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When you are born-again (anew) you become a new creature in Christ. This new creature does not appear immediately, when the seed of life is sown into the heart of a sinner, it can take some time for that seed to develop. Sometimes that seed never grows and consequently that convert strains to become a new creature in Christ.
Galatians 5:19 The behavior of the self-life is obvious. Manipulation of others, hatred of those who get in their way, senseless arguments, only thinking of self, and being in love with your own opinions. Here is the sad part, the power to change is present but mostly ignored. We don’t get to choose the attributes of the old creature that we want to cling to. It doesn’t require much flesh to quench the spirit. Motivation is everything. Why do we do what we do, what is driving us? Selfishness! Our way is the only way, we have little regard for the feelings of others, nor do we care. Proverbs 10:12 Hatred stirs up strife. In a perfect world you would not associate hate with a church attending Christian. No Christian is exempt from the wiles of the devil, he can get one over on every believer on occasion. The devil is a master at manipulating people into doing his works and then justifying them. When you hate someone it’s like drinking poison and hoping they will die! Paul told the church at Corinth that we are not ignorant of the devices of the devil, but some Christians choose to be anyway. The flesh of man demands attention, it wants to be stroked and have the preeminence. God won’t fight you over this, He gives all men the choice between Him and our fallen nature. We always have a choice, God nor the devil can make us do anything. This is the epitome of true freedom. 1 Peter 5:8 Be sober and vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, is walking all about seeking whom he may swallow up. Pay close attention to this verse, it was written by Saint Peter after he denied Jesus three times, he was kind of an expert on being duped by the devil. Peter begins by warning us to be watching for the spiritual antics of the devil. The devil has specific maneuvers that are common just to him. We must pay attention because he will make it look like men or even God Himself are behind the wranglings of enticement. The devil is sneaky like an oversized cat, he waits for the time when he thinks we are not on guard and then he moves in. The surprise attack of the devil is not a sure thing, he can’t devour anyone he wants to. The devil doesn’t know if he will succeed or not, but he has to try, it is always a good day when we can disappoint the devil. 1 Samuel 16:7 For the Lord does not see as a man sees; for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. Who has the better view, us or God? Who should we trust the most, ourselves or God? If I have learned one good thing over the year it’s this, God can do more for people than I could ever think of. We tend to want to get people to do what’s best for them according to our plans for them. But when it’s all over and done, all men will stand before God not us. Church must never be a place where people go to conform to the image of leadership. Church must be a place where all men can discover Jesus and His will for their lives.
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Most people believe that when a person raises their hands and says, “I praise You Lord”, they are true worshippers. They may be but this is not the mark of a true worshipper!
John 4:23 True worshippers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in truth: for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. When a man worships from his spirit, he is praising God with a grateful heart. Thanking God occasionally for something good coming into your life is not true worship. A true worshipper will find something every day of their life to thank God for. A man who truly knows His Lord knows that he is truly loved, and he is committed to loving His Lord. Telling God you love Him means very little to Him. How does one truly love God? Jesus said this: if a man loves Me, he will keep My commandments! Telling God you love Him is vain if you have no regard for His commandments. John 9:31 Now we know that God does not hear sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and does His will, He will hear. A true worshipper will have a righteous lifestyle, they are determined to please the one who died for them. An active worshipper will shun the very appearance of evil, they want to please their Heavenly Father every day. A true worshipper has a revelation of eternal life. They understand that this life in the flesh is nothing more than the blink of an eye compared to eternity. People often wonder what they will do in Heaven, we will worship our Lord and Savior. No one will make anyone worship the Master, when you see the Heaven God created for us you will realize He is worthy of all our praise. Mathew 15:9 But in vain they do worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. These Jews worshipped the Lord, but it was a waste of time because they did not worship in Spirit or truth. Keeping God’s commandments will make you a true worshipper. Keeping the commandments of men will make you a religious fool. This is the definition of deception, a man doing the wrong thing and expecting the results of doing the right thing. When a person worships the commandments of men, they are worshipping a man! We do not worship God for what He will do but rather for what He has already done. Everything God has done for us was settled at the cross. Jesus defeated the devil at His cross and now everything He gave to Adam has been restored to those who believe. Revelations 4:11 You are worthy O Lord, to receive glory, and honor and power: for you have created all things, and for Your pleasure they were created. Only God is worthy to receive all our praise and glory, without Him you would not have your next breath. Far too many people are ignorantly giving men the credit for what God has done. Some are blaming God for what the devil is doing. There was no sickness, no disease, no death, and no poverty until Adam let the devil loose into our world. The only thing God ever damned was the devil and yet men go around constantly using God’s Name to damn everything they don’t like. God hears His Name spoken all over the world, some use it with great reverence while others use it in vain. Let us be among those who worship His Name. Recently I was in a secular meeting with a group of people that have no understanding about people. They constantly complain that few people will come forward and volunteer to help in the club. As I sat listening to these folks expressing the same gripes over and over again, the Lord spoke to me. The Lord said these people are missing two key elements, they neither respect people nor do they appreciate them. A volunteer does not collect a pay check but most of them are satisfied with an acknowledgement of achievement. You cannot treat a volunteer the same way you would a paid employee.
Romans 13:7 Render to everyone all their due: custom to whom custom; honor to whom honor. All people deserve respect no matter how different they are nor how inferior they are to you! Any time a leader has a “better than you” attitude, they will have limited respect for people. People are not ignorant, they know when they are not respected and they are reluctant to be involved with those who don’t respect them. When a leader has little respect and cannot attract any volunteers, they will resort to using “guilt”. If you don’t step up and help with this organization it will go under and you’re to blame. Psalm 100:4 Enter into His gates with thanksgiving and be thankful unto Him. Why does God ask us to come to Him with thanksgiving? People who are full of thanksgiving are people who are grateful for all that God has done. People who do not respect God will not openly tell Him how much they appreciate Him. In the same manner, when a person volunteers for help in a group they need to know how much they are appreciated. I had a friend who donated his talents as an electrician to a particular organization. Not one of them thanked him, they felt he “owed” the club “a favor”, he became very bitter. When a volunteer is mistreated, word gets around and potential volunteers won’t even consider helping out. Then the leaders sit around trying to figure out why no one will volunteer. All people need to know they are appreciated and needed, praise and thanksgiving can be a great reward. Proverbs 20:6 A faithful man who can find? Proverbs 28:20 A faithful man shall abound with blessings. How do you find a faithful man? Look for a man who is loaded with blessings! This man is a true servant of the most high God who knows what to do and how to attract all the blessings of God. I don’t believe we can give God all the thanksgiving that He rightfully deserves! However, I believe we ought to remain cognizant of the fact that He deserves all our gratitude. We should not let one day go by without giving our Lord thanks numerous times a day. When Jesus came to Jerusalem, He was met with ten lepers asking for prayer, He prayed for them, and they left to show themselves to the priests.
Luke 17:15-16 One of them came back to see Jesus and he thanked Him profusely. The other nine never came back but the one who did was made whole. To know God is to love Him, to know God is to be grateful every day. So perhaps most people don’t know God well enough to give Him all the glory He deserves. It’s not hard to know God, the world is full of Him. God is everywhere but He can be ignored. I know a stubborn old man that was dying from complications of the heart. They finally persuaded him to see a heart surgeon and the doctor saved his life. He could not thank that doctor enough. The surgeon added ten years to his life, but he couldn’t do anything about his soul. I did not know Jesus was looking to save me from hell, but I am so glad He found me. I hated being lost. Philippians 4:6 Don’t worry about anything; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. Our prayers should always be accompanied by thanksgiving from a grateful heart. Why? When you pray with thanksgiving that means you believe God and He will grant you your requests. So, begin to thank Him before you see the answer. The longer it takes for your prayers to be answered, the more time you will have to offer thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a daily refresher of our faith in our Lord. Now if you fully understand the reason to be thankful, you will thank God continually even when times are hard. We can praise our way out of a lot of activity and opposition. The devil doesn’t approve of this but since when do we care what he thinks. Sometimes the devil is responsible for our prayers being delayed, he is trying to curtail our thanksgiving to the Lord. I am grateful to our Lord, and I get to thank Him at every mention of His Name, and sometimes I make the devil kneel down and thank our Lord. Psalm 100:4 Enter into His gates (presence) with thanksgiving, and into His courts (walls) with praise: be thankful to Him and bless His Name. Why? Because He alone deserves all our praise and thanksgiving. Anything a man can do for us will be temporal but what God gives us is eternal. Men who do not know God never thank Him; they believe they can make their own way in this fallen world. A lot of men think God is in control but if that was true, we wouldn’t be required to live by faith. God gave every man the power to choose but none of us know what’s best for us, but He does. God loves to lead people to the truth; He loves to lead them to Himself and all His benefits. There is a worldly cliché men use all the time, they say “oh thank God” but they rarely even think about Him. God knows the real from the false and He receives the true. Jesus spoke of the Jews, these people come near Me with their mouth and with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. God will never be mocked, no man will be ever able to deceive Him or fool Him with their phony mind games. So just thank Him! Some folks think God is way too rigid, they believe He goes by the book and leaves no place for those who don’t line up with Him. The people who don’t know Him very well have come to draw their own conclusions. The people who have drawn close to the Lord will testify that He is a God of love and His motivation for everything is love. God loves people and He desires to bless people daily, but He wants us to know who is blessing them. If we can’t identify the source of all our blessings the devil will try to draw the attention to himself. The devil never gave up on his quest to be like the most high God, he deceived Adam and became the god of this world. The devil can never be like the most high God because his nature is to kill, destroy and steal.
Psalm 5:12 The Lord will bless the uncompromising righteous; with favor will You crown him as a shield. The word favor in the Bible means acts of kindness and this is the nature of God, He is kind and full of mercy. When God led Moses and Israel out of Egypt He gave them the law to prepare them for the coming of the Messiah. The law would be a school master and it would protect them. If they obeyed He could bless them and if they wouldn’t obey they would be punished but not destroyed. The righteous are those who kept the law, the Lord would show this bunch acts of kindness. I spent a considerable amount of time with Jerry Savelle and the favor of God was manifest every day of his life. He would often say he was God’s favorite child and it would be difficult to argue against his claim. I watched him and listened to him until I understood the favor of God. Psalm 41:11 By this I know that You favor me, because my enemies do not triumph over me. Who are our enemies? It’s the devil and every part of the curse he can throw at us as well as any people he can turn against us. But if we believe and have the favor of God the devil will wear himself out trying to ruin our lives. The favor of God will not stop the devil from trying to destroy us but it will compromise his plans. While the devil is out forming weapons against us we will scarcely even notice because we go from favor to favor. If we are seeking first the Kingdom of God then God is actively adding things to our lives. Galatians 6:7 Be not deceived; God will not be mocked: A man’s harvest in life depends entirely on what he sows. I watched Jerry Savelle show favor to people all the day long, but he could not out give God. The favor of God is not limited to stock on hand, God has more than enough for whosoever can believe it’s His will to bless. I love to bless people but God loves it even more and He has so much more to give. Some folks hope God will show them some kindness one day but brother Jerry taught us to expect it and to look for it. Most folks can’t do this because they have yet to know just how kind and good our Lord is. Now we must never take God for granted, when you see His favor on your life be quick to acknowledge Him for His goodness. Christians have no business dealing with good or bad luck, it does not exist in the Kingdom of God. Do your very best to emulate your Lord and Savior and expect to have His favor every day for the rest of your life. |
TEXT FOJCHURCH
TO 84576 OFFERING DECLARATION
Jesus had power to get wealth, He gave us the same power. He tithed and sowed seed, He took care of His disciples. He sent Peter to go fishing, the first fish had a mouth full of money. We are not limited to the natural way, we are anointed to have increase. |
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