Money View

For I bear witness that according to their ability, yes, and beyond their ability, they were freely willing, imploring us with much urgency that we would receive the gift and the fellowship of the ministering to the saints. And not only as we had hoped, but they first gave themselves to the Lord, and then to us by the will of God. 2 Corinthians 8:3-5

Imagine with me that you are touring a house that you think you might buy. If you’ve been there before in real life, then you know what’s coming.

The realtor shows you the kitchen and the living room. Then they take you to the room that has the best view, maybe even looking out on the ocean. They walk to the window, and as they throw open the curtain, they say, This is the money view, right here.

Well, as we view our money, we will notice that it says, In God We Trust. In fact, this is even our national motto. If we really are trusting in God, then I need to share something with you-the money view of how you view your money. Ready? Here it is:

What I keep is all I have. Okay? What I decide to keep in this culture, in this world, in all that I work for, what I decide to keep is all I have. But what I give, God multiplies.

Now there isn’t a single person reading this who would not benefit from the multiplication of God that comes as we give unto Him. So this time for us, for all of us, is a strategic, money-view time. It’s time to make sure that it’s in God we trust where all of our living, giving, sharing, spending, and earning is concerned, because if we’re not careful in these hard times, then our hearts will grow hard, too.

That’s exactly what the devil would love to see happen to your heart, for it to grow tough towards tithing because times are tough.

What we need, then, is God’s Word poured into our lives so that our hearts remain tender towards the Lord, not tough, realizing that if I’m just going to hold onto all of this, if I’m going to hoard, if I’m going to clench real tight-it is mine, you know-then that’s all you’re ever going to get. But if you give, then God can bless, then God can multiply.

Don’t live in God’s kingdom and blind yourself to the best view in the house. Get the money view-what you keep is all you have, but what you give, God multiplies.

Prayer Lord God,

Thank You for multiplying whatever I give to You! I’m sorry for letting my fears get the best of me during this hard time. Please wash over me with Your Word and Your presence as I choose to trust You again!

Amen

Crossing Is Choosing

We give no offense in anything, that our ministry may not be blamed 2 Corinthians 6:3

You got a skeleton in your closet? Of course you do. We all do. The question is what we do with them.

A lot of people just try to hide the skeletons in their closet, and I understand that. I mean, none of us want to broadcast our past failures for everyone in the whole world to see. But you know what I think happens if we never open that door up for someone to see? I think those skeletons start wanting to breed. You hear me? I’m saying that those hidden failures of the past want to lead you into present day and future failures if we’re not careful.

Because here’s the deal, Paul set our standard in our verse today that we would bring no offense to anyone, that there would be no scandal.

That’s why we have our church fully audited by a national firm of the most conservative type. We do it so that there can never be any question of where the funds are going, no doubt about who is tapping into the resources and why. Now, this is by no means either cheap or popular. But we do it for the sake of the gospel, that no one would have any reason to be offended with God because of us.

Can you say the same, that no one will be offended with God because of you? One of the scariest verses in all of Scripture, to me, is Romans 2:24, saying, For the name of God is blasphemed among the gentiles because of you. Is the way you’re living-matching up with Christ crucified, or with the skeletons in your closet? It’s time for the actions of our lives to match the words of our mouths. If we preach it, then we’d better practice it.

And in this practice, here’s the word for you-go bold. Be a standout. Don’t hold back because you think people will call you a hypocrite, because the only way you become a hypocrite is by talking one thing and doing another. Just be bold in letting your life match your words.

How, you ask? First, with God’s help. Romans 8:13 says that it’s by the Spirit that we put to death the deeds of our flesh. Second, with the help of fellow believers. Let these brothers or sisters into your life, open up your closet, and let them help to guard and strengthen you as you pursue ultimate victory.

Don’t let those skeletons haunt you anymore. Bring them to light instead by being filled with the life of Christ.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You that You are more powerful than the skeletons in my closet! I open up my closet to You and ask for Your help to make my future different than my past!

Amen

Head-On Collision

Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ. 1 Corinthians 11:1

Have you ever been in a head-on collision? Probably not, because if you were, you probably wouldn’t be reading this, because most people don’t survive head-on collisions.

We can have head-on collisions in life, just as we can in driving, and no matter where or how they occur, they are equally devastating. One area of life where we especially need to watch out for head-on collisions is the area of authority and submission.

Authority and submission go hand in hand. You cannot have one properly functioning without the other also in place, and in the body of Christ, it is built in and based on love and service to God and one another. It is never built upon power, abuse, or control. If you use authority with these last three things then you are heading for a head-on collision.

My hope today is that you have a good example of someone in your life that uses authority the way that God uses authority. I hope that you can look at someone you know and see the love, the service, the heart to lift others up, to help others, to bless. Because the reality is that this is the way that Jesus uses His authority. He took His authority and used it to lay down equality with God, empty Himself, and become the sacrifice for our sins so that we could become children of God.

This is how authority works in the kingdom of God, because that’s how the King in the kingdom uses His authority.

And it is especially good to have someone in our lives whom we can imitate. Do you know why? Because imitation is a form of submission. We have to submit to the way they do things in order to be like them, using a choice of our will to place ourselves under their leadership and implement their ways into our own lives.

This is how we learn and grow, maturing and becoming more like Christ. This is also how we begin to carry authority ourselves.

Authority and submission really go hand in hand; you cannot have one without the other. If you want to do authority God’s way, then submit to someone who does it well and learn.

Prayer Father God,

Thank You for using Your authority to serve others! I want to learn to use my authority the same way that You use Yours, so please bring someone into my life from whom I can learn.

Amen

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? 1 Corinthians 6:1-3

How dare you?

Has anyone ever said that to you? It gets your attention, doesn’t it? That’s how Paul starts his whole discussion about lawsuits.

How dare you sue a brother or sister in Christ? How dare you drag the name of Jesus through the mud before an unbelieving judge? How dare you forget that you will one day judge both the world and the angels? How dare you?

This is strong language, so maybe you’re wondering what the big deal is. The deal is that your witness is at stake.

The world loves when the church airs its dirty laundry publicly. They love it because it gives them room to say, See, Jesus didn’t do anything for you; you’re just like the rest of us.

And you know the root of that, right? If they can imagine that we are just like everyone else, then there’s no reason for them to listen to us when we speak the gospel. There’s no reason for them to repent, to change their lives, to listen to God, to live for Him. If Christians act just as lost as the rest of the world, then why would the world see any need to believe in Christians’ God?

Before you know it, you’ve lost your witness before the world because, first, you can’t get along with your brothers and sisters in Christ, and second, when you do have an issue you look to the world for justice.

What are we supposed to do instead? Two things-first, on the occasion that you do have a dispute with a brother or sister in Christ, it is to be brought before fellow believers for justice. This is not a gossip group, but an elder with wisdom to issue a just verdict. Second, if there is no wise believer to whom you can turn, then prefer to be wronged. Yes, I said it, and Paul said it too; prefer to be wronged over seeking justice from unbelievers.

We need to realize that this shouldn’t even be an issue, that disagreements would be so prevalent among us that we would need to talk about this. But in the case that an issue needs solved, these are our instructions.

Let’s follow our instructions and preserve our witness.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

You are our ultimate example of justice, forgiving us even as you hung on the cross. Please help me to follow in Your example, preferring to give mercy than to seek justice from unbelievers. Please also raise up godly, wise leaders throughout Your body to lead us in justice.

Amen

Heartguard

I wrote to you in my epistle not to keep company with sexually immoral people. Yet I certainly did not mean with the sexually immoral people of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 1 Corinthians 5:9-10

Did you read what I just read? If not, then stop, go back, and read the verses of the day today.

Alright, now tell me, what is Paul saying in these verses? He’s saying, I wrote to you pre-

viously in a letter. Do you remember that letter? In that letter, I said to you that you shouldn’t keep company with sexually immoral people. What I didn’t mean is for you not to keep company with the sexually immoral people of the world, because if that’s what I meant, we’d all have to leave the world.

We’d have to get on that Hale-Bopp comet thing and get out of here. That’s not what he meant in our verses today. Even Jesus Himself would give us the example of hanging out with the folks that Paul is calling immoral. In fact, it was the religious, prideful, arrogant Pharisees who ultimately killed Jesus for hanging out with gluttons and prostitutes.

See, Paul isn’t saying not to be friends with those in the world who are desperately lost and in need of Christ. Go get them and bring them to a saving knowledge of Jesus Christ.

What is Paul saying? He’s saying in verse 11, I have written to you not to keep company with anyone named a brother, who is sexually immoral, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or an extortioner-not even to eat with such a person.

You see the difference? You see what he holds up as a new standard for the church of Corinth? Because what had happened was the church of Corinth was no longer providing the alternative lifestyle. The moment that we begin to act just like them, where is the alternative?

So he says we’ve got to draw a line.

I’m not saying don’t keep company with the world. I’m saying you can’t keep company with those who call themselves Christians who are still justifying their sin so as to remain in it. That’s got to go.

What’s the big deal? Why do we need to be so different? Well, what did Jesus save you from? Why did He die, if we are just going to continue in our sin? You are trampling on His sacrifice on your behalf if you let your heart grow apathetic about sin and justify it so you can still live in it.

Let Jesus save you. Let Him truly save you and set you free.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

I’m so sorry for justifying my sin, somehow thinking that it’s okay for me to keep living in it! Please forgive me! And now help me to live in the freedom You bought for me with Your own life.

Amen

The Full Surrender

For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 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, bringing every thought into captivity into the obedience of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

My mother made me do it. No, really, she did! I didn’t want to, but she forced me to-she forced me to memorize scripture.

One of the verses I remember most is, Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You (Psalm 119:11). Another one is very similar: Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path (Psalm 119:105).

Listen, let me just say it plainly, if you’re not in God’s Word, you’re thinking too highly of yourself.

I can figure this out. I know where I’m going. I know what I’m doing. I’m going to pull myself up by own boot straps.

Nonsense. Dead end. Cul de sac. Leads to nowhere. In fact, the Bible tells us exactly where it leads; the very same proverb is given to us twice, There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death (Proverbs 14:12, 16:25).

So He’s bringing us back to His Word. The greatest thing you can do is be in God’s Word and learn to identify and recognize His voice. Because, listen, the devil is out there trying to hijack your life, and the only thing that’s going to keep you straight is being hijacked already by something that’s greater than the devil.

And who would that be? That would be God. And how are you going to honor Him in your life? You’ll honor Him by remembering His Word, which has the power to keep you in His way in those moments when the devil comes knocking at your door, tempting you, trying to draw you away from Christ.

Listen, don’t do this life on your own; you won’t make it. Let the Holy Spirit help you. Get in His Word. Know it! Memorize it! Learn it and live it! Then you’ll know His voice and have the power to overcome in the day of temptation.

I didn’t like it in the beginning either, but you know what? I’d never be where I am now if I hadn’t done it. Where could you go in life if you just let God help you?

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You for giving us Your Word! Thank You for the power that is in Your Word, that if I will hide it in my heart, it will help me live my life for You. Please teach me and help me as I begin to hide Your Word in my heart!

Amen

The End

Behold, I am coming quickly! Blessed is he who keeps the words of the prophecy of this book. Revelation 22:7

I’ll be right back.

That’s what Jesus said to us in some of His last words recorded in Scripture. He’ll be right back. He’s coming soon. We can expect Him to return at any moment.

This is like when we say to our children, Daddy needs to go into the store for a second, but I’ll be right back. I have to go get something for you, but in just a little while, you’ll see me again.

The incredible thing about these words Jesus left us with is that He is talking to us. He’s speaking directly to you! Hey, Jesus passed a note to you and it says He’s coming quickly!

Do you believe it? You’ve got the note, right there in any Bible, written in plain red letters. You can read it for yourself, but do you believe it? Do you believe Him?

That is step number one-believe in Jesus Christ. Get that base covered so that when He comes, He is coming for you. We do not simply believe in any random higher power. No, there is no other higher power, no other name by which we can be saved. It is Jesus Christ alone. He is my only hope, and He needs to be your only hope, too.

I hope, too, that when I say these things, it isn’t like I have to coerce you into believing. The truth is there-Jesus is coming, and whether or not we have accepted His death on our behalf does determine our eternal fate-but I do not want to give you a repent or else message.

Jesus paid for all our mistakes because of His love, and then He left to prepare a place for us. When He returns for us, He is coming as a bridegroom to receive His bride unto Himself. I do not think He wants to return for a bride who only chose Him because they feared His wrath (no matter how real that is!). I think He is returning for a bride that genuinely loves Him and delights to think about His return.

Turn your heart toward this love. Go beyond believing in Jesus. Love Him! Long for His return! And then rejoice, for He is coming quickly.

Prayer Lord Jesus,

Thank You that You are coming soon! I believe in You and in Your return, but I want more than this. Please help me as I turn my heart to love You.

Amen