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Luke 3

10/31/2011

Luke 3:15-16 “Everyone was expecting the Messiah to come soon, and they were eager to know whether John might be the Messiah. John answered their questions by saying, “I baptize you with water; but someone is coming soon who is greater than I am- so much greater than I’m not even worthy to be His slave and untie the straps of His sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.”

I was reading this and I just felt I needed to write what was on my heart. John says this because he knew what Jesus was coming to do and when He was done with His time here He would give people the Holy Spirit to guide all who believe. When we believe in our hearts that Jesus is the Messiah we would receive the gift (which is the baptism from Jesus that John was talking about.) The Holy Spirit is the gift and our Advocate to help us live our lives fully devoted to Christ. Jesus wasn’t baptizing anyone while He was alive; He was the advocate at that time, showing people how to live.

John chapter 14 verse 15-17 say, “If you love Me, obey My commandments. And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive Him, because it isn’t looking for Him and doesn’t recognize Him. But you know Him, because He lives with you now and later will be in you.”

That is Jesus baptism of the Holy Spirit and we are blessed to have Him in us to reveal all that we need to know to be salt and light. When we read God’s word and pray the Holy Spirit gets fed ands we learn how to live our lives like Christ did, totally surrendered to God. Kyle Idelman writes in his book “not a fan” that “Fans eventually get burned out from trying to live the Christian life out of their own efforts. If you are depending on your own strength to follow Christ you will soon find yourself drained and defeated. Jesus promised His followers that the Holy Spirit would come on them in power. Followers of Jesus understand that it’s a journey they were never to make alone. Instead we keep in step with the Spirit and He supernaturally gives us the strength and power we need.” Have we surrendered to understand we are not driving or leading our own lives? We should be following Jesus’ example and saying not my will be done but yours Father.

In John chapter 14 verse 26 Jesus says, “But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative – that is, the Holy Spirit – He will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.”

We must be willing to learn continually and understand that we are to follow His promptings and live our lives like Christ. We need to work hard to feed the Spirit and listen to our hearts which is where He resides, helping us daily to mature our walk. We can never be satisfied with what we know or who we are, we need to die to self and pick up our cross daily, loving God with all our heart, mind, soul and strength. Amen

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Mark 13

10/26/2011

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Mark 13:36-37 “Don’t let Him find you sleeping when He arrives without warning. I say to you what I say to everyone: Watch for Him!”

These are the verses that motivate me to work so hard and focus on Christ. It is not just a nonchalant thing to be devoted to Christ, it takes commitment and passion and love. Right before this in verse 33 Jesus says, “And since you don’t know when that time will come, be on guard! Stay alert!”

Are we ready? Do we continually work to learn more so we can live like Christ? It’s not about the rules it’s about the love that Jesus showed and His ability to deal with situations. We are called to be like Christ and that my friends, takes work, because we are constantly bomb-barded by the world trying to keep our focus on it. When we surrender to His will we can grow to understand about all the temptations and trials that we as believers will go through. It is so easy for us to get caught up in the pleasures of this world. When we are filling ourselves with God’s word asking and seeking answers we will get them. Then when we are faithful with those answers we will be given more. This is so exciting when you believe that Jesus is Lord and Savior because it is not a one statement walk, it is an on going relationship. Relationship means: “A state of affairs existing between those having relations or dealings.” Think of any relationship you have ever been in, when it was new you constantly were working to grow it or make it better. It’s the same when we accept Jesus. We need to work to make it better. As soon as that happens satan will work to make it stagnant and if we are not willing to be ready or stay alert we don’t really have a relationship we have a belief. The demons believed in Jesus but they didn’t belong to Jesus. We need to make sure we are not sleeping but actually growing to show love for God in all situations and be thankful that Jesus died for us so we can have eternal life. I love when Jesus tells His disciples what they will go through as followers.

In Mark chapter 13 verse 9 He says, “When these things begin to happen, watch out! You will be handed over to the local councils and beaten in the synagogues. You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell them about Me.”

We are so lucky to know Him, are we excited to tell everyone about Him? Never stop learning and growing to know all about Him because we are not called just to know Him we are called to be like Him. Amen

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Mark 10

10/22/2011

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Mark 10:23-25 “Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the Kingdom of God! This amazed them. But Jesus said again, “Dear children it is very hard to enter the Kingdom of God. In fact, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God!”

I look at this and it just makes me feel like after I accept Jesus my journey has just begun. Salvation is a gift that is free and the blood of Christ has given us the chance to have eternal life but we need to accept it and utilize what we learn to be salt and light. Only by our faith in Christ can we understand all that we need to, but by our relationship with God we receive wisdom to understand how to live. I feel it is a constant work in progress after we accept Jesus. He wants us to learn to be like Him and live our lives by His example. We are drawn to the world and our sinful nature that is why we must work hard daily to fill the Spirit so we are not led by our sinful desires. Believing is very important, but belief without faith is useless. Faith makes us want to understand more and when we do our belief in what Jesus did for us makes us want to change and be active.

In Matthew chapter 3 verse 8 John the Baptist says, “Prove by the way you live that you have repented of your sins and turned to God.”

When we have faith in Jesus and we accept Him as our Lord and Savior we confess and repent and we receive the Holy Spirit and get baptized. We are a new person born again and lifted up seeking improvement and wisdom from God. By no means is that the end of the journey, it is the beginning of our lives. Now trials and tribulations are inevitable and satan is on red alert lurking to devour.

In Mark chapter 10 verse 26 it says, “The disciples were astounded. Then who in the world can be saved..?” And Jesus responds in verse 27, “…Humanly speaking it is impossible. But not with God. Everything is possible with God.”

We need to surrender to His will just like Jesus did. Then we ask, seek, and knock to learn all that He wants, and we learn to live just like Christ. We need to study and die to self, as we grow and work hard and our faith makes us live how Jesus tells us. If it were as easy as saying a prayer or going to church the road and gate wouldn’t be narrow.

In John chapter 14 verse 15 Jesus says, “If you love me, obey my commandments.”

Live to learn and actively show your faith by your changed life and know how much God loves you because He is slow to send Jesus so we have a chance to truly change. Amen

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Mark 9

10/19/2011

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Mark 9:21-24 “How long has this been happening? Jesus asked the boy’s father. He replied ‘Since he was a little boy. The spirit often throws him into the fire or into water, trying to kill him. Have mercy on us and help if you can. What do you mean, if I can? Jesus asked. Anything is possible if a person believes. The father instantly cried out, I do believe, but help me overcome my unbelief!”

This stood out to me today because I truly think it teaches us how important showing our belief with our actions is. If you say you believe and have to talk yourself into it daily you are showing in the back of your mind that you have some doubt. But when you believe and you are working to change your lives to resemble Christ your belief becomes living and active just like God’s word. The man’s lack of action kept that unbelief lurking in his head. When we accept Christ and know we are called to live and act differently there is a transformation that takes place and we desire change and wisdom.

I never really saw what Jesus said in John chapter 14 verse 12 until Francis Chan shared it in a sermon. It says, “I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father.”

That is having belief that is solid and unchangeable, like we see with Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They believed without a doubt that whatever happened in the furnace was what God wanted and they believed without wavering in His power. What is keeping you from surrendering totally and believing that you can be a new creation set apart? Open God’s word and pray for strength, wisdom, and understanding and then live out your life being led by the Spirit which as it says in John chapter 14 verse 17, “He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth.”

Remember that Jesus expects us to live like He did so work hard and never look back. Amen

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Matthew 28

10/11/2011

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Matthew 28:18-20 says, “Jesus came and told His disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

After looking at this I feel we need to concentrate on reaching everyone with the Good News of Jesus Christ, helping then see how a changed heart is needed because everyone is to be a disciple. Pastor Greg Ogden gave his definition of what making disciples looks like by saying, “Discipleship is an intentional relationship in which we walk along side others in order to encourage, equip, and challenge one another in love to grow toward maturity in Christ.”

To me that is sharing and working with or “watering” people to continually grow in their Christian walk. It doesn’t just mean to get them in the doors and hope they want to change. We need to make sure we are working with them and challenging them to grow and live as new creations because that’s what we are.

The next part is to “teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you…” We need not worry about self help and different topics that are not truth from God’s word. We must passionately teach who Christ is and how we can live a life that resembles His example. It can’t be fluff, it must be truth and it must be continually taught. It seems that was the main focus when we read the books of the teachings from the New Testament. We know His commands by knowing Him, and we know Him by having a relationship with Him and we have a relationship with Him by spending time with Him. We must remember Jesus took the law and made it more challenging; He wants us to be that much better and not coast in our teaching.

That challenge brings me to the parable of the three servants. In Matthew chapter 25 verses 16-18 we learn, “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. But the servant who received one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.”

When we teach, we teach with love but we don’t bury the truth to get people in the seats, we work hard to invest in people and teach them all that Jesus commands. Even when it might make people upset and leave, we should never worry about what people think just what God thinks. When we understand that our teaching does not have to come from our strength we understand what Jesus is saying at the end of the great commission, “…And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Maturing people is our job and we can’t take it lightly. When we do we create a hole and people get in it and are comfortable. We are called to action and to invest and teach truth and do it in love. In the dictionary disciple means, student or follower of some doctrine or teacher. How important is our job to make sure we take it seriously and never hold back. When we give people truth and application, the cutting of their hearts start and they are open to change. We don’t have to worry about their choice, that is God’s job, but when we exhaust all efforts to invest in their lives and build relationships we can hear what Jesus said in Matthew 25 verse 29. “To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance…” We can’t be like the last servant and sit on the silver, we need to work hard to love God so much that we lay it on the line daily and then love people enough to pour into them the truth without wavering or worrying about the numbers, because God will add the numbers. Amen

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Luke 3

Mark 13

Mark 10

Mark 9

Matthew 28

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