Day #90: Mark 14:43-72

BACKGROUND:


Judas had told the crowd to arrest the man to whom he would give the kiss of greeting. This was not an arrest by Roman soldiers under Roman law, but an arrest by the religious leaders. Judas pointed Jesus out, not because Jesus was hard to recognize, but because Judas had agreed to be the formal accuser in case a trial was called. A kiss on the cheek or hand was a common form of greeting in the Middle East, so this was not unusual.

The religious leaders had not arrested Jesus in the Temple for fear of a riot. Instead, they had come secretly at night, under the influence of the prince of darkness, Satan himself. Jesus offered no resistance and was grabbed and arrested. Although it looked as if Satan were getting the upper hand, everything was proceeding according to God’s plan. It was time for Jesus to die.

Jesus protested, not his arrest, but the way he was arrested. They did not need to come against him with weapons, for he was voluntarily surrendering himself. Jesus was not a dangerous criminal leading a rebellion; he was a religious teacher who had been teaching in the Temple daily during the past week. Jesus also mocked their show of worldly power.

He who could summon angels was not afraid of swords. Did the guards imagine that swords would intimidate Jesus? They didn’t understand who he was. Jesus knew why the events were unfolding as they were—to fulfill what the Scriptures say. Judas’s treachery, the coming mockery of a trial against Jesus, and its ultimate outcome had all been prophesied.


Only Mark records the incident of this young man who also fled the scene. Tradition says that this young man may have been John Mark, the writer of this Gospel, in whose home the Last Supper may have taken place.


After a preliminary hearing, Jesus was taken to the high priest’s home. That all the religious leaders had been speedily assembled shows that this was a trial by the Jewish council of religious leaders consisting of seventy members plus the high priest. Because of their haste to complete the trial and see Jesus die before the Sabbath, less than twenty-four hours later, the religious leaders first met in Caiaphas’s home at night to accomplish the preliminaries before their more formal meeting in the Temple at daylight. They finally had Jesus where they wanted him, and they were determined to accomplish their plans as quickly as possible.


Upstairs in the high priest’s palace, the leading priests and the entire high council (meaning the group of seventy-one leaders of the Jews—priests and respected men) assembled in the middle of the night to get this trial under way, but they had a dilemma on their hands. They were trying to find witnesses who would testify against Jesus, so they could put him to death, but they couldn’t find any—only false witnesses who contradicted each other.

Caiaphas, the high priest, was getting frustrated. Now his only hope was to get Jesus to say something that would give them evidence to convict him. The religious leaders had tried and failed on prior occasions to trap Jesus with trick questions; Caiaphas tried to make up in intimidation what was lacking in evidence. He asked Jesus to answer his accusers and then to explain the accusations against him.

Jesus refused to say anything at first. He had nothing to say to the group of liars who had spoken against him, and he had no reason to explain a bunch of false accusations. So he made no reply. But then Jesus spoke some startling words: the Son of Man, sitting at God’s right hand, refers to Psalm 110:1, and coming back on the clouds of heaven recalls Daniel 7:13-14. The clouds represented the power and glory of God. Both verses were considered to be prophecies of the coming Messiah, and Jesus applied them to himself.

These religious leaders thought that Jesus was leading the people astray and bringing dishonor to God’s holy name. For any other human being, this claim would have been blasphemy; in this case, the claim was true. Blasphemy was punishable by death (Leviticus 24:15-16). “Why do we need other witnesses?” asked Caiaphas without expecting any answer. Jesus had incriminated himself. Caiaphas asked for their verdict. The Jewish leaders had the evidence they wanted, so they all condemned him to death.

Next some of the members of the council acted in a most brutish way. Jesus was blindfolded, and they took turns hitting him and then asking him to tell who it was that hit him. When they finished with Jesus, the guards came and also beat Jesus. Yet even this had been prophesied in Scripture. Jesus suffered great pain, humiliation, and brutality to take away our sin.


Few of us get repeated opportunities, as Peter did, to profess or reject our allegiance to Christ. More often, our first denial of Jesus would keep away any further inquiries. But it is not our identification with Peter’s weakness that helps us most. Rather, what happened later becomes our source of hope. Peter’s repentance and the Lord’s restoration of him give us confidence that God can handle our failures.

SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)


The most important thing you believe in life is what you believe about God. It affects every other area of your life. It affects how you deal with your past. It affects how you face the future. It affects how you live today. What you believe about God affects every other area of your life.

Unfortunately there are a lot of things that can distort our view about God. We can get an inaccurate view about God. Our background can distort our view of God. Some people think God is like a impersonal force –“May the force be with you!” He’s some distant deity. Some people think God is a judgmental parent who’s always unpleasable. Some people think of God as some cruel tyrant. Some people just think He’s unrealistic. Some people think He’s a pushover.

The problem with this is: When you don't understand what God is really like, you fall into one of two mistakes. You deny Him and say, “I don’t believe in God.” And sometimes when we don't know what God is really like we just create our own little god. A lot of people have said to me, “I like to think of God as…” and then fill in the blank. They have their description.


But here is the truth about God. Two thousand years ago, God came to earth in human form so humans could understand Him. Luke 2:32 says, “Jesus is the light who revealed God to the nations.” God came to earth in human form named Jesus to reveal what God is really like. We look at Christ we can say, “That’s what God is really like!” “Christ is the visible image of the invisible God.” Jesus Christ came to earth to reveal what God is like.

The question is, “What do we know about God now because of Jesus Christ?” We know that God made you for a purpose. You’re not an accident. We know that God has a plan for your life. We know that God loves you deeply, that He’s seen every moment of your life, that He cares about you, that you’re deeply flawed, you’ve blown it but He still loves you. We know that He wants to forgive you, that He wants to have a relationship with you and He cares deeply about you.

Jesus often told stores to teach truths about God. One time He did something very unusual. He told three stories in a row with the exact same point. In rapid fire He told the same story in three different ways. It’s in Luke 15. Some of you are very familiar with these stories.

The first one is the story of the lost sheep. He says there was a shepherd who had 100 sheep. One day, one of them gets lost so the shepherd leaves 99 saved sheep in the fold and he goes out on this search and rescue mission for the one lost sheep. He leaves the 99 saved to go after just one. He doesn’t just forget him. He goes out and searches high and low and up and down and finally he finds the lost sheep and brings him back safely home and throws a party.

Then Jesus said there was a woman who had a lost coin. She had ten coins. It may have been her life savings. She loses one of the ten coins and so she searches high and low for this coin, turns her house upside down. She sweeps, she dusts, she looks into every room. Finally she finds the one lost coin. She’s so excited about it that she calls her neighbors, brings them all over and throws a party.

Then she said there’s a third story called the lost son or the prodigal son. He said a man had two sons and one of the sons comes to him one day and says “Dad, I want my share of the inheritance. I’m splitting! I’m leaving now.” The father gives him his half of the inheritance. The kid takes off for a foreign country and blows it. He squanders all of his inheritance on wine, women and song and not much song. He’s kind of messed up and he hits the bottom. And finally, in the low life that he’s living – he’s feeding pigs in a pigsty – he says, “What am I thinking!

Even the servants in my father’s home have it better than this!” So he comes to his senses, repents of his rebellion and goes back home to his father. As he’s coming home, his father sees him a far way off and runs out to meet him, hugs him with open arms, kisses him on the cheeks. He says, “Here. Take my best robe.” He puts a ring on his finger and says “We’re going to kill a fatted calf and we’re going to have a party.”

What was Jesus trying to teach in these three stories. Bam! Bam! Bam! Right in a row. What’s the common denominator? The common denominator is that in each story something valuable was lost. The sheep really mattered to the shepherd. And the coin really mattered to that woman. And obviously, the son really mattered to the father.

The Point? You matter to God. You really do. He cares far more about you than you will ever understand or realize. And in each of these three stories, in each case, there was no rest until that which was lost was rescued. That's why Jesus came. To rescue what was lost. Us. He did that by dying on the cross for our sins AND resurrecting from the dead. This is why we celebrate Easter.

Share these truths this week. I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course.

DAY #89: Mark 14:27-42

BACKGROUND:

This was the second time in the same evening that Jesus predicted the disciples’ denial and desertion, which probably explains their strong reaction . That the disciples would desert him means that they would take offense at him and turn away. Fearing what would befall Jesus, they would not want to experience the same treatment. Jesus would go to the cross totally alone.

The disciples’ desertion would also occur just as it had been predicted in Scripture, specifically Zechariah 13:7. In Zechariah, God commanded that the Shepherd be struck down. As a result, the sheep will be scattered. Without a shepherd and on their own, the sheep would go through a period of great trial and be refined. The refining process would strengthen them and create a new, faithful people for God. The disciples would be overwhelmed by what would happen to Jesus, but Jesus’ death would ultimately produce their salvation.

After his prediction of their desertion, Jesus then predicted their reunion after he would be raised from the dead. Jesus promised that he would go ahead of them into Galilee and meet them all there.

Peter, always ready to speak up at inopportune moments, declared that his allegiance to Jesus would prove to be much stronger than the others. Jesus explained, however, that instead of being the only loyal disciple, Peter would prove himself the least so. Not only would he desert Jesus, he would also deny him—not once, but three times. And this would happen in the space of the next few hours. Before the night was over, that is before the rooster crowed a second time, Peter would deny the Master to whom he claimed such loyalty. Only Mark recorded a second crowing of the rooster. If Peter was, in fact, Mark’s source for this Gospel, he certainly remembered this minor detail.

Apart from the Cross itself, the moments in Gethsemane were the most intense in Jesus’ life. He experienced the crushing weight of the task he was about to undertake. He witnessed the weakness that his disciples demonstrated by falling asleep. He saw the betrayer coming. And he sensed with anguish that the cup would not pass. He would drink it alone. The Cross did not catch Jesus by surprise. His self-sacrifice was deliberate, calculated, and undertaken with a great flow of human emotions that we can see in the garden.

After eating the meal, the disciples left Jerusalem and went out to Gethsemane. The garden was in the Kidron Valley just outside the eastern wall of Jerusalem and just below the Mount of Olives. Jesus told eight of the disciples to sit down while he went farther in to pray.
Plenty of drama surrounds Mark’s terse account. The elders of Jerusalem were plotting to kill Jesus and had already issued a warrant for his arrest. Jesus left Jerusalem under cover of darkness in order to pray. The disciples must also have been physically and emotionally exhausted from trying to comprehend what would transpire. Instead of watching, they gave in to their exhaustion and fell asleep.

Jesus went still farther into the garden to be alone with God. His agony was such that he threw himself on the ground before God in deep spiritual anguish, praying that if possible the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by—that his mission might be accomplished some other way. Hour figuratively refers to the entire event Jesus was facing. The “hour” and the “cup” were used synonymously. Yet Jesus humbly submitted to the Father’s will. Luke tells us that Jesus’ sweat resembled drops of blood. Jesus was in terrible agony, but he did not give up or give in. He went ahead with the mission for which he had come.

The words, everything is possible for you, indicate God’s omnipotence. He could accomplish anything. Jesus was affirming God’s sovereign control over the coming suffering. With the words, take this cup of suffering away from me, Jesus was referring to the agony, the separation from God, and the death he would have to endure in order to atone for the sins of the world. Jesus, as God’s Son, recoiled from sin, yet part of his task would be to take the sins of the whole world upon himself. This was a cup he truly hated to drink. The physical suffering would be horrible enough, but what God’s Son feared most was the cup of spiritual suffering—taking on sin and being separated from God. Yet Jesus reaffirmed his desire to do what God wanted by saying, “Yet I want your will, not mine.”

God did not take away the “cup,” for to judge the sins of the world was his will. Yet he did take away Jesus’ extreme fear and agitation. Jesus moved serenely through the next several hours, at peace with God, knowing that he was doing God’s will.

Jesus got up from his prayer to return to the three disciples. He had told them to stay and keep watch, but instead of showing support for Jesus by remaining awake with him and praying themselves for strength in the coming hours, they had fallen asleep. The hour was very late, perhaps after midnight.

Jesus went away to pray a third time, only to come back and find the disciples still asleep. The disciples had not taken the opportunity to pray, and there would be no more time to do so—the time had come. Thus Jesus did not again tell them to pray. Jesus had spent the last few hours dealing with the Father, wrestling with him, and humbly submitting to him. Now he was prepared to face his betrayer and the sinners who were coming to arrest him.

SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

There is one very important truth that we learn from Easter. If you understand this truth and put it into your life, your stress level will go down dramatically and your peace of mind will increase dramatically. Your worry and your frustration level will decrease dramatically and your ability to handle the problems and the difficulties in your life will increase dramatically, your ability to handle them.

What is that truth? Easter proves one vital thing. God is in control.

The Bible says this in Proverbs 16 “We may make our plans but God has the last word.” What happened in Jesus’ case was the religious leaders at that time said, “Let’s get rid of Jesus. He’s a big bother. We can silence Him by killing Him. It’s simple. We’ll get Him killed and that will be the end.” They didn’t realize that was fitting into God’s plan. Jesus Christ said, “I came to earth to die on the cross for the sins of people and then I’m going to raise back up three days later. So while they thought they had their little plans, really God was in control. He said, “It’s all fitting in exactly what I’ve planned to do.” It says “We may make our plans but God has the final word.”

You arrived at emotional maturity in your life at the moment you realized that most of your life is beyond your control. Have you figured that one out yet? Most of your life really is beyond your control. All of the major things of your life you had no control over at all. You didn’t choose when you were born. You didn’t choose where you were born. You didn’t chose who your parents would be. You didn’t chose how you were born. You didn’t chose your race. You didn’t choose the natural talents and abilities that God gave you. You had nothing to do with any of those things. They were beyond your control. And even today the major things in your life, you can control your reactions to things but you can’t control the events that happen to you.

For instance, you cannot change the past no matter how hard you try. You cannot predict the future, no matter how hard you try. You cannot make time slow down when you need 26 hours in a day instead of 24 because you have as much work to do. You could not raise your height by two inches, no matter how hard you try. You cannot force people to think and do what you want them to do. (Are any of you parents? You know this one’s true!) You cannot control the economy, which influences you. You cannot influence world events on the other side of the world, which do influence you. You cannot make people love you. And as some of you have learned painfully.

You cannot keep your parents or your loved ones from dying. Most of the things that really count in life are beyond your control. And because so much of your life you can’t manage, you cannot control, that causes STRESS. Stress is caused primarily by trying to control the uncontrollable, by trying to manage the unmanageable, by trying to make people do and see things my way, by trying to make things happen that I cannot control. And as any boss knows you can’t keep your employees doing all that you want them to do. And it causes stress. And when you’re stressed you start worrying. Worrying is a form of control. I think if I worry about my kids who are late at night, then maybe that gives me some control over it. It doesn’t.

While you cannot control so much of your life and the things that happen to you, you can control your response. On the other hand, God is in complete control. There’s nothing that God cannot control because He made it all. He is the absolute power. He can do anything He wants.

How does that help me? How is that a comfort to me that God is in control? How does that reduce my stress?

God says in the Bible that He wants to help you manage the things that are unmanageable in your life if you’ll trust Him, that He will help you control and deal with the issues that are out of your control, that He will give you His power – the same power that He demonstrated when He raised Himself from the dead 2000 years ago, He says He wants to help you with that same power. ”I’ll give you that power in your life to handle the things that you can’t seem to manage on your own.”

Ephesians says “God’s great power is available to help us who believe in Him. It is the same mighty power that raised Christ.” There’s a condition here. notice the phrase “available to help us”. It’s only available to those who believe. You’ve got to trust God. You’ve got to come to a point in your life and say, "I’ve been trying to make this relationship work. It’s not. I turn it over to You. … God, my finances are a mess, help me out with them.” Whatever you need God to help you with, you must trust Him with it. You must say, “I believe You’re going to help me. You’ve said You would.”

How do you know when you’re really trusting God to help you with a problem? How do you know when you’re really believing that He’s going to help? Simple. You stop worrying. Worry is a warning light. It’s like a bright red flashing light that says, “I’m trying to be God.” Every time I try to be God and try to figure everything out on my own, I start worrying and so do you.

On the other hand, when I start trusting God I stop having to try so hard. When I start praying, I stop panicking. When I start worshiping, I stop worrying. Those are the options. He says, “I want to help you but you’ve got to give it to Me.”

God says in the book of Isaiah, “Don’t worry because I am with you. Don’t be afraid. I will make you strong and I will help you and I will support you.” He’s got the power and He’s in control.

Let’s get personal: What’s out of control in your life? What is it that you say, “No matter how hard I try it’s not getting together? I want my career to go in this direction, but it’s not going that way. There are habits in my life that I want to break and I just can’t break them. There are good habits I want to develop, but I don’t seem to have the willpower to get it going.” What is it in your life that you’d like to change and you can’t? Even with my best efforts, it’s not working. Maybe it’s with your kids, your health, your finances. It could be in some other kind of relationship. What is it that you worry about the most? You say, “I’m trying to worry about this because I can’t make it work.”

Would you agree that God has resources that you don’t have? He says, “I’ll help you. I’ll be with you. I will strengthen you. I’ll give you the power… If you will trust Me.”

So whatever seems out of control, whatever seems unmanageable – your schedule, for instance – whatever seems to worry you the most, give it to God. While you may not be able to manage it, He can. God is in control.

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

DAY #88: Mark 14:11-26

BACKGROUND:

Jesus and his disciples had been together long enough to celebrate Passover several times. Apparently, despite the gloominess of Jesus’ predictions and the tension of constant scrutiny by the religious leaders, the disciples tried to keep a semblance of normality. They asked Jesus for instructions about Passover. His response indicates that he had planned their itinerary in advance.

The Passover took place on one night and at one meal, but the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which was celebrated with it, continued for a week. The first day of the feast was technically the day after Passover, but the two were often equated. Thus, this was either Wednesday night (the day before Passover) or Thursday of Jesus’ last week (the night of the Passover meal). The highlight of the festival was the Passover meal, a family feast with the main course of lamb. The sacrifice of a lamb and the spilling of its blood commemorated Israel’s escape from Egypt when the blood of a lamb painted on their door frames had saved their firstborn sons from death. This event foreshadowed Jesus’ work on the cross. As the spotless Lamb of God, his blood would be spilled in order to save his people from the penalty of death brought by sin.

Jesus’ disciples assumed that they would eat the Passover meal together with Jesus. However, the meal had to be eaten in Jerusalem, so the disciples asked Jesus where they should go in order to make preparations.

The two disciples Jesus sent were Peter and John. Whether Jesus had supernatural knowledge in this instance or if he had made arrangements in advance is unclear. It seems that in this instance this room had been reserved previously and kept secret—none of the disciples knew where they would eat this meal. Jesus already knew that Judas would be looking for an opportunity to betray him without crowds around, so Jesus may have made these arrangements and kept them secret.

The two disciples were dispatched in the morning from Bethany to Jerusalem to prepare the Passover meal. Jesus told them that as they entered the city, they would meet a man carrying a pitcher of water. Ordinarily women, not men, went to the well and brought home the water. So this man would have stood out in the crowd. This may have been a prearranged signal, or Jesus may have supernaturally known that this man (most likely a servant) would be there and would lead them to the right house.

The owner of this home was probably one of Jesus’ followers. He knew exactly who the Teacher was and probably knew the disciples by sight. Tradition says this may have been Mark’s home, so this would have been Mark’s father. Many homes had upstairs rooms large enough to accommodate Jesus and his twelve disciples. As before, when two disciples went to get the donkey for Jesus to ride into Jerusalem, these two disciples found everything just as Jesus had said. The preparations for the Passover would have included setting the table, buying and roasting the Passover lamb, and making the unleavened bread, sauces, and other ceremonial food and drink that were a traditional part of every Passover meal.

On that evening (Wednesday or Thursday), Jesus arrived in Jerusalem with the twelve disciples. The meal was not to be eaten until after sunset and was supposed to be finished by midnight.

As Jesus and the disciples were eating, Jesus spoke the stunning words, “One of you will betray me.” The betrayer was one of his own chosen twelve disciples, one with whom the meal was being shared. Jesus’ words caused quite a stir among the disciples. They had heard Jesus tell them three different times that he would soon die, but that one of them would actually betray Jesus saddened them greatly.

Although the other disciples were confused by Jesus’ words, Judas knew what he meant. Apparently Judas was not the obvious betrayer. After all, he was the one the disciples trusted to keep the money. So the disciples asked Jesus who the betrayer was; “I’m not the one, am I?” each one asked in turn. Matthew records that even Judas asked this question.

Jesus would indeed be betrayed and would indeed die as he had already told his disciples. His death would not occur merely because of the betrayer, for the Son of Man had to die to complete God’s plan and fulfill Scripture.

Luke wrote that “Satan entered into Judas Iscariot” before he went to the religious leaders. However, Satan’s part in the betrayal of Jesus does not remove any of the responsibility from Judas. In God’s sovereign will and according to his timetable, he uses sinful men. But that doesn’t excuse their sin. All people will be held accountable for their choices and actions. Whatever Judas thought, Satan assumed that Jesus’ death would end Jesus’ mission and thwart God’s plan. Like Judas, Satan did not know that Jesus’ death and resurrection were the most important parts of God’s plan all along.

John records that upon this pronouncement, Jesus told Judas to “hurry. Do it now” . Then Judas went out into the night. He was not present for the remaining words Jesus spoke.
Jesus and the disciples were eating the bread, and Jesus took the loaf of unleavened bread, asked God’s blessing on it, and broke it. Jesus told the disciples to “Take it, for this is my body.” His words “this is my body” symbolize the spiritual nourishment believers obtain from a personal relationship with the Savior.

The celebrations in the Christian church (Communion, Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper) have first a sharing of bread (including a repetition of Jesus’ words, “This is my body”), and then a sharing of wine (including a repetition of Jesus’ words, “This is my blood, poured out for many”).
As with the bread, Jesus spoke words in figurative language. “This is my blood” means “This wine represents my blood.” Jesus’ blood, poured out on behalf of sinners, sealed the covenant between God and his people. In later manuscripts, the word “new” has been inserted before “covenant.”

What did Jesus mean by a “new covenant”? In Old Testament times, God had agreed to forgive people’s sins if they would bring animals for the priests to sacrifice. When this sacrificial system was inaugurated, the agreement between God and human beings was sealed with the blood of animals (Exodus 24:8). But animal blood did not in itself remove sin, and animal sacrifices had to be repeated day by day and year after year.

Jesus instituted a “new covenant,” or agreement, between humans and God. This concept is key to all New Testament theology and forms the basis for the name of the New Testament portion of the Bible. Under this new covenant, Jesus would die in the place of sinners. The old covenant was a shadow of the new, pointing forward to the day when Jesus himself would be the final and ultimate sacrifice for sin. Rather than an unblemished lamb slain on the altar, the perfect Lamb of God was slain on the cross as a sinless sacrifice so that our sins could be forgiven once and for all. Those who accept Christ’s sacrifice and believe in him receive forgiveness. Now all people can come directly to God through faith because Jesus’ death has made us acceptable in God’s eyes.

Again Jesus assured his disciples of his victory over his imminent death and of a future in the Kingdom of God. The next few hours would bring apparent defeat, but soon they would experience the power of the Holy Spirit and witness the great spread of the gospel message.

SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

Easter makes all the difference. Good Friday shows how much Jesus loves each and every one of us. The gruesome beatings. The mocking He endured. The shameful things done to him that he endured. The walk down the Via Delarosa – the road of sorrows. Then Calvary. The cross. The spikes through His wrists and ankles. He endured all of this because some one had to pay the penalty for our sin. I am blown away by that kind of love.

Good Friday (It was good for everybody except Jesus) was all about Hi love for us. Easter is all about His Power. Easter is the proof that Jesus is who He claimed to be. Let’s just face it, Jesus made some outrageous claims when He was here on earth.

He said things like, "I'm God.... I'm perfect ... I'm the only way to heaven ... I'm the Savior of the world... " In John 11:25, Jesus says "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even though He dies." That’s pretty bold don’t you think? Here’s my point;

A lot of people try to make Jesus a good teacher. Folks, a good teacher would never say that. I could go out and teach people in the Valley all kinds of good moral truths and they'd say, "Mike’s a good teacher". But if I started calling myself God you wouldn't think I was a good teacher any more. You would think I was nutty. So, Jesus was either who He said He was or He was the biggest liar who ever lived. Easter- the resurrection – it proves Jesus is God – and what will you do with that?

Several weeks ago I ran across an old Time magazine from 1993. The cover says, “Los Angeles: Is the city of angles going to hell?” I don’t know if the city of angels is going to hell or not. I'm more interested in knowing am I going to heaven. If I were to go over to the Stone Ridge Mall this afternoon and ask people, “If you were to die tonight and you are to stand before God and God said, ‘Why should I let you into heaven?” what would you say?

Most people would say, “I think so… I hope so… I guess I am… I want to go… I hope and wish that I am…” Friends, hoping and wishing and guessing isn’t good enough. I need to know this for sure. Only a fool would go all through life totally unprepared for something you know is inevitable. The mortality rate in the world is now one hundred percent – I don’t know if you’ve heard that or not. We’re all going to die at some point. The question is what’s going to happen after I die?

Today I want to help you settle this basic issue. You can absolutely, confidently for sure know that you’re going to heaven when you die. This Easter we’re going back to the basics and settle this issue so that nobody here when you leave, you won’t have any doubt in your mind you’re going to heaven when you die.

Vince Lombardi, the famous NFL coach of the Green Bay Packers, who won the first two Superbowl’s. Every year he would start training camp by holding up a football and saying, “Gentlemen, this is a football.” Back to the basics.

So today we’re going to go back to the basics. We’re going to look at the most famous verse in the Bible. It’s one that everybody’s probably heard of. It is the most important, famous verse in the Bible. John 3:16 - “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

What we’re going to do today is take this verse apart phrase by phrase so that when we finish today you don’t have any doubt in your mind that you know you’re going to heaven. There are three keys, three phrases in this verse.

#1. You Must Recognize God’s Love. “God SO loved the world…”

If you want to go to heaven the first thing you’ve got to do is recognize God’s love. God says I don't want you to recognize it intellectually. I want you to recognize it emotionally. I want you to experience it. God’s love for you is an amazing kind of love. We talk about love all the time. We throw the word around – “Hey! Love ya man!” in that manly macho kind of way.

But we don’t go around saying, “I so love you.” ( If you did you’d probably get some weird reactions) But the Bible says God SO LOVED the world. That phrase, so loved, it means His love is extravagant. It’s lavish. It’s beyond comprehension.

God so loves you on your good days and on your bad days. He so loves you when it’s raining. He so loves you when it’s shining. He so loves you when you do the right thing, and He so loves you when you do the wrong thing. And Folks, God didn’t just say He loved you. He showed it. A lot of people say it but they don’t do anything about it.

He showed it. He showed it in the most expensive way. He sacrificed His Son. He proved it. When Jesus Christ stretched out His arms on the cross to die for us He was saying to you, I love you this much.

1 John 4:9-10 (NLT) says, “God showed how much He loved us by sending His only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. This is real love…He sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.”

Have you ever seen a movie or read a book where some dopey guy did crazy things to show a girl he loved her? It’s kind of embarrassing – an kind of awesome – at the same time. But then it turns tragic – the girl rejects his overtures or worse doesn’t even recognize them. You know what happens? In the story, you get kind of mad at the girl. You think – “what a jerk” How could she be so cold to someone who is crazy in love with her?

Well, in the story of Easter, Jesus is that guy who is crazy in love – and He’s in love with you. That is God’s love for you. So here’s the first step to heaven. I’ve got to recognize God’s love. Nobody’s ever going to love me as much as God does. So recognize His love.

#2. You Must Receive God’s Gift. “He GAVE His only begotten Son…”

This doesn’t say He sent a good man. It doesn’t say He sent an angel. It doesn’t say He sent a prophet. It doesn’t say He sent a moral leader, an ethical leader. It says He sent His Son. He cared enough to send the very best. God came to earth in human form. His name was Jesus Christ.

Why did He come to earth? Let’s go back to the basics again. This is a football! Let’s go through the basics of life this morning. I don't want anybody to misunderstand it. Basic number one: nobody’s perfect. Everybody want to agree with that? The Bible says it like this, “All have sinned.” We’ve all done it. We’ve all sinned.

In America, when you break man’s laws you pay man’s penalty. In Heaven, when you break God’s laws you pay God’s penalties. The Bible says, “All have sinned,” and it says, “The wages of sin is death.” That means I deserve to be punished for the things I’ve done wrong in my life. That’s the bad news.

Here’s the good news. Everything you’ve ever done wrong in life it’s already been paid for. That’s what Jesus Christ did on the cross. He took my sin and your sin. In fact all the sins you haven’t even committed yet. Things you’re going to do wrong net week, next month, next year. Stuff you haven’t even thought up yet.

This is one of the most amazing verses of the entire Bible. Romans 3:24-25 (MB) “Out of sheer generosity God put us in right standing with Himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we're in and restored us to where He always wanted us to be. And He did it by means of Jesus Christ. He sacrificed Jesus on the altar of the world to clear that world of sin.”

Here’s the thing. Heaven is a perfect place and you’re not. And neither am I. If God let imperfect people into heaven, it wouldn’t be perfect any more. So somebody’s got to pay the penalty for my sin, my mistakes and missteps. God, in His love, said “I’ll send my son to pay the penalty.”

If there were any other way for you to get into heaven besides Jesus Christ coming and dying for you God would have done it. But it was the only way. And folks, this means you can’t earn your way to heaven. You can’t work your way to heaven. You can’t buy your way into heaven. It’s just a gift. It’s a free gift. But you have to receive it.

The third step to knowing for sure you’re going to heaven is to…
#3. You Must Respond to God’s Offer.

First you recognize God’s love – God so loved the world. Then you receive God’s gift – that He gave His only begotten Son – that’s Jesus. Then you respond to God’s offer. God’s made an offer to you. It’s an incredible proposal. He says this “That whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” That’s a pretty incredible offer.

Notice who this offer is to. The Bible says the free gift of eternal salvation is offered to everyone. Titus 2:11 (LB) says, “The free gift of eternal salvation is offered to everyone.” Colossians 3:11 (LB) says, “One's nationality or race or education or social position is unimportant; such things mean nothing. Whether a person has Christ is what matters, and He is equally available to all.”


How do I accept God’s offer of eternal life in heaven? By trusting Jesus Christ.

What does it mean to trust Jesus Christ? It means to commit yourself to Him. It means you begin to trust God in every area of my life. I begin to trust Him with my finances. I begin to trust Him with my relationships. I begin to trust God with my future and my dreams and my ambitions. I trust God with my talent. I begin to trust God with my problems. I learn to trust Him in every area. That’s what it means to really believe.

Folks, I don’t care what your background is. You may be Catholic. You may be Protestant. You may be Jewish. You may be a Muslim background. You may be Hindu or Buddhist or Baptist or Mormon or Methodist. It doesn’t matter to me what religion you are. All those religions - it’s not how you get to heaven.

The truth is, you can summarize all religions in one word – DO. Everybody has a different to do list. One religion says you do these five things. Another religion says you do these ten things. Another one says no, you do these fifteen things – then maybe God will like you. Then maybe God will accept you.

The difference between religion and salvation through Jesus Christ, salvation is all based on the word “DONE” It’s already done for you by Jesus on the cross. So, you have a decision to make – will you receive Him or reject Him?

John 1:12 (NIV) of the bible says this - “Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” This Easter, ask yourself - who in your life needs a personal relationship with Christ? Will you pray for them? will you invite them to Easter Sunday morning at COV, so they can hear the gosple (good news)?

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

DAY #87: Mark 14:1-10

BACKGROUND:

Mark’s account of the final acts in Jesus’ ministry begins with a simple summary of the scene. It was almost Passover. Jesus’ enemies were looking for a way to kill him. Their concern about timing had to do with keeping control of the people. They wanted to kill Jesus without anyone noticing. But God had a different purpose in the timing of events.

The Passover commemorated the night the Israelites were freed from Egypt, when God “passed over” homes marked by the blood of a lamb. This was the last great plague on Egypt; in the unmarked homes the firstborn sons died. After this horrible disaster, Pharaoh let the Israelites go.

The day of Passover was followed by the seven-day Festival of Unleavened Bread. This, too, recalled the Israelites’ quick escape from Egypt when, because they wouldn’t have time to let their bread rise, they baked it without leaven (yeast). All Jewish males over the age of twelve were required to go to Jerusalem for this festival. Jews from all over the Roman Empire would converge on Jerusalem, swelling the population from 50,000 to 250,000 people.

The Jewish leaders plotted secretly to kill Jesus. They had already decided that Jesus must die; they just needed the opportunity. They did not want to attempt to arrest Jesus during the Passover because they feared that the crowd would riot on his behalf. They feared that such an uprising might bring the wrath of Rome.

Bethany was located on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives (Jerusalem is on the western side). This town was the home of Jesus’ friends Lazarus, Mary, and Martha (who were also present at this dinner. Jesus had been returning to Bethany from Jerusalem each night during this final week. This night, Jesus was a guest of Simon. He did not have leprosy at this time, for lepers had to live separately from people because of the extreme contagiousness of the disease. Jesus may have healed Simon.

This woman was probably Mary, the sister of Martha and Lazarus, who lived in Bethany. She brought a beautiful jar of expensive perfume, which she poured on Jesus’ head. It was a common custom at some Jewish meals for the honored guests to be anointed with oil, but it would not be so expensive. Such an anointing, with expensive oil, pictured a royal (messianic) anointing.

Where Mark says some, John specifically mentions Judas. This indignation over Mary’s act of worship would not have been based on concern for the poor, but on greed. Because Judas was the treasurer of Jesus’ ministry and had embezzled funds, he no doubt wanted the perfume sold so that the proceeds could be put into his care. This event probably pushed Judas over the edge in his determination to betray Jesus.

Jesus reprimanded the disciples, but comforted Mary. The expensive ointment poured on Jesus had been a good thing to do for him—a beautiful, acceptable, appealing act of love and sacrifice—and Jesus declared it to be so. This was a unique act for a specific occasion—an anointing that anticipated Jesus’ burial and a public declaration of faith in him as Messiah. Jesus was not saying that we should neglect the poor, nor was he justifying indifference to them.

Jesus was affirming Mary’s unselfish act of worship. The essence of worshiping Christ is to regard him with utmost love, respect, and devotion, as well as to be willing to sacrifice to him what is most precious.

Jesus’ purpose in these words was to explain that the opportunity to show him such devotion and to anoint him with oil (in preparation for burial) would soon be past. The phrase, “I will not be here with you much longer,” meant that Jesus would soon be gone from them physically. However, they could and should show kindness to the poor, and opportunities to do so would continue, “You will always have the poor among you.”

Jesus’ words should have taught Judas and the disciples the valuable lesson that devotion to Christ is worth more than money. Unfortunately, Judas did not take heed; soon he would sell his Master’s life for thirty pieces of silver.

Mary’s unselfish act would be remembered forever. This has come true because we read about it today. While the disciples misunderstood Jesus’ mission and constantly fought about places in the Kingdom and while the religious leaders stubbornly refused to believe in Jesus and plotted his death, this one quiet woman so loved Jesus and was so devoted to him that she considered no sacrifice too great for her beloved Master. She is an example to us all of unselfish devotion to our Savior.

Each of the Gospel writers reported Judas’s treachery with remarkable restraint. Their treatment of Peter’s denial actually seems harsher than their references to the betrayer. Mark, the shortest account, conveys the simple facts. The enemies of Jesus were delighted. We’re not told how Judas felt at this point. Since Mark was reflecting Peter’s account, the reticence about Judas may indicate Peter’s shame in recalling his own treatment of Jesus. We are much more likely to present a fair picture of the flaws and faults of others if we keep our own clearly in sight.

Why would Judas Iscariot want to betray Jesus? Very likely, Judas expected Jesus to start a political rebellion and overthrow Rome. As treasurer, Judas certainly assumed that he would be given an important position in Jesus’ new government. But when Jesus praised Mary for pouring out the expensive perfume, Judas finally began to realize that Jesus’ Kingdom was not physical or political. Judas knew the leading priests had it in for Jesus, and he knew they would have the power to arrest Jesus. So that was where he went. Judas’s greedy desire for money and status could not be fulfilled if he followed Jesus, so he betrayed him in exchange for money and favor from the religious leaders.

SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

Each day this week - Holy Week - the week that changed the world, I will be sharing some thoughts about Easter and it's meaning to us. I pray that God will work in your heart and that he will burden your heart with friends and family and co-workers and neighbors who need an invitation to Easter at COV. If they reject the invitation - fine. But, don't make the decision for them. Be bold. Be courageous. Be loving.

What would you like to change about yourself? Seriously, if you could change anything about your self, what would it be? Would you like to be more confident? More relaxed? More outgoing? Maybe have less fearful, less bitter, less angry?

I think in all the years I've been a pastor the number one question people ask me is, "Why is it that I can't change? I want to change but I don't know how or I don't have the power to change."

We go to seminars, conferences, looking for the painless cure that's going to zap our life and change us instantly and give us self discipline. Or we go on diets. I once went on a diet for an entire afternoon. Or we join a health club and our enthusiasm goes great for about two weeks and then it kind of wanes and we go back into the same old rut and we don't change. We read self‑ help books.

The problem with self help books is they tell you what to do but they don't give you the power. They says things like, "Get rid of all your bad habits.... Be positive, don't be negative..." How? Where do I get the power to change? That's the basic problem -- a lack of power in our lives. How do I get my life off dead center? How do I get out of the rut? How do I break out of the mold I'm in? Where do I get the power to change??

Great News! That's what Easter is all about. Philippians 3:10 says "All I want to know is Christ and experience the power of His resurrection." Ephesians 1:20 says, "I pray that you will begin to understand how incredibly great His power is to help those who believe Him, the same mighty power who raised Christ from the dead."

The word "power" is used 57 times in the New Testament. The Bible is a book of power and Easter is the most powerful event that ever happened. All of history was split by this one powerful event. It separates A.D. and B.C. What is that power? It's the power to change your life.


POWER! Paul said, I want to know the power of the resurrection. The Greek word for power is the word dunamis -- we translate that into the word dynamite. God says, I want to give you dynamite power in your life! The same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead 2000 years ago is available for your life right now to change your life today!

What is resurrection power?
#1. IT'S THE POWER TO CANCEL YOUR PAST.

All of your failures, your mistakes, your sins, your regrets. Cancelled! Have you ever been half way through a project and wished you could start over? Like painting the living room? A lot of people feel that way about life. "I wish I could just start over. I've made so many mistakes. I wish I could wipe them out. Failures, problems, bad decisions."

Colossians 3:14 csays "He has forgiven all our sins and canceled every record of the debt we had to pay." Christ has done away with it by nailing it to the cross.

God says it's like the Etch-A-Sketch. You make a mess, you flip it over and wipe the slate clean. The Bible says that's what God does to all the mistakes I've made in my life when I come to Him. He wipes it clean.

Some of you if you would say today, "Christ Jesus, I want You to forgive me of all the things I've ever done wrong. I want to give my life to You. I want to make that commitment today."

What is the basis for forgiveness? Romans 8:1 "There is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." When Jesus Christ died on the cross one of His last words from the cross were, "It is finished." In the Greek that's one word. It literally means "Paid in full." Canceled. It was what they would stamp on bills when they had been paid. It was stamped on prison sentences when they had been commuted. Paid in full.

God says, "That's what I did on the cross. I paid for every mistake you've ever made." So, Jesus was crucified on the cross so you can stop crucifying yourself. He was hung for your hang ups. That's Good News! That’s real power!

What else does resurrection power mean?
#2. IT'S THE POWER TO CONQUER YOUR PROBLEMS.

The fact is everybody's got problems. You've got them. I've got them. It's a part of life. If you don't have any problems, check your pulse.

Our real problem is what we do with our problem. We try to solve them on our own power and our own strength. I have met thousands of people who feel like their lives are out of control. "I am a victim of my circumstance! What can I do? I'm powerless.

The fact is we can't control our circumstances, but we can control how we respond to them. Would you like to have that kind of power? The power to not be a victim of whatever life throws at you from this point forward?

Would you like power to conquer your problems? The bible says "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ. Shall trouble or hardship or danger? No, in all of these things we are more than conquerors through Him that loves us." Don’t you like that verse? In the Greek it says, "We are super conquerors" Pretty cool huh? Man, I dig that. Most people think of Christians as wimps and patsies, but this verse says we are more that conquerors.

Folks, I want to tell you this morning - If you put your life in God's hands and you rely on the power of the resurrection, nothing can devastate your life, nothing can swallow you up, nothing can destroy you. That's the message of Easter. No matter how dark the situation is, God can turn it around. No situation is hopeless. God loves to turn crucifixions into resurrections. The same power that enabled Jesus Christ to rise from the dead, will allow you to rise over your problems.

It's the power to cancel your past. It's the power to conquer your problems.
#3. IT'S THE POWER TO CHANGE YOUR PERSONALITY

What would you like to change about you? What would your spouse like to change about you? Maybe that would be a little more accurate. One wife said, "My husband is so temperamental -- 90% temper, 10% mental!" Husband went in for marriage counseling one day and said, "I want a divorce right now." The pastor said, "But you said, you promised before God to take her for better or for worse." The man said, "Yeah, but she's a lot worse than I took her for!"

Or maybe you’ve heard this one. An older couple is on vacation in the Holy land – when all of a sudden the wife dies. The mortician in Jerusalem says to the husband – you have two choices; 1) pay $5000 to have your wife’s body shipped home, or pay $250 and have your wife buried here. Concitous of where he was, he told the mortician to have his wife’s body shipped home – he would glady pay the $5000. The mortician was mortified – and asked why would you pay all that extra money when you could just have her buried hear? The husband responded - well didn’t that Jesus guys get buried here a couple thousand years ago? The mortician said well, yes. And after three days, didn’t he rise from the dead? Again, the mortician said yes. Well, I’m not taking the chance – we’re shipping her home.

The power to change your personality. Complete this sentence: "It's just like me to be______________________________. Always late, ... worry, ... never stay on a diet, ... always put my foot in my mouth, ... always blow up, ... always be depressed, ... always get angry... whatever."

Folks, when God wants to change us, He uses a two step process. STEP #1: COMMIT YOUR LIFE TO JESUS CHRIST. When we commit our lives to Christ, that's the initial turning point. The Bible says when someone becomes a Christian, he becomes a new person inside. He's not the same anymore. A new life has begun." What happens? God says, I wipe out your past. All of it's gone. It's like starting over. That's why the Bible calls it being born again. Born again doesn't mean reincarnation, it just means you get another chance. Start over, new life! But then it's followed by a lifetime process.

STEP #2: CHANGE WHO YOU LIVE FOR. Romans 12:2 says "Don't let the world squeeze you into it's mold but let God remake you so that your whole attitude of mind is changed." I’s so easy to just go with the flow and do what everybody else is doing. It’s so easy to just sat that’s the way I am – I’ve always been like that and I always will. It’s so easy to be selfish and be consumed with living for me.

So God says, first give your life to Christ, then, dedicate your life to me and live for me. God says the, when you do that, "I can take your greatest weakness and turn it into your strength." I can change you.

Ephesians 3:20 (NCV) says, “With God's power working in us, God can do much, much more than anything we can ask or imagine.” Folks, The power to change doesn’t come from you. It comes from God! Not with your power, not with your will, not with you strength. But with God’s power working in us, you can change! You only get that power when you get Christ.

There is one thing that will keep you from changing. There is only one thing that's going to keep you from becoming the person you want to be and God wants you to be. You know what it is? It’s not the devil. It's not other people. It's not circumstances. It’s not your past.

It is one word. Procrastination. Procrastination is deadly. How many time have you said - "I have every intention to change. I'll do it tomorrow." Waiting, delay. Procrastination is fatal. "One of these days.... I'm going to go to the dentist. ... I'm going to have that surgery I need. ... I'm going to spend more time with my family. ... I'm going to get serious about being a Christian. ... I'm going to get active in church. ... I'm going to go after that dream. ... I'm going to get in shape. One of these days I'm going to let the power of God work in my life." One of these days..."

You and I do that all the time. We procrastinate and put off making changes that would be good for us. Why? Maybe complacency -- we're just too lazy to change. Maybe fear -- we don't know what the changes are going to be. Maybe pride -- we're stubborn. We procrastinate.

Well, here is my challenge to you today. Quit stalling, quit putting off what you know you need to do. Give your life to Christ today! Hebrews 3:7-8 (CEV) says "…If you hear God's voice today, don't be stubborn! Don’t harden your hearts towards him…” How many times have you hears him speak to your heart and you’ve kind od just shrugged it off? Don’t do that today.

Give Him your life – let him start changing you today! I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course.

DAY #86: Hebrews 11:39-40

BACKGROUND:

All of the people mentioned by name in Hebrews 11 and those alluded to received God’s approval because of their faith. These people looked forward to a better day and salvation, but none of them received all that God had promised. Of course, they saw some of God’s promises fulfilled, but not the promises that referred to the new covenant and the promised eternal Kingdom. These people did not live to see the Kingdom arrive, but their future citizenship was secure there. Thus, they were able to endure suffering.

Hebrews 11 has been called faith’s “hall of fame.” No doubt the author surprised his readers by this conclusion: these mighty Jewish heroes did not receive God’s full reward because they died before Christ came. In God’s plan, they and the Christian believers (who were also enduring much testing) would be rewarded together.

The far better things that God has in mind refers to the new covenant. The forefathers did not receive this; rather, it is experienced by those who live after the death and resurrection of Christ, for he is the one who introduced the new covenant and the new promises.

There is though a solidarity among believers. Old and New Testament believers will receive the prize together. Not only are we one in the body of Christ with all those alive, but we are also one with all those who ever lived. One day all believers will share in the promised blessing with Christ. We will then be complete and perfect in him.

SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

I’d like to finish of Hebrews 11 by taking you to a passage that details a man who Jesus described as having the greatest faith he had ever seen. Matthew 8:5-10 says, “One day a Roman army officer came to Jesus and said, “I have a servant who’s very ill. In fact, he’s paralyzed and he’s suffering in bed.’ Jesus said, ‘I'll go to your house and heal him.’ And the Roman centurion said, ‘O Lord, You don’t need to do that. I understand authority and I’m not worthy for You to come to my house. But I know this obedience and authority thing. I’m a captain in the army. I give commands to my soldiers and they obey immediately. I make commands to my servants and they obey me immediately. They do whatever I tell them to do. So I understand authority and obedience. You don’t need to come to my house, Jesus. If You just say the word from right here I’m sure he’ll be healed instantly.’ Jesus looked at that man and said, ‘This is the greatest faith I’ve ever seen in Israel.’”

The greatest faith. Why? Because faith and obedience are interlocked. When you trust someone you do what they say. If you don’t do what someone tells you to do it means you don’t trust them. God has linked faith and obedience together so that all of the promises of God are conditioned upon you following the directions that He gives you.

Deuteronomy 5:33 says, “Follow all the directions the Lord has given you. Then life will go well for you.” That’s a great promise – a promise you can build your life and faith upon.

I want you to know this morning, that God has made some incredible promises in His word about obedience. The Bible says that if you follow God's directions you will be happy. You will live longer. You will lack nothing good and you will have all that you need. And guess what? That’s just 10 of the more than 7000 promises in the bible. Think about it, you could memorize a promise a week and it would take you 20+ years to get through them all. What would you’re faith look like if you claimed them all? If you knew them and trusted them? You could /would change the world!

Folks, I know that a lot of these commands, they don’t make sense from a human standpoint. But God says do it. It’s a matter of trust. It’s a matter of obedience! Obedience is a demonstration of faith. Obedience unlocks the key to all of God's blessings in life. God promises to reward you if you’ll just follow His directions.

As your pastor, I don’t want you to miss out on all the promises. I don’t want you to miss out that God will bless you and save you and watch over you and take care of you and help you and you’ll be happy and live longer and you’ll lack nothing and you’ll have what you need and you’ll have perfect freedom.

What you must do in order to appropriate all these things in your life? The Bible is very clear. You do four things.

#1. Obey God immediately!

Don’t delay. Don’t wait. Don’t procrastinate. Don’t put it off. Don’t make excuses. Don’t drag your feet. Just do it. You do it now. Don’t do it later. You do it now.

Psalm 119:32 says “I will quickly obey Your commands. ... Without delay I hurry to obey Your commands.” If there’s any time in life you really ought to hurry it’s when God tells you to do something. Don’t delay on that. You hurry. You obey God immediately whether you feel like it or not. Whether you understand it or not. Just do it immediately.

Can I say something that is so key here - You don’t have to understand something to benefit from it. You may say, what do you mean by that?

I don’t understand how heavy planes fly in the air but I fly all the time. I don’t understand how computers work but I sure like e-mail. I don’t understand internal combustion but I’ve driven a car for years. You don’t have to understand something to enjoy it, to benefit from it. And you don’t have to understand God's commands in order to obey them and benefit from them.

Every parent knows that you’ll tell a kid something sometimes and they’ll say, “Why should I do that?” and you say, “Because I said so.” Behind those five words you’re actually saying, “Because your little pea brain isn’t big enough to understand it and one day you’ll understand real reality but right now trust me. I know better than you. I’m doing this for your own good so you do it.” All of that is behind, “Because I say so.”

And God sometimes tells you to do something and you say, “Why?” and He says, “Because I say so. Because I know more than you. I don’t owe you an explanation. One day you’re going to understand. But now, just do it.” It is pretty audacious to question the creator of the universe, “Are You sure, God?” Some of you say, “What if I don’t have a good attitude?” Listen, you still obey. “You’re telling me to obey God with a bad attitude?” Absolutely. That’s far better than disobedience.

You parents, if you say, “Kids, I want you all to clean your room but you don’t have to do it until you have an enthusiastic attitude.” They’re never going to do it. You do it in spite of.

Question: What if God responded to your needs at the same speed in which you obey Him? When we get in trouble, we want God's help immediately. “God, I need You help now! I need it fast!” and God would say, “I’ll think about it. I'll get around to it one of these days. But right now I’m a little busy. I intend to help you but it will be awhile.”

If you want the blessings of God, all the ones I just read, if you want those in your life, you must obey God immediately. If you want all the blessings of God in your life, you must also ...

#2. Obey Him completely!

Not just immediately but completely. You don’t say, “I’ll take this one and not that one... I like this command but I don’t like that one... I’m going to follow this one but I’m not going to follow that one.” You need to not be partially obedient, but totally obedient. Psalm 119:4 says, “Lord, You gave Your orders to be obeyed completely.” In order to do this, to obey God completely, you need to understand two very important truths.

1. God’s standard of right and wrong has never changed. It never has. It never will. If something was wrong 6000 years ago it’s still wrong today. If it was right 10,000 years ago, it’s still right today. Lying was wrong in the Ten Commandments. It’s still wrong today. Truth doesn’t change. Culture changes, popular opinion changes. Lots of things change but truth does not change. It is eternal forever. And what’s right is right and what’s wrong is wrong. Regardless of what the popular opinion polls say.

2. God has a bigger perspective than you. He sees things you can’t see. You trying to see from God's perspective would be like an ant trying to see from your perspective. It isn’t going to happen. You’re not capable of seeing it all like God sees it all. You need to trust Him. James 4:11 says “Your job is not to decide whether God's law is right or wrong, but to obey it.”

In 2 Kings, there is a story about a guy named Naaman. Naaman had leprosy. He went to Elisha and said, “I’m a very famous man but I’ve got leprosy. What do I do?” and Elisha said, “I’ll tell you what. Just to show your faith, God wants you to go down to the Jordan River and dunk yourself under it seven times.” Naaman says, “You’ve got to be kidding. It’s humiliating.” Elijah says, “Yes, it’s humbling yourself before God.” On the last time he comes up and he was cured of his leprosy. Was there special power in the water? Absolutely not. It was because he was obedient to God. He had faith. And he obeyed God completely.

Several years ago, a pastor friend of mine got this fax from one of his members. “Dear Pastor, in 1995 I opened up a video store as a side business. I decided to carry adult videos since they make up 35% of all rental revenues. But a couple years ago I began attending church. One day I told my wife, “How can I ask God to help our store if I don’t do what He wants. I’ve got to get rid of those adult videos.” My business partner said, “Are you crazy? We depend on that income.” But I knew we couldn’t expect God's blessing unless I obeyed Him so we got rid of them – all of them. The first weekend without the adult videos, something strange happened. I was flooded with new customers. And I didn’t now why. Then people told me that you told everybody to come in and rent a video just to support our decision. Boy, did they come. I had to call all of our employees in just to handle the crowds. I eventually closed that store but I haven’t forgotten that lesson about obeying God even when it doesn’t make sense. My life changed and I committed to doing whatever God wants. Obey God immediately and completely.

#3. You must obey God joyfully!

Psalm 100:2 says “Obey Him gladly.” Psalm 119:16 says “I enjoy obeying Your commands.” Psalm 119:47 - “I find pleasure in obeying Your commands.” How was it enjoyable to do what God tells you to do?

It’s enjoyable because I love God. I know what He’s done for me so I love Him and I want to obey Him. In marriage, the longer you live together, the more you know what offends and grieves your partner – your husband or wife. Am I right? The longer you’re married the more you figure out what will offend that person. Like blowing your nose at the dinner table or passing gas on the couch or leaving the seat up. You learn what offends your partner. But if you love that person, the longer you’re married the less you do those things because you don’t want to offend them or hurt them. You love them.

When you walk with the Lord through many years the more you realize what God has done for you, how good He’s been to you, the less you want to offend God. You enjoy doing the right thing. You enjoy keeping His commands. You do it because you love God.

Do you know how God measures your love? Not by what you say. (“I love You! I praise You!”) God measures your love by your obedience. By how well you follow directions. Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments.” That’s how we prove our love. If you want the blessings of God in your life you obey Him immediately, completely, joyfully and...

#4. Obey Him continually!

Life is not a 50-yard dash. It’s a marathon. God doesn’t want you to just love Him some of the time – spasmodically. He doesn’t want you to obey Him for just a season of your life, but for all of your life. Psalm 119:112 says “I am determined to obey You until I die.” I love that verse, because it makes a declaration. It says Lord I am your until I stop breathing – until I am no more. Have you made that choice? I have made the choice that I am determined to obey God until I die. I pray you will as well.

Psalm 119:33 says “Just tell me what to do and I'll do it, Lord. As long as I live I'll wholeheartedly obey.” Just tell me what to do and I’ll do it – would you make that your prayer today?

Some of you are saying, “Why doesn’t God tell me what to do? I’ve been praying what to do in this situation.” I'll tell you why He hasn’t told you. Because you’re not already doing what He’s already told you to do. Why is He going to give you further revelation if you have not acted on the truth He’s already told you?

Philippians 3;16 says “We must be sure to obey the truth we have learned already.”

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

DAY #85: Hebrews 11:30-38

BACKGROUND:

When Joshua planned the conquest of Jericho, he sent spies to investigate the fortifications of the city. The spies met Rahab, who hid them. Rahab is an odd entry in this “hall of faith” because she was a Gentile and a prostitute. But she demonstrated her faith in God by welcoming the spies and by trusting God to spare her and her family when the city was destroyed. Rahab’s faith was rewarded: she and her family were saved. Even more important, she became an ancestor of Jesus.

We read her name in Matthew 1:5—she was the mother of Boaz. Rahab’s faith, despite her past sins, is contrasted with those who refused to turn to God and obey him.

The roll call of heroes continues. The Old Testament records the lives of many people who experienced great victories; a few are selected for mention here. None of these people were perfect; in fact, many of their sins are recorded in the Old Testament. But these were among those who believed in God:

Gideon, one of Israel’s judges, was known for conquering the Midianite army with only three hundred men who were armed with trumpets and jars. Barak served with Deborah (another judge of Israel) in conquering the army of General Sisera from Hazor. Samson, another judge, was a mighty warrior against God’s enemies, the Philistines.

Jephthah, still another judge, delivered Israel from the Ammonites. David, the beloved king of Israel and a great warrior, brought peace to Israel, defeating all of his enemies.
Samuel, the last judge of Israel, was a very wise leader. He also was a prophet. Samuel, along with all the prophets, served God selflessly as they conveyed God’s words to an often rebellious people.

These people demonstrated that faith will accomplish much:They overthrew kingdoms. Throughout their years in the Promised Land, the Israelites had great leaders who brought victory against their enemies. People such as Joshua, all of the judges, and King David were great warriors. They ruled with justice. Many of the judges, as well as leaders such as Nehemiah, administered justice to the people.

They received what God had promised. Some people actually did see the fulfillment of some of God’s promises, such as possession of the Promised Land. They shut the mouths of lions. Daniel was saved from the mouths of lions. They quenched the flames. Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were kept from harm in the furious flames of a fiery furnace. They escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength. Hezekiah was one who regained strength after sickness .

They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight. This refers to Joshua, many of Israel’s judges, King Saul, and King David. Some even received their loved ones back again from death. The widow from Zarephath received her son back from the dead because of Elijah, and so did the Shunammite woman, through Elisha.

We, too, can experience victory through faith in Christ. We may have experiences similar to those of the Old Testament saints; more likely, however, our victories will be directly related to the role God wants us to play. Your life may not include the kinds of dramatic events recorded here, but it surely includes moments where faith is tested. Give testimony to those moments, publicly and honestly, and thereby encourage the faith of others.

While the above examples mention great victory—there is a victory that may not seem so. Other believers were tortured, preferring to die rather than turn from God. These faithful people experienced the blessings and endured persecution because they placed their hope in the resurrection. These people lived by faith because they knew that gaining the world and achieving this world’s success was not their objective. They waited for a better life that would begin after death. This promise of a better life encouraged them during persecution and other difficulties.

SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

In 2 Corinthians 13:5, it says, "Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith." Test yourselves. So what I want to do this today is to give us a little pop quiz regarding your faith. And you can examine yourself and ask yourself, "How can I tell if I've got real faith? How do I know I've got the genuine stuff -- not the phony stuff, not the counterfeit stuff? How do I know I've got the kind of faith that pleases God? How do I know I have the kind of faith that gives me access into heaven?" As your pastor, I am concerned that you not get to that final quiz and have the wrong answer. Fortunately, in the book of James, chapter two, James tells us four things that faith is not. And then he tells us what it is.

The first one, real faith is not just something you say.

James says, "What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such `faith' save him?" Notice the word, "claim". He's not saying here that the guy actually has faith, he says he just claims it. In other words, he talks a good line. He knows all the right phrases. He's got the jargon down pat. He can talk Christian language. He claims faith, but that doesn't mean he's necessarily got it.

Gallup says that there are fifty million people in America who say, "I am a Christian." But not all of those fifty million can back it up with the lifestyle that they live. And just because a person claims it, doesn't mean they have it. You know, typically we tend to label people today, if they vaguely sound Christian, we go, "Oh, he must be a believer." You know, at the end of a World Series, some guy'll come on in the locker room, and they're pouring champagne, and he says, 'I just want to thank the good Lord." Oh, he must be a Christian; he said "Lord". Well, not necessarily. A lot of celebrities have claimed faith and we've seen no change in their lifestyle and their behavior.

The point I just want to make here is that real faith is more than just talk Not everybody who has a Christian bumper sticker on their car is a Christian. Have you figured that one out? I mean, you don't have to get flipped off a couple of times, and you figure, that guy's not a believer. He borrowed the car. Or he bought it second-hand and couldn't scrape it off. Jesus said, "Not everybody who says to me, `Lord, Lord' is going to enter into heaven." Not everybody who claims to be a believer really is. He says there's a big difference between being a professor and a possessor, between saying it and actually having it. Now what does God say? What value is this kind of faith, that just claims it? He says there's no value at all. It's worthless. Talk is cheap. because faith is more than just something you say.

Number two, faith is more than just something you feel.

A lot of people confuse emotions and feelings with faith. They come to a church service and they are emotionally moved, they're inspired, and they're stimulated. They get a quiver in their liver and, you know, "Oh, man! I'm moved!" And they go out after the service and maybe they're even cried or felt God's presence. Just because you've felt God's presence doesn't mean you have real faith. There's a big difference between faith and feeling.

Jams goes on to say, "Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to him, `Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed,' but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it?" He's saying here faith is not just mere sentimentality. You go out on the street and you see some homeless person who's destitute. They're poor, they're hungry, they're cold, they need clothing and shelter. And you walk up to them and say, "Cheer up," or "Don't worry, be happy!" You know? "Feel good! Put on a happy face. Smile, smile, smile!" That's not faith. Sympathy has been defined as saying, "I'm sorry you hurt." That's sympathy. Empathy is, "I hurt with you." Empathetic people say, "I hurt with you." Compassion is, "I'll do anything I can to stop your hurt." Faith is compassionate.

How many times did Jesus say, or was it said about Him, He was moved with compassion for people. Faith is practical. It gets involved in people's hurts. And when you see a need, you do something about it. You don't just spout off and say, "Well, I'll pray for you." You do something about it. That's real faith.

Number three, real faith is not just something you think.

You know, some people think of faith as a philosophical quest. It's something they want to discuss and debate and argue about. And when they think about faith, it's their mental stimulation, it's a concept to be debated, it's an idea to be discussed, it's a principle to be bandied about. And we don't make any decision on it, and we certainly don't make any commitment to it, we just discuss it. They treat faith as a mental challenge. Now James imagines this kind of person, this philosophical debater, he says, "But someone will say, `You have faith -- I have deeds.' Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do."

What's he talking about here? He says, "Well, here's this guy who says, "Hey! You're into faith. Hmmm. I'm into deeds." Different strokes for different folks. You're into that, I'm into this. Let's debate it. Let's talk about it. Let's discuss it. And James is making a point here. He's saying faith is not something you debate. It's something you do. Real faith is something you do. The key phrase in here, "show me". He says, "Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by what I do." Folks, when it comes to faith, I'm from Missouri. What is that state? The "Show Me" state. That's right. Prove it! I dare you!

So how do you know when you've got it? How do you know if you've got the real kind of faith that pleases God? How do you know you've got the kind of faith that gets you into heaven? Well, the bible says look at your lifestyle. That's how you can know, it'll show up in your life. You'll not only know it, but you'll show it. You see, today, I think, in America we have too many of what I call "Lady Clairol Christians". Only God knows for sure. You don't have any idea if they're a believer or not. There's absolutely no difference between them and everybody else. You see, faith is like calories. You can't see them, but you can sure see the results. And when a person really has Christ in his or her life, you can see it. And if you can't see it, you have every reason to doubt, "Do I have the real, legitimate stuff?

Number four, real faith is not just something you believe.

A lot of people have strong beliefs about Jesus Christ, strong beliefs about God, strong beliefs about the Bible. I mean, they went to catechism, they know the creed, they know the religion, they've got the doctrine down, "I believe in this and that and this and that . . ." and all those kind of things. Oh, they have great beliefs! But that's not enough. And James points this out, he uses a little sarcasm. He says, "You believe there's one God? Great. Good. Fantastic! But even the demons believe that. And they tremble." He says, "Big deal! You're not doing anything different than Satan does." Satan believes in God, but you're not going to find him in heaven. Why? He hasn't made a commitment.

You see, the bible says the fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." You see, it's foolish to say there's no God. I mean, just look at the world! The intricacies of this world and how the earth tilts on its axis at a certain degree that if it tilted just a little bit either way we'd either burn up or freeze up. Or look at the birth of a child and the intricacies . . . it takes more faith to not believe in a creator than it does to believe in one. Because the odds of all this just "happening" are so preposterous. It's like taking a watch and taking it apart and putting it in a paper bag and shaking it all up and all of a sudden, it just came out right. It would be far more possible for that than everything happening in the world. Just how can you have creation without a Creator? It takes far more faith to not believe in a Creator, to think that it all just happened by chance, than it does to believe in a Creator. So it says, "Satan believes in God. The fool says there's no God. Satan's no fool. He's not an atheist. But you don't find him in heaven. Why? Because he doesn't really believe.

The word "believe" in Greek in the Bible is the word estevo, it means "trust in, cling to, rely on, adhere to, sell out to," it's a commitment. It's more than just head knowledge. You see, I believe in George Washington. I've never seen a photograph of him, because there weren't photographs in that day, so I really can't prove that George Washington existed, I can't prove it and neither can you. There's no photograph of him. But I believe in George Washington. But I'm not a Washingtonian. But I believe in Christ and I'm a Christian. Why? Because I have committed my life to Him. I have accepted Him. I have chosen to follow Him. You see, a lot of people are going to miss heaven by 18 inches, because they've got it up here, in their head, but they don't have it here, in their heart.

They've got a head knowledge. They know all, "Sure, I believe, yeah, yeah!" But let me see it in your life. They say, "Well, I'm Catholic." Fantastic! Great. "But I'm Jewish," Fantastic! Fine. "I'm Buddhist." "I'm Baptist." "I'm Morgan." "I'm Lutheran." "I'm Presbyterian." Fine. Listen, there's no verse in the Bible that says, "Religion is the way to heaven." Because it's not. Jesus didn't say, "I've come so that you might have religion." Or rules, or regulations, or rituals. He said, "I've come that you might have life." It's a relationship. And so you may have all kinds of religious background. That's not good enough. Real faith is not just something you believe. It's more than that.

Number five, real faith is something you do.

Faith is active. It's not passive. It's a commitment. It's something that you can demonstrate. James says, "When will you ever learn that `believing' is useless without doing what God wants you to? Faith that does not result in good deeds is not real faith." He's saying, how will you know that you've got real faith? You look at your lifestyle and see what kind of actions follow as a result of it. He's saying that if you've got the real stuff, faith can be demonstrated, it can be shown visibly. You say, "How do I visibly show that I have faith?"

Well, the first thing you need to do is to be baptized. That's the very first command of Christ. He said, "Go. Make disciples and baptize them." Baptism is publicly identifying myself. What's happened in my heart, I want to tell the whole world about it. I had a little boy ask me one time, he said, "Pastor Rick, when can I get advertised?" I like that. Because that's what baptism is. Baptism is an advertisement for Jesus Christ. Baptism is saying to the world, "I'm not ashamed to say I'm a Christian. I'm not ashamed to follow the first command of Christ, to identify myself as a believer." Does baptism make you a Christian? No. Does baptism get you into heaven? No. Does baptism give you salvation? No a chance. What's it for? It is the outward symbol of an inward commitment. It's proof. By following His command.

What else do you do? You start following the other commands of Christ. The Bible says that you show, you prove your faith by your lifestyle. That faith is proven by how we live. As my grandmother used to say, "Actions speak louder than words." That's right. And your behavior shows what you really believe. Now, don't misunderstand me. This is too important to misunderstand. You say, "Mike, are you saying that I've got to work my way to heaven?" No. "Are you saying that I've got to do good works to be saved?" No. No. No. Good works are not the root of salvation, they are the fruit of salvation. They don't make you a Christian, they show you are a Christian. They don't deliver salvation; they demonstrate salvation. You do good works not to get it but because you've already got it. Get it? I pray so. Live out your faith.

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

DAY #84: Hebrews 11:23-29

BACKGROUND:

Moses’ parents are listed among these great people of faith. Through their faith they recognized that God’s hand was on Moses and that he was an unusual child. As a result, Moses’ parents disobeyed the king by faith, not being afraid of what the king might do to them if he discovered that they had been hiding their child for three months. Pharaoh had commanded that all male children born to the Hebrew slaves were to be killed. God used these parents’ courageous act to place their son, the Hebrew of his choice, in the house of Pharaoh.

Moses’ great faith was also revealed through his difficult decision. Through God’s providence, Moses was raised by Pharaoh’s daughter as a member of Pharaoh’s own household. Although Moses had been given a great Egyptian education, wealth, and status, he rejected this heritage and chose to share the oppression of God’s people instead of enjoying the fleeting pleasures of sin. Moses knew he could not participate in a comfortable and easy life while his fellow Hebrews were enslaved. Because of his faith, Moses knew that earthly comfort was not the ultimate purpose of his life.

Moses’ great secret was that he looked ahead to the fulfillment of God’s promises. Moses illustrates that faith requires individuals to put their own desires aside for the sake of Christ. He was motivated by looking ahead to the great reward that God would give him. Since this reward would come from his Lord, Moses was willing to suffer for the sake of the Messiah. Although Moses did not personally know Jesus Christ, Moses suffered for the sake of doing God’s will and for the sake of proclaiming God’s way of redemption to the Hebrews; thus, this passage speaks of Moses’ suffering for the sake of the Messiah. Because God’s history of salvation and redemption continued until Christ, Moses’ suffering is linked to the cause of Christ. Rather than make Egypt and this world his home, Moses left the land of Egypt and kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the one who is invisible. By faith, he was certain of what he could not see.

Moses’ faith encouraged him to be God’s spokesman to the Hebrews. Through this faith, Moses commanded the people of Israel to keep the Passover. This incident occurred as the last of a series of plagues that devastated Egypt. The Hebrews followed God’s instructions, given through Moses, to sprinkle blood on the doorposts so that the angel of death would not kill their firstborn sons. The “blood” was from a lamb slain as part of the Passover meal. That night the firstborn son of every family who did not have blood on the doorposts was killed. The lamb had to be killed in order to get the blood that would protect them. (This foreshadowed the blood of Christ, the Lamb of God, who gave his blood for the sins of all people.)

The people of Israel leaving Egypt provide the next example of faith. It was by faith that they went right through the Red Sea as though they were on dry ground. The sight of the Red Sea parting and the requirement to walk into the seabed between walls of water must have been terrifying. But through Moses’ leadership and their own faith, the people of Israel walked ahead and were delivered from Egypt.

As the people of Israel took the path through the Red Sea, the Egyptians followed, but not in faith. As a result, all the soldiers in the army drowned. This example of the Egyptians would be a warning to those who considered drifting from Christ. God severely punishes those who do not live by faith in him. Those who walk in faith, even into “seas” of difficulty or fear, will find their faith rewarded.

SO WHAT? (what will I do with what I have read today?)

In today's passage, we're going to look at whom I consider to be the greatest leader of the Old Testament and that is Moses. When you look at people in the Old Testament who made an impact, it's hard to find anybody who made a greater impact that Moses. He freed a nation from slavery after 400 years. He was used by God to give us the Ten Commandments. He wrote the first five books of the Bible. Few leaders have made as great an impact with their lives and ministry as Moses. God used Moses in a tremendous way. Why? Why of all the people did God choose him?

I think that God chose Moses because of the choices Moses made. Moses made four critical choices that determined his destiny and they're choices that each of us as leaders in the church have to make in order to be used by God in a great way. Choices determine your character. Your character is determined by day to day decisions and problems and issues that you are confronted with. And when you make the choice on those daily issues the accumulative effect of those produce the character in your life. As we look at the life of Moses there are four questions I believe every follower of Christ must ask.

#1. The first question is what I call the Identity Question.

Every follower of Christ must first ask the question, Who am I? This was especially essential for Moses since he had an identity crisis early on. He was born Jewish and yet he was raised Egyptian in Pharaoh's palace. As he grew up he had to decide, What am I really? This was going to have a major consequence in his life. In fact it would affect the rest of his life. Here was his choice: He could pretend that he was Pharaoh's grandson in which, if he accepted that he would have fame, he would have fortune, he would have a luxurious lifestyle, he would have a great career. Or, on the other hand, he could admit his Jewish roots and if he did, he would be disgraced, humiliated, thrown out of the palace and forced into slave labor.

If you were confronted with those two choices, what choice do you think you would make? Moses did not hesitate, but he made the choice to admit exactly who he was, to confirm the identify that God had given him because he was a man of integrity. He refused to live a lie. He made his decision that affected the rest of his life.

In Hebrews 11:24 it says, "By faith, Moses, when he had grown up refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh's daughter.” The word "refused" there in Greek literally means "to reject.” It means to disown, no turning back, slam the door shut and put a dead bolt on it. So Moses refused to live a lie. He insisted on being what God made him to be. And no amount of peer pressure could sway him from that.

This is very important because this is the first issue you have to deal with as a leader. The point is, God made you for a purpose. And only you can be you. As I've said many times before, when you get to heaven, God isn't going to say, "Why weren't you more like Billy Graham? Why weren't you more like John Wayne? Why weren't you more like...?" He's going to say, "Why weren't you more like you?" Because only you can be you. You are one in five billion. There's never been anyone like you. If you don't be you, who's going to be you?

The point is, God made you for a purpose and being successful equals being me – being yourself. That's the first foundation. Quit trying to be like everybody else. I know when I first entered into the ministry, I had a deep desire to mimic the models in ministry that I admired. I tried to preach like them, I tried to dress like them, I tried to use words and phrases, even hold my Bible the way they did. But I eventually discovered that was ineffective. The only thing I could be that God could use was to be me. So quit trying to be like anybody else. Settle the issue of identity – Who am I?

#2. The second question you must answer as a leader is the Responsibility Question.

The responsibility question is this: What will I do with my life? You have to stop making excuses, you have to stop blaming other people and take the initiative if you're going to be a leader and decide what does God want me to do with my life and then get on with it.

Hebrews 11:25 says, "He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the pleasures of sin for a short time." It says, "he chose". I think that, next to salvation, the greatest gift that God has given you is the ability to choose. He's given you the freedom to choose. That's why we're different than animals. God made us in His image and we have the freedom to choose. As a leader, your leadership will be based on the type of choices you make. That is the responsibility question. What will I do with my life? What will I do with my ministry? Your future is determined by your choices.

v. 23, as a child, God chose Moses. But in v. 25, Moses had to choose God. Big difference. God chose Moses even before he was born to be the liberator, the savior, the deliverer of the nation of Israel. He chose him even before he was born. But Moses could have short-circuited that plan by not choosing God.

So God has chosen you for ministry. Do you remember John 15? Jesus says, "You have not chosen Me. I have chosen you that you should go forth and bear fruit and that your fruit should remain." God chose you from the foundation of the world. He chose you to be saved and when He chose you to be saved, He chose you to be a minister. But you must make the choice yourself to choose God's will for your life.


I'm free to choose my response to life. Nobody can ruin my life except me. God won't ruin it. The devil can't, if you're a child of God unless you make choices. So it's your choice. Even what other people do to you. Nobody can ruin your life except you if you've given it to God.

So the responsibility issue is, What am I going to do with my life? Joshua 20:4 says, “You may choose for yourself today whom you will serve, but as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord." He's saying, I'm facing the same issue that Moses made. Joshua was his successor. Joshua watched Moses be a man of choice, be a man of character, a man of integrity. He saw it work and years later he's making the same decisions. He's saying, As for me and my house – I don't care what you guys think, we're going to serve the Lord.


#3. The third issue is what I call the Priority Question that every leader must eventually face and we see it in Moses' life.

The Priority Question is this: What is really most important? If you're going to be used effectively by God you've got to establish some kind of value system. You clarify your values, your morals, your ethics, your priorities. This is what Moses did. He decided what was important. v. 26 "He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt because he was looking ahead to his reward." Notice the word "regarded" which means I made a moral choice, a value judgment. And notice the word "value". It says he considered, he regarded. The word "regarded" literally means “evaluate”. It's the word that's used of weighing in the balance. It means to judge the value of something. This is not something you do quickly, a snap judgment. You are seriously considering, What is the direction of my life and what are going to be my values?

If you were asked by somebody, "What are the values that you are basing your life on?" Could you name them? You ought to be able to say, These are things that are important to me. You don't lie, you don't steal, those kind of things. Basic values of life. The fact is, if you don't decide what's important in your life, other people will do it for you. They will decide what's important and they will force their values on you.

We, in America, are right now in a values war. Don't let anybody kid you about it. We are in a values war. And we know who's behind it. (It's not the Democrats. Come on and smile - I ripped the Republicans last week) It's Satan. He is the god of this world and he is trying to warp the world to his value system.

What is the world's value system? The world's value system is summed up in these three verses. The only good thing you can say about the devil is he's consistent. He doesn't have any new tricks. The same three tricks he pulled on Adam, he pulled on Jesus. The same three tricks he pulled on Jesus, he pulled on Moses. They're the same three he pulls on you. The lust of the flesh, the lust of the world, the pride of life. We see these in v. 24, 25, 26. The world's value system.

In v. 24 - "Moses refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter." He's talking about power and prestige. That's the first value of the world. Power and prestige. One of the values of the world is, I want to be famous, I want to be looked up to. I want power. I want prestige. Why else would people pay fifty bucks for a card that's gold when they can have one that's green that doesn't cost that much. People want to have a certain color card so they can say, I have prestige. I have power.

The second standard of the world is in v. 25. Pleasure. "He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than joy the pleasures of sin for a short time." In v. 24 he rejects the world's measure – they're standard of evaluation, being famous. In v. 25 he rejects the world's pleasure.

In v. 26, he rejects the world's treasure which is possessions. Power, pleasure, possessions. Measure, pleasure, and treasure. "He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasure of Egypt." All of the wealth of the world in that day was concentrated in Egypt. And it would have been Moses. He was in line for it. And he walked out the door from a position of prestige (the measure of the world), all the pleasures of the world he could have in the palace of Egypt, and he rejected the world's treasure – the world's value system.

It's ironic. Those things were all offered to Moses and by these standards Moses had it made. But he walked away from it. It's interesting to me that he walked away from the very three things that most people spend their entire lives trying to get. He walked out the door. That's why God used him. He knew that these things don't last.

This is very important. You must understand that as a leader in ministry, in order for you to say, Yes, to God there are things you must say No to. You cannot say Yes to the world and Yes to ministry at the same time. It doesn't work. Jesus said it like this, "You can't serve two masters. You'll either hate one or love the other." The problem with a lot of Christians is not that they're not willing to serve in ministry but it is that they're afraid to say no to the world's value system. Compromising only makes you miserable. It's like trying to sit on a fence. Ouch! You need to learn to say No. I refuse to be sucked in again. I'm going to go against the flow. I'm going to reject what the world says is important.

I pray God's word gave you some things to chew on this morning. I love you guys. Stay faithful. Stay the course.