DISCERNMENT AND COURAGE

Not all change is rooted in fear or disobedience, just as not all change is rooted in discernment and courage. And this is where the power of God speaking through a group becomes so critical.

When there is division over what God's revealed will is, the clearest evidence of which way to move lies in which direction best evidences the planting, the growth, and the harvesting of fruit of the Spirit (cf., GALATIANS 5:22-23). And when divergent opinions represent the fruit of the Spirit equally, then rejoice! For then God is often sharing His desire with us that we are free to happily choose any one of the options before us, instead of believing that one option is more right than the others.

God's will isn't a tight-rope to be walked. It is a way of life to be sought and followed. And when we have a single-hearted devotion to Jesus Christ, and when seeking, finding, and following God's will is our highest aim, goal, and desire, the pathway of God's will is very often wide, not narrow ... as He gives us numerous options, all of which would be good, pleasing, and perfect, and must not be seen as competing with or divergent from one another.

And just as the role of the fruit of the Spirit is critical in identifying God's will for a group, it is also vital that the sweetness and the aroma of the fruit of the Spirit be present as we live and work with one another in all the various avenues of life and ministry we travel.

GALATIANS 5:22-23
(NEW ENGLISH TRANSLATION)

22-23 And the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness
and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

When everyone within a group is seeking God's will, the unity of the Spirit will come through the seeking of the fruit of the Spirit, and not just through the majority. This is why prophetic words are important, but are only one of the specific ways God speaks to us and leads us. By prophetic, I don't mean "predicting the future", but rather "calling us back to the voice of God's Spirit through God's Word".

We must trust the words God brings to us from those we know and love as single-hearted Jesus-lovers ... and we must also trust the words God brings to us from those who speak gently, maybe even with very few words. We must trust the "Jesus voice" and the "Jesus-leading" in one another.

May you seek, find, and live into the unity that finds its source in God's Spirit, and it's expression in the fruit of God's Spirit. Godspeed

read.think.pray.live.

Gregg

WAKING UP AND LOOKING FORWARD ...

I want to tell you about a passage of God’s WORD that really nailed me a couple days ago – and that God has been using to encourage me to look into my own life and into the life of our flock. And through this passage God has been helping me be more honest about what I’m seeing in terms of where I’m at and where we’re at as a church when it comes to inviting God to develop in us the character of Jesus Christ.

In EXODUS 35-38 I read a description of the type of people God chose to build the Tabernacle – which was the portable Temple the Israelite's made and carried around the wilderness during the forty years in between when they left the slavery of Egypt and entered the promised land … the land that is now the nation of Israel.

And as I read about the characteristics God was looking for 3,500+ years ago in those who called themselves “His people”, I realized that God is still looking for the same kind of people to partner with Him in what He’s up to in the world today. So read and listen to how this passage describes the CHARACTER and the PERSPECTIVE of the type of people God chose to build the Tabernacle and it’s contents, and the kind of people He’s still looking for to get His work done in the world …

EXODUS 35:30-31 (NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE)

30 Then Moses said to the sons of Israel, “See, the Lord has called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah.
31 “And He has filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, and in knowledge, and in all craftsmanship;

God WAS and IS looking for people who are surrendered to Him and filled with the Holy Spirit … and people growing in the three things we’ve heard Solomon call us to in our study of PROVERBS … knowledge, understanding, and wisdom. Do you see it?

Because only when these first four things are in place … can the fifth thing happen. And the first four have to do with our HEARTS AND MINDS, and the fifth has to do with our SKILLS AND ABILITIES. Here’s where we need to be for God to use us …

1. When we’re surrendered to and filled with the Holy Spirit …
2. When we’re increasing in our knowledge of God’s WORD …
3. When we’re deepening in our understanding of God’s calling to us …
4. When we’re wisely living out the truths of God’s Word that we’ve gained knowledge of and understanding about … and then …
5. Then and only then does God finally mention the importance of our skill-set … or more specifically at the end of v. 31 that He needed someone with craftsmanship.

And I see our FIRST FAITH LESSON this morning in this progression of truth …

FAITH LESSON …

God cares about our HEARTS AND MINDS FIRST, and about our SKILLS AND ABILITIES SECOND. But it’s usually easier to give our SKILLS AND ABILITIES to God first, and keep our HEARTS AND MINDS to ourselves, than it is the other way around.

But once we give God our HEARTS AND MINDS, then God can begin using our SKILLS AND ABILITIES for His purposes. And ultimately, that’s what will bring us to a place of joy and contentment.

As I’ve told you before, God is more concerned about our FAITHFULNESS than about our QUALIFICATIONS. And it’s so easy to get this backwards. But the truth about

God’s priorities, and what He’s looking for in the people who follow Him, and who He can use in this life to accomplish His plans, continues to open up in EXODUS 36 …

EXODUS 36:1-2 (NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE)

1 Now Bezalel and Oholiab, and every skillful person in whom the Lord has put skill and understanding to know how to perform all the work in the construction of the sanctuary, shall perform in accordance with all that the Lord has commanded.”
2 Then Moses called Bezalel and Oholiab and every skillful person in whom the Lord had put skill, everyone whose heart stirred him, to come to the work to perform it.

God has given each of us skills, and when we surrender our hearts to Him and pursue His knowledge … and then when we surrender our minds to Him and pursue His understanding, then we’ll be equipped to live out His wisdom. And in that place of surrender our hearts will be stirred to give all that we are, and all that we do over to God’s purposes, and to the maturing of our life of faith with God.

And I believe that this is the posture, the perspective, and the attitude God wants you and me as His followers to have as we dig into what He has to say to us about moving past slothfulness and redeeming the time we’ve been given here on this earth.

1. Let’s be surrendered to and filled with God’s Holy Spirit.
2. Let’s increase in our knowledge of God’s WORD.
3. Let’s go deeper in our understanding of God’s plans for us.
4. Let’s be committed to wisely putting into practice and living out the truths of God’s Word that we’ve gained knowledge of and understanding about … and …
5. Let’s give God our skill-set, and invite Him to stir us up to live out His plans in new ways … full of energy, joy, purpose, and vision.

Godspeed.

read.think.pray.live.

Gregg

IF THE EARTH IS THE LORD'S, WHY
AM I TRYING TO HOLD ONTO EVERYTHING?

[I haven't posted much for several months because of
formatting challenges with this blog site. But I've finally
figured out what I was doing wrong ... ya, it was me, not
the site ... and so now I'll begin posting more regularly.]

PSALM 24:1 (NEW CENTURY VERSION)

1 The earth belongs to the Lord, and everything in it – the world and all its people.

Do you see what David’s saying here? It’s not complicated, or rocket science. But to believe and accept the truth of David’s words takes SURRENDER, SACRIFICE, TRUST, and FAITH. Four things that can be hard for you and me to have – especially when we’re going through hard times financially, and when we’re struggling to learn the life-important lessons God has for us in these four areas …

• SURRENDER
God gets to tell us how to live life.
Am I listening to God?

• SACRIFICE
God gets to tell me what to hang on to and what to let go of in this life.
Am I obeying God?

• TRUST
God alone can keep me afloat in this life.
Am I chiefly depending on and trusting in God, on myself, or on someone else?

• FAITH
God is reaching out to me, and inviting me to reach out to Him.
Who or what am I holding onto and putting my faith into?

But since we’re not going to spend several months on this topic, and now that we’ve started by looking at David’s foundational truth about WISDOM AND FINANCES found in PSALM 24:1, we’re going to look into some of Jesus Christ’s teachings on finances found in MATTHEW 6, and then we’ll look at three of Solomon’s primary financial principles found in PROVERBS, and consider their application in our lives.

18th-Century British pastor, teacher, evangelist, and author John Wesley enjoyed the security of wealth largely because he wrote theological pamphlets and sold them for a penny each. And in a sermon entitled The Danger of Riches, Wesley offers us three great ideas that set the stage for the rest of what we’ll look at together this morning.

“I EARN all I can, without hurting either soul or body. I SAVE all I can, not willingly wasting anything. And I GIVE all I can, so I am effectually secured from laying up treasures on earth.”

Do you see Wesley’s priorities? EARN, SAVE, GIVE, and then SPEND. Turn with me in your Bibles to MATTHEW 6 and we’ll begin with vv. 19-21.

MATTHEW 6:19-21 (ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION)

19 Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, 20 but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

Where is your treasure? Are the things you value the most measurable on Excel spreadsheets, calculators, or on stock market charts? Or is what you value and treasure most, the character of Jesus Christ that God longs to see growing in you, and the priorities of the Kingdom of Heaven God longs to see being lived out of you? Like Jesus says here, there’s danger in storing up treasures on this earth. Jesus continues with this important teaching in vv. 22-24 …

MATTHEW 6:22-24 (ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION)

22 The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light, 23 but if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light in you is darkness, how great is the darkness! 24 No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.

None of us can serve God and money. We have to choose. And this is where we have to make up our minds about the irrefutable truth of David’s words in PSALM 24:1 … The earth belongs to the Lord, and everything in it – the world and all its people.

Do we believe that everything belongs to God … that all that we are, and all that we have is God’s and not ours? Or do we believe that we have what we have because we’ve worked hard for it, because we deserve it, and that if we live our lives with OPEN HANDS everything will slip through our fingers and we’ll be left destitute? Or do we believe that when we live life with OPEN HANDS before God and others that we’ll be able to serve God, AND also be able trust God’s provision for us? Jesus goes on in vv. 25-27 …

MATTHEW 6:25-27 (ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION)

25 Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: They neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?

You and I will always depend most on where ever our identity is most deeply rooted. When our IDENTITY is most deeply rooted in Jesus Christ, then He is Who we’ll most depend on. But when our identity is most deeply rooted in ourselves and in what we can accomplish, instead of being rooted in Jesus … then anxiety, depression, jealousy, bondage, comparing, and striving will always be front and center in our lives. Jesus goes on in vv. 28-31 …

MATTHEW 6:28-31 (ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION)

28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, “What shall we eat?” or “What shall we drink?” or “What shall we wear?”

Are you willing to let God take you out of anxiety, depression, jealousy, discontentment, bondage, comparing, and striving … and into His peace, centeredness, freedom, and joy? Is this what you’re longing for? Then build your identity in Jesus Christ and in the truth of King David’s words in PSALM 24:1 …

1 The earth belongs to the Lord, and everything in it – the world and all its people.

Jesus wraps up this teaching in vv. 32-34 …

MATTHEW 6:32-34 (ENGLISH STANDARD VERSION)

32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. 34 Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Do you see the promises God makes to us when we build our lives on His priorities and root our identity in Him? Acceptance of these teachings will equip us to begin living our lives in such a way that we’ll become a WITNESS and a BLESSING to those following us, and point others to the truth of Who God is and to His plans for us.

PSALM 24:1 (NEW CENTURY VERSION)

1 The earth belongs to the Lord, and everything in it – the world and all its people.

Here are three of the most important principles about WISDOM AND FINANCES that I’ve run into over and over again while reading and studying Solomon’s PROVERBS …

1. GIVE TO GOD FIRST … GOD EXPECTS US TO GIVE TO HIM FIRST … AND NOT OUT OF WHAT’S LEFT OVER AFTER WE’VE DONE WHAT WE WANT TO WITH OUR MONEY EACH MONTH.

2. LIVE WITH OPEN HANDS … WHEN WE GIVE FREELY TO GOD AND TO OTHERS, OUR NEEDS WILL BE MET.

3. CONSISTENCY AND FAITHFULNESS MATTER … REMEMBER THAT THE TORTOISE WON THE RACE, NOT THE RABBIT.

Godspeed.

read.think.pray.live.

Gregg