Seize the Moment – Day 878
H E A R T: T is for Truth!
In order to serve properly, you have to put your heart into it!
Ephesians 4:15 (NLT)
“ Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.”
In a courtroom, the witnesses are sworn in to “tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” When someone is in the doctor’s office awaiting test results, they ask the doctor to ‘give me the truth. Tell it to me straight.” There may have even been a time in your own life when you have asked for the truth, and the person responded, “You couldn’t handle the truth.” Let’s face it, hearing the truth can be difficult. How we receive it is determined by how it is delivered.
Paul was writing to the church in Ephesus to remind them that they are no longer ‘infants’, weak in their faith, quick to follow or imitate whatever is right in front of them and possibly leading them astray. He was correcting them, ‘speaking to them in (agape) love’ (love of God) in order for them to recognize their growth in their faith and the need to continue to mature, becoming the body of Christ they had been called to be.
Seize the day and purpose in your heart to stop and think before you speak, even if you are speaking the truth. We need to ALWAYS speak the truth in God’s love so that people can see that it is His Love that is in our hearts, for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks!
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Seize the Moment – Day 877
H E A R _: R is for Restore!
Psalm 51:12-13(NLT)
“Restore to me the joy of your salvation and make me willing to obey you. Then I will teach your ways to rebels, and they will return to you.”
Tina and I enjoy finding old furniture and restoring it back to what it used to be. That means that we must know what it looked like before in order to accomplish that task. The best way to do that is to look for pictures published by the one who originally created it.
When God originally created man, it was for us to be in communion with Him. When man sinned, it broke that relationship. While this broke God’s heart, He immediately began working out a plan to restore us to Him. He sent His Son as the ultimate sacrifice to bring us back into that original relationship. His desire was and is to restore His children. And we have been given the privilege and honor to share this message and help restore others so they can return to the Father.
Seize the moment today by asking God how you can be used, allowing the Holy Spirit to lead you and give you the words to share. When you do this, you are both serving God and serving others by helping them find their way back to Him.
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Seize the Moment – Day 876
H E A _ _: A is for Actions!
The next letter for the acrostic is A for Actions.
1 John 3:18-19 (NLT)
“Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. 19 Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God.”
When someone repeats something, they are usually trying to make a point and assure that you have been listening to what they are saying. The same is true here in John the Apostle’s first letter. He uses the phrase “Dear children” or “Dear friends” thirteen times in its five short chapters! Much like a teacher might say “Listen up! This is important”, John was emphasizing the need to point out that our actions carry just as much weight as our words.
From the Expositor’s Bible Commentary (Abridged Edition): New Testament @2004, it states: “ John admonishes with the tone of a spiritual father pleading for the heartfelt response of his children. Love requires more than idle talk or exalted theology. It demands simple acts, which anyone can see, in order to meet the needs of brothers and sisters in distress.”
Seize the moment today and look for opportunities where you can be the hands and feet of Jesus and serve someone in love. You will find that it will not only bless them, but bring your own heart joy!
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Seize the Moment – Day 875
H E _ _ _: E is for Energy!
The next letter for the acrostic is E for Energy.
“Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.”
Energy! That source of power that drives every living thing. And this morning, I felt like I had none! The sound of the thunder and rain made me just want to curl up and stay in bed. But I knew I had to get up and get going, so I said my daily prayer of “Good morning, Lord. As I start this day, I ask you for the energy I need to accomplish all that You would have me to do. And keep my spiritual ears open to the Holy Spirit as He leads and guides me.”
As Peter told us in today’s scriptures, we are to do all things with the strength and power that He gives us. If we only rely on our own strength to ‘git ‘er done’, we will find ourselves tired and weary and not able to finish well.
Seize the moment today and plug in to the true power source of our lives. Stop right now and take a moment to reflect, refresh and restore your heart and mind by tapping into that never ending source of strength and energy that comes from God, knowing that He is working all things together for your good.
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Seize the Moment – Day 874
H _ _ _ _: H is for Hope!
PSALM 25:5 (NLT)
“Lead me by your truth and teach me,
for you are the God who saves me.
All day long I put my hope in you.”
One of my favorite hymns has the line “My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus’ name.” Hope is more than just wishful thinking. It is a demonstration of our faith and trust that it will be done. Doubt and fear are the nemesis of hope and are the tools that the devil uses to cause us to stumble or even waiver in in our Christian faith.
But hope has a name, and that name is Jesus. As I told the church yesterday in the message, we are to cast all those cares, doubts and fears at Jesus’ feet and KNOW that He will be taking care of it. When we pray, we ask and place our hope, faith and trust in the God who is able to all things.
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Train to Live on Mission – Week 24
Battle Drill #24:
Serve Properly
Proverbs 15:13-18
If you have been listening to the daily phone calls this week, you have received the hints on what this week message is about…our ‘serve’.
S was for ‘surrender’ (1 Corinthians 13:3);
E for ‘effort’ (2 Peter 3:14);
R for ‘respect’ (1 Peter 2:17);
V for ‘vow’ (Matthew 5:37); and
E for ‘encourage’ (1 Thessalonians 5:11).
We need to examine our lives to make sure that we are serving properly and not sitting back waiting to be served!
In the game of tennis, the score is Love/Love at the beginning, and the score doesn’t change until someone serves. The same can be said in the Christian walk in that our ministry filled with love cannot begin until we truly serve. And we are called to be servants of the Lord. When Jesus was speaking to the disciples in John 12:26:
“If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him.”
He also told them in Mark 10:45:
“For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
Here He is, the Son of God, but He was taking the lowest position in mankind’s standards, even to the point of giving His life for them. We are called to follow the example He set and serve properly.
Proverbs 15:13-18
A joyful heart makes a cheerful face, But when the heart is sad, the spirit is broken. The mind of the intelligent seeks knowledge, But the mouth of fools feeds on folly. All the days of the afflicted are bad, But a cheerful heart has a continual feast. Better is a little with the fear of the Lord Than great treasure and turmoil with it. Better is a dish of vegetables where love is Than a fattened ox served with hatred. A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, But the slow to anger calms a dispute.
I. Know the field manual: In your heart and in your mind
- Know it in your heart
(Proverbs 15:13). TURN TO AND READ
~What’s in your heart shows on your face
ILLUS: Been on an emotional rollercoaster the last few weeks
-all the ‘firsts’
-retreat time
-kids moving to Florida
-Comment made to Tina…”that explains…”
~Had to practice what I have been preaching and take it to Jesus!
- Take action to make sure heart is in the right place
(1 Peter 5:6-8). TURN TO AND READ
- You must read the manual to know the manual!
(2 Timothy 2:15) TURN TO AND READ
~Last time I challenged the parents to train up your children
~We are never too old to keep learning….stay in THE WORD!
- Your head will affect your heart and your heart will affect your head!
II. Importance of Training Together.
- Every servant needs some encouragement.
(1 Thessalonians 5:8-11)
“But let us who live in the light be clearheaded, protected by the armor of faith and love, and wearing as our helmet the confidence of our salvation.
- Don’t have a wrong attitude
(Proverbs 15:17)
“Better is a dish of vegetables where love is Than a fattened ox served with hatred.”
ILLUS: Every have a waiter(ess) with a bad attitude?
- Know that we are not alone
(Roman 5:5).
“And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.”
III. Seek the Commander’s Approval!
- Easiest way to get approval is by doing what you are supposed to by listening to the right voice.
(Galatians 5:25).
“Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives.”
~Why?
(Romans 8:5-6)
- How will this be best accomplished?
(1 Peter 4:10)
“God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.”
~Are you using your gifts here at FBC? In the community?
IV. How do we Live on Mission?
~Surrender daily to the leading of the Holy Spirit
~Make every Effort to follow His leading
~Respect those in authority over you AND those you work with.
~Keep your Vow, your promise, to love and serve the Lord and others with joy, and not with a wrong attitude.
You can listen to the message here:
You can watch Pastor Ken’s message by clicking HERE.
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Seize the Moment – Day 872
Today’s hymn focus will be
“I Will Serve Thee”
Psalm 100:2(NASV95)
“Serve the Lord with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing.
Today’s song has been published in several different hymnals but is truly a gospel song written by Bill & Gloria Gaither in 1969. They wrote it during a time in their lives where they had to make a decision to either keep teaching in the public school system or step out in faith to travel full time as a gospel trio with Bill’s brother, Danny, known as the Gaither Trio. The beautiful harmonies of this song help you to hear their hearts as they placed their full trust in Jesus. While they knew it would never be easy, they knew that He was their source of life!
I will serve Thee, because I love Thee You have given life to me
I was nothing before You found me, You have given life to me
We need to wake up with this same attitude. We are serving Jesus, not because of what He will do for us, but rather because of what He has done! He gave His all for us, and all He asks in return is that we love Him and serve Him with everything we’ve got.
YOUTUBE:
I Will Serve Thee
You have given life to me
I was nothing before You found me
You have given life to me
Heartaches, broken pieces
Ruined lives are why You died on Calvary
Your touch was what I longed for
You have given life to me
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Seize the Moment – Day 871
S E R V E: E is for Encourage
The next letter for the acrostic is E for Encourage.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 (NLT)
“ So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing.”
Let’s face it. In this day and age, we all could use some encouragement! We are discouraged by the economy, the political atmosphere, and even by how quickly we get our food either in the drive-thru or in the restaurant. It just sets our mood and our outlook on everything.
But then we see a video of a young boy singing “O, How I Love Jesus” with such joy that we are encouraged to see there is hope out there. Paul was writing to the people of Thessalonica, telling them they are doing all the right things and they need to stay focused on the truth and be clearheaded. They need to encourage one another until Jesus returns.
Seize the day and be encouragers of one another, sharing the HOPE, JOY and LOVE of the Lord with our fellow believers, and with a world that is desperately looking for that!
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Seize the Moment – Day 870
S E R V _ : V is for Vow!
The next letter for the acrostic is V for VOW.
Matthew 5:37(NLT)
Just say a simple, ‘Yes, I will,’ or ‘No, I won’t.’
— Anything beyond this is from the evil one.
A vow is defined as a noun to be “a solemn promise” and as a verb to be “a solemn promise to a specific thing”. At a wedding, a couple does both the noun and the verb when they repeat their vows of commitment to each other. All throughout the Old Testament, we are told that a vow is not to be broken. And then in the New Testament, Jesus spoke to the crowd in His sermon on the mount to not make a vow, but rather let your yes be yes or your no be no.
Is this a contradiction? NO! The concept of the vow, a solemn promise, had been stretched, muddied, modified so much that it had become a contradiction to itself. When someone makes you a promise to do something, then they should show up. When they don’t, the response you normally will hear is “Oh, sorry. I forgot” or “Something else came up and I couldn’t make it.” This is not who we are to be as Christians.
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Seize the Moment – Day 869
S E R _ _ : R is for Respect!
The next letter for the acrostic is R for Respect.
“Respect everyone, and love the family of believers.
Fear God, and respect the king.”
RESPECT! The soulful voice of Aretha Franklin cried out that she just wanted a little bit! The world tells you that you have to earn it by doing things for them. But the Bible is very clear for the believer…we are to respect everyone, or as the NASB version says “Honor all people”, including those in authority over us.
WHAT?!? Have you seen the way they treated me or heard what they said to me? I know it doesn’t sound fair, but look at what Peter went on to say…
“You who are slaves must submit to your masters with all respect. Do what they tell you—not only if they are kind and reasonable, but even if they are cruel. For God is pleased when, conscious of his will, you patiently endure unjust treatment.” (vs 18-19).
As a believer, we are called to be servants of the Lord. If we measure everything with love and respect before we speak, we may find that our world will be a place filled with joy and peace.
Seize the moment today by looking for opportunities to show respect…for God in how you live your life; through your love for you family, both flesh and blood and the church, as you care for them; and others as you love them as God first loved you, even when they don’t deserve it. This is what keeps the joy of the Lord flowing in your lives.
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