The Losses of Lawsuits

Dare any of you, having a matter against another, go to law before the unrighteous, and not before the saints? Do you not know that the saints will judge the world? ...Do you not know that we shall judge angels? How much more, things that pertain to this life? ...I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not a wise man among you, not even one, who will be able to judge between his brethren? 1 Corinthians 6:1-3,5

What is one of the biggest problems our society has today? Dishonor.

Dishonor is defined by the me first mentality, the attitude that puts self first before all else and refuses to consider the broader impact of our actions and decisions.

One ultimate expression of dishonor in the Church is bringing lawsuits against fellow believers. We need to take this matter seriously, and I will give you four reasons why.

First, it dishonors the family of God. When we insist on putting ourselves first, even if we have suffered wrong, instead of preferring one another and being thankful for what we have, then it dishonors the whole family. It is especially shameful to bring our disputes before unbelievers, as though they are somehow more capable to decide justice than a wise believer with the Spirit of God living in them.

Second, it dishonors the future. Paul says, Do you not know that we will judge the entire world, and the angels as well? Certainly we can judge cases among ourselves! Do not forget who you are or think yourself unworthy to hold the gavel and bring justice, for one day you will even judge the angels! Begin to practice now what will then be perfected.

Third, it dishonors the fellowship between you, your spouse, your kids, your business, or any other relationship you have had which you are now trashing by taking that person to court. We go to court trying to make things right, but we do more harm than all the good we could possibly ever get back.

Fourth, it dishonors the forgiveness we have already received. The truth is that when we bring our issues to court, refusing to forgive those who have wronged us, then we are dishonoring the forgiveness we have received. We have been forgiven, and so we must forgive.

No matter what, we lose more in a lawsuit than we gain. Above all, we lose our witness and trash the holy name of Jesus. Flee this dishonor and choose to be thankful, forgiving those who have done you wrong.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You for forgiving me, even dying for me after all I did against You. Help me to have that same attitude toward those who wrong me, that I would rather die for them and restore our fellowship than to see them punished for the wrong they did.

Amen

When the Church Gets It Wrong

For I fear lest, when I come, I shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such as you do not wish; lest there be contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, Lbackbiting, whisperings, conceits, tumults. 2 Corinthians 12:20

Let's get one thing straight-Jesus is perfect, but His Church still sometimes messes up. The problem is when we keep messing up without thinking we're doing something wrong. One of the biggest ways that the Church can mess up is in thinking that it's all about us. It sounds like this, Well, the music was too loud/quiet/fast/slow/modern/old/etc. I didn't like the preaching and it wasn't helpful for me. I'll just try a different church next week.

Let me ask you, do we come to church for us? Do we come for others? Or do we come for the glory of God?

I was at a big church once, just sitting in the greenroom before the service, and in this greenroom, they had all of these monitors of the cameras that are in the sanctuary. Now, all these cameras were watching the people as they came in, so all of us in the room were just watching these people who had no idea they were on camera.

All of a sudden, this lady walks in and everybody in the backroom says, Watch her. Watch her right now. Watch this.

All the cameras in the sanctuary focused in on this gal as she walks in, and here's what she did. She walks into the sanctuary and she starts looking around. She's kind of scoping out the room, but not to find the most comfortable seat where the air isn't too cold or too hot, where the light is just right to see her Bible.

She didn't walk in with that; you could just see it in her countenance that she was praying about where God wants her to sit. Suddenly, she notices in the front right corner of the sanctuary this elderly lady sitting all by herself. And she goes out of her way in that corner of the sanctuary to walk down the aisle and over the pews and through the rows and down over here and plants herself down next to this elderly lady.

And everybody's watching. The cameras are zooming in as she does this. And it wasn't more than a couple of minutes before she had her arm around that elderly lady, praying for her, and the lady starts crying.

Listen, what those cameras caught wasn't recorded on tape, but I hope it is now forever recorded in your heart, that we are coming before the Lord with this heart of taking Him, His house, His Word, and His work most seriously.

And taking ourselves seriously? Please not so much.

Prayer Father God,

Thanks for the reminder that life isn't about me. Please soften my heart to live beyond myself, especially as I gather with my Christian family.

Amen

Holey Moley

I will give children to be their princes, and babes shall rule over them. The people will be oppressed, every one by another and every one by his neighbor; the child will be insolent toward the elder, and the base toward the honorable. Isaiah 3:4-5

Have you ever been stuck under an incompetent leader? It's frustrating, isn't it? But then have you had a chance to lead after that and couldn't do any better? See, it's very easy to tell when things are not going how they ought to go, but it's much more difficult to know both how to fix it and how to get others to follow you to the solution.

Leadership really isn't an easy thing for most people, which is why our verses today pro-

claim a message with terrible consequences for Israel.

What happened was that all their godly leaders had been replaced with something else.

All their wisdom had been replaced by disrespect as one generation of godly kings failed to pass on their faith to their children, allowing them to grow up completely ignorant of God. Now, I don't know about you, but that sounds a lot like America these days.

That's why we, as a church, are doing all we can to reach out to the next generation, so that we could see God raise up a new generation that seeks to please Him with their lives.

But for those who are raised apart from God, you start wondering, Well, how are they going to run things when they're put in charge? How are they going to treat us? The Bible tells us exactly how they'll treat us-with disrespect and insolence. And if you think about it, you can begin to understand how this was part of what brought the downfall if Israel, because it led the nation in a downward spiral.

So if this is the direction that America could be heading, what do we do about it? Well, if nothing else-not that this is a small thing-for goodness' sake, get your kids to church. We hear the voice of godly leadership in Joshua, who said to Israel, Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve...but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord (Joshua 24:15). Talk with your kids and be the leader in your home. Tell them, Hey, you know what, the world might choose to serve other things, but our family already has made its choice. We serve the Lord. That means we go to church. That means we read our Bibles. That means we pray. And that means don't do the things the world does; we honor God instead.

Don't let the next generation become a curse upon America. Invest in them today so that they learn to love Jesus.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

You are the God of my family and there is no other! Please teach me to raise my children to love and follow You and bring honor for Your name back to America!

Amen

Better Families

Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord. Colossians 3:20

Have you ever seen a pet that went to obedience school? It really is amazing the difference between the pets who know they are not in charge and the ones who think they might still have a chance.

All people should have to go through obedience school, too. There is never a time in life when you will not have to answer to someone. You will always have to obey, and the earlier in life you can learn this, the better off you will be.

Training our children to obey us as their parents is one of the best things we can do for them. It will save them trouble with teachers and employers for the rest of their lives, setting them up for good grades, great jobs, and high placement for promotions and raises. Not only that, but when they are trained to obey us as parents, they are trained to obey God as their Father.

To do this right requires work in three areas very early in life. First, children need to accept the reality that they need to obey their parents in all things. This means without fussing, whining, complaining, arguing, or watering down what they were told to do. But I don't want to, does not get to be part of their vocabulary.

Second, children need to understand that their job is to learn. Your job is to teach (and to keep guard that what they learn from others, television programs included, does not violate biblical values), but their job is to learn.

Third, children need to know who they are. Even at the youngest of ages, you can begin to positively reinforce who they are. If you call them the nightmare-strong-willed-devil-child (as I have heard several Christian parents call their children), or even if you call them difficult, then what do you think they will be? Perhaps they acted that way, but your words will reinforce wrong behavior as a deeply held identity. Instead, choose to use words toward them that call them higher, no matter how they live up to it. After all, God calls us overcomers even in the midst of our failures, so we should do the same for our children.

These three areas help to establish healthy boundaries that cause children to flourish without squelching who they are. Hold fast to these things and you will begin to have a better family.

Prayer Father God,

Thank You for giving us instructions in Your Word that help us have better families! Please give me wisdom in raising my children and help me to apply the tools You give us in Your Word.

Amen

The Full Surrender

For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God. 2 Corinthians 10:4-5

I once met a girl named Zoe. It was at a church youth retreat up in British Columbia, and she was about as rough as they come.

Every time I spoke, she walked out on me. Her t-shirts cussed at me. She had so many piercings that it looked like she fell in my tackle box. Her skin was covered in tattoos. She gave off such an unwelcoming feeling that even I, the camp speaker, avoided her until the last day. In fact, I might have avoided her for the whole week except for one thing-I knew a guy who had a daughter named Zoe ripped away from him in a nasty divorce. His ex ran off and took his daughter to Australia and he hadn't seen her since. I had to find out, no matter how much of a long shot it might be, if she was his Zoe.

It was the last mealtime of camp and I got her to sit at my table. I asked her, Hey, small chance, I know, but is your dad a friend of mine from San Diego named Rob? She started to cry. Turns out she was that Zoe, but she didn't stick around long, running off on me again.

The next day was our seven-hour boat ride back to Vancouver, and I sat next to her the whole time, throwing every Bible verse I had ever memorized at her. She finally said, You're a little thick! I want nothing to do with you, or my dad, or your God! Leave me alone!

I felt like a failure, I mean, a complete failure. But the story ends well. I called my buddy Rob and told him about his daughter. He somehow already knew she was there and had bought a ticket to go up there before she headed back to Australia. He found her completely cleaned up, not at all as I had last seen her, and they called me. After the boat docked, I just stayed there all night, she told me, and I thought about everything you said at camp. When the sun came up that morning, it melted my heart and I invited God into my life. Jesus Christ has taken over my life and radically changed me from the inside out!

Listen, maybe you feel like a Zoe, needing to let Jesus Christ take over your life, or maybe you know a Zoe. Maybe your marriage feels lost. Whatever it is, however far beyond reach you feel your Zoe is, remember today that it is not so lost or damaged that God isn't able to redeem and save it.

His arm is not too short to save! Ask God to transform your life and the life of the Zoe you know.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You that no one is beyond Your reach! I pray for my Zoe today, that You would send someone to them, even if it's me, to reach them and bring them home to Your love!

Amen

The Key of Forgiveness

For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. Matthew 6:14-15

We're going to recite the Lord's Prayer together. Ready?

Wait, hold on. Let's address one thing first, because I want to make sure that when we pray this prayer, we really mean it.

Think about it. Have you ever noticed that this prayer says, And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors? How comfortable are you really in asking God to only forgive you in the way that you forgive others?

I bet you're glad that we stopped before we prayed those words now, aren't you? But here's the hijacked crunch of the entire matter, gang-we're stuck with this deal with God whether we pray that prayer or not, whether we like it or not.

Look at our verses today, because Jesus makes it very clear for us. If you forgive men their trespasses then God will forgive you. And if you do not forgive men their trespasses, then neither will God forgive yours.

You can't have one without the other. I mean, I know we try. We try to separate these two. We try to justify our unforgiveness. Well, you know what? What happened to me was so horrible.

I'm sorry for what happened to you, but you know what? What happened to Jesus was horrible, too, and it was you and me who did that to Him. So our forgiveness is forever tied to our forgiving those who have hurt us, whether they deserve it or not, whether they are repentant or not.

You probably won't hear this anywhere else, but I'm just going to say it-if you can't forgive, you can't go to Heaven.

If you can't forgive, if you can't get over this thing, if you can't give it to God, if you can't believe beyond the blunder, if you can't allow for a second chance, if you can't surrender this, if you can't replace the wanting to get even with the wanting for God's best, if you can't forgive, then you can't get to Heaven.

But God so much desires for us to get to Heaven that not only does He give to us this difficult thing to do, but by His Spirit, He also gives us the strength and ability to accomplish it.

Will you let Him give you strength to forgive today?

Prayer Lord Jesus,

You really are Lord of my life, no matter what. Thanks for giving me clear instructions on forgiveness. I choose today to forgive everyone who has hurt me, and I choose to forgive myself for the hurtful things I've done, too. Please come and set me free today!

Amen

The Yardstick of Hardships

Who is weak, and I am not weak? Who is made to stumble, and I do not burn with indignation? If I must boast, I will boast in the things which concern my infirmity. 2 Corinthians 11:29-30

Have you ever had trouble? And I mean more than just that you had trouble opening the new pickle jar. Have you ever had a season of trouble?

I think all of us have probably had times of trouble like that. And most of us, if we're normal humans, we respond to those times of trouble by crying out to God to deliver us.

We can learn a lot about how to deal with troubling times from Paul, who experienced more than his fair share of trouble. What's interesting is that he doesn't quit in light of the hardships, nor does he give us some syrupy, sappy, three-step remedy to our hardships.

Do you know what he does? He switches the focus for us. He helps us remember that Christ has not forgotten us in our circumstances, but that He is actually in our corner, real and loving enough to be with us no matter what we are experiencing. We need to never take our eyes off of Jesus, remembering that He never takes His eyes off of us.

Listen to what we learn most from Paul-his circumstances never shake His faith. Even though he is never once delivered from his circumstances, rather being delivered through them, he never once considers abandoning his Savior just to save himself from the troubling circumstances.

That is a huge paradigm shift for you and me right now. I think many of us pray, God, get me out of this trouble right now! And if You don't get me out of it, I'm ditching. If You won't save me, I'll save myself.

And we have this loving God on His throne in Heaven saying, Yeah, but I'm using this in your life. I'm really molding and shaping you right now.

I don't care. Enough. Out. Now.

But what happens if we jump ship in the middle of this? We don't grow. We remain runts. In fact, sometimes it's worse than that, because we've gone to the breaking point in our circumstances, and we run away broken from the God who wants to put us back together again.

Listen, there is healing on the other side of your circumstances. Trust in God, pour out your heart to Him, and stay faithful to stick with Him through the whole process. He's got good things on the other side.

Prayer Father God,

Thank You that You are always my good God no matter what is happening in my life! I put my trust in You for my life, that You will faithfully see me through every trouble and lead me into Your glory on the other side!

Amen