Live a Life of Giving

Acts 20:35 It is more blessed to give than receive.

Proverbs 24:11,12 Help those in need and don't blow it off. God judges our hearts.

Proverbs 21:13 He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will cry himself and not be heard.

Ezekiel 34:4 – What the shepherds did wrong.

Did not strengthen the sickly.

Did not heal the diseased.

Did not bind up the broken

Did not bring back the scattered.

Did not seek for the lost.

Matthew 25:41

Did not invite the stranger.

Did not clothe the naked.

Did not visit the sick and those in prison.

Luke 16:20,21 The accounting of the rich man and Lazarus

Note: In all the parables of Jesus none of them had a name of a person. Therefore I consider this a true account of 2 people in history. We should help those without strength and not just please ourselves. Romans 15:1

Live a life of giving, not a life of taking. We are rewarded when we give. A life lived to please ourselves turns bitter.

Drifting, Hardness, Sluggisness

At Kendallwood this past Sunday I taught on 3 things that keep us from growing in the Lord.

1. Was drifting away from the faith. Hebrews 2:1-4. Drifting could be just not paying attention to what we are doing. It could be not being sharpened in our faith and staying close to God in prayer and Bible reading.

Some ways to get out of drifting is to meditate on the Bible and know there are large benefits in following God.

2. The Second area that befalls people is hardness of heart. Hebrews 3:5-4:3 Hardness of heart is no believing the teaching of the Bible. It is deciding against believing the Bible. The end result of hardness of heart is a lack of rest within.

3. Sluggishness Hebrews 5:11-14 is the third thing that keeps a Christian from reaching his potential in the Lord.

And this verse came to mind today that goes along with what I am saying above.

Romans 1:21 “ For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. “

This verse refers to areas that people fall into that keep them from following the Lord fully.

1. Did not honor God. To give God the credit for our success. To Look to God in all we do. And to seek God daily for the answers and direction from Him.
2. Did not give thanks. It is important to have an attitude of thanks for all we have and do. This is not just for the things we have. We are to give thanks in all things in life both good and bad. Why? God is the one we serve and living by faith in Him means we are looking to Him to help us out of our problems. We give thanks in our problems because we trust God to help us in our problems.
3. Became futile in their speculations. We should keep our mind on Christ and not speculate on what will happen in life apart from what the Bible says. Trust in the Lord and His Word. God will answer prayer and deliver us as we look to Him. Don't put your mind on the things that could go wrong. Put your mind on the promises of God in the Bible.
4. Their foolish heart was darkened. As we turn away from God our heart becomes dark and does not receive from God anymore. This can change with repentance. All of us need repentance. And all of us should do it from time to time when there is something on our heart that is troubling us from what we have done.

So let us press on to know the Lord, for His light will come to illuminate us as we continue to seek Him.

Hearing From God

We can hear and have direction from God.

John 16:13 Jesus will disclose to us what is to come.

Psalm 119:99,100 We can learn much about God's direction by observing the testimonies in the Bible.

Amos 3:7 God will share his plans with His prophets.

Jeremiah 23:22 It is important to stand in the counsel of God, to announce God's words to His people.

Genesis 18:17 God did not hide from Abraham what He was going to do.

1 Corinthians 2:10 God reveals His plans to us through His Spirit.

1 Corinthians 2:12 We can have the mind of Christ.

John 15:15 Jesus tea

ches us what He has heard from the Father.

Ephesians 1:9 God has made known to us the mystery of His will.

Life Summary from Bible

Here is a summary of what we should be doing.

Micah 6:8

“He has told you, O man, what is good;
And what does the LORD require of you
But to do justice, to love kindness,
And to walk humbly with your God? “

Deuteronomy 10:12

 “Now, Israel, what does the LORD your God require from you, but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all His ways and love Him, and to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, “

Zech 7:9,10

“Thus has the LORD of hosts said, ‘Dispense true justice and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother; 10 and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.’

Zech 8:16

“These are the things which you should do: speak the truth to one another; judge with truth and judgment for peace in your gates. “

1 Timothy 1:5

“But the goal of our instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. “

• Do justice. Treat people with justice. Help people gain justice.
• Love kindness. Not only are we kind but we seek it out and work towards being kind.
• Walk humbly with God. Humility cares more of others, and is not self absorbed.
• Fear the Lord your God. A sinner will fear the consequences of sin. A righteous believer will respect a holy God.
• Walk in all His ways. Read the Bible and study to live as God desires us to.
• Love God. Live in hope and expectation of what He has promised.
• Serve with all your heart and soul. Serve God with all you have.
• Love from a pure heart. Have a heart totally for God and don't hold back. Don't make provision for the flesh.
• Good conscience. Deal with sin and problems right away. Walk in confidence in the finished work of the blood of Jesus.
• Sincere faith. The motive for faith is to serve God and not self advancement.

Faith lives Crucified

Galatians 2:20 ~~I have been crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live. yet not I but Christ lives in me. And the life that I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave Himself for me.~~

1. Crucified with Christ
2. Live as Christ lives through me.
3. Live by faith in Jesus in the flesh
4. Jesus loved and gave Himself for us.

What does it mean to be crucified with Christ?
Gal 5:24 Defines those who belong to Christ.
~~They have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.~~
That is we do away, make no provision, ignore, reject.
Now we need water, clothes, food, shelter.
- What we do for the flesh is maintenance.
In practicality if we put what pleases Christ 1st we won't have much time for other things.

But if we put Christ first and haven't crucified our flesh we will burn out because we are not able to do the things we desire. Instead put aside the desires of the flesh and go full bore for Christ. Don't look back to please the flesh. Push on to be pleasing to Christ.

Then how are we refreshed and not burn out in the work?
Ps 119 revived in the word
I revive myself in quietness in nature.

What is the difference between reviving myself with natural means and reviving myself spiritually.

Jesus said His food was to do God's will and accomplish His work John 4:34
Jesus anointing came from the wilderness as the Holy Spirit led Him. Let God refresh you. We all need times of rest. Mark 6:31

Faith is Content

Faith is content in the present in what one has and believes God for the future.

Contentment vs Desire

Are we content where we find ourselves?
There are lessons to be learned from our present situation.

But how can we cry day and night, if we are content where we are? Also In Isaiah 62:6,7 we are instructed to cry out to God day and night.

In Philippians 4:11 the context is our living situation.

Faith is content knowing God will provide.
1 Tim 6:6 we are to be content with the simple things and not seek to be rich.

In fact the responsibility of riches hinders our ability to walk in faith. We are to flee riches and pursue God. 1 Timothy 6:11

You can't try faith you have to believe.

You can't try faith you have to believe. Because the tests of faith will cause those who try faith to quit.

By its very nature, faith is in something that is hard. If it was not hard you wouldn't be worrying about it or spending much time on it. There would be no need for faith.

James 1 talks about the perseverance of faith. Faith must last through many problems. When you try something there is the mindset that you may receive and and you may not. Faith does not operate by that. Faith in God is hearing Him and being assured that what He has promised He is able also to preform. Then when all hell breaks loose against you, you still have the rock of God to stand on. And faith stands on that rock in the storm.

Many are the afflictions of their righteous, but the Lord delivers him from them all.

Count the cost before the fight. If you count the cost in the midst of the fight you are more likely to give up when the going gets tough.

Isaiah 7:9 is a good verse on this. If you will not believe you surly will not last.