Wednesday, August 27, 2008

Depend on the Lord

Listen to the Word of the Lord in Psalm 127:1-2...

Unless the Lord builds the house,
those who build it labor in vain.
Unless the Lord watches over the city,
the watchman stays awake in vain.
It is in vain that you rise up early and go late to rest,
eating the bread of anxious toil;
for he gives to his beloved sleep.

Each day I live I become more aware of how utterly dependent I am upon God. I truly can do nothing apart from Him. The things I thought I did in the past were just God working through me.

I know because of reason. Why would the God who simply spoke the world into existence need my help? Second, I know this because of experience. I have failed repeatedly to accomplish anything in ministry. Only when I become completely dependant upon the Lord and seek His working through prayer have I seen great things happen in ministry. Third, I know because of scripture. Psalm 127 clearly describes the vanity of working apart from the Lord.

Wherever God as called you to serve in the church, humble yourself and ask the Lord to work through you. It is only when we become completely dependent upon Him that we are able to experience His blessing. Jesus told the disciples to wait until they received power from Holy Spirit, then they were to be His witnesses. Just as they were not to go out and try to serve apart from the enabling of the Holy Spirit, you and I are not to try to serve God apart from His enabling through the Holy Spirit.

A common saying is: "pray like everything depends on God, work like everything depends on you." This is a good saying so long as we keep it in order and we pray before we work. This week why not commit to pray earnestly before attempting to do anything for the Lord?

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Seeking Revival

The Bible tells us in Acts about a prayer meeting in the early church: "And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness." Acts 4:31 (ESV) I long to experience the movement of the Holy Spirit just as the early church did. And this past Sunday, our church experienced the power of the Holy Spirit at work. The building was not shaken, but I would be no more amazed if it had been. Christians sat with tears of joy streaming down their face as they heard again of how Jesus died for them. Sinners were convicted of their sin and repented. Two people rededicated their life to the Lord. Another two were saved! Truly, how great is our God!

We read accounts of revivals that took place in the past in which God moved entire cities and nations to repentance. If God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, why do we not see these revivals in our own day? Friends, if God has not changed perhaps the problem is us. Let me urge you as brothers and sisters in Christ to pray for your church this Sunday. Pray urgently for your pastor that God would anoint him afresh with the Spirit that he might preach with a boldness and clarity he has never before experienced. And pray for every listener that God would open their heart to receive the gospel and to find forgiveness through repentance. And I ask every Christian that is reading this blog, would you stop right now and pray for me that God would fill me with His Spirit and empower me to preach the Word with the boldness and clarity of the early church.

To all who read my blog you are a great blessing to me. You are the reason I write each week. And especially to the churches in India who read this, you cannot know what joy and fulfillment you give me by using these articles. I long to come and see you soon. God bless you all.

Tuesday, August 12, 2008

Sink or Swim (Sermon: Acts 11:23-26)

A few years ago I was at a friend's birthday party. It was a pool party and the birthday boy was about 4 and had not yet learned how to swim. His parents had made him wear floats on his arms to keep him safe, but while they were distracted getting the cake and drinks ready he kept begging his grandfather to let him in the pool without the floats. "Sure, jump on in," said his grandfather. And so with eyes wide open in eager anticipation and excitement the young boy ran straight for the deep end of the pool and jumped in. He came to the surface, but only for a few seconds. Not knowing how to swim or even float, he immediately began to sink. I was the only other person in the water so I swam over and pulled him up and sat him on the edge of the pool.

When I think about that experience, it reminds me of how the church often treats new believers. They come to the church with an excitement and energy and they dive into the Christian life. What do we do as believers? Well, usually we just stand back and watch to see if they will sink or swim, but this should not be so. We are just as called to help make them disciples as they are called to be disciples.

Barnabas and Saul (also known as Paul) fully understood this and were committed to it. When they learned of the new believers in Antioch, they went and spent a year there instructing them and encouraging them to press on. If people join our church and then fade away, instead of doubting whether they were sincere, maybe we should ask ourselves what did we do to foster their growth. What did we do to encourage them? How did we instruct them and equip them?

The Christian life is too hard for anyone to try to live it apart from the help of the local church. When people are born again, they are babes spiritually and babes need our care. I want to encourage you today to invest your life in helping the new believers in your church to grow and mature. I believe ultimately that God will hold us accountable not only for whether we have shared the gospel with the lost, but also for whether or not we helped new believers to grow in Christ. May we each live our life so that on the day that we have to give an account we will not be ashamed.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Incognito Christians (Sermon: Acts 11:22-24)

When Barnabas went to Antioch to investigate what was happening among the Gentiles, he literally saw the grace of God. I believe what he saw was the work of God's grace in the lives of those Gentile believers. So here's the question we should ask ourselves now: "If Barnabas came to our workplace or to our home today what would he see?"

Many Christians today are what I call "incognito Christians." There is simply nothing in their lives that clearly communicates their faith and their salvation. If persecution breaks out today, they are in no danger of being singled out.

If the people that you live with and work with do not know beyond all doubt what God has done in your life, something is sorely wrong with your Christian walk. Let me challenge you today to live your life so that people look at you and see the grace of God!

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