City Pastor With Attitude: January 2005

Monday, January 31, 2005

Trusting God When You Don't Understand

You know many of us are very smart. God has given us great minds. But unfortunately, sometimes we let our minds get a little too busy. What I mean by this, is that something hasn’t panned out the way we wanted it to--Maybe our prayer wasn’t answered in the way we had wanted, and we keep mulling it over and mulling it over in our minds. We get frustrated or bewildered. We want to know-- why?

Usually we want to know the reason for everything. Sometimes we don’t understand why things happen in our lives. And If we overanalyze every situation, we can open the door to bitterness and frustration. .

Rom 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out!

But what do we do when things don’t make sense to our minds? I heard a preacher say that each one of us needs to have an “I don’t understand it file” in our minds. We need to take our unanswered questions and just stick it in the file and say God, I don’t understand it right now,
I'm just going to trust you. We need to leave some things alone.

TRUST GOD WITH YOUR SITUATION AND STOP TRYING TO FIGURE IT OUT AND GOD WILL TAKE YOU TO THE PLACE HE’S TRYING TO GET YOU TO.

Now why can we just leave things with God? Three reasons. First:

TRUST THAT GOD IS IN CONTROL
God is IN CONTROL. He is in control of all circumstances. It is difficult for us to accept this.

Matt 10:29-31 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. 30 And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 So don't be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.

Jesus was saying that God is in control of the most intimate details of life. There is nothing that happens that God does not know about. God is omniscient he knows the beginning from the end. He is omnipotent. He can do anything.

Isa 45:7 I form the light and create darkness, I bring prosperity and create disaster; I, the LORD, do all these things.

Good things and bad things are all in the control of God. This is very hard for us to accept. But if we truly trust in the ultimate control of God, it can bring you to a new level of peace.

You know one of the reasons that Jesus said that we must all become like little children is that little children don’t try to figure out everything. They are trusting. They trust God to take care of their needs more than adults do.

Now I am not saying that we don’t cooperate with God. Because I believe he does use us but ultimately He is in control. And we have to say if a sparrow falls, it is not an accident or fate. God knows about it.

Now surely many things happen that were not God's desire for them to happen. The Bible says it is not His will that any perish, yet some perish. He has given men a free will.

This should comfort us to know that God is not just leaving us up to our own devices and then just getting involved once in a while but that he is continually working through our lives. He is continually superintending things. Even our trials.

John 19:10 "Do you refuse to speak to me?" Pilate said. "Don't you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?" 11 Jesus answered, "You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.

Jesus trusted himself to a God that was in control. Talk about trust!
So because we can trust in a God that is in control we can turn things over to God. We can turn over all our why’s to God.

Believe it or not this is probably one of the most difficult things to do. Some of us have gone through things that we just can’t figure out. We have had a loved one die. We have had miscarriages. We have lost jobs. We have been abused. We have had setbacks and one of the major plots of the enemy is to get us to stay concentrated on the why. Why did this happen to me? Maybe God doesn’t love me? Maybe God has left me? Maybe I did something that was terrible? Now sometimes God will show you why. But many times we just don’t understand why something has happened. But if we insist on focusing on why, we will open the door to bitterness in our lives, anger and frustration.

You will never live in consistent victory if you are hung up on the why’s of life.
Some of you are praying and praying for certain things. It hasn’t panned out. And now you are tempted to be discouraged. Our attitude should be “God I believe that you are in control” You don’t have to live all stressed out.

Get into the rest of God. We can learn to trust Him.

You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is steadfast, because he trusts in you Is. 26:3

The worst thing we can do is to keep mulling it over. It’s not easy but this is where we have to say. I am not going to allow this to drag me down and mess me up. I’m going to trust God no matter what. We need to take that thing to God and say God, "I don’t understand why this has happened. And I am not going to speculate anymore. I am going to file it in my “I don’t understand this file”. I am just going to go forward with my life."

Pray . Knowing that God is sovereign should be an encouragement to pray not to fatalism. Because who can change it but God?

Now I am not saying that there are some things that you don’t need to do. But I am talking about our attitude in the midst of all these things.
What has happened or not happened in your life that you need to file in the “I don’t understand it “ file?

Blessings!

Monday, January 24, 2005

Battle In The Heavenlies Part III

Eph 4:26 "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold.

Last week we ended by talking about how the enemy manipulates footholds and strongholds to keep the church from being effective in what it is supposed to do: Reaching souls and building them up. Meanwhile the Holy Spirit’s goal is to build up the church.

We also saw how often strongholds and footholds have to do with lies and pretensions that keep us from being effective.

So how does the church deal with strongholds? First we must be aware!

2 Cor 2:10-11 I have forgiven in the sight of Christ for your sake, 11 in order that Satan might not outwit us. For we are not unaware of his schemes.

Folks, ignorance of the demonic schemes is not a virtue. Paul made it clear that he was ignorant of the plans of the enemy against him. How about you? It’s not that difficult to discern. Just ask yourself:

Where are the pressure points in your life right now? Where are you being tempted?Where are you being accused. Even after confessing all your sins?Where are you afflicted right now?Where are you deceived? Are you believing something right now that is totally contradictory to the Word.

James 4:7 Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you.

Rev 12:11 They overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death.

I want to use the above two scriptures to illustrate how to destroy strongholds.

Now suppose a husband is struggling in a difficult marriage. The Bible says: He who finds a wife, finds a good thing. But the husband is saying. "Lord you must have been talking about somebody else. Because what I have here is not good." Now if he keeps on going that way we see that the Word of God is saying one thing, but the husband is saying something else. That is a stronghold of deception. What is step number one in dealing with it.

First: Submit to God.
Do not love your life even unto death. Get God’s Word on the situation, not your own opinion. Not so and so's opinion. Not professor so and so, or Oprah’s opinion. Get God’s opinion. Now submit to that Word. You see, if we do not submit ourselves to God we can have no authority with Satan. Notice how James says that before we can resist the devil we have to submit to God.

The Bible tells a funny story in ACTS 19, about how seven sons of a guy named Sceva tried to cast a demon out of a man. They said "in the name of Jesus who Paul preaches we command you to come out." You see, they weren’t personally submitted to Jesus. They just knew somebody who was and the Demon said "I know Jesus and I know Paul but who are you?." And the demonized guy proceeded to literally beat the clothes off of them.

Folks we have to submit ourselves to the Lord.

First Submit. Then Resist! Like we said last week, If you want to get rid of the rats get rid of the garbage.

This is such an important step that cannot be overlooked.
Do you have unforgiveness in your heart?Is there willful sin in your life? Occult involvement? Idle words?Are there family sin patterns in your life?

Confess these to God, Renounce these, and turn these areas of your life over to God and His Word.

Get God's Word on your situation! The Word is what Jesus used!

Secondly: We Resist
How do we resist. First, you need to realize the power of the blood of Jesus in Rev 12:11. The blood of Jesus washes away your sin. By virtue of your union with Jesus you now have authority over the forces of darkness. Rev 12:11 also talks about the word of their testimony. You see your testimony is a whole lot more than coming up and telling how you came to know Jesus. Your testimony is what you confess with your lips. Not only must you know what God’s Word is on the situation . You need to testify of it. You need to confess it.
You see, demons are not omniscient. Jesus in his threefold temptation in the desert did not telepathically communicate with the Devil. He spoke the word! I know some of you might feel uncomfortable with this, but you need to learn to say “it is written” to the devil and his demons. Don’t be shy!!

It is Written! It is Written! It is Written! We need to learn how to wield that Word like the double edged sword that it is.

You see a traffic cop can have the badge, the uniform, and the white gloves, but the traffic is not going to stop until he raises his hand and blows the whistle. Too many of us are walking around with badges but not raising our hands!

We have to speak to the stronghold. Speak to the enemy and be persistent untl that wall comes tumbling down.

The Third thing: Draw near to God.
Deliverance without Discipleship in the end is a waste of time.
Jesus tells the story of a man who had a demon cast out of him and the demon returns after a while to find the place swept clean and he takes seven more wicked than himself into the man. The moral of the story. You can’t just have things cast out, you need to have some things put in. Like Jesus, the Holy Spirit, the Word, His ways !

Blessings!

Monday, January 17, 2005

Battle In the Heavenlies Part II

There is a place called "the heavenly places" mentioned five times in the book of Ephesians. It can't be what we think of heaven-- where God alone rules and the angels are, because the Bible describes this place as the sphere of demons and spiritual warfare as well. What this really is, is the realm of the spirit.

To a Western scientific mindset, the spiritual realm is hard to comprehend. In the developing nations this is not so. As a matter of fact, it is reported that there, the most asked question about Christianity is not, "Is it true?", but "what kind of power does your God have?" There is a supernatural worldview there, as was prevalent when the Bible was written.

We understand from the Bible that the spiritual and natural realms are constantly interacting. For example, consider the angels in the book of Acts, the cloud of witnesses in the Book of Hebrews, the binding and loosing passages of Jesus, the story of Elijah’s servant etc..
Lets look at the first mention of the "heavenly realms" in the Book of Ephesians.

Eph 1:3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

First of all, God made the first move. In the heavenly places, God blessed the church with every spiritual blessing in Christ. We have peace, joy, salvation all coming from the heavenly realm.
Now where were we in relation to these blessings before we knew Christ?

Eph 2:1 As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, 2 in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient.

As far as we were concerned, we were dead in our transgressions and sins. We had no connection with God or the blessings reserved because we were in bondage to the ruler of the air. But then, Jesus!

Now to the second mention of the heavenly realms.

Eph 1:19-23 That power is like the working of his mighty strength, 20 which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, 21 far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. 22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

Jesus broke open the spiritual grave. And when He rose he was seated at the right hand in the Heavenly realms. All authority was given to him. And in verse 22 it says God placed all things under his feet. That includes Death, the Grave, and Hell and Satan himself! Okay, if that is not amazing enough, we go to the third mention of the heavenly realms and we find .....

Eph 2:6-7 And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, 7 in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

The Body of Christ. The body of Christ has been raised up out of the spiritual grave to sit with him in the heavenly places! Do we understand the implication of this? No, I don’t believe we fully do, that’s why Paul prayed the prayer that he does:

Eph 1:18 I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

We have been given an incredible position. Now what is the point of our lofty position in Christ? We go to the fourth mention of the heavenly realms.

Eph 3:10-12 His intent was that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God should be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realms, 11 according to his eternal purpose which he accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord.

God’s purpose is to display the wonder of his grace. Here we are, a people who were lost and going to hell. Now we are a trophy. An everlasting monument of salvation. An everlasting monument to the destruction of Satan’s kingdom. An everlasting monument to the Grace and Mercy of God. We make known the wisdom of God to the principalities and powers! Amazing!
Who is meant to see this monument? The principalities and powers who are also in the heavenly realm. Can you imagine? The Devil and his demons and even the angels are looking in awe at what God has done by redeeming a fallen creation back to himself. They can only look amazed at the awesome grace of our God!

So where does that leave the demonic principalities and powers? Well, we have quite a picture. We have two constants and one variable. The two constants are that Jesus is seated at the Right hand of the Father, and that Satan and all other powers are under the feet of Jesus. You see, Satan gave it a good shot, but he can't touch Jesus anymore. He was completely defeated at the cross of Calvary! He can't question Jesus' position. So what is the variable? The variable is the state of the church in relation to the principalities.

You see, the only avenue of attack for the enemy is the church. And that leads us to our last mention of the heavenly realms.

Eph 6:12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Our fight is against the rulers, the authorities, the powers of this dark world, the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.

Satan’s tactics-- Strongholds
How does the enemy attack the church? Generally four ways Temptation, Accusation, Deception, and Affliction. As you can see, most of these are assaults on the mind. His goal is to place strongholds in the church so he can rob, kill and destroy it and its effectiveness. How does he accomplish this? He does so by robbing the church of it's rightful authority. He is able to do this through footholds given him. A foothold is usually obtained by sin. It could be our own sin, a sin against us, or a lie we were taught to believe.

Eph 4:26 "In your anger do not sin": Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, 27 and do not give the devil a foothold.

The enemy manipulates footholds and keeps the church from being effective in what it is supposed to do. Reach souls and build them up. Meanwhile the Holy Spirit’s goal is to build up the church.

2 Cor 10:3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.

You can see how often strongholds and footholds have to do with lies and pretensions that keep us from being effective.

Strongholds are important to recognize. We need to go for the strongholds. If you want to get rid of the rats, get rid of the garbage! You need to deal with the strongholds that the enemy is using against you. We will look at this more closely next week.

Blessings!

Culture

Christian Growth

Tuesday, January 11, 2005

Evangelism and Church Planting

Wednesday, January 05, 2005

Work Is Of God

You know many of us look at our jobs or the way we make money as drudgery. We have a hard time thanking God for it. But God wants to change our attitude about work. He wants us to see some things about it. He wants us to see that all creation is His. God doesn't want us to separate our lives into neat little boxes. "This is my religious life. This is my business life."

No, God wants to be intimately involved in all of our lives. The earth is the Lord's and the fullness thereof. It all belongs to God. You see some people think that work is from the Devil. But that's not what the Bible says.

Work is not part of the curse but a blessing!
Gen 1:28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground."

Work came before the fall of Adam and Eve. Work came before the curse. We have a working God. For God worked in the act of creation. He created the world in 6 days and then he rested. Then he made man in his likeness and guess what, he gave them a job to do! He said subdue the earth. Rule over it.

Gen 2:15 The LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it.

We see that God took man and put him in the garden to care for it. Man was created for work. Work is a divine assignment. It is not of the devil. You see some people think that because God cursed the earth, that work in and of itself is cursed. But that is not true. What the curse did is make work more difficult but we always had work. Jesus was a worker too. He said "I must work the work of Him who sent me." He was a carpenter until he was 30 years old--and I guarantee, He didn't make junk! Now he works as an intercessor. So if you want to act like, talk like and look like Jesus, that includes work.

Prov 10:4-5 Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.

You know it’s very popular in some circles to talk about how faith brings you wealth. But let's look at work. Work is the primary way that God uses to bring provision into your life. Not just praying, Not just faith.

God gives the birds their food, but He doesn't throw it into their nests!

Work is a Witness to Unbelievers
1 Thess 4:11-12 Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, 12 so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

According to this verse, minding your own business, literally, and working with your hands, can win the respect of unbelievers. The converse then is also true. Not minding your own business, and poor work habits can win the disrespect of outsiders. How can we be a witness in a situation like this?

Eph 4:28 He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with his own hands, that he may have something to share with those in need.

Now this is a major witness. When unbelievers see the one who was a thief, not only not stealing but being productive in his work and actually sharing with others in need. You see then you have a real gospel. A gospel that people are willing to listen to.

Jesus said he did not come to be served but to be a servant. Do you see yourself as a servant to your employers? Do you see yourself as a servant to your customers? We should find in our work a reason for serving others if we really want to be like Him who took on the nature of a servant.

You see as workers, we have to get rid of an entitlement mentality and get the attitude that we are here to serve God, and our employer. You see because many Christians have lost this sacred view of their work, we have let our attitude slip and it has negatively affected our witness.
Each day across the USA 50,000 people quit their jobs. In a recent survey of workers across the USA, nearly 85% said that they could work harder of the job. More than half claimed they could double their effectiveness "if (they) wanted to." Managing the Equity Factor, R Huseman, J Hatfield, 1989.

Should this be the testimony of believers?
Your Work Matters!You see the pagan worldview of work is that it is a necessary evil, but it's so important to see God's perspective on Work . That you are partnering with God when you wash the dishes, as much as when you pray. The word vocation literally means calling. Your work is a high calling from God. Even if it’s just for a season.

That means there is no place for complaining. No place for laziness. No place for looking down upon your labors. Your contribution , no matter how small, fits into God’s pattern of influencing the world. Do you believe that your work matters to God? Have you dedicated your vocation to the Lord? Realize that your vocation is no accident but that God has you there for a reason and that he wants to make a difference through you in that place. Be fruitful in your workplace!

Thank you God that you have a purpose for on us on this earth through work-- To be fruitful and to see increase of your Kingdom influence. Thank you that as we believe, we can be a mighty influence for your kingdom in the workplace. Thank you for the provision of material and spiritual satisfaction through Work. Thank you that we even have a reward in the after life for it.

City Pastor With Attitude