Lean on Me
Isaiah 40:27-31 states, "Why do you say, O Jacob, And speak, O Israel: 'My way is hidden from the Lord, And my just claim is passed over by by God'? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint."
Notice that God's own people are claiming that their "way" is hidden from the Lord. In other words, they don't think God can see their course of life at this stage because they feel that their suffering has been too great for too long. The prophet Isaiah then encourages and tries to bring comfort to God's people by reminding them of some important truths that all of us need to cling to when our ways seem hidden from our God.
First of all, he basically reminds them that THE EVERLASTING GOD IS NOT TAKING A NAP. Our Creator is very aware of every hurt, tear, and circumstance that we experience each and every moment...even if it has lasted a long time. For the
Israelites, this would be comfort of hope after living through 70 YEARS of exile. Most of us haven't been suffering that long yet. Even if it seems like it has been that long, God wants to comfort us just as He wanted to comfort His people through Isaiah. God sees our smile at the end of the road we are traveling. Remember that the blessing will come!
Second, he reminds the Israelites that GOD'S UNDERSTANDING IS UNSEARCHABLE. God doesn't ask us to understand why we are going through whatever we are going through. He only asks us to trust Him. For He alone is wise. There is a purpose and He sees it coming to fruition.
Third, he reminds those Israelites that feel weak and without might that GOD PROMISES TO GIVE POWER AND AN INCREASE OF STRENGTH. Lean on God when it seems you are too weak to keep going and He will sustain you. It is so encouraging that we have access to such power.
Finally, he reminds them to WAIT ON THE LORD. Yes, this "wait" word includes being patient. I admit, patience is a tough one for me...but look at the blessings if we would be obedient to this exhortation. Obedience to patience equals renewed strength in every way...including running without getting tired! Yes, I want that! We get so tired so easily. If we would just wait and cling to our Lord each and every day, the glory that will be revealed soon and very soon will blow us away! We will certainly have fullness of joy.
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Love One Another
1 John 3:11 states, "For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another."
It seems that the theme of my week has been about love. It started in the beginning of the week when I went to my first meeting with a group I joined. Since I was one of the "new people," I really didn't know anyone there. I arrived probably 10-15 minutes before the meeting began. Everyone seemed to be having a great time while I sat there waiting for the meeting to begin. I must admit that I felt quite awkward. I was hoping that someone would come up and start talking to me, but it didn't happen. Maybe I should have been bold enough to interrupt conversations and introduce myself, but that is really not my personality... so I didn't. As I went home, I had a sense that I was unloved at this place. Now I am NOT trying to have a pity party here! I realized very quickly that these feelings were not the truth. I know that God will place the right people in my life there if I am supposed to stay in this group because that is my prayer. I tell you this story to remind us that we ALL have had similar feelings like this at some stage of our lives.
So... what are we to do? We should realize that there are people coming into our church each and every week that may get these feelings if we do not reach out in love. There are also many new volunteers that come to us throughout the year within our own ministry. Have you EVER once introduced yourself to a new volunteer in our ministry and tried to keep a connection with them each time you see them? If not, this is the challenge that we want to throw your way over the coming weeks/months/years!!! We are a huge group of volunteers and there is no way Pastor Jorge, Rob, and Juan can minister individually to all 600 of us. We truly desire for the children's ministry to feel like family (since we ARE)!! This cannot happen unless all of us participate and take action. Use your smile, your touch, and your attention to warmly welcome the new (or old) team of volunteers!
If you think you have mastered having love for God and people, I encourage you to buy the CD from this past Wednesday night and listen to Pastor Doug's teaching. It's truly a great message for those of us who desire to grow in the area of love.
1 Thessalonians 3:12-13 states, "And may the Lord make you increase and abound in love to one another and to all, just as we do to you, so that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ with all His saints."
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Make Friends
Hebrews 10:24-25 (NLT) state, "Think of ways to encourage one another to outbursts of love and good deeds. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage and warn each other, especially now that the day of his coming back again is drawing near."
I love the way the New Living Translation puts this verse. "THINK of ways to encourage one another!!!! " When was the last time you took the time to think of how you could encourage another believer. This is a great first step to making a friend. Sometimes too many of us sit back and wait for someone to want to take the initiative to invest in our life. Then we wonder why it has been so many months (or even years) that we have been involved in the church WITHOUT making one true friend. We ALL have busy lives, but God made us to LOVE one another. If we go through our entire life living in seclusion from others, then life will eventually become dry. God made us for FELLOWSHIP with Him and others!
Let us be encouraged to PRAY specifically about whom God would have each of us invest some time into so that ALL of us can enjoy the benefits of true friendship. Maybe it is someone that serves in the classroom right beside yours that could use a prayer partner over the phone or over lunch once a week! Maybe it's your teaching partner that you have never seen outside of serving in the Children's ministry together. Maybe you need to get involved in a small group Bible study. God wants us to have a couple of close Christian friends to be able to walk through life together.
Proverbs 27:17 states, "As iron sharpens iron, so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend."
Proverbs 27:9 states, "... And the sweetness of a man's friend gives delight by hearty counsel."
Proverbs 17:17 states, "A friend loves at all times..."
John 15:13 states, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends."
So, let us be bold and make a/some friend(s) all the while giving glory to our Friend and Savior Jesus Christ!
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New Year’s Resolutions
This new year has brought new resolutions, new goals, and maybe for some, new vision. Just maybe you've made a resolution to read through the Bible in a year along with the staff here at Calvary. Maybe you decided to make wiser choices with your health habits this year. Could it be that you have a goal to get involved in a home Bible study this year? Maybe you have a more general goal like trying to be more patient or more giving. If you are a believer, there is most likely a big part of you that wants to do better this year. You want to improve. Your desire is to be more Christ-like. In order to succeed at these ambitions, we must remember and live by these two very important truths.
1. WE CAN DO NOTHING APART FROM CHRIST.
John 15:4-5 states, "Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing."
"Abide" means "to stay," "continue," "dwell," and "remain." We must find our home in Christ. Let us NOT try to do better in our own strength. In other words, if we are not attached to Jesus, we cannot expect to bear much fruit. If we are not asking Him to fill us with His Spirit, then we are missing out on His strength and power.
What happened when Peter took his eyes off of Jesus? Yes, you know the story. He began to sink. The moment we take our eyes off of Jesus, we too will sink.
What happened to Saul when he began to do things in his own strength, apart from God? He failed. Let us not be fooled. We will also fail when we try to do things in our own strength. Galatians 6:3 states, "For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself."
2. WE CAN DO ALL THINGS THROUGH CHRIST.
Luke 1:37 states "For with God nothing will be impossible." Philippians 4:13 states "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." Praise God for verses like these. God does not leave us without hope. He offers Himself to us so that we can succeed! The key again is to ABIDE in Him. Seek the Lord DAILY. Let us not be fearful. Let us not doubt the Creator of the universe.
There are countless examples in God's Word of people who did abide in the Word and were used in amazing ways for God's glory. Moses did not think he could speak well enough to be used by God, but God assured Moses of what God would accomplish through Moses. Indeed, Moses ended up being used to bring God much glory because he stayed close to the Lord and trusted in God's strength above his own. Joshua, Gideon, Paul, and Peter each have a testimony of what God did when they trusted in the Lord.
One of the most powerful examples that I like to reflect back to is the young boy David. In Acts 13:22, we are reminded that God said this of David: "...I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will." Yet David was very human, God chose him to be the next king because God knew that David would always seek God for truth, help, strength, power, and ability. God knew that David would do ALL of God's will. Because David did choose to rely on God, he was successful.
Let us remember that we have the capability to succeed at our resolutions, goals, and visions. Our capability IS CHRIST. If we can remember to abide in Him, we WILL bear much fruit. May each of us reflect on these truths often so that we will be men and women after God's own heart and we will accomplish ALL OF HIS WILL.
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No Doubts
Romans 4:20-21 states, "He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised He was also able to perform."
These particular verses speak of how Abraham believed God WITHOUT doubting the promise the Lord had given him. What may have seemed impossible... a son at 100 years old... was POSSIBLE because Abraham had faith in God. Remember this particular promise was made 25 years earlier. So, for 25 years Abraham was FULLY convinced that God was going to fulfill His promise. WOW!!! I'm convicted, how about you?
Have any of you wondered if God is really going to come through with His promise for you? I have!!! Maybe you are beginning to doubt that He is going to give you a desire that has been in your heart for quite some time now. Maybe you are doubting that He can truly use you to make a difference for His glory. Maybe you doubt the promise of his love for you or the promise that He has a good and perfect plan for you. Whatever the doubt(s) may be, we need to be people of faith. Let us stand firmly on ALL of God's promises and give glory to God even BEFORE He blesses us with more than we have EVER asked, thought, or imagined!
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Order My Steps
Psalm 119:133 states, "Order my steps in thy word: and let not any iniquity have dominion over me."
The psalmist desires God's grace as He cries for God to "order" his steps. I love some of the original Hebrew definitions for this word "order." It can mean to "APPOINT, ESTABLISH, CONFIRM, PREPARE, or PERFECT." Let's look at these words a little closer. Yes, looking and praying through the above prayer requests it is obvious that most of us want God to order our steps. Our desire is to go in the correct direction... which only God knows for each of us. I am one that really appreciates the fact the God has an order for me because my sense for directions is terrible! I need to get directions to the place I'm going and directions to get back home!!! Praise God for His Word that promises to be a light for our path. Praise God that He has directions for you and I to get through this temporary life here on earth! We want to know that He has already APPOINTED for us every thing we need to do in any given day, month, or year. It gives us hope that we might be used by Him when we consider that He has already ESTABLISHED our day, month, or year(s). With the prayer of this psalm offered sincerely, I believe we can have confidence that He will order each move we make. Many of us wonder if we are doing what God wants us to do in any given moment or any given day, month, or year. Some of us even question now whether we truly are doing what God wants us to do right now. Let us remember that if we have earnestly asked God to order and CONFIRM our steps, then He IS (present tense). Just because we don't have the job we think would be great to have, the mate we desire, or the fruit of some spiritual labor that we have been diligent for DOES NOT mean that God is not answering our prayers. Remember that each moment, day, and year He is PREPARING us for the next step. As we continue to seek His way through prayer and the living Word He will PERFECT our steps and we will understand in a greater way the "now" that sometimes might seem a little blurry. We pray that each of you senses the peace of God now and forever as you hold onto the promises of God. Proverbs 3:5-6 promises the direction of God for those who trust in Him so let's end with the meditation of God's Word... "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct your paths."
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Our Light Affliction
2 Corinthians 4:17-18 and 2 Corinthians 5:1,9-10,14-15 will be our verses to concentrate on this week. They state, "For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal. For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. Therefore, we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. For the love of Christ compels us, because we judge thus; that if One died for all, then all died; and He died for all, that those who live should live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again."
Since all of us are God's children, we all have this "light affliction" Paul speaks of. It is interesting to note what these 2 words mean in the original Greek. "Light" is translated "easy." "Affliction" means "pressure, anguish, burden, persecution, tribulation, and/or trouble." So, we could say that the pressure we feel presently or the troubles we are experiencing now are EASY!!! Yes, I agree with you that sometimes the burdens we deal with sure don't seem easy...BUT remember what Paul says next....they are only for a moment and they are "working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen." This means that these afflictions are accomplishing for us an abundance of dignity and honor that will last forever. If we can wrap our minds around this truth, we will be able to have victory another day, month, or year until we see our Savior's face and then fully realize the truth of every word in His Holy
Word.
If we do hold tight to the exhortation to look at the things that are not seen, our aim will always be to please God. The words "we make it our aim...to be well pleasing to Him" in the original could be "We labour...to be accepted of Him" or "We strive, study, are eager...to be fully agreeable to Him." In other words, we seek to live for Him (not ourselves) when it seems things are dark and we seek to live for Him (and not ourselves) when things are going well. This is what pleases Him. Do we HAVE to do this? No, we don't...BUT if we are His, we want to do this because "the love of Christ compels us." This word "compel" in the original Greek is the word "constraineth" which means "compel or force someone toward a particular course of action." This does NOT mean that Christ forces us to live for Him. What it does mean is that if you understand just a little bit of what Jesus did on the cross for you, that little bit of knowledge makes you so thankful for what He did that you have no other thought than to DESIRE to live for Him.
We pray that all of us may remember this day and forever that we have "a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.”
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Our Purpose
As we consider the new school year that has just gotten underway the past few weeks, let us be leaders that do not become lax in our desire to seek all that God has for us in the Children's ministry. If we make this mistake, we will miss all the blessings that God desires for each one of us to enjoy.
I cannot help but consider King Saul. You know... the one God chose as the very 1st king of Israel. God had told Samuel to "anoint him commander over My people Israel, that he may save My people from the hand of the Philistines; for I have looked upon My people, because their cry has come to Me." (1 Samuel 9:16) So, Saul was chosen for a specific purpose. His purpose was to save the Israelites from the Philistines. Did Saul fulfill God's purpose for his life? Sadly, he did not. Saul became prideful and decided to do things his own way instead of seeking God every step of the way. The end result was Saul's own death after having to watch the death of his people during a fight against the Philistines... the very enemy that God desired for him to defeat.
Okay... this is gloomy... is there any encouragement for us? ABSOLUTELY!!!!
There are so many examples of those men and women in the Bible that stayed humble, sought God with all their heart, and fulfilled His purpose for their lives. How about David? Esther? Daniel? Joshua? Paul? Briefly let's think about one that most of us remember well. Joseph... sold into slavery by his own brothers... stayed humble after being put IN PRISON... sought God... received God's blessing by being made 2nd in command over all of Egypt... and fulfilled God's purpose by saving his brothers lives... who became the 12 tribes of Israel... of whom Jesus was born. Yes, Joseph's attitude is one we should strive to emulate. Notice that Joseph's life had a VERY specific purpose...TO BRING GOD GLORY by saving the lineage of Jesus. Joseph did not know God's perspective, but He trusted God and desired to serve God and bring Him glory. Our VERY specific purpose is also TO BRING GOD GLORY by ______________. Only God can fill in the blank for each of us individually. Our part is to serve Him and trust Him.
As we have been receiving new students in our classes for the past couple of months, have we lost sight of our purpose as small group leaders in the Children's ministry? Let us be reminded that God has chosen each one of us to be in a specific class with a specific group of children and parents each and every week. We all have obeyed the call to serve for the next year, but are we seeking to fulfill God's purpose for us with all our heart? Are we going through the motions or are we asking God to open our eyes to ALL that He has for us each and every week. For some of us, His ultimate purpose might be fulfilled in any given week. For others, it might be a process. We will not know unless we are staying humble, asking God for eyes to see, ears to hear, and then submitting obediently to whatever He asks us to do. Let us all be encouraged to be praying for opportunities to make a difference for His glory in a life that needs a physical expression of God's love. In so doing, we will be the people that truly get blessed, our Savior will be honored and glorified, and His purpose for each of us WILL be fulfilled.
As Pastor Jorge reminded us in the pre-service meeting... "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." (Galatians 6:9)