to travel and be away from home and our spouse once in a while or even frequently. How do we manage that freedom? The world is at our fingertips through the internet. Pornography is just a touch of a button away. Interesting people from around the world want to be our Facebook friends. How do we manage that freedom?

Paul makes it clear in Galatians 5:13 that while we were called to freedom by God that our freedom isn’t what should drive our decision making. It isn’t what should drive our desires. Our freedom is not ours in order that we may serve ourselves, but it has been given to us in order that we may obey the Spirit of God freely (vs 16) and in order that we may serve others in love.

Taking the approach that because we are free that we can do whatever we want will never lead us to obey the Spirit of God and serve others in love (Galatians 5:13). It will lead us to indulge ourselves. So having the strong-willed approach that “It’s a free country, and I can do what I want,” or “I’m 21 so I can do what I want,” or “It’s my body, I want do what I want” is the wrong mindset for a Christ follower to have because it won’t lead you down the path after Christ, but it will take you down the path of self which will not only hurt you and hurt others and harm your witness and your relationship with Christ, but it will destroy the very freedom you enjoyed, the freedom for which Christ had set you free.

Healthy Christian people who want to grow in the grace and knowledge and obedience of the Lord) are people who not just love Him and have a desire to serve Him, but they are people who accept that the boundaries in the Bible as the way to maintain and guard their freedom.

Boundaries are lines of distinction. God’s boundaries separate His followers from the rest of the world.

Boundaries communicate messages. They reveal to non-believers messages about the holiness and expectations of God.

Boundaries establish relationships. They help people understand who we are as their friends, co-workers, and neighbors. They tell people “how we roll” if you will. Boundaries identify principles and values in our lives. Our actions communicate what is important to us whether it is something like pulling out of our driveways every Sunday to go to church or abstaining from the Club on the weekend.

Boundaries keep us safe. Everything God has established for us in His Word as a boundary is for our protection. It is for our benefit. It is so that we can enjoy life to the fullest without the yucky consequences that come from feeding our flesh.

Having boundaries and maintaining them isn’t just a good idea. It isn’t just important. It is critical. Think of personal boundaries as a road map. You won’t get where you truly desire to go as a Christ follower with them.

So we know God has established boundaries for us in His Word. Take for example, the Ten Commandments from Exodus 20:

You shall have no other gods before me.

That is the big boundary, but what boundaries will we set for ourselves in order to make sure we can honor the big boundary God has set? The huge freedom we have is that God says we can enjoy many things. Shopping is fun for me whether I have money or I don’t plan on spending a dime. Visiting antique stores is fun for me. Watching college basketball is a highlight in our home. Traveling once in a while is very enjoyable for us. I love a good spy movie. Going to concerts whether at the Symphony or to see a great Christian group is always on my life for a good time. For me it doesn’t get any more exciting than riding the Diamond Back or Beast roller coasters at King’s Island. Watching my daughter dance or my son play basketball fill up a lot of our fun time, and we love it. Going on dates with my husband is at the top of my fun list! I don’t live a boring life.

I don’t wake up feeling deprived or like I want to trade places with anyone (well, maybe with someone who has a housekeeper, but other than that J). I enjoy life in a variety of ways. But as Christ follower, I am told not to have any other gods before God. No shopping trip will get in the way of me honoring God with my money through giving of my tithes, giving offerings above that and spending my money in a God-honoring way. Watching basketball on TV won’t take the place of me getting here for worship or serving in some way.

It’s about priorities. Who and what is first and what boundaries do we need to set in our lives that help us make sure God is first? Our son Josh is on a travel basketball team and is having a great experience. They play on the weekends and he participates in the games that are on Friday and Saturday and in the ones that don’t conflict with church time on Sunday. Not every person who plays sports is able to work out that arrangement with the coach and team, and I know it’s hard. We may not always have such an understanding coach. Each one of us needs to assess things like that for our own selves, but for us at this time it was the only way we felt comfortable allowing him to participate because one way we are committed as a family to honoring God as being first in our lives is through weekly corporate worship.

What is it for you? What could get in the way of you acknowledging God as first in your life? If your pursuit of money gets in the way of your pursuit of God, if your desire for entertainment keeps you from giving God the worship He deserves, if your need to be noticed or popular forces you to put your social life and weekend parties ahead of meeting with God, if your work demands so much of your time that God is an afterthought, you have got to set some personal boundaries for yourself in order to make sure that you can keep the big boundary in place.

How about this commandment? “You shall not commit adultery.” For me to engage in a sexual relationship with anyone other than my husband is a boundary God says I must not violate. That’s the big boundary. If I am going to keep that boundary in place, what personal boundaries do I need to set for myself in order to make sure I don’t get too close to the line that could cause me to become an adulteress?

I don’t hang out with guy friends without my husband or other women being there. I don’t have relationships with men that my husband doesn’t know about. I don’t flirt with men. I don’t dress to try to get unnecessary male attention. I don’t accept friend requests from men from Scotland, England and Ireland whose profile pictures all look like movie stars and all seem to have in common that they are widowers. If someone says something to me that doesn’t seem appropriate I tell my husband. If I have to ride in the car with just myself and another man, my husband gets a call first to make sure it’s ok and to make sure he knows why we are doing so. That way, when one of you walks up to Thom and say, “I saw your wife in a car with Joe Schmo” he can say, “Yes, she called me to tell me they were together and why that needed to happen.” What I am trying to say is that I have to set boundaries that will keep the door closed to situations that could lead me down a road that could cause me to wind up committing adultery even if that was never on my list of things to do.

I was just 26 years old, was single and was employed in full-time ministry when I became friends with a young couple my age. We did a lot of stuff together and became good friends. They had a child. I remember thinking to myself one time, “If anything ever happened to the wife, (we’ll call her Cindy just for the story) if anything ever happened to Cindy, I could love the child.” As soon as the thought crossed my mind, I gasped. I realized I had become such good friends with that couple that I had put myself in a situation where I could be tempted to think things about the husband I shouldn’t. I took that thought captive immediately. I confessed it to God and my prayer partner and that was the end of it. I then started spending less time with that couple and more time developing friendships with others because I wasn’t going to start down that road. I had to put a boundary in place to protect my witness and my ministry.

Please turn to I Corinthians 6. Whether it is the temptation to steal or to lie or whatever the “big boundaries” are that God has set, we have to set up personal boundaries to keep us far from the line. And it can be difficult because in Christ we do have this tremendous freedom! Listen to what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:12-13 ¹² “Everything is permissible for me”–but not everything is beneficial. “Everything is permissible for me”–but I will not be mastered by anything. ¹³ “Food for the stomach and the stomach for food”–but God will destroy them both. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body.

Again, I love how The Message puts verse 12: 1 Corinthians 6:12 (MSG) ¹² Just because something is technically legal doesn’t mean that it’s spiritually appropriate. If I went around doing whatever I thought I could get by with, I’d be a slave to my whims.

So Paul uses two the examples of food and sexual expression in the context of the freedom we have in Christ. I like the way The Message translation says that just because something is technically legal doesn’t mean that it is spiritual appropriate. We are good at finding loopholes. We are good at wiggling out of things on a technicality as if we can find a way to somehow trump the Law of God that is written on our hearts, right? This was a big problem in Corinth for the people to whom this letter from Paul was written. The Corinthians defended their sensuality by saying that since their actions weren’t against the law they were free to do as they pleased. What they wouldn’t admit was that sexual immorality wasn’t a form of freedom but bondage. Gluttony wasn’t a form a freedom but bondage.

Listen, we haven’t been set free by Christ for the purpose of experimenting with forms of bondage. As another pastor once said, “Where there are no boundaries there is bondage.” (Jeff Budzinski)

When we consider certain activities that we are unsure about we need to ask ourselves, “Does this have the potential to lead me into bondage?” If it does, we need to draw a boundary line and not cross it.

We need to ask ourselves, “Are we making this decision because we are hurt, angry or because it appeals to our sensuality and seems exciting?” If so, perhaps we need to put the brakes on, talk and pray with someone and make sure we have God’s perspective on what could happen if we move forward with a certain plan.

We have a lot of freedom. It’s true. But if in my freedom I cause someone who is weak in the faith or anyone in the faith to stumble in their Christian walk, I need to consider placing some boundaries in my life not only for my sake, but also for the sake of others.

Stay in I Corinthians, but turn to chapter 10. Paul keeps lifting up the principle that freedom doesn’t mean license. Freedom doesn’t mean all lights are green. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:31-33 ³¹ So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. ³² Do not cause anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks or the church of God– ³³ even as I try to please everybody in every way. For I am not seeking my own good but the good of many, so that they may be saved.

Hey, enjoy your life. Exercise your freedom, but if in the process of exercising your freedom you cause someone to lose faith in Christ or to want to turn from Christ then instead of exercising freedom, exercise restraint.

If you are 21 it isn’t illegal for you to go to a bar and get drunk. You are free to do that. You can toss them back and keep throwing your money away and no one can tell you to stop. As long as you aren’t driving, you can drink yourself under the table. But if while you are at the bar getting drunk someone there who is struggling with their faith who knows you to be a Christian and your actions cause them to question what it means to be a disciple of Jesus when they see you losing control of your words and actions then you have led them astray and away from their pursuit of Christ. That is why no one hear could ever say with a grain of salt, “Yeah, we went and got hammered last night for the glory of God!” It is impossible, right? Just because you can doesn’t mean that you should and beyond that the Word of God says we have a responsibility to behave in a way and to participate in life in a way that leads others closer to the cross not farther from it.

Just because something is lawful doesn’t mean it is helpful or what the Spirit of God would lead us to do. Romans 14:12 tells us: “So then, each of us will give an account of himself to God.” If it is against God’s desires for our lives it won’t matter if it wasn’t against the law. Each one of us will talk with God about our choices.

I want to say a word to the parents here because we are right there with you on the parenting journey. Our kids are at critical ages. Time is running out to teach and explain and model what we feel is a godly way to live. Helping them understand self-management and boundaries now is critical. If your students are of a dating age it isn’t about trusting them or not trusting them. It is about parenting them and helping them to set boundaries that will keep them from temptation. You may parent a wonderful student who has never given you a reason not to trust them. They could be exceptional in every way. That doesn’t make them exempt from temptation.

If we love our children we will set limits about being alone with a boyfriend or girlfriend and being in bedrooms and being out too late. Temptation can happen anywhere, but it is more likely to happen in some places and spaces than others so setting expectations and setting limits isn’t a form of distrust but love and protection. And students when your parents talk with you about those things be grateful that they are helping you manage freedom and helping you acquire life skills for when you have to set your own limits on yourself!

Co-signing for big loans and credit cards without limits and checkbooks too early can be too much freedom too fast. We know because many adults struggle to make good choices about their finances because of being given too much financial freedom too early. It can literally destroy your life.

But seriously, beyond wanting to live well, beyond wanting to just enjoy life, our desire as Christ-followers should be to be in pursuit of revealing the glory of God to the world. When we demonstrate that we can set personal boundaries we are communicating a message that echoes loud and clear. It is this: It isn’t about us. It’s about Him. It is about making Him seen and known to the world. Isn’t that worth saying “no” to myself once in a while? Jesus publicly hung on a cross of shame and humiliation wearing my sin. Everyone saw it. Everyone saw how vile, sick and disgusting sin was. Jesus’ bloodied, bruised, beaten, disfigured appearance gave sin a three-dimensional presence. He willingly showed what I was. Can’t I say “no” once in a while to myself in order to willingly show how wonderful, how glorious, how awesome He is?

What did Jesus say about people who would follow Him? They would have to deny themselves and take up their cross in order to follow Him. You see freedom isn’t about saying “yes” to ourselves, but it is about saying completely “yes” to following after Jesus. And as we set those personal boundaries whatever they need to be for each one of us they will enable us to have the freedom to fully follow Him. In order for me not to steal, my personal boundaries will probably be different than yours. In order for me not to commit adultery, the boundaries the Holy Spirit leads me to establish will be some different from yours. But in order for us to keep the big boundaries in place we are all called to maintain, we need God’s help to lead us to the individual decisions we each must make. And if we make those decisions with the goal of making the glory of God known to the world, those will be boundaries God can bless!

Unworthy, Alone, Insufficient?

Luke 18:1-8 ¹ Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. ² He said: “In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. ³ And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, ‘Grant me justice against my adversary.’ ⁴ “For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, ‘Even though I don’t fear God or care about men, ⁵ yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won’t eventually wear me out with her coming!'” ⁶ And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. ⁷ And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? ⁸ I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?”

Silent Prayer

Have you ever been in a room full of people where you found yourself unsure of yourself? Did you feel intimidated or like you didn’t belong? Were you hesitant to ask a question about what was being discussed because you just weren’t sure you would even be asking the right question? Did you feel UNWORTHY in the moment to make your question or request known?

I remember when I joined the Rotary Club and started attending meetings. I was sitting among very accomplished business professionals who were well-respected in the community. I remember thinking to myself, “What can I really contribute to this organization? I am JUST a preacher.” I did have questions, but I didn’t ask them. I did have requests of the organization, but I didn’t make them; not for a long time. A sense of unworthiness kept me from asking for the help for our church while others were asking for help for their businesses and their community projects. I want you to remember that word, “unworthy.” Will you say it with me? (unworthy)

The woman in our story likely dealt with feelings of unworthiness. Being female she didn’t have much standing before the law. At the time during which Jesus told this story, women didn’t go to court. They didn’t plead their case. They didn’t have a hearing with a judge. The judge in the story refused to listen to the woman’s plea for help time after time. She wasn’t worthy of a judgment, worthy of an answer, worthy of his time.

However, tucked inside this parable about persisting in prayer, we see a beautiful truth that flows from our relationship with Jesus who is the Righteous Judge. Here it is: We have been made worthy by His blood.

First, we are no longer unworthy to stand in God’s presence. Hebrews 4:16 tells us we can go to God’s throne in prayer boldly and with great confidence. The Blood of the Lamb has qualified us. We can stand in God’s presence and be confident that we belong there and that our request is important to Him. He will not resist us. He will welcome us before Him. We are not out of place in God’s presence because the Blood of Jesus has put us in our rightful place with God. We can be sure that when we go to the Lord seeking mercy and grace (Hebrews 4:16) we will find the help we need at just the right time. He wants us to come. He has made a way for us to come. We don’t need to be shy about coming into His presence. We are not out of place when we are on our face before our Heavenly Father in prayer. Doesn’t that give you a sense of security?

Remember how I was in those early Rotary meetings? I was afraid to ask a question for fear of being judged or labeled. Jesus said in John 14:13, “Ask whatever you will in my name, and I will do it.” There are no dumb questions at the throne of grace. Jesus has made us worthy to take every issue to God in prayer.

Do you feel like an outsider this morning? Do you feel like you don’t really belong or aren’t worthy to ask anything of the Lord? Jude 1:24 tells us through the blood of Jesus we stand blameless and worthy in the presence of God and with great joy. You are worthy in the place of prayer to get close to your Heavenly father. Jesus has made you good enough. For when God sees you, He doesn’t see your inconsistencies and your imperfections, He sees the perfection of Jesus Christ, His Son. Oh, the amazing grace of God that not only forgives us of our sin, but also welcomes us into His presence without restriction.

Have you ever had the experience where you felt as if some great responsibility was all on your shoulders? If the company was going to succeed, you had to make it happen. If the bill was going to be paid, you had to find a way. If the kids were going to keep up with their commitments and activities, you were going to have to get them where they needed to be and remind them to have everything prepared in order to take what was needed with them. Have you been the one for whom failure just wasn’t an option. You couldn’t hand off the baton. You couldn’t take a break. You had to do whatever it took all by yourself to accomplish something?

As most of you know, my father just passed away March 3^rd. For the last four and a half years of his life, I was his primary support as he was in the nursing home behind TV Hospital. I confess I dealt with some feelings of aloneness during those four and a half years.

I met with his care team there. I made regular visits to see him. I received the phone calls from the nursing home whenever his condition would change. I answered medical questions and made decisions about his care. I went to doctor appointments with him. I purchased what he needed. I paid his bills. I read Scripture to him. I was with him when he spent times in the hospital. I made sure he was as comfortable as possible. I was the one to get the call that on March 3^rd that he went home to be with the Lord. It was a lot especially because I felt ALONE at times during the process. I want you to remember that word. Will you say it with me? (alone)

Have you walked a lonely road before where you felt alone (even if there were some others from time to time to help along the way as there were in my journey with my dad. Have you been there when the weight of the burden was on your shoulders and you felt very alone?) Alone in the decision making. Alone in the work. Alone in the parenting. Alone in the relationship. Alone in the care taking. Alone in your grief. Alone in the project. No one to help. No one to encourage. No one to support. I want you to remember that word, “alone.” Will you say it with me? (alone)

A second beautiful truth that flows from our relationship with Jesus the Righteous Judge is that we are never alone.

We get the sense from the story about the persistent widow that she was alone. No one went with her to the court to try to gain an audience with the judge. Being a widow woman she had no husband to speak on her behalf. She either hadn’t had children or wasn’t in a relationship with her children or they didn’t live close enough to help her. No one volunteered to help her by going with her. She was alone in her quest for justice.

Someone was messing with her. Someone was bothering her. Someone was making her life miserable, and she needed help to get away from the situation. There is an air of desperation to her efforts. She is threatened by what is happening to her, but she is alone. No one is corroborating her story. No one is standing as a witness to her suffering.

Listen, you may feel alone in your circumstance this morning, but I have good news for you. If you are a believer in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord of your life, you are never alone. Hebrews 13:5 tells us we are never alone. Jesus will never leave us.

When we pray we have an Advocate, Jesus our Savior (I John 2:1). He goes into the Courtroom of God with us. He understands what we are going through. He will vouch for us before the Heavenly Father. He constantly represents us before the throne of God as He is praying with us and for us! (Romans 8:34)

In John 14:18 Jesus promised His disciples He would not leave them as orphans. He would send His Holy Spirit to live in them, to do life with them, and even to pray with them. (Romans 8:26)

Throughout my journey of caring for my dad, I turned to my Heavenly Father a lot. When I didn’t know what decision to make, when I felt overwhelmed, when I was discouraged or sad to watch my dad’s quality of life ebbing away, I could talk to the Lord and know that He was with me on that journey. I wasn’t alone, and as I shared my need for wisdom, for compassion, and for strength with God, He supplied it to me.

Unworthy. Alone. How about this word? “INSUFFICIENT.” You can put it in front of a lot of other words. Insufficient knowledge. Insufficient training. Insufficient talent. Insufficient funds. Insufficient resources. Can you relate? You know you don’t have what it takes. You know your need is greater than your supply. I know the feeling. God has most definitely blessed our church. Eight years ago my husband and I came to TVCOG to a group of about 100 people. Eight years later we are a worshiping congregation of about 450 people who meet in two services in a building that can really no longer meet our needs even with the two services.

We are blessed to own 74 acres of property. The plan is to build a facility that will allow us to host up to 1200 people. Including the phase we are working to pay off, the total cost of the project is over 4 million dollars. What in the world? I don’t have that kind of money. I don’t have a “rich uncle”. I don’t know how to raise that kind of money. Something has to happen, and it needs to happen in the next couple of years to enable us to continue to grow because not growing is NOT an option. Ceasing to grow is definitely not God’s plan. Yet this minute we don’t have the money, and I don’t know from where it will come.

Can anyone relate to what I am describing? I want you to remember that word, “insufficient.” Will you say it with me?

Back in the day, if you had the means, you could buy “justice.” A bribe would get you a long way in a court of law. But she didn’t have money. Widows didn’t have money. She had insufficient funds to make her trouble disappear. In our own strength we are insufficient. In our own power, we are insufficient. A third beautiful truth that flows from our relationship with Jesus the Righteous Judge is that in Him we are completely sufficient.

When we take our insufficiency to God and allow Him to infuse His Word and His power into our circumstance we have everything we need to endure a circumstance or to experience a change in that circumstance. We take our weakness to Him, and He gives us strength. We can do all things through Christ who gives us strength, (Philippians 4:13) and the infusion of strength comes as we trust God in prayer. II Corinthians 12:9 tells us God’s grace is sufficient when we are insufficient. Those who seek the Lord will lack no good thing (Psalm 34:10).

The Apostle Paul prayed three times for God to take something from him. He doesn’t tell us what it was. I don’t know if he was living with pain or dealing with temptation or some kind of addictive pursuit, but he wanted it out of his life. He didn’t get what he prayed for, but he received the sufficient grace of God in order to deal with his circumstance in II Corinthians 12:9.

God will give us what we need to accomplish the mission He has given to us. We just have to stay connected to Him. He is the Vine (John 15) and we are the branches. He will give us sustaining grace as we trust Him, and when the time is right, He will bless us with the resources, and I believe the funds will be more than enough. If you don’t know Him this morning, He is what you are lacking. He has what you need, and has resources you haven’t even thought to ask for yet!

Unworthy. Alone. Insufficient. Jesus tells His listeners the story is about prayer. It is really about persevering during prayer, right? When we pray and we don’t give up, breakthroughs come. Justice is dispensed. The Righteous Judge delivers an answer. He is the One to whom we should go in prayer.

Persevering in prayer, yes, that was Jesus’ main point. But three underlying truths are also seen. For this story we can be reminded we are made worthy by the Blood of the Lamb. In this story we can be reminded that we never walk through this life alone. In this story we can be reminded that God’s resources are more than sufficient. Persevering in prayer has more benefits than just receiving justice. When we do, we exercise our awareness of:

Who we are in Christ-WORTHY

Who we are with Christ-NEVER ALONE

Who Christ is in us-ALL-SUFFICIENT

Unworthy, Alone, Insufficient?

Silent Prayer

My father just passed away March 3^rd. Due to a series of heartbreaking circumstances and for reasons I well understand, my mom, brother and sister made the difficult decision to step away from relationship with him during the last several years. My mom and brother removed themselves from the situation about eight and a half years ago. My sister cared for my dad for four years, and then he became my sole responsibility. He was in a nursing home in my area for the last four and a half years of his life.

I met with his care team there. I made regular visits to see him. I received the phone calls from the nursing home whenever his condition would change. I answered medical questions and made decisions about his care. I went to doctor appointments. I purchased what he needed. I paid his bills. I read Scripture to him. I was with him during the times he spent times in the hospital. I made sure he was as comfortable as possible. I was the one to get the call that on March 3^rd that he went home to be with the Lord. It was a lot especially because I felt pretty ALONE in the process.

Have you walked that lonely road before? Alone in the decision making. Alone in the work. Alone in the parenting. Alone in the relationship. Alone in the care taking. Alone in your grief. Alone in the project. No one to help. No one to encourage. No one to support. I want you to remember that word, “alone.” Will you say it with me? (alone)

Unworthy. Alone. How about this word? “INSUFFICIENT.” You can put it in front of a lot of other words. Insufficient knowledge. Insufficient talent. Insufficient funds. Insufficient resources. Can you relate? You know you don’t have what it takes. You know your need is greater than your supply. I know the feeling. God has most definitely blessed our church. Eight years ago my husband and I moved to WV to meet 100 broken and tired people. Eight years later we are a worshiping congregation of 450 people who meet in two services in a building that can really no longer meet our needs even with the two services.

We are blessed to own 74 acres of property. The plan is to build. The cost of the project is 4.3 million dollars. What in the world? We don’t have that kind of money. We don’t have a rich uncle. We don’t know how to raise that kind of money. There is this sense, too, that we are running out of time due to running out of space. Something has to happen, and it needs to happen in the next eighteen months or we won’t be able to continue to grow. I can’t believe that is an option or that not growing is God’s plan. But this minute I don’t have the money, and I don’t know from where it will come.

Can anyone relate to what I am describing? I want you to remember that word, “insufficient.” Will you say it with me?

Unworthy. Alone. Insufficient. We have probably all had times in our lives when we have experienced each one of those feelings. The woman in our Scripture passage, however, likely dealt with all three as she sought justice and freedom from her adversary. Being female she didn’t have much standing before the law. At the time during which Jesus told this story, women didn’t go to court. They didn’t plead their case. They didn’t have a hearing with a judge. The judge in the story refused to listen to the woman’s plea for help for a long time. She wasn’t worthy of a judgment, worthy of an answer, worthy of his time.

We get the sense from the story that she was also all alone. No one went with her to the court to try to gain an audience with the judge. Being a widow woman she had no husband to speak on her behalf. She either hadn’t had children or wasn’t in a relationship with her children or they didn’t live close enough to help her. No one volunteered to help her by going with her. She was alone in her quest for justice.

Someone was messing with her. Someone was bothering her. Someone was making her life miserable, and she needed help to get away from the situation. There is an air of desperation in her efforts. She is threatened by what is happening to her, but she is alone. No one is corroborating her story. No one is standing as a witness to her suffering.

Back in the day, if you had the means, you could buy “justice.” A bribe would get you a long way in a court of law. But she didn’t have the money. She was a poor widow woman. She had insufficient funds to make her trouble disappear.

However, tucked inside this parable about persisting prayer, we see three beautiful truths that flow from our relationship with Jesus the Righteous Judge. We have been made worthy by His blood. We aren’t alone. Jesus will never leave us or forsake us. We are insufficient in ourselves, but we are all-sufficient in Christ Jesus.

First, we are no longer unworthy to stand in God’s presence. Hebrews 4:16 tells us we can go to God’s throne in prayer boldly and with great confidence. The Blood of the Lamb has qualified us. We can stand in God’s presence and be confident that we belong there and that our request is important to Him. We are not out of place in God’s presence because the Blood of Jesus has put us into our rightful place with God. We can be sure that when we go to the Lord seeking mercy and grace (Hebrews 4:16) we will find the help we need at just the right time. He wants us to come. He has made a way for us to come. We don’t need to be shy about coming into His presence. We are not out of place when we are on our face before our Heavenly Father in prayer. Doesn’t that give you a sense of security?

Second, we never go to the Father in prayer alone. When we pray we have an Advocate, Jesus our Savior (I John 2:1). He goes into the Courtroom of God with us. He understands what we are going through. He will vouch for us before the Heavenly Father. He constantly represents us before the throne of God as He is praying with us and for us! (Romans 8:34)

Third and finally, when we take our insufficiency to God and allow Him to infuse His Word and His power into our circumstance we have everything we need to endure a circumstance or to experience a change in that circumstance. We take our weakness to Him, and He gives us strength. We can do all things through Christ who gives us strength, (Philippians 4:13) and the infusion of strength comes as we trust God in prayer. II Corinthians 12:9 tells us God’s grace is sufficient when we are insufficient. Those who seek the Lord will lack no good thing (Psalm 34:10). The currency for answered prayer is humility and trust in the promises and plan of God.

Persevering in prayer, yes, that was Jesus’ main point. But three underlying truths are also seen. For in the place of prayer we are reminded we are made worthy by the Blood of the Lamb. In the place of prayer we are reminded that we never walk through this life alone. In the place of prayer we are reminded that God’s grace is sufficient in times of trouble. Persevering in prayer has more benefits than just receiving justice. When we do, we exercise our awareness of who we are in Christ (WORTHY), who we are with Christ (NEVER ALONE), and who Christ is in us (ALL-SUFFICIENT).

He Said He Would

What a glorious Easter Sunday we had! I hope you encountered the Risen Lord in a life-changing way and that you have had chains falling off of your life this week. I hope that even though the Lenten season is over and many of you fasted something or added a discipline like reading through the New Testament that you will still look for ways to passionately follow Jesus. He is the Way, and He is the Waymaker. He is the One I want to pattern my life after. He is the only One who knows the Way out of this life into the next, so I want to follow Him!

That reminds me of a story about a buddhist in Africa who was converted to Christianity. Somebody asked the former Buddhist, “Why did you change your faith?” Here’s what he said: “It’s like this: If you are walking along and came to a fork in the road and two men were there, and one was dead and the other was alive, which man’s directions would you follow?”

I’m following the One who is alive forevermore! How about you?

Jesus made a lot of promises to His disciples. He had never given His disciples a reason to doubt Him. And yet, on the heels of the Resurrection instead of responding in faith and trust with great joy over the empty tomb and expectation regarding what was ahead, many of the disciples lived with DISTRESS, DOUBT, and DEPRESSION. Jesus had never broken a promise. He promised the tomb would be empty, and yet, they were afraid in John 20:19. Thomas doubted it could even be possible in John 20:25. And in Luke 20:17, some of Jesus’ followers were wallowing in depression.

Why the reason for distress, doubt, and depression when just a few days earlier they had been on a spiritual high with Jesus? There was not a lack of knowledge about who Jesus was, why He had come, or what they could expect. There was also no lack of experience with Jesus. Jesus had NEVER let them down. So, why then when there was no lack of knowledge and no lack of experience did the disciples give in to distress, doubt, and depression?

They did because they let their feelings have authority over their lives rather than the words of Jesus. When they gave their minds over to negative thinking, negative emotions latched onto those ideas and started to distress their hearts.

Instead of relying on the numerous times Jesus had proven Himself to Thomas, he asked for proof in order to believe something different than he could see.

Instead of telling their minds to mind their faith, they let their faith mind their minds and gave into despair.

We have got to learn to live in the light of what Jesus said, and not in the light of what our circumstances or our feelings tell us.

The Resurrection gives us the biggest reason EVER to trust Jesus and to take Him at His Word. He said He would rise from the dead, and He did. Over 500 eye witnesses saw Him after the Resurrection. There was physical evidence to back up the claim. To deny it is to deny hundreds of eye witnesses, physical evidence, and the willingness of His disciples to be killed for proclaiming it was true.

Feelings are natural. You can’t “help” the way you feel. But you can let your faith inform your feelings. If Jesus can overcome the grave, in His name, by His authority, and with His power, we can overcome distress, doubt, and depression.

I’m not telling you not to wrestle with your feelings. I’m not telling you that the storms of life won’t cause you to feel anxious. But I am telling you that if you will take those feelings to the Father in prayer and in faith, He will give you perspective and victory so you don’t have to live life based on your feelings.

We need to raise our respect for and commitment to the Word of God. We need to hold onto it and expect Jesus to move in the ways He has promised to move in our lives.

Keeping Satan out of our home. An offensive Impact.

The Impact of our Words.

The Impact of our Testimony.

The Impact of our Faith.

The Impact of our Courage.

The Impact of Grace.

Impacting this generation. Deuteronomy 6:1-6:12 (add scripture) (Attitude, Words, Testimony)

A quiet forest dweller lived high above an Austrian village along the eastern slopes of the Alps. The old gentleman had been hired many years ago by a young town council to clear away the debris from the pools of water up in the mountain crevices that fed the lovely spring flowing through their town. With faithful, silent regularity, he patrolled the hills, removed the leaves and branches, and wiped away the silt that would otherwise choke and contaminate the fresh flow of water. By and by, the village became a popular attraction for vacationers. Swans floated along the crystal clear spring, mill wheels of various businesses located along the water, farmlands were naturally irrigated, and the view from restaurants was picturesque beyond description.

Years passed. One evening the town council met for its semiannual meeting. As they reviewed the budget, one man’s eye caught the salary figure being paid the obscure keeper of the spring. Said the keeper of the purse, “Who is the old man? Why do we keep him on year after year? No one ever sees him. For all we know the strange ranger of the hills is doing us no good. He isn’t necessary any longer!” By a unanimous vote, they dispensed with the old man’s services.

For several weeks nothing changed. By early autumn the trees began to shed their leaves. Small branches snapped off and fell into the pools, hindering the rushing flow of sparkling water. One afternoon someone noticed a slight yellowish-brown tint in the spring. A couple of days later the water was much darker. Within another week, a slimy film covered sections of the water along the banks and a foul odor was soon detected. The mill wheels moved slower, some finally ground to a halt. Swans left, as did the tourists. Clammy fingers of disease and sickness reached deeply into the village.

Quickly, the embarrassed council called a special meeting. Realizing their gross error in judgment, they hired back the old keeper of the spring. Within a few weeks the veritable river of life began to clear up. The wheels started to turn, and new life returned to the hamlet in the Alps once again.

This story is more than an idle tale. It carries with it a vivid relevant analogy directly related to the times in which we live. What the keeper of the springs meant to the Swiss village, Christians mean to the world. We Christians may seem feeble, needless, unimportant, and small to the vast world, but God help any society that attempts to exist without our influence.

Success is often reached through the little stuff. When Pat Riley coached the Los Angeles Lakers from 1982 to 1990, the team won four NBA championships. In taking over the New York Knicks in 1991, Riley inherited a team with a losing record. But the Knicks seemed able to play above their abilities and even gave the eventual champions, the Chicago Bulls, their hardest competition in the play-offs.

How does Riley do it? He says his talent lies in attention to detail. For example, every NBA team studies videotapes and compiles statistics to evaluate players’ game performances. But Riley’s use of these tools is more comprehensive than that of his rivals. “We measure areas of performance that are often ignored: jumping in pursuit of every rebound even if you don’t get it, swatting at every pass, diving for loose balls, letting someone smash into you in order to draw a foul.”

After each game, these “effort” statistics are punched into a computer. “Effort,” Riley explains, “is what ultimately separates journeyman players from impact players. Knowing how well a player executes all these little things is the key to unlocking career-best performances.”

Robert McGarvey, Reader’s Digest, Little Things Do Mean a Lot.

Have you ever been confronted with a message that changed your perspective? One church chose as its Lenten theme, “Forty Days of Love.” Each week members of the congregation were encouraged to show their love and appreciation in different ways. The first week they were encouraged to send notes to people who had made positive contributions to their lives.

After the first service a man in the congregation wanted to speak to his pastor. The pastor describes the man as “kind of macho, a former football player who loved to hunt and fish, a strong self-made man.” The man told his pastor, “I love you and I love this church, but I’m not going to participate in this Forty Days of Love stuff. It’s OK for some folks,” he said, “but it’s a little too sentimental and syrupy for me.”

A week went by. The next Sunday this man waited after church to see his pastor again. “I want to apologize for what I said last Sunday,” he told him, “about the Forty Days of Love. I realized on Wednesday that I was wrong.”

“Wednesday?” his pastor repeated “What happened on Wednesday?” “I got one of those letters!” the man said. The letter came as a total surprise. It was from a person the man never expected to hear from. It touched him so deeply he now carries it around in his pocket all the time. “Every time I read it,” he said, “I get tears in my eyes.” It was a transforming moment in this man’s life. Suddenly he realized he was loved by others in the church. This changed his entire outlook. “I was so moved by that letter,” he said, “I sat down and wrote ten letters myself.”

Quoted from: www.devotions.net/devotions/files/2001/01jan/23.htm

Impression or Impact

Charles F. Stanley

Matthew 5:1316

Only one person is reached for Christ for every eight-five church members in America. (Source: Surprising Insights, Thomas S. Rainer)

This means that 84/85 believers have NO IMPACT! http://garyclick.com/2011/05/16/10-tips-to-maximize-your-impact/

Living within our means

Living with an understanding of the Word of God

Living with an awareness of the pain of others

The Miracles of Christmas

It’s a Wonderful Life-Christmas Movies-Kelly Geraci

Pentecost-The Impact of the Holy Spirit

Focus on the Family’s Position

Who we are in Christ-WORTHY

Who we are with Christ-NEVER ALONE

Who Christ is in us-ALL-SUFFICIENT

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