Rejoice in the Lord

As we approach Thanksgiving here in Canada I want to spend the next couple of weeks focusing on being Thankful.  David wrote in Psalm 33:1, "Rejoice in the Lord, all the righteous for praise is comely or beautiful for the upright."  Praise is a natural outgrowth of a life that is centered in God.  You just want to thank the Lord.  Recently I have been focusing more and more on my prayer life.  I have wanted to draw close to God and what has been happening is God has been doing greater and greater things in my life and world.  It is amazing when you give more of your life to Christ that more wonderful things happen.  David understood this because the Bible says that He was a man after God's own heart.  David understood that praise and worship were attitudes of the heart expressed.  When you love God and are thankful for what He has done in your life you want the whole world to know.  Jesus said, "Those that are forgiven much, love much."  When you know what God has done for you.  You want to shout, boast and give thanks for what He has done.  Paul said if you want to boast, boast in the Lord.  So you say what should I boast about?  First, boast about the wonderful salvation you have been given.  You were a sinner and now you are a saint.  Boast in in constant care and love.   Boast of His provision.  Tell others that God is your friend and your are His.  Boast about how all of heaven is at your disposal through prayer.  Boast about the healing you have through the broken body of Jesus Christ.  Boast about how you are in a huge family called the church or body of Christ.  These are just a few.  Praise is thanking the Lord for what He has done so do that today and others will want what you have. 

Upper Room Discourse

Sept 29 – the Upper Room Discourse – John 15

1.        Jesus tells His disciples this so their joy and ours will be full.  Greater love has no person than when they lay down their life for a friend.  This shows that we love one another as Christ has loved us.

2.        Jesus calls His disciples and us friends.  He has made everything known to us.  He chose us and the remarkable thing is that even though we did not choose Him He chose us to bear much fruit.

3.        When we bear fruit the Father will give us everything we ask in Jesus’ name.  What a great promise. And truth as we go into this day.

Do you need a doctor?

In Luke 5:31, Jesus said that it was not the well who needed a doctor but the sick.  Jesus is often referred to as the great physician or doctor.  He is the one that can heal any sickness, disease or pain.  He is the one that can heal you this morning.  Whatever type of pain you are in whether it is physical, spiritual, emotional or intellectual.  The great doctor is here to heal you.  The real challenge is to get people to see that they are sick.  Here is a reality.  All people who do not know Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Savior are sick.  They are sick in sin.  They are sick in their mind and soul.  Jesus is the only one who can truly make us whole.  Recently I read about a man who just dropped dead.  He was out walking and there in the street He just dropped dead.  It was discovered through an autopsy that his heart was totally blocked.  Further investigation with His family showed that there were many signs telling him he had a problem but he chose to ignore them.  The result was a family no longer had a loved one.  Today do not ignore the signs that you need the Lord.  He came to set the captive free.  When you do not know Christ you are in bondage.  Sin, the devil and the world have you captive.  Open your eyes and let the great doctor heal you.  Until you admit that you need a Savior you will blissfully go through life unaware that you are heading to a lost eternity.  Today you have been told.  So today let Jesus the great physician come and heal and make you well and whole.

Doing Something

In Matt 25:46, Jesus said "Blessed is that servant whom the master when He comes will find so doing."  Basicly, what Jesus is saying that when the Master which of course is himself comes He will finds His servants doing the will of God.  Our lives as Christians are not about the gathering of wealth, possession, fame or family.  It is about doing the will of God.  So the question today is, "What is the will of God?"  I will break it down to three things.  First, doing the great commandment.  You are to love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and then you are to love your neighbor as yourself.  You are to have a strong vertical relationship with God that will translate into a strong love for your fellow man.  You will show love in practical ways.  People will see that you love Jesus by the way you love them.  You will love them with an unselfish, no strings type of love.  You will love because you love the Lord.  Secondly, you will do the great commission.  You will go into your world and preach the gospel to all you meet and know.  You will tell others.  You will live your life so well that people will want to know what you have.  The great commission is about telling others by what you do, more than what you say.  The last thing is to be like Jesus.  The old hymn says, "To be like Jesus, all I asked is to be like Him."  Jesus not only told us how to live, He showed us.  Love, accept and forgive others like Jesus and you will touch your world.  So, today be about the master's business because when He comes and finds you doing what He wants you will be blessed.

Jesus' doctrine

In John  7:16, Jesus told His audience that the doctrine He was teaching was not His own but the one who sent Him.  Jesus was revealing in this verse that what He was bringing to His world was not His own but God's.  Many have said that Jesus was a revolutionary teacher.  He taught a whole new way of thinking.  He one way did and in another way He did not.  In the Old Testament we have all the same things brought forward.  What Jesus did was bring it in a new way.  His ability to simply state things is wonderful.  He taught that God was love, acceptance and forgiveness.  He then showed it in the things He did.  Jesus showed in a pratcical way how God viewed life and people.  Jesus showed the non judgmental aspect of God.  God has always been long suffering.  He took centuries before He judged people.  The only reason He did judge was because the nations had become so corrupt that they needed to be destroyed.  In Jesus Christ God was able to have mankind's sins forgiven and renew a relationship with mankind.  In Christ, God has been able to give mankind eternal and abundant life.  Jesus' doctrine and teaching was from the Father.  Everything Jesus did and teach was direct from the Father.  Jesus was God on earth.  God with a face.  Anything He did the Father would have done.  Jesus said in the next verse that if anyone really wants to do the will of God they will do what I do.  So today if you want to do the will of God follow Jesus' example.

The Test

In 2 Cor 2:9, Paul writes that testing is designed to find out what you know and what you are made of.  In school teachers tests students to find out if they know the material or not.  I remember the all night study sessions that I did when I was in Bible school.  My friend George and I would recite back and forth the material until it was in our minds.  Paul says that God tests us to know whether or not we will be obedient in all things.  Will we be obedient in our thoughts, words, deeds, attitudes and motives.  The biggest problem with man is that we have an ego.  By nature we are independent and rebellious.  We want our way all the time.  This of course leads us to direct opposition to God.  Thus the battle for the soul.  Paul says if you want to live for God you have to reckon yourself dead.  You have to say no, to the things you want and say yes, to God.  Problems, trials, and hard times are designed to purify us to the point where we say yes, to God and no, to ourselves.  Here is a wonderful illustration from mining.  Metal is heated up until all the impurities are taken out of the metal and all that is left if the pure gold or silver.  That is what God will do.  He will make things so hot that we will be willing to give up all that is impure in our lives to serve Him.  I know this from practical experience.  So today let God test you, refine and take out your life the impurities.  After the testing is over you will obey God in all things for His praise and glory.  

Jesus washes His disciples feet

In John 13:1-20, Jesus knew it was time for Him to leave this world.  Having loved His own, Jesus wanted to show the full extent of His love.  The devil had prompted Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus but Jesus knew that the Father still had things still in His power.  Jesus would soon be returning to the Father.  So He took the towel and washed the feet of His disciples.  Peter tried to stop Him but Jesus said that if He did not wash Peter's feet that Peter would have no part in the Kingdom of God.  Peter wanted Jesus to wash His head as well.  Jesus then replied that no one in their presence was clean.  After He had washed their feet He gave them the following truths.  First, Jesus did this to show by example, that as Jesus was, so shall all the disciples of Christ be first and foremost servants.  We will be blessed if we take this attitude.  The scripture said that the one who shared his bread with Jesus would betray Him.  This was Judas.  Jesus told His disciples these things so that they would believe in Him.  This was another evidence for them to see.  If a person is accepted because of Jesus Christ sends them, those that accept us have accepted Christ and the Father.