Sunday, February 24, 2013

Remain faithful in your godliness

We opened the lesson with a song from Sidewalk Prophets "Words I Would Say".  It set the tone for our discussion of keeping the faith in our godliness.

So what is godliness anyway?  And why godliness?  Godliness is conforming to the laws of and wishes of God or to have a religious character.  There are many benefits to godliness since it holds promises for our life today and our life to come. 
(READ 1 Timothy 4:7-10  "But have nothing to do with worldly fables fit only for old women.  On the other hand, discipline yourself for the purpose of godliness; for bodily discipline is only of little profit, but godliness is profitable for all things, since it holds promise for the present life an also for the life to come.")
Are you willing to work until it hurts to pursue godliness?  Who plays sports?  How often do you practice?  Can you honestly say you give that much effort to training yourself to be more godly?  After all, godliness is grounded in the work of Christ.
Now there's a difference between true and fake godliness.  Godliness is not just something to see on the outside, its not something you do to impress others.  You get no person benefit from fake godliness, nor does it help you in your life.  The real benefits come with true godliness.  True godliness will bring help with decision making, avoiding sin, bringing you closer to God,  joy from walking with God and wisdom to help others, not to mention eternal blessings of ruling with Christ in the new heaven and earth.  So do you think that if you do good things you will become more godly?  Actually, godliness results in works...good works do not produce godliness.  We have to ground ourselves in the work of Jesus and what he did for us.  In doing that, reflecting, meditating, building your life on his truth that produces godliness.  Good works will flow from the life of one rooted in godliness through the work of Jesus.
Now what happens when you are plugging along, doing the godly thing and you just keep getting slammed by the world.  Unappreciated.  Disrespected.  Expectation that since you are the good Christian person you will always be there.  You feel used.  You feel abused.  You feel taken advantage of.  Suddenly this godly stuff doesn't look so cool anymore and you feel like losing your religion over it!
What do you do when you get overwhelmed?  I've learned to looked to the word.  It's all here.  Seriously.  This situation is no different. 
(READ Titus 3:1-8  "Remind them to be subject to rulers, to authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good deed, to malign no one, to be peaceable, gentle, showing every consideration for all men.  For we also once were foolish ourselves, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various lusts and pleasures, spending our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another.  But when the kindness of God our Saviour and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and newing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.  This is a trustworthy statement; and concerning these things I want you to speak confidently, so that those who have believed God will be careful to engage in good deeds.")

We have to stand in God's grace.  We wonder why do we continue to do these things for people and go out of our way in the name of godliness?  Because it's not just about us.  The example we are making in our godliness speaks volumes.  The impact you make with one good deed can last on in the lives of so many.  Ever heard the term "One good deed deserves another"?  You are impacting others with your godliness whether you know it or not.
(READ 2 Timothy 2:1-2  "You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.  The things which you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses, entrust these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.")
Your behaviors (negative or positive) radiate on those around you.  Think about the example you wanna make for your little sister or big brother, or mom or dad, grandma or uncle.  Your godliness could bring him or her to closer to Christ, so don't give up on it when you get disappointed in a situation.

But how do you endure?
(READ 2 Timothy 2:3-10 "Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.  No soldier in active service entangles himself in the affairs of everyday life, so that he may please the one who enlisted him as a soldier.  Also if anyone competes as an athlete, he does not win the prize unless he competes according to the rules.  The hard-working farmer ought to be the first to receive his share of the crops.  Consider what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.  Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, descendant of David, according to my gospel, for which I suffer hardship even to imprisonment as a criminal; but the word of God is not imprisoned.  For this reason I endure all things for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus and with it eternal glory.")

Let me ask you a question, what do you want to be when you get out of school?
Wanna be in the army?
Play pro football?
Raise sugar cane?
Be an engineer?
A doctor or nurse?
So when you lose a patient or have a bad season or lose a battle on the front lines...you gonna just give up?  No.  Why?  Because it's your life.  It's your job.  It's your lively hood.  You depend on it.  your godliness should be no different.  Will you know it all on day one?  No.  Will you ever know it all?  NO.  It takes continued hard work and endurance but the rewards are so worth it.

(READ 2 Timothy 2:11-13 "It is a trustworthy statement:  For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; if we endure, we will also reign with Him; if we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself.")

Just remember the end result is endurance.

Always keep the faith.

Here is the perfect example of how your actions can impact the actions of others. 
Acts of Kindness Video (Click on this link to view it)
Always stay faithful in your godliness even when you feel like losing hope.  When you think no one notices...they do.  Be the chance in someone's life today.


Source Credits:  Life Focus Studies by Lifeway

Monday, February 18, 2013

Lonely Fear / Doubt

This Sunday's Lesson opened with the song: “One thing Remains” by Kristian Stanfill
 
So what is fear?  It is an unpleasant emotion caused by the belief that someone/something is dangerous. I feared being a grown-up..LOL. Do you fear someone?

Deuteronomy 1:17 says - "You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike. You shall not fear man, for the judgment is God's. The case that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it."
Do you fear being alone or is it Ok to be alone?
According to Psalms 68:6, God makes a home for the lonely - "God makes a home for the lonely; He leads out the prisoners into prosperity, Only the rebellious dwell in a parched land."
Do you know that your never alone..even in your darkest hours. Do you have doubts about this?
How many times have we said “I never planned for that to happen”? I’m sure it started with a doubt, we not lying about planning, it’s just that several bad choices were made without looking at the consequences. Usually we stray off the Christian path way before we stumble and fall on our face…or worse sin, before we realize we strayed. It starts with a thought..that leads to a word from the mouth…that turns into an action with the body.
Matthew 12:34 says, "You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart."  So basically if you think it with your mind then speak it with your mouth…you start to believe it in your heart and then you act on it.
That’s how Satan works, filling our heads/minds with a littlest of doubts, fears, and/or dislikes. He moves cautiously and slowly with well thought out cleaver plans..that has worked for centuries.
So we read Ephesians 6:12,"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places."  Compared to modern thoughts about evil spirits, Paul pictured the churches battle for survival as a struggle against the devil, demons, and other evil supernatural beings.
Do you every doubt your parents/partner truly, truly love you? Do they listen when you talk? Do you spend time together? Do they not pay attention when ya’ll talk about problems?
Have you ever had someone say to you when you discussing your problems “Your parents/partner doesn’t deserve such a nice, sweet caring person like you” FYI…that’s Satan also working in them. Every time you take a tiny step off the righteous path, you justify your actions in your mind..example..you think in your mind if parents/partner won’t listen to me, that person who spoke such kind, caring word…will listen to me. Your are avoiding the problem not addressing…leading to a secret from your parent/partner.
We usually don’t grasp that Satan is never in a hurry, all he needs is an opportunity to put in a doubt…unholy self-centered thought in our head. If we don’t get them out right then and there, they start growing and Satan keeps going with his destructive evil schemes.
So we read Ephesians 6:10-11,18,23,24 -
"Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.  Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.


With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,
Peace be to the brethren, and love with faith, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Grace be with all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ with incorruptible love."





Thoughts inspired by Joyce Meyer “Battlefield of the Mind”


Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Begrudged?

We've talked a couple times about forgiving and although I think we are all works in progress, I think we have a pretty good idea of what we need to do to forgive.  But what do we do when we have forgiven and the other person hasn't forgiven us or when someone is holding a grudge against you?
How do you deal then?
Do you have someone holding a grudge against you?
Someone being mean or just rude to you no matter how nice you are to them?
When we think of a "grudge" we think of words like hate, contempt, spite and hostility.  Now there are any number of reasons why someone would be holding a grudge against someone but usually it just comes down to envy and jealousy.  We could easily get caught up in the hate and jealousy ourselves and retaliate but obviously that is not what God wants us to do.
God wants us to love.
Contrary to what we have always been told about love is blind, Philipp. 1:9-10 tells us to love with knowledge and incite.  God never intends on us loving blindly and dealing with grudges and forgiveness is no different.
So why is this person being so hateful to you?
Well evaluate your actions and ensure you have done everything in a loving, Christian manner and your heart is right and if you still come up wondering why...perhaps this person is not experiencing the fullness of God and the Holy Spirit.
So what do you do about it?
Ask God for insight into what is broken in that person so you can have compassion.
If you don't have compassion on people like this, if you are not careful yourself...one day you could become broken just like them...bitter and angry.
So why are these kind of people in our lives?
Why would God even have us deal with such things?
Seams cruel, huh?  Not really.
Has it ever occured to you that these people were assigned to our lives...for a specific purpose?
God positioned these people in our lives.
To test us.
To grow us.
To teach us.
To make us better people.
So what happens if you have tried all of this and nothing works?
You forgave.
You continue to take the high road.
You always did right by this person.
And still they hold a grudge that you just can't get past.
We have to consider whether or not this was a relationship God intended.  Is it a toxic relationship.  Some relationships were not meant to be restored.  As long as we are obedient to God and we love, we forgive, we lay down our pride and give it to him, we have pleased him.  that is all we can do.
So maybe you didn't do anything to provoke a grudge within your family, at school or at work or with someone you once thought of as a good friend.
In 1 Samuel (1 Sam 16:15-26:25), King Saul held a grudge against David.  David didn't do anything to provoke the grudge, in fact, he had slain the giant Goliath on behalf of King Saul.  But when people started praising David for this heroic deed, Saul became so jealous, he began plotting his death.  After repeated evil acts and attempts on David's life, one day Saul and his men fell in a deep sleep allowing David to get close enough to kill him but he didn't.  David spared Sauls life even knowing Saul held this grudge and tried to kill him over and over.  You too can use David's strategy and not become vengeful by returning evil for evil.  Remember or lesson on "kill'em with kindness"?
We can look to Jesus as an example so we can also forgive the person holding the grudge against us (if we haven't already done so).
Matt. 5:44-45 tells us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us.
Proverbs 16:17 says "When the Lord takes pleasure in any ones way, he causes their enemies to make peace with them"
The Bible talks over and over about how God rewards not returning evil for evil and having compassion for those who may be our enemies or holding grudges against us.
So keep your Christan values and always be the better person because it will set you free just as it says in John 8:31-32 "So Jesus was saying to those Jews who had believed Him, 'If you continue in my word, then you are truly disciples of mine; and you know the truth, and the truth will make you free."
Let it set you free.


Resources: Godlywoman.com, Loving Well Bible Study by Beth More

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Forgiveness

We open up our lesson this morning with the song “Forgiveness” by Matthew West.  As we listen, we reflect on what it means to really forgive.  In the words of the song, "It flies in the face of all your pride"...how true.
Matt 18:21-22-Peter came and said to him, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me and I forgive him?(Matt 18:15 - If your brother sins “against you”, go and Show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won brother.)Up to seven times?(Jesus gave his disciples instructions one of them is in Luke 17:4– And if he sins against you seven times a day, and returns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’-forgive him.”) Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.
Forgiveness is a major part of the Christian faith and your forgiveness grows through encounters God and meditating on his word. Have you ever said “please forgive me” to someone out of love? What I mean is to love is to forgive, if you love really someone you can forgive them…no matter how difficult (example 1 Cor. 13) Read if you have never heard? How do you feel if you walk away from someone you know you should tell them you’re sorry or u forgive them, but you decided not to say anything? How do you feel when someone does it to you?
Forgiveness is a timing thing, sometimes when you’re ready they are not and vice versa they are ready and you are not. Forgiveness is like love, you can interchange the two in your Christian journey..but the thing to remember is that neither of them cannot be faked or expected in return when given to others. It goes back to the timing thing, when ya’ll are ready and also it cannot be rushed.
Matt 6:14-15 – (Jesus say)For if you forgive others for their transgressions, (Jesus warns in Matt 7:2 – ‘For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you.’ More examples of his warnings Mark 11:25, Eph 4:32, Col 3:13)your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others, then your Father will not forgive your transgressions.(Another example read Matt18:23-35) definitions as we are reading: A talent was worth more than fifteen years’ wages of a Laborer, Denarius was a day’s wages.
Closing Prayer: Thank you God for the positives (high) points this week and realize the negative (low) points are where we were lacking you. Lord hear our petitions also let us pray O-lord for those who are lost or lonely or sick or dying. We pray for those who do not know you but need you, that they will find you. Please Lord hear the prayer of your people who do your service throughout the World. Dear God help us to smile until we speak again, Lord help open our eyes and hearts to your work in the world around us and happily join in the struggle to spread your great, most highest Word to the world…and all Gods people say..Amen