Christians experienced in the Word must stand up and teach what is right and acceptable in the eyes of God to our community through actions. Only attending church, then living like the world, will reveal within us a personal shortcoming of caring for ourselves and will not reveal the love your neighbor as yourself portion of scripture. Without a doubt, everyone that knows Christ personally would love His return to be at this very moment in time. But have we stopped to ponder how many people (family & friends) would enter hell if that were to happen? Our love for others as Christians is to attend the church building while living the Word of God amongst our communities as Christians thereby allowing us to be apart of grabbing hold to those that do not know Christ and pulling them from the grips of hell. To be truth in the eyes of the world debunking the myths and lies satan has sold as truth to those around us. We must be part of the solution as Christians in spite of the persecution that may (will) come.
Christians today are inundated with lies taught through media, schools, and colleges. These lies are drizzled with hints of truth that fool those with little or no knowledge of the Word of God. With this realization, how can we as Christians influence those around us to not only see the truths hidden under the cloak of darkness but also show that God is the answer? Attending church is a good start for our growth but our personal walk with Christ will affect those around us to the utmost. Our neighbors will not see us in church, studying our Bibles, or praying but they see us for who we are in life and how we treat people. If your coworkers were quizzed about how devout a Christian, you are what would be their response? As Christians, we may not participate in every activity or trend but these difficult decisions are when the mark of Christ is placed on the hearts of those around us. This mark most likely will not be for us to see but only a seed sown through faith in the almighty.
Self-Reflection Minute:
• How would coworkers describe your faith?
• How would strangers perceive your faith?
• How many seeds have you sown in your daily walk?
But this I say, He which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully. 2nd Corinth 9:6
Challenge Minute:
• I should not believe what the world says but verify through the scripture.
• My daily walk as a Christian is a ministry to others.
• I cannot participate in everything the world deems as acceptable.
15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 1 Timothy 2:15
Every Christian can Serve God with Confidence by Observing What God Knows and Where God Is.
AS I studied this Psalm and started trying to put into words what it meant to me while hoping my interpretation would help someone else I noticed a couple of words that made me want to take a run around the house and this was only verse 1. Let’s us take a look and see what jewels of hope we can find:
Oh Lord, thou hast searched me, and known me. Ps 139:1
The first thing I notice is God searched us this was not a task that He took lightly and delegated to an angel or some other heavenly being but took it upon Himself. Normally speaking if I can delegate I do, unless it is so important that I have to see for myself and then it becomes personal. We are important enough to have the God of Heaven looking for us. As if that wasn’t good enough what type of looking did God do? He “searched” the meaning here is “pierced through”. It is like we say in today’s terms I see right through you well God actually does see down to the truth of who we are and even when He gets there it doesn’t stop as searched in this context is like searching for treasure. Get this point He can see or pierce through our hearts to the basis of who we are and does this as if searching for treasure. He loves us beyond what we can comprehend.
Below are the incomplete notes to the sermon on Psalm 139. Sorry they are incomplete but normally I try to jot a few things down and let God lead from there. Hope these few words help you with embracing a closer walk with God.
God Bless You All,
Brett
Psalm 139
Every Christian Can Serve God with Confidence by Observing What God Knows & Where God Is
1) Gods Omniscience: The quality of knowing all things. Unbounded and infinite
i) God Knows Me: Ps 139:1-3
(1) V:1 Searched literally means Pierced Through:
(a) Sometimes we speak of seeing right through someone but God is the only one that can really see through us. Into our being as a person.
(b) When I got saved God pierced my heart and peered into my soul to the very core of who I am and He loved me anyway.
(2) V:1 Searched carries with it the idea of searching for treasure
(a) God was looking for what He could claim as His treasure he cared enough to acknowledge, accept, and adopt me into His family
(3) V:3 Compass-est My Ways
(a) Compass:
(i) To stretch around, encircle, grasp, embrace
(ii) To enclose on all sides
(b) “EST” Not only does He compass us but notice the “est” as it transforms compass to the
(i) Superlative
1. of the highest kind, quality, or order; surpassing all else or others; supreme; extreme
ii) V:2 My Thoughts Go with me for a minute not far back but just this morning have you had a thought that you feel God would not appreciate? Maybe someone at a store or someone that didn’t smell, look, or act like you and you didn’t take an opportunity God gave you to witness.
(1) Just remember God knew your thoughts!!!
iii) V:4 My Tongue OH BOY this is not an easy one for anyone
• God’s desire is not to be on a shelf like an inanimate object to worship.
• God’s desire is a Living, Loving relationship with each of us. (A Personal relationship)
(i) Have you searched for someone to show God’s love to and compassest them lately as God did for you?
2) Gods Omnipresence: Present in every place. Unbounded
a) God Is With Me: Ps 139:7-10
i) V:8-9 Distance
(1) No matter where you go God will be with you to help and guide
(2) How many people have wanted to witness at work or when getting gas etc. yet were scared or fearful? God was there.
(3) Look at Verse 9 I can’t go from the East (morning) to the west (uttermost parts of the sea). To loose God’s presence He is there. Fear is Satan’s way of you not witnessing
ii) V:10 Guidance
(1) To Lead or Guide
(2) To Hold or grasp
(a) He rides with us and is there when we arrive
(b) He not only leads us but Holds us in His grasp
(i) He knows me as I am and still loves and adopts me how much more should I love others that He has called me to?
3) God’s Omnipotence: Unbounded Power
i) God’s power is always available in times of need.
To sum it all up:
God knows us
God is with us
God helps us
God loves you. You’re rebellious, you cheat, you commit immorality, you’re selfish, you sin, but God loves you with an intensity beyond anything I could describe to you. He loves you and He loves you so much that He gave His only Son, Jesus Christ to die on a cross and the thing that kept Christ on that cross was love, not the nail. Billy Graham
In light of His love for us:
God wants us to know others
God wants us to be with others
God wants us to help others
Love and God’s Will
Our love of God must not be gauged by the passing of feelings we experience that are not controlled by the will, but rather, we must judge them by the ending quality of the will itself. For loving God means that we join our will to God’s will. It means that our will consents to whatever the will of God commands. It means that we have only one reason for wishing anything, and the reason is that we know that God wills it…. Anonymous
Have you ask God what He is in the process of teaching and how to use it effectively in order to change the world around you? Do the walls currently surrounding your heart hold a thought, memory, or comfort that causes you to refuse God access? Although, I will forewarn you, allowing God inside the walls we build as humans will require a willingness to change our thoughts and actions. Not limited to singular items but may include leaving comforts that we call ministry and accepting God’s desires and directions not listed in the GPS we possess. This journey of change will be the goodness of God revealed though our circumstances as a beacon of light to a broken vessel dazed and confused on the oceans of life. As we accept the positon of servant to the true master in all areas of life items you feel necessary for the ministry of God will be laid to the wayside in light of His all-knowing ways and our limited means of thought and action.
8 For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.
9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. Isaiah 55:8-9 King James Version (KJV)
This new road will not be found on the GPS we have been utilizing for direction. Therefore we must allow all stops, turns, and detours be directed by God and the time of arrival will be perfected. The ministry in which we have the honor to participate will be so much the fuller as we allow God to ultimately direct beginning to end.
With our hearts in unchartered territory yet dependent upon God, peace will abound and consume the pain inflicted by the change thought unbearable. This very place of servitude will be our birth into a world so much greater than we ever could imagine or hope for and in firm contrast to the deceitfully dirty hearts contained within our beings. To place into perspective setting free a ministry my wife and I poured heart and soul into I see it as giving birth to a child. A baby is conceived and grows within the womb as comfort abounds, nutrients provided, and temperature regulated. At this stage the baby is loved beyond believe of the parents. Yet, to be loved even the more, and provide the gifts the baby has within itself there must be a time of discomfort, crying, and pain. I know if we were to have knowledge as an embryo we would not want to exit the womb and thereby forfeit the wonders in store throughout life. This is not unlike a minister that must be moved forward to experience the wonders of God in every waking moment. No doubt comfort in flesh and desire not of God will lead to the death of ministry and the ever evolving wonder of God in our lives.
The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way. Ps 37:23 KJV
Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. Prov 3:5-6 KJV
