Stand up for Truth

In Gal 2:11-21, we see something very unusual and that was Paul opposing Peter.  We can learn a lesson from this.  Whenever things such as hypocrisy and deceit show their ugly head we must stand up for what is right.  Paul was not afraid to even oppose the so called big wigs in the church.  They were doing something that was wrong and Paul stood up for what was right.  One of the points of the sevenfold mission of the church is, "to promote all that is good and oppose evil in any form."  The Bible says when evil comes in like a flood that God will raise a standard against it.  The church is that standard.  We are not just to stand against the world but stand for righteousnesss in the church.  I believe that is how Paul dealt with the problem but he was still willing to oppose even someone like Peter.  Are you willing to do the same?  Your promises today are:  James 4:7, Prov 3:5-6, 1 John 4:7-8, and 1 John 4:4.  Your Insightful Sayings are:  Value your wife, she is strongest link in your family chain.  True repentance and sorrow is followed by action.

The way to judge.

In Gal 2:6, there is a great truth in this little verse.  The thing that I would like us to focus on is the fact that God does not judge by external appearances.  Men judge on what they see.  They see the wealth, position and status.  God looks at the heart.  Jesus spoke directly to this problem once when He spoke on how people look for the best places at banquets.  Pharisees were extremely good at the outward appearance.  They look like they had everything together.  Yet Jeus saw right though them, He called them white washed tombs.  Pretty on the outside but inside full of dead men's bones.  When you look at people look at the heart.  Look for the good qualities.  See them the way that God sees them.  Men and women with potential.  God will be pleased.  Your promises today are:  Deut 31:6, Ps 16:11, 32:8, 73:23, 121:8, Isaiah 30:21, John 16:13.  Your Insightful Sayings are:  When God moves try to keep up.  Never let anything block your way, God has already made the way, you just need to follow His path.

The Approval of God

AM 930 Blog

A servant of God.

Posted by Robert Dean  |  POST A COMMENT (0 Comments)

In Gal 1:10, Paul gives us a great lesson on seeking the praise of God and not man's.  Whoever tries to please men is not a servant of God.  What Paul is saying is that when we serve Christ we are not seeking the approval of man.  I once saw a movie on the life of a parish priest who for so long had been pleasing the people of the church when he was faced with the problem of meeting a real man of God he did not know what to do.  The movie portrayed his struggles to come to grips with his own Christianity.  Many ministers are in that same struggle right now.  They are seeking the approval of man and not God who called them.  Pray for pastors that they listen to God and not man.  That they speak the words of God to reach the lost.  That each one would speak under the anointing of the Holy Spirit and that their whole desire is to please God and not to seek the approval of man.  Your promises today are, Psalm 1:1-2, Isaiah 41:10, Rom 1:16, Gal 1:10 and James 4:7.  Your Insightful Sayings are:  It is amusing to hear someone saying they are fighting the goof fight and they leave their armor and weapons in the closet.  Experience is a wonderful thing unless it blocks faith.

Sow the Word

In 2 Cor 9:6, Paul is presenting the thought of sowing for a great harvest.  It should be our desire to make the most of every opportunity.  If someone opens the door for you to speak of the saviour speak with wisdom and power.  We are the instruments who God will use to reach the world for Christ.  If you sow sparingly you will see small results, if you sow generously you will reap a great harvest.  The difference between great soul winners and others is the fact on how much they sow the word.  As a preacher and radio personality, it is my desire to see many souls come to the Lord.  Yet if my church or myself is not faithful in sowing the word generously we will not see great results.  One time I wanted to see why a brother in my area had such a growing work.  I was with him one time for lunch.  During that short time he sowed the word into three people.  I went home determined to sow the word generously.  Your promises today are:  Isaiah 58:12, Ezek 13:5, Rom 8:26-27, 14:17, Col 1:12-13.  Your Insightful Sayings are:  When the Zeal of God is motiating someone, I have one piece of advice, get out of their way or move with them.  When you fear God, there is nothing left to fear.

A call to action

Recently certain events have made me painfully aware of how important it is for people to pray for each other.  On Thursday morning I made a call to prayer and since then it has been all out warfare.  I truly have had the worst four days of my life but instead of backing down I have increase my own prayer effort.  Isaiah 59:19 states that when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Lord will raise up a standard against them.  We are the standard and when we are under attack that is a call to action.  When you are in those times you can have two reactions.  Sit there in confusion and shock or pick yourself up and get to work.  I have chosen the later.  There is a call to action going on through the Kingdom of God.  In this call is also a rallying cry for the people of God to pray together.  Solomon reminds us in the book of Ecclesiastes that a three fold is not easily broken.  Jesus also reminds us in Matthew that where two or three are gather in His name He is in their midst and when two or three agree on anything in prayer it shall be done for them.  When you are going through a hard time you need to up your prayer life and also call others to help you to pray through to victory.  God allows these times to happen for a reason.  Many times when you are going through them you do not see the whole picture but that it the time you trust God.  So today if you find yourself like me.  Drop to your knees and pray like there is no tomorrow and invite others to help you and see God come through.   

God is good.

 Yesterday I experienced the grace of God.  I was involved in a serious car accident where I was bumprd up pretty good but the Lord was gracious.  I could have been hurt a lot worse than I was.  As I sat in the hospital I realize that God was truly with me.  Yes, I had bump up my chest and was a little sore but  here I was not really hurt.  The two other people involved in the accident were not hurt and God has been good.  It is time like this you realize God's goodness.  Yes, there has been a meterial loss in the accident but health wise I am o.k.  In moments like this you realize that the Lord will never forsake or leave you.  His angels were watching over me.  Truly the Lord is good.  If you ever doubt the goodness of God, just remember all the times He has been with you in the so called difficult times.  The Bible says that all things work together for good, it does not mean that all things are good but all things work together for good.  Out of this will come some good.  Maybe, I will learn to be more observant but mostly I have learned that no matter what state I find myself I have learned to be content.  Quite a lesson to learn.

Come and be separate.

In 2 Cor 6:17, Paul's message over the centuries has been, come out from among from among them and be separate.  This has nothing to do with communal living.  There once was a group of Christians that read this verse and so they had nothing to do with the world.  There never won a soul to Christ and became what Gordon Franklin calls a "Happy holy huddle."  God does not want us to drop  out of the world,  He wants us to live in the world but not be a part of it.  Luke 6, tells us to occupy until He comes.  We can live in this world and yet not be polluted by it.  That comes by living and walking in the Spirit.  It is Paul's desire that we do not let the world become an active part of our lives.  Rom 12:1-2, says we are not to conform to the world but transform it.  Separation does not mean isolation.  It means being part of the world's affairs and people lives but not allowing them to rule you.  You rule and transform them through Christ.  Your promises today are:  Psalm 25:9, 37:24, 73:24, Prov 3:5-6, 11:3 John 16:13 and Rev 3:8.  Your Insightful Sayings are:  Success is never a barometer for character, it is what you do in your private times that is.  When the zeal of God is motivating someone.  I have one piece of advice, get out of their way or move with them.

All Things New

1 In Cor 5:17-21, Paul gives us five things to meditate on.  First, that the old things have passed away and all things are becoming new.  Major Leo Porter said that they are becoming new everyday.  This relationship that we have with Jesus Christ is becoming new everyday.  The lessons of life are just starting.  Secondly, all this is from God who reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ.  Thirdly, we have been given the ministry of reconciliation.  He has given us the task of bringing this message of reconciliation to the world.  God was to reconciled Himself to all men.  Fourthly, we are Christ ambassadors.  God makes His appeal through us.  Lastly, God made Him who had no sin to become sin for us.  So that we might become the righteousness of God.  Your promises today are:  John 3:16, 1 John 4:7-8 and Rev 12:11.  Your Insightful Sayings are:  Man measures success on what they see.  God measures success on what people do not see.  You can be successful in all areas of life and still lose in the end. 

The Unseen

In 2 Cor 4:16-18, Paul says we must fix our eyes on the unseen.  What a struggle there can be with the natural or materialistic world.  One of the great mediums that have shape our modern world has been television.  It has been reported by the time a person has turned 65, they would have watched 9 years of television.  It has had a powerful affect on our outlooks on life.  Every day the philosophy of the world is being spewed out through this medium.  The things that would have shocked the Christian 30 years ago now have little effect on them.  Nowadays unfortunately it is getting harder and harder to tell the difference between a Christian and non christian.  Why is that?  We are putting more and more emphasis on tha which is seen than that which is unseen.  It is easier to keep your eyes on Jesus when you have nothing.  When you have all kinds of things in your life demanding your time and attention it is much more difficult to keep your eyes on Jesus.   One of the most blessed times for myself and my family was when I was un-employed.  God was our source and we saw Him marvelously supply our every need.  I am not saying we should not have the good things of life but we should not have our eyes on them but Jesus.  Your promises today are:  Psalm 5:12, 34:7, 97:10, 121:8, Prov 2:8, 30:5, Isaiah 59:19, John 8:32, Rom 8:37 and 2 Thess 3:3.  Your Insightful Sayings are:  A person may be a success in the work place but a dismal failure at home.  Never measure success in what you have but in what you give away. 

A Living Letter

In 2 Cor 3:3, Paul is commending the people at Corinth but also giving them a great truth about themselves and their relationship to God and mankind.  We are living letters or epistles.  One great preacher stated that we are many people's bibles.  When people look at us, do they see Jesus?  In the past, man had the law of God written on stone tablets.  It was more service than it was a living reality.  Some people prefer the traditions of man verses a relationship with God.  The Spirit of God has come to write the law od God on our hearts.  With the law of God written on the heart the believer is called to be an ambassador or living epistle and love letter for Jesus Christ.  One man stated that Christianity is better caught than taught.  You say more with your life than a thousand words speaking.  Is the law of God writtten on your hearts or are you just playing church.  Today make it your aim to know God better and His word.  Your promises are:  1 Cor 10:13, James 4:7, Matt 6:33, Rom 10:17, James 4:7 and 1 John 4:4.  Your Insightful Sayings are:  Love as if this is your last moment on this earth because it could be.  Children measure success not in what you give them but in the way you give yourself to them.

A Glorious Day

In 1 Cor 15:53-58, Paul records a glorious day that it is going to be when Jesus comes and takes us home.  That day will afford many blessings.  We will be with Him forever.  No more expectation for the day will have arrived.  This old mortal and corruptible body will put on in-corruption and immortality.  Death will be swallowed up in victory and the grave will longer threaten us.  All sickness, pain and death will be put away from the Christian life.  This event will signal the onslaught of the tribulation period.  During which we who believed will be judged, presented and partake in the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.  Yes, that is a day to look forward too.  I really desire that each one of us prepare ourselves for that day.  God is calling His people to be prepared.  We are to live holy, righteous and separated lives.  Remember Christ's coming could happen at anytime.  Are you ready?  Your promises are:  Matt 9 :29, 21:21, Rom 1:17, Rom 10:8, 10:17, 1 Cor 2:5, Eph 2:8 and Heb 10:23.  Your Insightful Sayings are:  True vision is seeing what God sees and implementing that sight into our lives.  Vision is where people see and do the impossible.

The Resurrection

In 1 Cor 15:1-11, Paul points out that the most important truth in Christianity is the resurrection.  Without the resurrection there would be no forgiveness of sin.  Jesus would still be in the grave.  When Christ said He would rise from the dead, He did, so Jesus did not lie.  Paul brings out some important truths about the post resurrection appearances of Christ.  Jesus first appeared to Peter, then He appeared to the apostles, He was seen by more than 500 people at one time, then he appeared to James and lastly to Paul.  Some people have tried to disclaim the fact that Jesus rose from the dead.  Yet centruies of witnesses and the power of Christianity to reform society cannot be dampened.  In the eighteenth century they said that God was dead.  In the nineteenth they said the church was dead, yet today we see more Christians than other time in history.  Why has the church grown?  Because of the resurrection.  Jesus is alive and living.  Your promises today are:  1 Cor 15:51-53, James 4:7, John 10:10, 1 Pet 2:24, Rev 12:11.  Your Insightful Sayings are:  Never waste a moment for God has given you each day to use for His glory.  Vision dies when we fail to implement what God shows us in our lives.

Love

In 1 Cor 13:1-2, Paul is talking about a subject that I love to talk about.  Paul brings out three truths from this portion.  1.  Without love a person produces nothing of real value.  You can actually go through life and produce nothing of real value and this should never happen.  2. You can recieve nothing of real value.  This life has so much to offer but anything from this world will fade away.  Real things of value come from God and must be tempered by His love.  3.  You are of no real value.  To really count you must let your life by shadowed by God's love and power.  You are of real value when you walk in God's love and let it flow through you.  Your promises today are:  1 John 4:7-8, 1 Cor 13, John 3:16 and John 3:17.  Your Insightful Sayings are:  Beauty is wonderful on the first view but not always when the makeup has not been applied.  Those that are wisest in love are those that speak with deeds and not words.

Many yet one

In 1 Cor 12:4, we learn there are different gifts and ministries, yet it is the Spirit of God who does the giving snd the administration of these gifts and ministries.  God works through mankind by the Spirit.  Each person is unique and so is their ministry.  One time there was a person who was very unhappy with what they were doing in the church.  They began to envy the position of another.  This grew into jealousy and over time they withdrew into themselves.  One day the pastor went over to see this person.  He asked why their countenance had soured over the past few months.  When it was revealed that this person had become jealous and envious, the pastor lovingly showed them that the profile of the ministry is not the important factor.  What is important is that you are doing what God wants you to do.  After careful instruction the person began to realize that what they were doing was important.  They repented and everything turned out fine.  Today realize that God will give you a ministry that is unique to your particular gifts and qualities.  Your Bible promises are:  Isaiah 55:7, Matt 6:14-15, Natt 11:25-26, Rom 12:14, Col 3:12-13 and Luke 17:3.  Your Insightful Sayings are:  Lies always die in the face of truth.  Never believe a rumor about anyone until you have talk to the person and verified it or not.

What is Communion

In 1 Cor 11:23-32, Paul deals with the subject of communion.  Communion is such a special time for me.  It brings to me the cenrtal message of the gospel.  It represents what Jesus did on the cross.  He died for our sins.  He allowed His body to be broken and He shed His blood for us.  He rose from the dead to break the power of sin over mankind.  Through the act of communion we remember His death.  This will be done until He comes again.  Paul says we have a new covenant through His blood.  Paul states that both Jew and Gentile can stand before God as equals because of Christ.  This covenant is greater than the old covenant.  It was wrought through the death of one man and it is for all men.  Let us remember Christ's death, in a very special way.  Your promises today are:  2 Sam 22:31, Job 13:15, Psalm 25:2, 40:2, 115:9-11, Prov 3:5-6, 1 Thess 2:4.  Your Insightful Sayings are:  Be careful to watch your words they have a habit of returning to haunt you.

Personal Freedom

In 1 Cor 8:9, Paul talks about our Christian freedom.  1 Corinthians tells us, that as Christians we have great freedom.  We have freedom from sin, sickness and death.  We have freedom to serve Him as long as it lines up with God's word.  We have the freedom of choice of directing our lives under the guidance of the Holy Spirit.  Much of what we do according to our conscience and what is revealed to our conscience is through the Holy Spirit.  To one Christian one thing is wrong but to another that thing may be perfectly acceptable.  Coming from the Holiness movement our fellowship has a real problem with certain social issues.  Many of these issues are more personal choice than biblical standards.  I choose as a Christian to not do certain things because of what is known as the stumbling block principle.  This principle is primarily about not causing another Christian to stumble in their faith because of something we believe or do.  We are our brother's keeper.  Our lifestyle has much to say about us and our relationship with God.  If something we are doing is going to cause another's faith to waver we should not engage in that practice or belief in their presence.  Everyone is accountable for their own actions but whether we realize or not what we do does affect others.  Now as I close today, I do not want you to live under condemnation with this truth but use t as a guideline to success.  Your pomises are:  Rom 12:1-2, James 4:7, 1 John 4:4, Rev 12:11.  Your Insightful Sayings are:  Communication is the key to strong relationships and marriages.  So keep your messages clear and simple.  Words have the power to heal or destroy so choose your words well.

 

Marriage

In 1 Cor 7:1-16, Paul gives some very powerful teachings on a good marriage.  Marriage is like a good car, you have to work at it to keep it going at top performance.   You have to oil your marriage with God's love to keep the friction under control.  You have to put the gas of faith and trust to keep the marriage running.  Marriage is 100% commitment.  The husband has to give 100% to his wife as does the woman to her husband.  The bible states that the husband is to love his wife as Christ loves the church.  Christ gave His life for the church.  Are you willing to do the same for your wife?  It is marvelous to see how God can work out any problem in a mariage if He is given the chance.  Marriage today is looked at as a thing, that if it doesn't work the first time you can always try again.  God does not view marriage that way,  He looks at it as a life time commitment.  When a person goes into marriage, they must take this into consideration.  Paul wants all marriages to be happy and if we follow God's ways they can be. 

Heal to deal with relationships.

In 1 Cor 5:1-5, Paul presents an interesting subject here.  This is called dealing with an immoral brother in the Lord.  Paul brings this out for us to think about because many are doing their own thing even though they know what God expects.  Paul says we are not even to eat with that person.  Have nothing to do with them is what Paul's says.  Jesus Himself dealt with this question.  Jesus said that if we have something against another believer we are to talk with them first.  Then if they do not hear us, we are to take another with us.  If they still do not hear us, then we are to take the matter before the church.  If they still do not hear us or repent we are to expose them to the church.  It is at this point that we have nothing to do with them.  Church discipline is important but let us never get out of step with God's plan.  Let us not run ahead and get hasty to discipline someome and also let us not be so slow and slack that no one is ever dealt with when it comes to sin.  We must also remember that everything we do is based in love.  One person said that Christians seem to be the only ones to shoot their wounded.  Today make every effort to heal that broken relationship or restore the fallen.  Your promises today are:  Psalm 107:20, Isaiah 41:10, Jer 15:21, Joel 2:20 and John 8:32.  Your Insightful Sayings are:  A man once told me that if he ever doubted the existence of God all he did was look around and that doubt disappeared.  When a person denies the existence of God, they are denying the one who gives them breath.  Gen 2:7, God man man and then breathes into him the breath of life and man became a living soul.

Built on Wisdom

In 1 Cor 2:1-5, We find that it was Paul's desire that the gospel not be built upon the wisdom of man.  There is wisdom in this world that is called human or natural wisdom.  This is brought about by learning, experience, intelligence and common sense.  Paul says that his message didn't come from this type of wisdom.  It came and rested on the power of God.  Paul was bringing to the Corinthians a message backed up by the power of God.  God Himself had sent Paul and God was going to back up this call.  With God for us who can be against us.  It wasn't with superior skills or great wisdom that Paul won people to Christ.  He won them through the love and power of God.  Paul told people that God through Christ could set them free from sin  Paul told them that Christ could heal and that is what happened.  God backed Paul all the way.  People are looking for something that is real.  They have had enough of human wisdom.  I saw a T.V. special about the Beatles one time.  They had gone to a great guru in India and when they found out he was a fake they became even more disillusioned.  Man has had enough of human wisdom, they want something that is real.  That only comes through Jesus Christ.  The gospel must rest on the power of God.  Remember God is standing behind you when you present the gospel.  So present it with confidence.  Your promises today are.  John 3:16, 2 Cor 5:17, 1John 1:9, James 4:7 1 John 4:4.  Your Insightful Sayings are:  Listen to the nudging within your heart, it is voice that will save you from a multitude of problems.  Battles are won and lost before we get into them when we walk defeated or believe we will lose.