Month: July 2017

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Is God Your Friend?

Is God Your Friend? Loving God, part XXI

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I would like you to think about your best friend for a moment. We all have friends, a couple close friends, some good friends and a lot you’d simply consider friends. The point is that some friends are closer than others.

I admit that I haven’t always put a high value on friendships. I guess because although I knew that a “good friend is very valuable”, I failed to apply it to my life and put the effort into them that’s necessary.

The bottom line is that for any good friend, you have to take the time to get to know them, there are no shortcuts. Good friends require these key ingredients: love, time, consistency, sacrifice, openness and patience.

Let’s take those ingredients, love, time, consistency, sacrifice, openness, and patience and discuss how these apply to our relationship with God.

This is God’s side, what He contributes:

Love

1 John 3:  16 We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.

Time

Matthew 28: 20b “And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Consistency

James 1: 17 “Whatever is good and perfect comes to us from God above, who created all heaven’s lights. Unlike them, He never changes or casts shifting shadows”

Sacrifice

John 3: 16 “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Openness

John 15: 15 I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.

Patience 

1 Timothy 1: 16 But God had mercy on me so that Christ Jesus could use me as a prime example of his great patience with even the worst sinners. Then others will realize that they, too, can believe in him and receive eternal life.

In light of these attributes, it seems like God would make a pretty good friend, doesn’t it? He has all the qualities of a great friend. But there’s the catch to sustaining a good relationship, and we all know what that is, it needs to be reciprocated. A few verses come to mind:

James 4: 8 Come close to God, and God will come close to you.

2 Chronicles 15: 2 Whenever you seek him, you will find him. But if you abandon him, he will abandon you.

What does this tell us? It tells us that the ball is in our court! He called us, so it’s our turn to call Him back. Some friendships dissolve over a friend not calling the other one back, but God is not like a fickle “friend”.

Matthew 7: 8 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.

Don’t you love God’s “open door” policy?

This tells me that if God is not a good friend of mine, then it’s not His fault, but mine. It’s up to me to be proactive and deliberate about getting to know Him more:

Hosea 6:

6 I want you to show love,
not offer sacrifices.
I want you to know me
more than I want burnt offerings.

When this sunk into my pea-sized brain, it was so liberating. I can simply focus on getting to know Him and not worry so much about messing up. When I sin, I know that I can come back to Him and that He will welcome me. Our relationship is not based on my performance or abilities.

What will you do to improve your friendship with Him? Maybe you’re “good buddies” and reaping the rewards of His company. Maybe you are just getting to know Him and taking things slow.

Regardless of where you’re at, I encourage you to make Him your best friend. I can assure you, He wants to be your best friend and He should be. Get to know Him by reading His Word, talk to Him in prayer consistently, and hang out with others that have made Him their best friend.

I’ll leave you with just one more verse:

Proverbs 3:

31 Don’t envy violent people
or copy their ways.
32 Such wicked people are detestable to the Lord,
but he offers his friendship to the godly.

Will you befriend God?

“Dear Lord, I have good friends and I have not so good friends. None of my friends are as loving and as available as you are. Help me to get to know you more so that I know what it truly means to call you my friend. Thank you for your patience and calling me in the first place. In Jesus name, amen.”

photo by Mohamed Nohassi



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If you desire a closer walk with Jesus, just want more fellowship or "Bible Time" come join us at TheBibleTeam.com. We have weekly calls where our sole focus is spending time in God's Word.
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Do You Know God is Good?

Do You Know That God Is Good? Loving God, part XX

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God is good! He is good, isn’t He? But how do you know? Have you experienced Him?

There are a lot of clichés in the culture of the church. Amen, hallelujah, praise the Lord, give it to God, ‘let go, let God’, praise Jesus, and the list goes on and on. I realize that for a lot of people these are sincere statements and I don’t want to take anything from those people. But let’s face it, sometimes we say things without conviction. It’s easy to do.

I can honestly say that before I started regularly reading the Word of God and seeking Him, I would say the phrase “God is good”, but not really know it for myself. There was no way that I could. I really didn’t know God, so how could I know He was good (other than Scripture)?

Here the psalmist is recalling his personal experience:

Psalm 116

 1 I love the Lord because he hears my voice
and my prayer for mercy.
2 Because he bends down to listen,
I will pray as long as I have breath!
3 Death wrapped its ropes around me;
the terrors of the grave  overtook me.
I saw only trouble and sorrow.
4 Then I called on the name of the Lord:
“Please, Lord, save me!”
5 How kind the Lord is! How good he is!
So merciful, this God of ours!

6 The Lord protects those of childlike faith;
I was facing death, and he saved me.

God or coincidence?

God is good for all the little things He does as well. For many years I’d give “coincidence” the credit. For example, I would pray “God, please let me get to work on time.” when I was worried that there’d be a lot of traffic. So I would get to work on time, then I would think “I guess there wasn’t so much traffic after all, cool!” Whereas I should have been saying “Thank you, Lord, for helping me get to work on time!”

James 1: 17 Whatever is good and perfect comes down to us from God our Father, who created all the lights in the heavens. He never changes or casts a shifting shadow. 

What can happen to some of us, I included, is that we can become complacent, or fall away completely. I’ve been “on fire” for God before, then years later I’d be lukewarm.

How would you like to learn of a way to remember God continually?

Joshua 1: 8 Study this Book of Instruction continually. Meditate on it day and night so you will be sure to obey everything written in it. Only then will you prosper and succeed in all you do.

With Bible reading, praying, meeting with godly friends, and truly seeking God in all these activities, you will be put on God’s good path. Your life will change for all eternity.

Psalm 37: 31 They have made God’s law their own, so they will never slip from his path.

Why don’t we all commit to seek God and stay on His path? Then we can all say “God is good” with great enthusiasm and live a much richer life!

Can I get an Amen?!

“Dear Lord, I would like to get to know you better. You are good, I know that, but I want to see more of you in my life. Please do not let me take this life you’ve given me for granted. Help me to see all the little things you do for me and realize that they are from you. Thank you for your patience and keeping me on your path. I give you all the praise. In Jesus name, amen.”

Photo by Kate Remmer on Unsplash 

 

 



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If you desire a closer walk with Jesus, just want more fellowship or "Bible Time" come join us at TheBibleTeam.com. We have weekly calls where our sole focus is spending time in God's Word.
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
How Is Your Service?

How Is Your Service? Loving God, part XIX

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In my last post: “Who Is Your Master”, I wrote about serving God indirectly as we serve people in our lives. We discussed Joseph and Nehemiah as great examples of servants. So today I’d like to explore our service to others and Jesus a little further.

For the purposes of this message, the terms servant and slave will be used interchangeably so don’t read into it. When I say I was a slave to my job, I know you won’t take that in a literal sense and you shouldn’t.

Slavery comes in many shapes and sizes. People are slaves to their jobs, bosses, hobbies, money, shopping, kids, habits, and the list goes on.

I once knew a lady in real estate that admitted that she would take a phone call while taking a shower! Isn’t that crazy? What did that say about her? The first thing that comes to mind is “fear of loss”. She was afraid that if she did not answer the phone, she wouldn’t get “the deal”. It’s interesting that the little things you know about people can say a lot about them.

I used to be a slave to a job. If I wasn’t working 50-60 hours a week, then I wasn’t doing my job (according to my employer). That job was at times very fulfilling and alluring, but it consumed me, burned me out, and left me empty.

I was a textbook example of a workaholic.

I think to a degree we are slaves/servants, to our jobs/clients, families, ministries and that’s not a bad thing. We have obligations and that is our “cross to bear”. I think it is important to determine for ourselves who we are serving, recognize that God put us there to serve and do it very well.

But before we can be great servants and follow in the footsteps of the aforementioned heroes, let’s see what it takes to be a great servant.

As a committed follower of Jesus I think before we can be great servants, we need to first understand who our master really is.

Matthew 10:37 “If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine.

This is so crucial to understanding.

If we aim to please a family member more than our Savior, then we can’t serve God effectively. Our loyalty will be torn.

Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”

One great thing about putting God first is that He will enable us to serve others better.

John 15: 5 “Yes, I am the vine; you are the branches. Those who remain in me, and I in them, will produce much fruit. For apart from me you can do nothing. 6 Anyone who does not remain in me is thrown away like a useless branch and withers. Such branches are gathered into a pile to be burned. 7 But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.

So what is the fruit?

Galatians 5: 22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!

Now take some time to apply those attributes to any position of service. Just imagine how much better our service will be if we remain in Jesus.

So what does it take to remain in Him?

Knowing that Jesus was the ultimate servant, let’s take a look at what He did:

Luke 5: 16 But Jesus often withdrew to the wilderness for prayer.

Luke 6: 12 One day soon afterward Jesus went up on a mountain to pray, and he prayed to God all night.

If there’s one thing I’d like to improve about my walk with Jesus, is that I don’t spend enough time alone with Him, but every time I do spend time with Him, He never let’s me down.

This is a verse that gives me great comfort. Of all the “masters” there are to serve, which of them offers this?

Matthew 11: 28 Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.”

Are you serving Him?

“Dear Lord, thank you for calling me to service. I long to do your will. You are changing me in more ways than I can imagine. Please teach me how to improve in serving you so that I may do the work you’ve given me and bring glory to you. Thank you for working in my life.”

Photo by Carli Jeen on Unsplash



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If you desire a closer walk with Jesus, just want more fellowship or "Bible Time" come join us at TheBibleTeam.com. We have weekly calls where our sole focus is spending time in God's Word.
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.