Dec 04

Always Be Ready

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Sunday afternoon, my partner and fellow minister here at Karns, called to inform me  he wasn’t feeling well. He wanted to know if I could preach for him that night. I agreed to preach and to my knowledge, I was able to get through it even though I wasn’t nearly as prepared as I normally am when I stand up to proclaim God’s Word.

As I spent time reflecting on Sunday, I kept coming back to the same thought. I kept thinking about how important it is to always be ready. It’s a thought I think all people would agree is a great idea, but it’s something very few people are good putting into practice.

I don’t like the feeling of being unprepared for anything. Whether its public speaking, an exam or an important conversation, I like to always be ready. As some might say, “I like to have my ducks in a row.”

As Christians, there are several things we need to always be ready for. Consider just a few:

  1. To Bear Other’s Burdens. Life is hard and sometimes it just slaps you across the face. When this happens, we all need someone to sit, listen, talk, cry and encourage us, don’t we? Paul encourages us to bear the burdens of others (Gal. 6:2). Opportunities to act on this may come at unexpected times. We must always be ready when such an opportunity presents itself.

  2. To Give An Answer For Our Faith. Many people claim to be Christians, but how many can defend their faith? Peter reminds Christians to always be ready to defend the faith (I Pet. 3:15). Part of my responsibility as a disciple of Christ is to be ready to defend Christ to unbelievers, even when it’s unanticipated.

  3. To Do Good. Paul reminded the churches of Galatia to always do good when the opportunity presented itself (Gal. 6:10). How many times a time do we pass up an opportunity to do good for someone else, because it’s inconvenient for us? As we go about our daily lives, we must always be ready to lend a helping hand. Who knows, it could make an eternal difference.

  4. To Obey God.  I’m sure most of you reading this post want to obey God, otherwise you probably wouldn’t have continued reading this far. The problem is not that we don’t want to obey God; the problem is we are not always ready to obey God. Take Daniel and his 3 friends as an example. In each situation they found themselves in (Dan. 1:1-21; 3:1-30; 6:1-28), they didn’t wait until that moment to decide to obey God. No, they made up their minds a long time in advance. You and I must always be ready to obey God no matter what circumstances we find ourselves in.

  5. To Welcome The Lord. We don’t know the day nor the hour in which our Lord will return (Matt. 24:36-44). Paul tells us He will come like a thief in the night (I Thess. 5:1-2), this indicates it will be at an unexpected time. When we least expect it, our Lord will return. We must always be ready!

This past Sunday was a good reminder for me of the importance of always being ready. I never know when something is going to happen and I’m going to be asked to fill in on the spot. As I laid my head down Sunday night and thought about the events of the day, I thanked God for the reminder to always be ready and made myself a promise I intend to keep; I’m going to always be ready. What about you?

QUESTION: In what area mentioned do you struggle the most when it comes to always being ready? I’d love to hear from you.

 

Nov 20

Keep on Keepin’ On

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Have you ever experienced rejection? I’m sure you probably have at one point or another. Rejection is a terrible feeling most of us try to avoid. Unfortunately, many times we neglect doing something we know we should do because we are afraid of being rejected.

After Jesus had finished a long discourse through the means of parables, He entered Nazareth and taught in the synagogue. To everyone’s amazement, Jesus seemed very wise and special because of His teaching and miraculous powers. Since Jesus was from Nazareth, he should have been a town hero for the people of this city.  You would have expected the people of Nazareth to stand up and cheer in happiness for Jesus, because Nazareth was considered a lowly town.

Sadly, instead of praising Jesus and parading Him around all of Nazareth, the people responded by saying, “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not His mother called Mary, and His brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And His sisters, are they not all with us? Where then did this man get all these things? And they took offense at Him” (Matt. 13:55-57a).

Even though the people of Nazareth were amazed at the teachings of Jesus, they couldn’t get past His family background. He was simply known as the carpenter’s son, ordinary and like everyone else in town. In spite of all He preached and all the miracles He performed, the people of Nazareth rejected Jesus because of His family.

Jesus, the perfect and sinless son of God (Heb. 4:15), was rejected by the very people who should have been the most proud of Him. Now Jesus could have lost hope in His mission and simply refused to preach ever again. He could have allowed this rejection to bring the purpose of God to a halt, but He didn’t. Jesus marveled at their unbelief but then went on fulfilling His purpose on earth.

How many times have you been rejected by others in your service to God? Have you allowed those times of rejection to keep you from continuing with the mission of God? As children of God, we have a responsibility to preach and share the good news of Jesus Christ, even in the midst of rejection (Matt. 28:19-20). I challenge you to follow the example of Jesus when dealing with rejection and to keep on keepin’ on!

Now that’s Something to Think About!

In what ways have you experienced rejection in your service to God?

Nov 14

LABELS: Seeing As God Sees

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We just recently held our annual Fall ADVANCE for our student ministy. I have to say, I believe this was the best ADVANCE I’ve ever been a part of. The students were awesome and had some great things to say about the lessons presented.

Due to the positive feedback I’ve received, I am making available the keynote lessons I presented. It is my hope and prayer these lessons will be a blessing to everyone who reads them.

To find out more about downloading a copy of the lessons, continue reading below.

We live in an age were people label everyone they know. Some people wear the label: funny, smart, popular, honor student, kind, cool and athletic. Others wear lables like: uncool, dorky, outcast, loser, reject, worthless and stupid.

This three part series is a study devoted to helping us learn to see ourselves and others the way God sees us. Below are the titles for each lesson provided.

1. Wait! Seeing Past the Label

2. Seeing YOU as God sees YOU

3. What Label Defines You?

Click here to download LABELS – Seeing As God Sees

Nov 12

Who Do You Follow?

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Like several of you, I have a Twitter account. Twitter is a social media outlet that allows a person to follow friends as they make short post up to 140 characters. Every few weeks Twitter will send me an email with suggestions of people I may want to consider following. Sometimes I know the people suggested and sometimes I don’t. Most of the time, the reason Twitter makes the suggestion in the first place is because I have something in common with the person mentioned. I will then click on their profile and read about them and decide whether or not I want to follow this particular person.

Sometimes I choose to follow the people suggested and sometimes I don’t. It really depends on whether or not I believe the person is worth following.

Peter, Andrew, James and John had a similar choice to make. Matthew records, “Now as Jesus was walking by the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was called Peter, and Andrew his brother, casting a net into the sea; for they were fishermen. And He said to them, ‘Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.’ Immediately they left their nets and followed Him. Going on from there He saw two other brothers, James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, in the boat with Zebedee their father, mending their nets; and He called them. Immediately they left the boat and their father, and followed Him” (Matthew 4:18-22).

When the suggestion to follow Jesus was made to these four men, they had to weigh the options and decide whether or not they believed following Jesus was worth their time. Apparently, it was! All four immediately left their nets (probably full of fish which meant lots of $$$) and walked away from their livelihood to follow after Jesus. Jesus was worth following!

My question to you is, “Who do you follow?” Is following Jesus worth your time? Are you willing to walk away even from your livelihood if necessary, in order to follow after Jesus? If not, why not?

Jesus is worthy to be followed head and shoulders above anyone else in this world. Why not accept the suggestion and invitation (Matthew 11:28-30) to follow Him?

I came across the following this morning and wanted to share it with you.

You Ask Why I Follow This Jesus

You ask why I follow this Jesus?

Why I love Him the way I do?

When the world’s turned away from His teachings

And the people who serve Him are few.

 

It’s not the reward I’m after

Or gifts that I hope to receive;

It’s the Presence that calls for commitment,

It’s the Spirit I trust and believe.

 

The Lord doesn’t shelter His faithful

Or spare them all suffering and pain.

Like everyone else I have burdens,

And walk through my share of rain.

 

Yet he gives me a plan and purpose,

And that joy only Christians have known.

I never know what comes tomorrow,

But I do know I’m never alone.

 

It’s the love always there when you need it;

It’s the words that redeem and inspire.

It’s the longing to ever be with Him

That burns in my heart like a fire.

 

So you ask why I love my Lord Jesus?

Well, friend, that’s so easy to see.

But the one thing that fills me with wonder

Is why Jesus loves someone like me.

 

Now that’s Something to Think About!

 

 

 

 

Nov 08

Careless Words

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The last couple of days I have noticed a trend on social media outlets. It’s a trend that can leave a negative impression on those who are non-Christians. The trend involves friends and acquaintances who are Christians using careless and hateful words to describe others. Most of the wording has been used in reference to the results of the election. Many people, both those who are happy with the results and those who are unhappy with the results, have used words and language that is not becoming of a child of God.

Anytime we speak and/or post something for public viewing, we must be careful about the words we use. Jesus said, “I tell you, on the Day of Judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned” (Matt. 12:36-37).

Friends, we MUST be careful about the words we use. Whether they are spoken or written, our words should always be used to build others up and not to tear others down (Eph. 4:29).  You are entitled to your own opinion, just be careful as to the words you use to express that opinion.

Now that’s Something to Think About!