DAY #2: November 30, 2010

WHY ELSE EXPECT THE BEST FROM GOD?

#2. When I have faith and expect God for the best, IT INCREASES MY OPPORTUNTIES!

Many people mistakenly think that when David faced Goliath, it was God directing that stone into Goliaths head. Wrong! Remember what David said to Saul when he asked how can you face this giant of a man? He said, listen king, I’ve taken on bears and lions and with God with me; I’ll take in this dude as well.

You see, here is my point – many of us are just standing around for God to show us what to do – where to go. David did not do that. He was training – preparing and at the right time, the opportunity came. How did that stone get throne so accurately? He had prepared. And because He had trained and prepared, he was ready for the opportunity that arose with Goliath.

Many of us miss God’s divine appointments because we were not prepared! (witnessing, spouses, jobs) Oh by the way, this is for you doubting Thomas out there – some ask, well, if he had so much faith, why take five stones? The Bible is very clear. Goliath had four brothers. So as David went out to this battle he was thinking, “If I defeat one giant, God will give me the strength to defeat four others if I have to.”

And folks, when you live out your faith it encourages others to do the same. The Bible tells us that when Goliath was defeated the Israelites gave a great shout of triumph and they rushed after the Philistines and they chased them as far as Gath. The entire nation was victorious. An entire nation was energized, encouraged by the faith of this one young man. That’s the power that faith has. Everyone gets excited. Optimism is contagious. And faith has incredible power to make us optimistic.
Some of you are saying, “Pastor - How can I expect the best? You don’t know what I’ve been through!” No, I don’t. And others of you are saying, “How can I expect the best? You don’t know the problems I’m facing right now!” No, I don’t. Some of you are facing some giants in your life. Some giant problems. You’ve got a financial Goliath. You’ve got a medical Goliath or a relational Goliath. You’re facing some big issues in your life and thinking, “How can I expect the best when everything seems to be going wrong right now?”

I don’t know everything that’s going on in your life. But I do know this. You can do the same things David did to give him the confidence to face his giants and if you will do these things you will find yourself having a positive, expect-the-best attitude even in the worst of situations.

- Tune in TO GOD every morning.
We talk a lot about this here at COV, and here we go again! First thing. Start your day with God. That will make you a person of faith. This is David’s secret to giant killing faith Psalm 5:3 says, “In the morning, O Lord, You hear my voice. In the morning I lay my request before You and wait in expectation.” Where does David get his spirit of expectation? He spends time with God in the morning. He starts his day with God. Before he talks with anybody else he talks to God.


- Think on GOD’S PROMISES throughout the day –
Psalm 119:95 says, “Though the wicked hide along the way to kill me I will quietly keep my mind upon Your promises.” David was facing the constant threat of assassination. He says I need these promises throughout the day to help me face these threats in my life, these anxieties that can inevitably overwhelm my day.

How are you going think about God's promises throughout the day? The only way to do it is to memorize them, to bank them in your heart, to put them where you can call upon them.

There are over 5,000 promises in this Bible written for you and I to give us confidence and assurance throughout the day so we can make it through. If you’re going to change your heart, if you’re going to change that anxiety you’re going to feel less threatened in life, more hopeful, more expecting the best, start to listen to something different. Listen to God's promises.

Ponder these things today. Stay the course. Stay faithful. Endure!

DAY #1: November 29, 2010

This week, I'll be following up the message from Sunday on THE AWESOME POWER OF FAITH. Hebrews 11:6 was our key verse - it says, “Without faith it is impossible to please God.” The only way you can get God's approval is by faith in Jesus Christ, His Son. You may be a great person but without faith it’s impossible to please God. You may do all kinds of great things in your life but without faith it’s impossible to please God. Let's build on that...

The Bible tells us that faith comes by hearing the word of God. Roman 10:17says “Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ.” Faith comes from the Bible – and the more you get into this book, God's word, the Bible – the more your faith will develop.

Faith is the key that unlocks the door to heaven. It is very important that you grow, develop, you strengthen your faith. Matthew 9:29 says “According to your faith will it be done to you." What does that mean? God will bless you, give to you according to the faith you display!

The next few days, we are going to talk about expecting the best when it comes to your faith. Here is my definition of what expecting the best means in relation to your faith. Expecting the best is the confident assurance that God is in control of the future and that He plans what is best for my life because He loves me.

That definition is based on Psalm 32:8 - “I will guide you along the best pathways for your life. I'll advise you and I'll watch over you.” God says if you’ll trust Me, (faith) if you’ll get to know Me (faith) then you can expect the best because I will guide you in the path that is best for you.”

Why should I expect the best in life when so many things go wrong? Why should I expect the best when so many heartaches have happened to me already? We learn the answer to that question in a very famous story in the Bible.

It’s the story of David and Goliath. The armies of Israel were fighting the armies of Philistia. The Philistines had a giant of a man. This guy literally was the tallest man ever recorded in history. His name was Goliath. He was nearly nine feet tall. This guy was a giant of a man. Everybody was intimidated by him. He’d come out and stand at the front of the army and say, “I'll take any of you on, one-one-one or one-on-ten.

Everybody was cowering, everybody was intimidated. He was terrorizing the Israeli army except for one little shepherd boy. David says, “I’ll fight him! I'll take him on!” From that story of David fighting Goliath we learn three things about how David expected the best and what it does to us. (1 Samuel 7:1-52)

WHY EXPECT THE BEST? Why is it a big deal?

#1. When you expect the best IT HONORS GOD!

When you expect God to help you it’s the highest compliment that you can pay to God. When you expect the best, it says something about your faith and about God! Listen to what David’s attitude was in 1 Samuel 17 “This day the Lord will hand you over to me and I’ll strike you down and the whole world will know that there is a God.”

Dads, if you overhear one of your kids saying, “My dad can do anything!” how does that make you feel? We have a God who really can do anything. When we expect Him to do those things in our lives it is an incredible honor to Him. William Carey, a missionary, who changed the world in his days because of his faith had a phrase that really governed his life. He used to say, “Expect great things from God, attempt great things for God.” That’s what your faith can do for you. Expect God to work in your life. Expect God to work on your behalf. Expect God to display His power in through you.

I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course. ENDURE!

DAY #7: November 28, 2010

If you read Hebrews 11, it talks about some really great people of faith, the first guy who gets listed is a man named Abel. Abel gets listed, not because he did something great, because he didn't. He had no great accomplishment. No great achievement to his name. The only thing he did was he gave an offering. And God put him in the Hall of Fame. Why? It wasn't how much he gave, it wasn't what he gave. It was how he gave. Abel gave his first and his finest and he did it with a great attitude.

Cane and Able, they were Adam and Eve’s sons. Cane gave this fruit stuff to God. Able gave his first born, an animal—sacrificed it to God. God accepted Able’s offering. He said no to Cane’s offering. WHY?

“In the course of time Cain brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD.” Hello! I hope you didn’t miss that one. “In the course of time Cane brought some of the fruits of the soil as an offering to the LORD.”

You know what Cane did? Cane waited until all his crops were in. He was looking around his farmer’s market type stuff, all of his produce and he said, “Oh, man! This has been pretty incredible. I’ve got it all in. Now I’ll take a few items to God and I’ll throw him an apple, an orange his way. I’ll throw God a bone. You know, “Here you go, God.”

Think about that that phrase - “In the process of time” – is that the way to do life? Is that what God desires? Is that God –hearted? Is it generous? Folks, I goitta tell you - that dog will not hunt when we deal with God. The Bible tells me, the Bible tells you that we’re to bring to God our best – our finest – our highest to God. What do we learn from this story?

#1: FIRST THINGS FIRST. (vs.3-4) God wants you’re highest and finest and He wants it first, because it shows that he is first.

Exodus 23:19 (NIV) says, "Bring the best of the firstfruits of your soil to the house of the LORD your God.” This is a them of God’s throughout the Bible. We’ve got one time around – one shot at this life to discover what matters most. God says we should bring our firstfruits, where? Into the house of the Lord—our firstfruits. First things first.

First fruits = TITHING. First 10% of income and gain goes to God. Folks, God makes the rules, and these are His rules.

Deuteronomy 14:23 (LB)says, “…The purpose of tithing is to teach you always to put God first in your lives.” Did you hear that?

Proverbs 3:9 (LB) “Honor the Lord by giving him the first part of all your income..” If we honor the Lord with our wealth, God’s going to honor us. [The verses continue] “With the”—here we go again—“first part of your income….” That’s pretty sweet. “Then your barns will be filled to overflowing, and your vats will brim over with new wine.”

Honor God, He’s going to honor you. First things first. So the Bible is telling me, it’s communicated to me that the first part of my income, of all of my financial gain should go to the house of God. In the Old Testament, that was the tabernacle/temple. In the New Testament, that’s the local church.


I remember once, I did this in a sermon - I said: Does anybody have a $10 bill? I’ll give you this hundred for a $10 bill. Here, give me the 10 dollars. This guy said, “I’ll give you twenty!” No, it’s got to be 10. Thank you, though. That was good. That was good. (A young lady handed me a $10 bill) All right, young lady, here is $100. Is that a good deal? Yeah, it’s yours.

Let’s say I’m God, just for a second. $100, give me $10. Is that a sweet deal or what? I’m going to bless your life. I’m God. I’m going to take care of you. I’ve given you your abilities and your stuff and man, enjoy that ninety. Enjoy the rest. I’ve got 10—and that’s the worship requirement, the minimum worship requirement—that you just brought to me, which is some stuff that’s already mine. Is that a sweet deal or what? God being God could have said, “Here’s 10. Now give me the hundred. You live on 10.”

Folks please get this truth this morning - God’s a loving God. He wants to bless us. He wants us to live in the sweet spot of his success. And friends, let me tell you this. There is no way you will ever experience the blessing of God unless you’re giving, I’m sorry, bringing 10 percent of your income to the local church.

I know what some of you are thinking – so read Deuteronomy 8:17-18 (NLT) with me. “You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms His covenant, which He swore to your forefathers, as it is today.”

God doesn’t need your money, doesn’t need it. Why does he ask for it? Because money is so powerful. And here’s what happens to us. If we don’t tithe, if we don’t bring it, all of a sudden we segue from being a manager into an owner and we think it’s our stuff.

It’s very easy to tell if Jesus is number one in someone’s life. It’s simple. You know how? Just look at their checkbook. Look at my checkbook. You can tell like that if Jesus is Lord, if He’s number one. And I discovered something a long time ago. You cannot out-give God. God wants to bless your life and mine. If we could see the blessings he has for us, we would not even…. Well, let me let the Bible explain it.

Malachi 3:8(NLT) says, “Will a man rob God? Yet you rob Me. But you ask, ‘How do we rob You?’ In tithes and offerings.” Have you ever thought about this? I have. The local church is the most important thing in God’s economy. The question is, does God want to bless the local church? You better believe it! How is God going to bless the church? Well, He will bless a lot of people in the church so they can bless the church. We’re either clogs or conduits, reservoirs or rivers.

Believe me, God’s blessed a lot of you in a great way. And the sole purpose of God blessing you is to bless this local church. I know a lot of you here are really blessed financially. And believe me, you’re not that smart. You know it’s from God. That was a joke, you know? Come on.

“Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this.” This is God talking. The only place in Scripture where God says, “Test me. Test me in this.”

Here's another thing I said in a message a few years ago: You know what I thought about doing? Now this is crazy. I can’t believe I’m saying this. “Test me,” God says. You know what I thought about doing? I thought about having a money back guarantee at COV. I thought about next weekend starting this deal to say, “Okay, six weeks you tithe. And if God does not bless your life in mighty ways, we’ll give you your money back.” That would be pretty cool, wouldn’t it? Money back? I think we’re going to do that. I’m serious. I love that. That’s how sure I am with this stuff. I know it works. I’m a walking, talking, living, breathing testimony of it.

Malachi goes on to say -“Test me in this and see if I will now throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it.” I want to sign up for some of that. I’m telling you man, my life is a testimony to this. I’m blessed financially, yeah. But I am blessed relationally, occupationally, and emotionally much greater than I’m blessed financially. I’m a living testimony to this first. I’ve never met a person who said, “You know what, Mike? I bring the tithe, the first 10% to the local church and my life’s boring, man. I’m not blessed. I’m just not making it. And I’m living the same old, same old life.” I’ve never met that person. Wow, what can happen in our lives if we get hold of this!

Ponder these things today. I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course. Endure.

DAY #6: November 27, 2010

#2. When will start blessing my life? GOD WILL BLESS MY LIFE WHEN I PUT HIM FIRST. (vs.50)

You see what Bartimaeous did here don’t you? The only earthy possession he had was his cloak. It was his blanket on a cold night. It was hi pillow on warm nights. It was all he owned and yet when Jesus called him to come, he took it off and threw it to the side. Listen to what Jesus says to a group of people who was following him one day -

Luke 14:33 (NIV) says, “In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple.”

This means I have to start shedding the things that are holding me back. Look at the prayer corner at the bottom right hand side of your notes this morning. Read Hebrews 12:1 with me will you? What’s holding you back? Friends? Social status? Fear? Give it up. Quit plying it safe. What do you need to throw off this morning?

Finally, #3. When will start blessing my life? GOD WILL BLESS MY LIFE WHEN I FOLLOW HIM CLOSELY.

(vs.52b) Bartimaeous was healed and followed Jesus along the road. History tells us that Bartimaeous spent the rest of his life doing the work of God. Helping the poor. Feeding the hungry, giving shelter to the homeless. Sharing the good news. Folks, When God blesses you, when God does a miracle for you, when God pours out his favor upon you, how will you respond?

I love what Matthew 6:33 (NIV) says, “But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.” Folks this verse means…..

I have to determine my priorities in life. Alter call. Will you give him your life this morning? Maybe you need to quit playing mickey mouse with God and step out and strip off things that have been holding you back. Would you tell God that this morning and re-dedicate your life to Him anew?

I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course. Endure!

DAY #5: November 26, 2010

Luke 6:38 (MB)says, “Give away your life; you'll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.”

I want to ask you a question. What did you want to be when you were a child – growing up? Let’s do this in fact – turn to a person close to you and share with each other your answer.

How many Firemen? How about an astronaut? Scientist? How about secret agent? President of the USA? (that was mine) Let me ask you, what happened to that dream? For many, the dream got squashed. It got de-railed. We left that dream because maybe we were told we could never attain it. Quit trying – quit striving.

Wake up to reality – settle for safe. Be like everybody else. Don’t stand out and don’t stand up. Do you know what I’m talking about? I mean why try? You might fail. You might come up short. What am I saying this morning? Folks, if you want God to bless your life, you have to go after it.

The guy we are going to look at today in Mark 10 wanted God’s blessing. He wanted to go after his dream. Bartimaeus was blind since birth. All of his life he had been dreaming of a day when he might see. I’m pretty sure he had been told this is all you are ever going to accomplish. This is you place in life. This is your lot. Quit dreaming of seeing. Just settle for a beggers life. Let’s read.

“A blind man, Bartimaeus was sitting by the roadside begging…. When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" … “What do you want me to do for you?” Jesus asked him. The blind man said, "Rabbi, I want to see.” “Go," said Jesus, ‘your faith has healed you.’ Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus along the road.”

Great story. Sad tale of a cripple – a handicapped person – a special needs person. Born blind. Relegated to a life of begging just to eek out some semblance of a existence. Then, this blind man meets Jesus and everything changes. He is healed. He can see again. Tear jerker for everyone there that day to be sure.

Folks, this is a story of God’s blessing. This is a story of someone who experienced and lived the blessed life I want to tell you, I read this story and I ask -when will God start blessing my life?. What can we learn from the life of Bartimaeous? Three things… (one tday and a few more tomorrow)

#1.When will start blessing my life? GOD WILL BLESS MY LIFE WHEN I STEP OUT IN FAITH. (vs. 47-49, 51-52a)

Bartimaeous knew his day had come. In his gut, he knew this was it. Heart pounding. Palms sweating. Mind racing . Fear gripping him. With all of the courage he could muster, he began to shout. JESUS – JESUS. SON OF DAVID. HAVE MERCY ON ME.

Many rebuked him though. Shut up. Be quiet. Go away. You smell. You stink. You’re dressed inappropriately. Just go away. But he shouted all the more. Son of David have mercy on me. Heal me. Jesus stopped. Call him, bring him to me. The tenor of the crowd changes. (Hypocrites) Jesus asks the al important question – What do you want me to do for you? I want to see.

What do you want Jesus to do for you? What step of faith are you willing to take? Folks, I know so many people who want the blessing but they don’t want to do their part – they don’t want to step out in faith. They don’t want to risk being mocked, laughed at, ridiculed, rejected. Listen to how important stepping out in faith is to Jesus…

Hebrews 11:6 (NIV) says, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (we're going to look at that verse this Sunday morning)

this means I have to start taking some risks. Not risks in the stock market. Not risks with your health. I’m talking risk of faith. Maybe some of you are here and you’ve been playing it safe when it comes to matters of faith. You keeping saying someday I’ll receive Christ. Someday I’ll start living the life of faith. If you want God’s blessing, you have to step out in faith. Receive him, follow him, obey him, live for him. You can’t please him any other way. When’s the last step of faith you took?

I need to say something to you TODAY as your pastor. I see greatness in our church. All around our church I see the seeds for greatness. My plea with you today is this - Don’t play it safe. Step out and step up. See what God can and will do for you.

I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course. ENDURE!

DAY #4: November 25, 2010: THANKSGIVING DAY

A Better Plan from a Better Planner

It’s almost Thanksgiving. Often on the holidays we become aware that life does not go the way we plan. We think to ourselves:

I was supposed to be married by now.
I was supposed to be promoted by now.
I was supposed to have retired, or to have children, or to have achieved this dream-
Or, I wasn’t supposed to go bankrupt.
I wasn’t supposed to lose my job, or get divorced, or get cancer.

What do you do when life doesn’t turn out the way you planned?
One of the great statements of the Bible reads: “For I know the plans I have for you,’ declares the LORD. Plans to prosper you, and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope, and a future."Jeremiah 29:11

We all have plans. But God does not say: “I know the plans YOU have for you…”
In the Bible, God is always interrupting somebody’s plan.

Adam didn’t plan on getting created.
Noah didn’t plan on building an ark.
Abraham didn’t plan on becoming the father of a new nation in his 90’s.
Esther didn’t plan on stopping genocide.
Moses didn’t plan on defying Pharaoh.
Mary didn’t plan on getting pregnant.

Not a single story in the Bible begins: “Then someone had a great plan…”
But God has a plan. Better than our plan.

So even if we have many disappointments, we have something else, something to be grateful for. We are part of somebody else's plan; a better plan, from a Better Planner. His plan is better than we could invent ourselves in a million years.

Gratitude is one of the best parts of the plan. Spend time with our Lord today and thank Him for His plan for your life. Have a blessed Thanksgiving.

I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course. ENDURE!

DAY #3: November 24, 2010

Finally, how else can I begin to experience the blessed life?
#3. UNDERSTAND THAT YOU’RE NOT AN OWNER - YOU'RE A MANAGER.

One time Jesus told a story in Matthew 25 about a guy that owned a business. And this guy hired several people. And he gave one guy five coins, the other guy two coins, and the other guy one coin. The owner said, “Invest these coins and I’ll be back later to see the results.” When the owner came back, the guy with five coins had parlayed his into ten. The guy with two coins parlayed his into four. The guy with one coin dug a hole and, like, sat on it.

The owner goes, “Man, what are you thinking? I gave you this coin to invest. Get out of my life. You’re fired.” Then Jesus said this in Matthew 25:23 (TEV), “Well done, you good and faithful servant!' said his master. 'You have been faithful in managing small amounts, so I will put you in charge of large amounts. Come on in and share my happiness!'”

It’s the difference between ownership and management. In Genesis 1:28, the first words God ever spoke to Adam and Eve, You know what they were about? Read it. Management. God said, “You’re not owners, you’re managers."

This Thanksgiving, make sure you tell God that you understand who is the owner and who is the manager. Ask Him if there is anyone He would have you bless with the blessing He has entrusted you with.

I love you guys. Stay Faithful. Stay the Course. ENDURE!

DAY #2: November 23, 2010

How else can I begin to experience the blessed life? 2. UNDERSTAND THE MEANING OF BLESSING?
We throw that term “Blessing” around a lot. You sneeze, “God bless you.” Someone asks, “How are you doing?” and some people will say, “I’m blessed.” Oh really? Watch a comedian. He’ll take the Lord’s name in vain 400 times. He’ll drop the F-bomb 35 times. And then to conclude his show, he’ll say, “God bless you.”

What does it mean to be blessed? Whenever I say the words “bless” or “blessing” or “God bless you,” here’s what I think. I think of the intangibles: peace, contentment, tranquility of the soul, love, joy. That’s what I think about. And that’s part of it. That’s part of blessing. Blessing, though, is deeper than that. You might want to jot this definition down.

Blessing means to be on the receiving end of the tangible and intangible favor of God. We understand the intangible part—the peace, the joy, the tranquility of the soul, love and all that. We understand that blessing is kind of about stuff we cannot taste and touch and smell and feel.

But, there’s more. God wants to also bless you in tangible ways—materially, financially. He blesses his people with stuff. Isn’t that something about God? He wants to pour out His intangible and tangible blessing in our life. God wants to bless your life. But to be blessed, we’ve got to be bless-able.

You might be thinking right about now, Pastor, what do you mean – am I blessable? Philippians 4:19 is one of the 5000+ promises in the bible, and in my opinion it is one of the greatest promises in the Bible.

It’s a promise from God to meet your needs. Listen - "And my God will meet all your needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus." God says, "I will meet all your needs.I will bless your life" Pretty awesome huh? You ask then - Then why do people have needs? I see a lot of people who have tremendous needs. I see a lot of Christians who have tremendous needs.

Why aren't they being met? Is God a liar? Is His promise not valid? What's the problem? The answer to the question is that this promise is not for everybody. This promise is not for every Christian. SAY WHAT? With every promise there is a premise. There is a condition that God says, "If you do this, I will do that."

People want to take the v. 19 promise and apply it to their lives while avoiding the premise/condition of verses 14-18. You cannot claim v. 19 unless you're doing what v. 18 talks about. The context is Paul is talking to a group of Philippians saying "Thank you. You have given sacrificially. And because you have given sacrificially, God is going to take care of your needs."

To understand this truth more fully, let’s look at a guy lived a long time ago. His name was Abraham. He came from a family of idol worshippers. Yet Abraham was a guy who God poured out His blessing on. Let’s read about his life. Genesis 12:2-3. God says “I’ll make you into a great nation. I’ll bless you. I’ll make your name great, Abraham. And you’re going to be a blessing. I’ll bless those who bless you. Whoever curses you I’ll curse. And all the peoples on earth will be blessed through you.”

Let’s keep going, because Abraham was a man who was truly blessed. In fact, one of his workers said this about him: Genesis 24:35, he said—he’s talking about Abraham here—“The Lord has blessed my master abundantly and he has become wealthy. He has given him sheep and cattle, silver and gold, menservants and maidservants, and camels and donkeys.” Abraham was blessed, if you read about his life, He was blessed occupationally, relationally, and financially. Abraham was a man who knew that everything he had came from God. Why did God bless Abraham?

There are several events in Abraham’s life brought out the blessing of God. I want to talk about one. Abraham was old. God said, “Abraham, you and Sarah are going to have a baby.” He was like, “What?” They became pregnant. They had Isaac, the apple of Abraham’s eye. Those of us who are fathers know about that special relationship we have with our sons. You know what God told Abraham to do?
“Hey Abraham, take the life of your son as a sacrifice to me.”

Now, just put yourself in his sandals for a second. Here’s Abraham and his son Isaac walking up to the mountain for the whole sacrifice thing. His son is probably, I don’t know, 12 or 13 and saying, “Dad, where’s the animal? Dad, where’s the animal? Where is he dad?”

And can’t you imagine the tears and the emotion that Abraham was dealing with? God’s telling him to take the life of his own son. I mean, that just seems weird, crazy. Right before he began to kill his own son, what did God do? God provided a ram, a scapegoat if you will, that Abraham used in place of taking the life of his son. Do you see the giving in Abrahams life? Do you see the sacrifice? This is why God blessed him.

Man, don’t forget it. You’d better download it. Abraham was God-hearted. Abraham was generous with his abilities, and his talents, and his aptitudes, and his money, and his stuff. WHY? Because he knew deep down in his heart that it all came from God. He had blessed to be blessing to others.

Ponder these things today. i love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course. ENDURE!

DAY #1: November 22, 2010

For the next week, we're going to look at what we're supposed to do and how we're supposed to respond to the goodness of God. How we should live and give. We're going to look at how we've been blessed and how we're to turn around and bless others. yes, be thankful and grateful, but also bless others as well. The foundation of this belief is rooted in James 1:17 (NIV), which says - "Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows."

Because this is so huge—and I would venture to say that 99.9% of you have never heard teaching, in-depth teaching, on this topic—because this topic is so monstrous. Know this: that this content, that this stuff is difference-making stuff. It will help you and influence you in every area of your existence. I pray that you find yourself in the spirit of prayer during the next week, that you simply say, “God, I want to open my heart and my life to this teaching.”

Let me start out by saying this: Our God is a God who wants us, who desperately desires us to live by the truths and principles of His word. We, as followers of Christ, need to be God-hearted. We need to reflect and to mirror the majesty of who God is. If we know God personally, we should mirror who he is. We should have the character qualities, we should reflect the stuff that God is about.

Luke 6:38 (MB), sets the tone for this today. It says, “Give away your life; you'll find life given back, but not merely given back—given back with bonus and blessing. Giving, not getting, is the way. Generosity begets generosity.” Don’t you like that? I could preach on this one single verse for a few weeks.

Give away your life. When you do, God will give back to you. God will bless you. God will meet your needs. God will make a way for you. Because giving is the secret to life, not getting. Giving is the key to unlocking the blessings of God. Giving is the key to the abundant Christian life that Jesus promised in John 10:10. And finally, giving is the key to understanding the heart of God.

How can I begin to experience the blessed life?
#1. UNDERSTAND THE ESSENCE OF GOD IS GENEROSITY.
John 3:16, a verse that’s very familiar to all of us here. You even see this watching football games. After the extra point, they lower a sign, John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.”

Let me stop right there. If you don’t get anything else I write today, get this: God is for you. God is for me. And a lot of times we have a difficult time accepting that and swallowing that fact. God is for us. He wants us to have a life of excitement, adventure, vitality, and fun. Living the Christian life is the best way to live. God wants that for us. God desires that for us.

Let’s keep going. Romans 8:31-32 says, “If God is for us, who can be against us?” “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” Our God is a God who is generous. And because God is generous, we should be God-hearted. We should understand the fact that everything we have comes from God—our gifts, our aptitudes, our abilities, even the material stuff that we have. And because God has given it to us, we should reflect that.

In Mark 8:35, Jesus said -“Only those who give away their lives for My sake and for the sake of the Good News will ever know what it means to really live.” What is the key word in that verse?? GIVE! The word "give" is used over 1500 times in the Bible. Why? Because giving is the essence of God and it is the essence of Christianity is giving.

So, let me ask you - what are you expecting God to do in your life? How much do you want God to bless your life? How much are you expecting God to act on your behalf? If you want the answer to those questions, just look at your giving. Abundant living begins with abundant giving. This Thanksgiving, who do you need to be serving? Where do you need to be giving? Who has a need that you can meet? (See a need - meet a need)

I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course. ENDURE!

DAY #50: November 21, 2010

OK, this is it. The last day of our devotions through THE ME I WANT TO BE. Tomorrow we begin a new direction with our devotions. We're going to focus on living thankful and grateful lives.

HOW ELSE DO YOU BUILD A SOLID FOUNDATION FOR YOUR LIFE?

#5. MEDITATE ON GOD’S WORD

When you and I hear the word “meditate” we probably think about some guy in a monestary chanting or sitting in some yoga postion saying “Hmmmmmm”. Folks, that is the exact opposite to the Bible’s idea of meditation.

The Bible’s idea of meditation is focusing your mind on a Bible verse so you can see how the truth fits in your life. Look at a Bible verse and think, “How does that truth fit into the way I talk with my kids? How does that truth fit in the way I'm managing my business? How does that truth fit in the kind of attitudes I have today?” That's what meditation on a Bible verse means.

Look at the benefit of doing this. Psalms 1:2-3 says, “They love the Lord’s teachings and they think about those teachings day and night. So they are strong like a tree planted by a river. Everything they do will succeed.” The Bible says when you meditate on His word, it’s like planting yourself in rich soil where true success can come into your life. When you do that the result is Joshua 1:8-“Meditate on the word day and night so you may be careful to do everything that’s written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.” How many of you want to be prosperous and successful?

The final point to building a solid foundation for you life is…
#6. APPLY GOD’S WORD

James 1:22 says, “Do not fool yourselves into just listening to the word. Instead, put it into practice.” You can fool yourself. You can hear a lot of Bible studies or come hear sermons and hear people talk about the Bible and you can fool yourself into thinking that you’re growing spiritually, that great things are happening in your relationship with God when all that’s really happening is you’re listening to other people talk about it. James said don’t fool yourself.

The question is, What will you do with all that you've heard and read and studied and meditated upon and memorized? Matthew 5:19 says “Whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven.”

Notice the phrase "practices and teaches". That is the key. If you want a solid foundation in your life, if you don’t want to be continually swayed by the crowds, you have to put the Words of God into practice. What’s the best way to do that? Teach them to others. Small groups, bible studies, discipleship, Sunday school classes! Not only do them myself but help someone else to learn how to do them.

In the early 1500’s William Tyndale decided to translate the Bible for the first time into the English language from the Greek so that everyone would have the chance to read it. For that crime alone he was burned at the stake because people said everybody shouldn’t have a Bible, just a few people could understand the Bible.

You and I get to live in a day we can all hold this book and read it and let it impact our lives. I don't ever want to loose sight of the price it took for me to hold on to this book. I don’t ever want to waste the opportunity that I have to read this book. And I don’t ever want to take that for granted. So the question is, what will you and I do about what this book says?

Would you say to Say to God this morning, “Here is my commitment.” Tell Him as you’re making it. “God, I want to make a commitment to reading Your word. I want to make a commitment to spending time with You.” What better way to get to know Him than making a commitment to read this book that He gave as a gift to us. Some of you have been going to church for a long, long time but you haven’t been reading His word very much. For you, it’s a fresh new commitment to say, “I want to make Your word to me a part of the foundation for my life.” You’ve felt that foundation slipping lately.

Father, as we make these commitments to You, I pray more than anything that we’d make them out of a sense of anticipation and not guilt. Lord, I know a lot of people who feel guilt about the Bible. Guilt about what they haven’t done. I pray today that You give us the gift instead of feeling guilt, we would feel invited by You. We’d feel the opportunity of the future. As we make these commitments to You, we’d feel the joy of the fact that You want to have a relationship with us, that You want to build a foundation in our lives that gets us through the tough times. So, God, we bring these commitments to You with a sense of joy and we say to You, “Help us to live them out. Help us to get to know You better. Help us to find in You the foundation that we really need.” We pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

DAY #49: November 20, 2010

HOW ELSE DO DO YOU ESTABLISH A SOLID FOUNDATION IN YOUR LIFE?

You hear God’s word and you read God’s word…
#3. YOU STUDY GOD’S WORD.

Not just read it but begin to really dig into it and study it. Acts 17:11 says, “They accepted the message eagerly and they studied the Scriptures everyday.” The Bible values this attitude of digging into the Bible and really understanding what it means. What’s the difference between reading the Bible and studying? The difference is you take notes when you study. You write down something. You learn something for your own life from it.

What makes this Bible a Holy Bible? The fact that you use it. Jesus said in John 8:31-32 – “To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." Underline the word “HOLD”. It means to study, know and firmly grip.

Why study it? Just for better information? NO. God wants to build a foundation for our lives. God wants to set me free from just going along with the crowd – or trying to just fit in.

There’s a fourth way to build a foundation of the word in our lives.
#4. I MEMORIZE GOD’S WORD

Some of you right away are thinking, “That’s the one I'm not doing,” because the last time you memorized something that you can remember was when you were in third grade and you didn’t do very well even then. I’ve talked to many people who say, “I just can’t memorize.”

The truth is we memorize stuff all the time! Phone numbers, passwords, birth dates, anniversaries, statistics. Here is the secret to memorizing. We memorize what’s important to us. The Bible says in Proverbs 7:2-3 “Guard My words as your most precious possession. Write them down and also keep them deep within your heart.” I'm not talking about just a mental exercise of memorizing God’s word. I'm talking about getting it into you life into your heart. When it is there, you will have a foundation that no one will ever be able to shake.

Psalm 119:11 says “I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.” When temptation hits you, where does it hit you? Sometimes it doesn’t come conveniently when you have a Bible and can look up a verse. So if you put a verse in your mind and heart it helps you when temptation comes. The more verses you memorize the more help God can give during tough times, when you’re facing a decision, facing a time of depression or stress. God can pop a verse into our minds to help us to make it through.

That's why all the way through this message series, we have been giving you a weekly memory verse. The fastest way to grow spiritually is to memorize God's word - put it in your heart and mind.

DAY #48: November 19, 2010

We're on the home stretch of our devotions revolving around our message series THE ME I WANT TO BE. What is God doing in your life? How is God growing you? What dream has He planted in your heart and soul? If God leads you, share some of this on Sunday morning in our ONE worship service @ 10:00am.

Jesus said in Matthew 7:24 “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Jesus says, “You want a foundation for life? You want something you can stand on when the tough times come? You want something you can hold on to when your world falls apart or when the crowd is encouraging you to go a different way than the way you should? My encouragement to you – build your life on the words of Jesus – the ROCK - the Bible!

In the next few days, I want to walk through with you a simple outline that has helped me understand the importance of God’s word in my life.

If you want to get a grip on God’s word and build a solid foundation in your life…
#1. YOU’VE GOT TO HEAR GOD’S WORD.

There’s lots of ways to hear God’s word. You can hear it in messages in church. You can hear it on the radio or on CD's in the car. Listen to what happens when you hear God’s word - the Bible says in Romans 10:17 “So then faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God.” Every time you hear God’s word it raises your faith, it enables and empowers your faith. That’s incredibly good news.

But I’ve got some bad news for you too. The problem is, we tend to forget about 95% of what we hear after about 72 hours. That depresses me. To think that after all this work, 20+ hours of study, and after three days you’re going to forget 95% of it! How do you do more than just hear it because hearing it isn’t enough? You’ve experienced this. You hear a message and you think, “I'm going to do something about that.” But before you even get out of the parking lot, the truth slips away.

How do you get a firmer grip on this so it lasts in your life?
#2. YOU’VE GOT TO READ GOD’S WORD.

I need to start to read it for myself, let it make an impact in my life. This book, the Bible, it’s the best seller in human history. It’s filled with stories of larger than life people. People who fought against giants and won, who were swallowed by whales and rose again from the dead. It’s a cornerstone of our entire civilization. This book, the Bible, inspired the art of Michelangelo, the plays of William Shakespeare, the books of John Steinbeck. It still inspires the films of Hollywood today. Across this world there have been incredible numbers of freedom movements inspired by this book and changed the geographical and cultural center of our world.

Yet with all that, the incredible thing is how little we really read this book. Statistics across the U.S., not just people who come to church but everybody in the United States, say that 91% own a Bible. The average home has three Bible. 80% of Ameicans, when they’re surveyed, say that they believe the Bible is the most important book ever written, 58% of Americans say they think everything in the Bible is true. Yet only 7% say they read it regularly. WHY?

Why don’t we read it as much? Why do we struggle to read it? Maybe we don’t understand why God wants us to read it. Revelation 1:3 says “Happy is the one who reads the words of God’s message.” God wants you to read his book because He wants to make you happy. He wants to bring joy to your life, the joy of knowing which direction to go next, the joy of finding a solution where it didn’t seem like there was one possible, the joy of finding hope where there is nowhere else to find hope. That's why He wants you to read this book.

Deuteronomy 17:19 says, "The scripture shall be his constant companion. He must read from it every day." God wants all of us to read from His book on a daily basis. As you start to read the Bible, two suggestions:

Read the Bible systematically and read it from a translation you can understand. In other words, don’t just open it up to wherever each day. Have a plan. Read it from cover to cover. Did you know that if you read about fifteen minutes a day you’ll be able to read through the Bible in about a year. Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” I have read you the first of the 31,101 verses of the Bible. Now you’re already 1/31,100th of the way through. You’re almost done. Then find a translation that you understand. King Jimmy (the King James Translation) and I don’t get along so well. For others of you, I know you love that translation – the point is read one that you get!

I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course. ENDURE!

DAY #47: November 18, 2010

WHAT ELSE MUST I DO TO SEE GOD'S DREAM FOR MY LIFE FULFILLED?

#2. REMOVE ALL DISTRACTIONS

I used to have a poster in my office that said, “Obstacles are what you see when you take your eye off the goal.” TRUE? YES!

If I want to finish the race of life I must remove all distractions. Hebrews 12:1 says this “Let us strip off anything that slows us down or holds us back and let us run with patience the particular race that God has set before us.”

Notice the word “particular”. The particular race that God has set before us. What that means is that your race in life is unique. All of us have a unique race to run. You’re not supposed to run somebody else’s. They’re not supposed to run yours. If you don’t run the race that God intended for you, it’s not going to get run.

So, what is it that can distract you from your life mission? What can keep you from being what God wants you to be? Lots of things. But if I could boil it all down to one for many people it would be their past. Past failures, past guilt, past tragedy, past regret. Paul had every reason to be filled with regrets. Prior to becoming a believer, he was a religious terrorist. He admits that he even participated in one man’s murder. Yet he says in Philippians 3:13 “Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I strain to reach the end of the race.”

I’ve got to remove all distractions. I love that verse. If I am going to complete my life mission, the dream that God has for me, I must learn to move ahead, keep on keeping on, and leave the past behind.

The problem? Satan will not let you forget your past – he will keep dragging it up and you must keep battling- keep moving ahead.

#3. RENEW MYSELF DAILY.

To last over the long haul, you have to know how to recharge yourself – spiritually, emotionally, physically, mentally. 2 Corinthians 4:16 says “We do not become discouraged because our spiritual being is renewed day by day.” Notice the phrase “Day by day”. That means every 24-hours – daily. You need to know what renews you and then you need to do it over and over.

This is the importance of a daily QT! Folks, a QT is not simply reading your bible. NO NO, it is much more than that. It is intimacy with God. It is Him talking with us, and us talking with Him. If you are not doing this, you will not only miss God’s dream for your life, you will get distracted, and you will forget your place in the story. If you are not renewing yourself daily, the enemy will take you out.

The Strategic Air Command is our nation’s defense system that flies 24 hours. At any point in the day there are airplanes in the air carrying nuclear warheads to be a shield of protection for our nation. If they’re always in the air, how do they keep them full of gas? In the military, they do what’s called mid-flight refueling. On a long flight, these planes that are flying, staying in the air constantly, another plane actually flies up next to them, docks in and it’s like a gas tank plane and they fill up the Strategic Air Command plane so it can keep going – mid flight refueling.

You need to learn how to do that in your life. Mid-flight refueling. Every time you get tired and discouraged you can’t just hop off to Tahiti. I don’t know if you’ve figured that out yet but you can’t just call up and say, “Boss, I’m not really feeling motivated today. I think I’ll take a couple of weeks off.” No, you have to keep going. You have to know, how do I recharge myself in the middle of this hectic lifestyle, in the middle of this stress, in the middle of life as it really is lived. Because you can’t just go off and be a monk in some monastery every time you get tired. Learn how to recharge yourself during the day.

Your life mission cannot be completed by human power alone. Colossians 1:29 says “This is my work and I can do it only because Christ’s mighty energy is at work within me." Folks, what God calls you to do, He equips you to do. He can take a talent, an opportunity, a skill, a hobby and use it as part of your life mission to help other people. But you’ve got to rely on Christ.

Some of you think, “Mike, it’s too late for me. I’d do it the first half of my life but I wasted it. My race is half over and so I’m not even going to try getting back in the race.” The Bible says in Philippians 1:6 “God who began the good work with you will keep right on helping you grow in His grace until His task within you is finally finished.” You are never a failure until you quit. The Christian race is not a competition of who can get to the end first. The Christian race is one of endurance and the issue is how well do you finish.

Ponder these things today. i love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course.

DAY #46: November 17, 2010

In 1968 – the Olympics were held in Mexico City – the last runner to finish the marathon was a guy from Tanzania - John Stephen Akhwari. During the race, he had broken a leg. He’d stumbled, he’d been hurt badly, he was bruised, beaten up, bloodied. And long after everybody else had entered the stadium, in fact the stadium was almost empty. But as he entered to do his last lap and finish the marathon, the crowd rose and gave him a standing ovation. Later he was asked, “Why didn’t you quit when you were hurt and bruised, bloody, discouraged? Why didn’t you quit?” He gave a classic answer. He said… “My country did not send me 7000 miles around the world to start the race. But to finish it.”

The Bible teaches very clearly that life is a race. Unfortunately, most people never finish it. They get waylaid, sidetracked, distracted. They get disqualified. For one reason or another, they die with unfulfilled dreams, with unrealized potential and without ever becoming what God intended their life to become. That is a tragedy.

The Apostle Paul wrote a lot about this – more than anybody else. He said, I don’t want to miss God’s best. In Acts 20:24 he says “I consider my life worth nothing to me if only I may finish the race and complete the task that the Lord Jesus has given me.” Are you going to be able to say that about your life? That you did what God made you to do? That you fulfilled the purpose for which you were put on this earth?

So, what’s the problem? Why is it that so many enter the race, but so few complete it? Listen to what Jesus said in John 10:10 -“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” What’s the problem? We have an enemy who wants to knock us out of the race. We have an enemy who wants to steal our joy. Kill our love for God. Destroy any semblance of spirtual life in us.

So, what are we to do if we are going to lives lives that realize the God-given dream that has been placed in our hearts? How do we finish well the race of life?
That's what i want to look at the next few days.

#1. REMEMBER YOUR PLACE IN THE STORY

I need to wake up each and every day with this truth embedded in my mind and heart. (IN THE MOVIE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN: What God desires is here and here – pointing to the mans head and heart) Whenever I get discouraged, whenever I feel like giving up, I remember two truths;

1. Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4:1 (CEV) “God has been kind enough to trust us with HIS work. That's why we never give up.”

Why am I doing this? Because it’s assigned to me by God. My life mission comes from God. I didn’t just make this thing up. He assigned it to me and He has a life mission for you. He has entrusted this work to me, so I will never give up! He did not give me this work to start, but to finish!

2. I realize I’m going to be rewarded some day. 1 Corinthians 9:25-26 says “To win the contest, you must deny yourselves many things that would keep you from doing your best…” We don’t like that part. What we want to do is do what God wants us to do, plus have everything else the world offers.

God says, No, that’s not possible. If you’re going to win a race, you’re going to have to go through some discipline, some self-denial. He says, “To win the contest, you must deny yourselves many things that would keep you from doing your best.” You don’t have time for everything. If you’re going to do ministry that means there’s going to have to be some things that you’re going to have to cut out of your life. “… but we do it for a heavenly reward that never disappears. So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step.”

1 Corinthians 6:12 (NIV)says, "Everything is permissible for me"--but not everything is beneficial. "Everything is permissible for me"--but I will not be mastered by anything."

You know what that means? Just because I can do something doesn't mean I should. There will be many "voices" calling out for your attention. May roads in life that will be detours from the road God wants you own. You must discern what is good for you and what is best. Let me ask you today - what are the "acceptable things" that you are you doing at this time in your life, but if you really got serious with yourself and God, you would admit they are not beneficial?

Examine your life today. Practice some self-denial. I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course. ENDURE!

DAY $45: November 16, 2010

There’s a third question that we need to ask ourselves when we want confirm that God is talking to us is
#3. DOES MY CHURCH FAMILY CONFIRM IT?

First you ask, Does this idea agree with the Bible? Second, Does it make me more like Christ? Then third, Does my church family confirm this idea? You see, we all need the wisdom and counsel and advice of other godly people in your life to help you stay on track. God never meant for you to go through life as a Lone Ranger, on your own.

Ephesians 3:10 says this “God’s intent is that through the church [circle “through the church”] the manifold wisdom of God should be made known.” God shares His wisdom with His body, with His family, with His flock.

So, if God has genuinely spoken to you, mature believers will confirm it. They’ll say, “You’re right. You did hear from God.” If they do not confirm it you have every reason to doubt whether it’s really from God or not.

The Bible says in Proverbs 11:9 “The wisdom of the righteous can save you.” It doesn’t say the wisdom of your best friends, your good ol’ boy buddies because they’re going to kiss up to you and just tell you what you want to hear anyway. They’re not going to tell you the truth. We all need people in our life who will shoot straight with us – who will speak truth into our lives, even if we won’t like it – righteous people - wise people – people who are walking with God!

Proverbs 11:14 says “In the multitude of counselors there is safety.” If you want to make fewer mistakes in life get all the godly mature advice you can get, then follow it.

I’ve been a pastor for many, years. I’ve talked to thousands of people. I have concluded that the two biggest reasons people mess up in life are these. One: They have no spiritually mature friends. Two: They don’t listen to them if they do have them.

People come and say, “Pastor Mike, what do you think I ought to do about this?” And I’ll show them what the Bible says and they don’t like it. They’ll say, “What does the Bible say about living together?” I tell them and they don’t like it so they go to another church. Then they go to that pastor and ask, “What does the Bible say?” And he tells them the same thing. They don’t like that so they go to the next church, then the next church, then the next church. If God is speaking to you, it will line up with what Godly people in the church are saying to you.

There’s a final question that you and I need to ask ourselves when we want confirm that God is talking to us is
#4. DO I SENSE GOD’S PEACE ABOUT IT?

The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 14:33 “God’s not the author of confusion.” He wants to make sense in our lives. He wants us to sense His peace as a part of our everyday lives. What is the opposite of peace? Pressure – anxiety- and worry.

The only time pressure is legitimate for us as believers is when God has told us to do something specifically and we haven’t done it yet.

The Bible talks about the difference between our worries and God’s peace in Philippians 4:6-7 which says, “Don’t worry about anything. Instead pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank Him for all that He’s done. If you do this you will experience God’s peace which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and your minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” This verse reminds us that worry is never from God. On the other hand, peace always comes from God.

To experience that peace, I have a job to do – two things: 1) Quit worrying and start trusting 2) Pray about everything. When I do that, peace from God will invade my life. The peace of God will overwhelm you. How do I know that? God’s word says it, and I have experience it!

I want to tell you this morning, that one of the clearest signs of that God is talking to you is when all of a sudden you sense peace – God’s peace – in the midst of a storm of difficulty in your life.

I can honestly say to you that every step of the way as I have pastored here at COV -that time has been marked in my soul by a tremendous amount of peace and calm. That doesn’t mean everything has gone smoothly – it hasn’t. I have been criticized, people have complained about my leadership – finances are razor thin many weeks and yet I have a great peace that He is in control. Peace that He is building this church.

When God is speaking to you, no matter the circumstance you find yourself in, you will sense God’s peace in your life.

Proverbs 22:17 says “Listen to this wise advice. Follow it closely for it will do you good. You can pass it on to others.”

Notice the words “listen,” “follow it,” and “pass it on.” Those are the three parts of the Christian life. Which of those are you doing?

God speaks to the people who do all three. They hear, they act on, and they pass on. If you’re not hearing from God, one of the reasons may be that you haven’t acted on and passed on what you already know.

When God finds somebody who is not only open to listening but also to acting on it, to doing what He said and then passing it on to other people, God says, That’s the person I want to talk to. You’ll hear God speaking to you more and more and more.

I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course. ENDURE!

DAY #44: November 15, 2010

First let me say happy Birthday to my daughter this morning - Kelsey Joy. What a joy she has been and continues to be in my life. She is a life giver. I love you Kelsey.

Today and tomorrow, I want to look at how we recognize God’s voice over all the other voices we hear in life. I want to look at how we can be sure that it is God speaking to us, when we get an idea or thought or impression and not just something I thought up.

1 John 4:1 says “Don’t believe everything you hear just because somebody says it’s a message from God. Test it first to see if it really is.” Notice it says, “test if first.” It’s important to test/confirm what you think you hear God saying.

Jesus said in John 7:17 “Anyone who wants to do God’s will can test this teaching [there’s that word again] and know whether it is from God or whether I’m making it up.” Today, we’re going to look at four ways to confirm or test what you think God is telling you. Four ways to know if an idea that you’ve got in your mind is from God or not.

Let me say this - if it doesn’t line up with all four, it’s not God talking to you. On the other hand, if you get an idea a thought or impression and it passes all four of these tests you can know with absolute certainty and total confidence that you have heard from God. Make sense? I pray so. Let’s roll!

How do you know when it’s God talking to you? Four ways:
#1. DOES IT AGREE WITH THE BIBLE?

That’s the first way you can test/confirm weather your are hearing God speak or not. Does it agree with the Bible? Because God will never contradict what He’s already said in His word.

In Luke 21:33, Jesus said, “Heaven and earth will pass away but My words will never pass away.” In Proverbs 12:19, God says “My Truth stands the test of time.” What does that mean? Simpy this…

Fads change. Therapies change. Trends change. Popular opinion changes. But the truth of God never changes. God would never say something then change His mind later and say, “I changed My mind. We don’t believe that any more.”

So if God says in the Bible, which He does, “Pay your taxes,” for instance, then when April 15th comes and you get the idea, “I could just shave off a little bit here and save some money,” that idea didn’t come from God. Because God would not contradict what He’s already said.

If God says in His word, you should only have sex with somebody you’re committed to in marriage, then He’s not going to tell you go have sex with anybody you want to have sex with. Because He has not changed His mind. The truth is there and it’s there for you to live out.

What am I saying? The words in His book, the Bible, are Holy, because they are God’s very own words to us! If you think God is speaking to you – you have to ask yourself, does it agree with the bible? The Bible is all true – every word of it. In fact, the vast majority of God’s will for your life is right here in this book. All you’re got to do is read it.

You want to know how important this is to God? Listen to Galatians 1:8 (Paul speaking) “Let God’s curse fall on anyone including myself who preaches any other message. [In other words, other than the Bible] Even if an angel comes from heaven and preaches any other message let him be forever cursed.”

There’s a second question that you and I need to ask ourselves when we want confirm that God is talking to us is...
#2. DOES IT MAKE ME MORE LIKE CHRIST?

If I follow through on what I think God is telling me to do, will it make me more like Christ?

Philippians 2:5 says, “In your lives you must think and act like Christ Jesus.” Folks, that is God’s #1 goal for every one of our lives! That is why he gave us the bible, that’s why he want us in church, that is why fellowship with other believers is so important – all of them help make me more like Christ!

So, a great question to ask – WWJD!(what would Jesus do) James 3:14 & 17 is a great checklist for helping us see how Jesus would act. It gives us great understanding into what Jesus would do and what we should do as well.

The verse starts out by saying “If you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition, such wisdom is of the devil.” What is James saying? This way of thinking and living is obviously not from God. So how do you know when what you are thinking is not from God? How can you know when it is NOT God talking to you?

If you harbor – if have any bitter envy or selfish ambition it’s not from God!. If it’s about wanting to retaliate against somebody, getting even with somebody, then that is not from God. If you want to strike back against somebody who has hurt you can be sure that God is not in that. That idea has only one source – one father – Satan himself.

The ideas that come from God are going to be to serve others and make a difference in other people’s lives.

James goes on to say - “The wisdom that comes from God is pure, peace loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy, impartial and sincere.” This is a great checklist

If I think God is speaking to me, I need to ask - is it pure thought or idea? If it’s impure it’s obviously not from God.

Keep on going down through the list. Is it peace loving? God’s going to give you thoughts and ideas that promote harmony and not conflict.

Is it considerate? When God speaks to you, He is concerned about the impact that idea or thought is going to have on somebody else. Is it going to hurt somebody else’s life? He’s not going to give you idea’s or thoughts that mess up other people’s lives.

Is it submissive? That’s not a word that we use very much. It simply means is it humble?

If you’ve really heard from God you’re not going to be afraid to test that idea by sharing it with others and getting their in put on it. It was God’s idea anyway not your idea. On the other hand if you ever meet somebody who is prideful and arrogant and won’t listen to anybody else you can know right away. It’s all about their ideas. It’s not about God’s ideas.

Is it full of mercy? That’s how you know if it’s from God. I’ve met a lot of people who think they have been spoken to by God and yet they’re the most judgmental, condemning, negative people. I’ve met some preachers this way. You know what I’m talking about. Those people haven’t heard from God. They’ve heard from their own prejudices, their own anger. If you really hear from God it makes you full of mercy.

It’s also impartial and sincere. You don’t try to manipulate others and control others.

These seven things – these are all character qualities of Jesus Christ. When I sense/believe or think God is speaking to me, I need to ask – is what He is telling me going to make me more like Jesus.

I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course. ENDURE!

DAY #43: November 14, 2010

Continuing form yesterday...

If you want to hear God speak to you, you must cultivate an open heart.
STEP #2. ALLOCATE TIME TO LISTEN

I must make time to be quiet and sit still and listen to God. You've got to allocate time if you want to hear God speak. v. 6 "Other seed fell on shallow soil [circle this] with rock beneath. This seed began to grow but soon it withered and died for lack of moisture.”

v. 13 is Jesus' interpretation, "Those on the rock are the ones who receive the Word with joy when they heard it, but they have no root. They believe for a while, but in the time of testing, they fall away.”

Jesus says the shallow soil represents a superficial heart. This is the impulsive person who reacts emotionally when they hear a sermon or a message. They get excited but they never let the word of God sink into their life.

How is it possible for somebody to come to church year after year and never be changed? They just walk out the front door and forget what they heard. You see, if I don't let the message sink into my life I never allow God's word to penetrate the bedrock of my personality. It doesn't sink in.

One of the most successful crops in the United States is alfalfa because alfalfa roots often go down twenty to thirty feet. They can handle the heat. How do you know if you've got roots? You can handle the heat. How do you know if you're a shallow Christian or not? How do you handle the difficulties in life? How do you handle it when things don't go right?

What must you do to develop staying power and perseverance and character in life? You get roots! How do you get roots? By spending time daily with God's word. It just takes time. Allocate daily time in God's word. Then you can handle the heat - you'll be able to handle all the trials that life throws at you.

If you want to hear God speak, cultivate an open heart, allocate time to listen.
STEP # 3. ELIMINATE THE DISTRACTIONS

If you really want to hear God there are some things you're going to have to cut out of your life. The fact is we often miss God's voice when our mind is crowded with other thoughts, other plans, other ideas, other goals, other activities. Our mind gets so full we can't hear God speak.

v. 7 "Other seed fell among thorns which grew up with it and choked the plants."

v. 14 Jesus' interpretation, "The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by life's worries, riches, and pleasures, and they don't mature."

Here Jesus is talking about the seed that gets into the ground but weeds come up and choke the plant. Jesus said that the soil with weeds represents a preoccupied heart and life. I'm just too busy to hear God. I've got so many things going on in my mind I can't hear Him because He's crowded out. The seed sprouts but there is no fruit because it's choked out, suffocated by weeds.

There are so many voices calling out for your attention, clamoring for your focus. As a result, we're not fully committed to anything, because we're partially committed to this, and that, fifteen different things.

Jesus says if you want to hear God speak to you, you've got to eliminate some of those distractions. He talks about three kinds of weeds. First, there are life's worries. Those are the problems, the pressures, anything we try to solve without God's help.

Then, riches can take up all our time. Bills, budgets, investments, careers -- all of those can crowd into our life and we can get so busy making a living we do not have time to make a life. It becomes a weed and chokes out God.

A third thing He says is pleasures. Even good things can become a weed in your life when recreation takes priority over worship. When my hobbies, my cabin, my boat get in front of God then they become a god. Jesus says watch out. He says a weed is anything that robs my time with God. It's a misplaced priority.

If you want God to talk to you -
STEP #4. COOPERATE WITH WHAT GOD SAYS

God speaks to the person who has predetermined in advance to do whatever He tells him.

v. 15, the good soil "The seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it and by persevering produce a crop.” How do you retain the word of God in your life? You memorize it - you live it – you put god's word into practice in your life.

The good soil represents a responsive heart, the heart that says, “Lord, I'm willing to do whatever you want me to do in advance.” When you take that attitude, then you're tuned in. God will start speaking to you! When you take the attitude of “Whatever it takes: I'm willing to eliminate the distractions, allocate the time, cooperate in advance and I've got an open heart,” God speaks!

The result: You bear fruit. You produce a crop. You're productive. Your life is worthwhile. It's significant.

Ponder these things today. I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course. ENDURE!

DAY #42: November 13, 2010

God's dream for your life. What is it? How do you get it? Some more thoughts today...
Let's look the next few days at the parable of the sower and the seed.

Believe it or not, God wants to speak to you today. He wants to reveal to you Hi plan for your life. His purpose for creating you. He wants to speak to you and me.
(BTW, just so you know, I have never hear God’s audible voice – I have never heard Him say “MIKE, I WANT YOU TO DO THIS OR I WANT YOU TO DO THAT” But, I have heard Him speak to me thousands of time as a Christian – so, how does He do it?)

Primarily, God speaks to us through His word. The Bible is no mere book. This is God's word. The purpose of the Bible is for God to speak to you. That's what it's about. Someone says, "I read my Bible. Why doesn't God ever speak to me?" Maybe it's because you're just not tuned in. The fact is you could go out and buy the finest radio around. A Bose wave radio. But if you don’t tune it in you’re still not going to receive anything. That’s what we want to talk about today and tomorrow – how to tune in to God’s voice, so you can hear from Him.

Look at what Jesus says in Luke 8:8 - "When Jesus said this, he called out, `He who has ears to hear, let him hear!'" Jesus says, If you've got ears, listen!” If you have a heart to hear from me, tune in – dial in - to my voice and message.

In this parable, Jesus explains the four steps of how to hear God speak to you. Luke 8:4 says, "While a large crowd was gathering the people were coming to Jesus from town after town, He told this parable. `A farmer went out to sow seed. As he scattered his seed, some fell along the path and it was trampled on and the birds of the air ate it up. Some fell on the rock. When it came up the plants withered because they had no moisture. Others fell among thorns which grew up with it and choked the plants. Still others fell on good soil and came up and yielded a crop a hundred times more than what was sown.' When He said this He called out, `He who has ears to hear, let him hear!'"

Jesus is using an illustration of a farmer. This farmer uses the same seed in all four instances but there are four different kinds of soil. The disciples, in verse 9,asked for an explanation. Jesus says that the farmer represents God, the seed represents God's word, and the soil represents my heart.


HOW TO HEAR FROM GOD four steps:
STEP #1: CULTIVATE AN OPEN HEART!

In order to hear God speak, first I've got to want to hear Him speak. I must desire it, be teachable, be receptive, eager and ready to learn, open-minded to God. Many people don't hear God speak because they're close-minded. They don't even consider the possibility that they could hear God speak. They've closed their minds and hardened their hearts. God never gets through.

v. 5 "... some seed fell along the path: it was trampled on, and the birds of the air ate it up."

v. 12 "Those along the path are the ones who hear, and then the devil comes along and takes away the word from their hearts, so they cannot believe and be saved."

In every field there are footpaths that the farmer walks on between the furrows. Over the period of time, through all the trampling and walking, those foot paths become very hard, almost baked like concrete.

As the farmer threw his seed out in the field (they didn't plant them one by one, they just threw them out there) inevitably some would fall on the hard path. Because it was so hard the seed was not allowed to penetrate the ground. It laid on the top and birds came along and ate it. It never got the chance to take root.

Jesus says the hardened path represents a defensive heart. This is the person with a closed mind. He's unwilling to listen to God. God never gets a chance in his life.

What causes us to be defensive? Why is it that sometimes we don't really want to hear God speak? Three possible ideas:

#1. Fear. Fear makes us defensive against God. We're afraid of what He might say. He might alter my lifestyle. He might make some changes in me. I might have to make some restitution. I might have to do something I really don't want to do. Fear causes us to be defensive against God.

#2. Pride. Pride causes us to be defensive. Maybe I don't think I need God's advise. I can make it on my own. I'm doing OK. I'm my own boss. I don't need God. You know what? I've discovered that pride is just a smoke screen for insecurity. I'm so afraid of my weaknesses I don't want to even admit them to myself. So I become defensive.

#3. Bitterness. Life experiences cause pain. We all get hurt. Sometimes in response to hurt we want to withdraw into a shell, build up a wall and put a crust around us so nobody can get close. We don't want to be vulnerable. "I don't want to be hurt anymore. I was hurt too badly." We put up a wall and even God can't get through that wall. We're bitter and become cynical, callous, hardened. "Why did God let that happen?" We become defensive.

Some of you have been hurt very, very badly. You’ve been betrayed. Some of you have been mislead. Some of you have been abused physically or emotionally or verbally. Some of you have been rejected. You’ve been hurt by a former girlfriend or boyfriend or an ex husband or wife. Or even somebody in the name of Christianity said something to you – a so-called Christian hurt you. Those things pile up in our lives, and we become bitter.

First as your pastor, I’m sorry. I’m sorry you hurt. And God is too. God grieves with you and God hurt when you hurt because God hates to see His children hurt. I don’t know why but when we get hurt sometimes we turn away from the only person who could help us – God. I would say, don’t turn from Him. Turn to Him.

I love you guys. Stay the course. Stay faithful. ENDURE!

DAy #41: November 12, 2010

OK, today we start to look at how to hear from God and start seeing HIS dream for your life. Some practical suggestions on how do you build your dream.

#1. Pray for wisdom. James 1:5 says, "If any man lacks wisdom, let him ask of God." So you say, "Lord, what is Your will, Your plan? What do You want me to do?"

#2. Stretch your imagination.

Ephesians 3:20 says, “With God’s power working in us, He can do much much more than we imagine or think.” I love that verse so much! This verse is a challenge! God is saying, "I dare you to outdream Me. I dare you to have a bigger imagination than I can meet." God's saying, "Let the Holy Spirit expand your vision and force yourself to think in new ways." How do you do that?

Read books, travel, read Christian biographies – hang out with big dreamers! That's a tremendous way to expand your vision. The two hardest tasks in life are thinking bigger than you've ever thought before and getting started. Next week we're going to talk about how to get started. It starts with a vision. Pray for wisdom. Stretch your imagination.

#3. Establish a goal

Philippians 3. The famous passage where Paul says I press toward the mark. I set my goal for the high calling of Christ. I focus my vision. I have a goal. You need to write it down. If it's not written down, it's not a clear goal. It needs to be clear, it needs to be specific. It needs to be written down with a date on it.

#4. Visualize the results.
Hebrews 11:1 says, "Faith is the evidence of things not seen." Visualize the results. Get a picture in your mind, take a photograph, paint a picture, get something that you can imagine and you see it completed and you visualize it in advance. Paint in all the details and imagine it happening and make it as real as possible.

#5. Commit your dream to God's care.

Psalm 37:4-5 says, "Delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. Trust also in Him. He will do it." Commit it to God. You say, "Lord, this is my desire. This is my dream. But I want to give it to You." Let God do a great work in your life.

What's God's dream for your life? Jeremiah 29:11 says, "`I know the plans I have for you,' declares the Lord. `Plans to prosper you and not harm you. Plans to give you a hope and a future you hope for.'"

I challenge you to see God in a different way. I challenge you to begin to see yourself in a new way. When you see God in a new way and you see yourself in a new way, you're going to start to see your problems in a new way. You're going to start to see your spouse in a new way. You're going to start to see opportunities that have been there all along, but through fatigue or failure or fear or listening to family and friends, you've missed them. The dream you were made to fulfill begins by opening your life up to Jesus Christ as your Lord, as your manager. God wants to do so much in your life, more than you've ever imagined. He sees your potential if you're totally committed to Him.

I invite you to follow me in a prayer today. Say something like this in your heart, "Lord, would You help stretch my imagination? Would You expand my vision? Would You help me to see my potential? Jesus Christ, as much as I know how, I open my life up to You and I ask You to come in and be the manager of my life. Make me the kind of person You want me to be." Maybe you've already prayed that prayer in the past and you'd say, "Lord, I want to recommit myself to you this morning. Help me to find Your dream for my life. Help me not to be afraid. Help me to think in new ways, bigger ways than I've ever thought before." Some of you say, "Jesus Christ, I ask You to forgive me for the sins in my life including small thinking. Thank You for loving me and dying on the cross for me. Make me the kind of person that You want me to be."

DAY #40: November 11, 2010

#4. Failure can be a dreambuster!

Failure is a dream buster. Joshua 7. There are many examples I could have used but I liked this story. Joshua had led the children of Israel into the promised land. Everywhere they went they were winning battles. They're just knocking the socks off the Canaanites. Then they get a little cocky and somebody had committed some sin in the camp and they go out and try to take over a little village of Ai with about 3000 people. They said, "No problem. We'll just knock them off!" They go out and fall flat on their face.

Joshua comes back and starts crying out to the Lord in chapter 7, "God! What in the world are you doing? You bring us all the way out of Egypt, across the Red Sea, across the desert, into the promised land. We're winning all these battles and then all of a sudden, one little enemy causes us to be a failure."

He falls flat on his face, crying, feeling sorry for himself. God comes to him and says, v. 10, "Stand up! Take this like a man. What are you doing on your face? Get up and go correct the problem." Failure is not final unless you choose it to be.

Was Joshua doing the wrong thing? No, they were doing what God said -- Take over the land. Often in your dream, you'll be doing the right thing but you may be doing it in the wrong way. You don't give up on your dream, you just try a new approach.

Maybe some of you have gotten all excited about a dream, a profession, a business. You've started and fell flat on your face. You bombed out. What do you say, "I'll never work again!" Of course not. You try a new approach. One of the principles that's taught all through the Bible is that we build on our hopes not on our hurts. You build your dreams on the future, not on the past.

#5. Fear can be a dreambuster.

Numbers 13 is the story about the children of Israel going into the promised land for the first time. In v. 1 the Lord had said to Moses, "Send in some men to explore the land." v. 18 He said, "Go and see what the land is like." See what the people are like and find out all you can. They sent these twelve spies into the promised land and the spies came back and gave a report. It was a majority report which was wrong.

The majority is not always right. There was a minority report which was positive. v. 26 says they came back to Moses. They were there at Kadesh in the desert of Paran. There they reported to the whole assembly and showed them the fruit of the land. "Look at this! It really is a tremendous land of abundance. Then they gave Moses this account, "We went into the land where you sent us and it does flow with milk and honey." It's great! Here's the fruit. In v. 28 they said the wrong word, "but the people who live there are powerful and the cities are fortified and very large." What they were saying was, "This is a tremendous opportunity but there are problems."

They made a fatal mistake that will kill more dreams than almost anything. You never confuse the dreaming phase in your life with the problem-solving phase. The lesson is: You don't try to think up creative ideas and evaluate them at the same time. You'll kill your creativity. Many years ago John F. Kennedy got up and announced to the United States, "We're going to put a man on the moon by the end of the 1960's." He made the decision and then he started solving the problems. Can you imagine him saying, "We're going to put a man on the moon by the end of the 1960's but first we're going to discuss and solve all the problems." No. It would have never been announced. He said, "This is what we believe we ought to do." Make the decision and then you go and solve the problems.

If you wait for perfect conditions how many things will get done in life? Every good idea has problems. Never say no to a great idea just because it's got problems with it. Don't confuse the problem-solving with the decision-making or the dreaming because you'll give into fear.