Be a Faithful Servant

Shark Tank is one of my favorite TV shows.  On Shark Tank four rich investors give money to entrepreneurs trying to grow and expand their business.  It’s obvious that the Sharks are interested in one thing . . . an increased return on the money they are willing to invest.  If a Shark is going to invest, they want to see past success in earning money and a plan to expand and earn more money in the future.  God is the Creator of a global business called “The Kingdom”.  God is in the eternally important business of ruling and reigning in the heart of every human being in the world.  God’s Kingdom business is not yet ruling and reigning in every heart, so therefore, He is working His plan to expand.  What’s His plan?

READ:  Matthew 25:14-30

God is in the business of Kingdom building and He has a plan to expand His Kingdom . . . God entrusts RESOURCES to HIS PEOPLE in order to expand His Kingdom!  God’s plan to expand His Kingdom is you and I!  While God is “away”, He has left US to manage His effort to increase the number of those whose hearts are being ruled and reigned by Him.  We are each individually to use our unique combination of resources and abilities to expand His Kingdom.

How do we fit into God’s plan to expand His Kingdom?

God gives us a PERSONALIZED amount of resources according to our ABILITIES (Mt. 25:14-15) – In this parable, three individuals are given “talents” (“property”/resources) according to their “ability”.  In the New Testament a talent was the largest measurement of money equivalent to about 20 years wages.  The modern equivalent of one talent would be $600,000.  Therefore, each individual had abundant resources entrusted to them.  Some more than others, but no doubt sufficient to accomplish the task.  1 Corinthians 12:4-7, 11 says, “there are a variety of gifts . . . to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good . . . All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.”  We can question God’s plan to expand His Kingdom all we want, but one thing is for sure, He will give all of us exactly what we need to accomplish the task He has given to us.  There is no room for comparison with others, no wishing we had more, no wishing we had less, there is only one thing to do with what we have been given . . .

We must be FAITHFUL to INCREASE God’s Kingdom using the resources given to us (Mt. 25:19-30) – When the master of the three servants came to settle accounts he respond in two different ways.  To those who increased upon what they had been given he said, “well done, good and faithful servant.”  To the one who did nothing with what he was given he said, “you wicked and slothful servant . . . cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness.  In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  God wants to see a return on what He has invested in us.  His expectation of us is pretty simple, we must use what has been given to us to increase the number of hearts being ruled and reigned by Him.  We are to use the unique mix of our time, money, personality, skills, and interests combined with our spiritual gift(s) to faithfully expand God’s Kingdom.  Expanding God’s Kingdom is not just for church leaders.  Whether we are a school teacher, a doctor, or a fast food service professional we are to be doing something to expand God’s Kingdom.  No one’s combination of resources and abilities is just like ours.  When God settles accounts with us, He will not compare us with anyone else, He will judge us based only on what He has given to us.  If we aren’t using our resources and abilities to expand God’s Kingdom, a good question to ourselves is whether we are a part of God’s Kingdom ourselves.

CONCLUSION
God is as passionate about ruling and reigning in peoples’ lives as Sharks are about money.  He is desperately wanting His rule and reign in the lives of people to expand.  His plan to accomplish this?  We, His good and faithful servants!  As a faithful servant, we are to use our resources and abilities to encourage others to repent of their sin and believe in Jesus Christ. Are you a good and faithful servant? 

Be Watching

A wedding is a special and exciting moment.  A wedding is a moment that many anticipate and look forward to.  A wedding is one of the most treasured of human experiences.  A wedding beautifully unites two individuals together into one.  According to God’s original design in Genesis 2:24, “a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.”  Throughout the Bible, one of the most frequently used images to show God’s relationship with His people is marriage (Eph. 5:25-33; Rev. 21:1-4).  God has “proposed” to the world by giving Jesus Christ and whoever says “yes” by believing in Him is betrothed to be His wife (yes, even guys).  Our “wedding” with Christ is not something we want to miss out on.

READ:  Matthew 25:1-13

Entering the Kingdom of God requires WATCHING for the return of Christ!  A traditional Jewish marriage was initiated by parents of a groom and bride who made an agreement that their children would marry.  The groom’s father would pay a dowry (“bride-price”) to the bride’s father and the couple became betrothed.  During the betrothal period the groom would prepare a home for him and his new bride to live in.  When the home was built, at an unexpected time, the groom would lead a procession to the bride’s home and back to his home for a marriage celebration joined by family and friends.  Jesus uses a groom’s unexpected appearance at the end of a betrothal period to help us understand the importance of watching and being ready for His return.

What do we need to do as we watch for the return of Christ?

We are watching if our lives are LIT with the FLAME of JESUS CHRIST (Mt. 25:1, 7) – Imagine if the “ticket” that was required to go an athletic event or a concert was a flame?  What if the event was at an unknown date in the immanent future?  What would it require to keep our flame burning?  We would have to be 100% committed to waiting for the event from the moment we bought our ticket.  The event would have to be our life!  If we were not 100% committed, it wouldn’t take long before our flame would go out.  If our flame went out, it would mean we were never really committed to the event in the first place.  In John 8:12 Jesus said, “I am the light of the world, whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”  Jesus Christ, the light of life, is our “ticket” to eternal life.  We commit ourselves to Christ by repenting of our sin and believing in Him.  If we do, when Jesus returns at an unknown date in the immanent future, His light will be burning in our lives.  When Jesus returns for His bride (the church), we cannot borrow from someone else’s light.  At that moment, it will be too late to go purchase more oil.  The only time we have to be ready and watching with the light of Christ burning in our lives is right NOW!

We are watching if the flame of Jesus Christ is burning with the OIL of the HOLY SPIRIT (Mt. 25:3, 8-9) – A flame burning with wood or cloth or a wick can only burn so long.  On the other hand, a flame burning with replenished oil can burn indefinitely.  The five foolish virgins had “no oil” so their flame went out while the five wise virgins “took flasks of oil with their lamps” so their flame remained lit.  The oil that keeps the flame of Jesus Christ burning in our lives is the Holy Spirit.  Ephesians 1:13 says, “when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit (cf Romans 5:5, 14:17).”  The presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives is the divine fuel that guarantees our belief in Jesus Christ is real.  Without the oil of the Holy Spirit in our lives our flame is artificial and will eventually burn out.

CONCLUSION
Scripture is clear, Jesus Christ IS coming again for His bride the Church.  God has communicated His undying love and has proposed to the whole world through Jesus Christ and wants us all to say “YES”!  We have either said yes and are betrothed to Christ with our lamp burning brightly waiting for Him to return or we have said no to Jesus and our light is burned out and when He returns He will say, “I do not know you.” Have you said “YES” to Jesus’ proposal?  Now is the time to be ready and watching!

Possess the God Who Is Good

“I’ve got this” is a phrase we might use when we are 100% confident of our ability to do something.  “I’ve got this” is probably moving beyond confident toward cockiness.  “I’ve got this” is a frame of mind focused on our own talents, our own strength, and our own abilities.  “I’ve got this” is the attitude of many professional athletes as they enter into competition.  “I’ve got this” is the attitude of musicians as they go on stage to perform.  “I’ve got this” might be an attitude we take with us into many aspects of our own lives . . . a test at school, a job interview, a recital, asking a girl out on a date, a sports competition, a conflict with a friend, etc.  Most dangerously, “I’ve got this” might be an attitude we take with us in an effort to live out our Christian life.

READ:  Luke 18:18-30

The rich young ruler’s attitude toward inheriting eternal life was, “I’ve got this”.  He was confident that the goodness of His life made him deserving of entrance into eternal life.  He was sadly mistaken since according to Jesus, “no one is good except God alone!”  In the Old Testament God’s moral goodness is described using the word “holy” (Isaiah 1:4, 5:16, 40:25; Revelation 4:8).  God says about Himself in Leviticus 19:2 that, “I the Lord your God am holy”.  God’s holiness is his moral PURITY and PERFECTION.  God alone has inherent goodness or holiness.  Goodness or holiness is not something that we, or the rich young ruler, possess.  Therefore, entering the Kingdom requires possessing GOD who is GOOD!  Why do we need to possess the God who is good?

We need to possess the God who is good because NONE of US are PERFECTLY GOOD (Mt. 18:18-23) – Perfection is impossible.  No matter how hard we try, we will ultimately end up coming up short in any pursuit of perfection. The rich young ruler mistakenly thought that he had achieved moral perfection.  He was confident that this Good Teacher would find NO impurity or imperfection in his moral character, “adultery” (nope), “murder” (nuh-uh), “stealing” (no way), “lying” (off course not), “honor your father and mother” (absolutely).  And yet, Jesus knew one area where his goodness was lacking . . . his wealth.  James 2:10 says, “whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become accountable for all of it.”  Although perfection is the goal, we will never achieve it.  As hard as we might try, if we fail at even one small point, we are considered guilty of breaking the whole law.  The “I’ve got this” attitude of the rich young ruler contradicts with the truth of Romans 3:12 which says, “no one does good, not even one.”  Even if the rich young ruler lived an impeccable life Ephesians 2:8 says, “by grace you have been saved through faith.  And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”  Plain and simple, no amount of good works will earn us entrance into the Kingdom of God.  What prevents us from possessing the God who is good?

We cannot possess the God who is good if we are unwilling to leave behind EVERYTHING to follow Jesus (Lk. 18:22-30) – Instead of pursuing perfect goodness, we are to pursue the God who is perfectly good.  Jesus said, “what is impossible (perfection) with man is possible with God.”  Although we are not able to be perfectly good, God is able to make us perfectly good!   It’s as easy as stop, drop, and roll.  STOP trying to earn our way into the Kingdom, DROP anything and everything in life that is preventing us from possessing Jesus, and ROLL through life with Christ as our Savior and following Him in obedience.  Elisabeth Elliott said it well, “he is no fool who lets go of what he cannot keep to possess what he cannot lose.”  Jesus said it perfectly with a question in Mark 8:36, “what good is it for a man to gain the whole world, yet lose his soul?”  No matter how important, we must be willing to leave behind anything and everything in order to possess Jesus Christ.

CONCLUSION
In Philippians 1:6 we are told about the One who can say “I’ve got this”, Paul says, “I am SURE of this, that He who began a good work in you will bring it to completion (perfection) at the day of Jesus Christ.”  When we leave everything to possess Jesus Christ He begins a process of perfecting us which only He can do.  Have you allowed God to begin the good work of perfecting you?

Be Childlike

“Kids Say the Darndest Things” was a television show hosted by Bill Cosby from 1998-2000.  The premise of the show was that Bill would ask a question to a child about anything from dead goldfish to love letters in anticipation on an unpredictable or “cute” response.  For example, during one interview Bill Cosby asked a little boy, “who was George Washington’s wife?” and the boy replied, “Miss America”.  Cosby asked another boy, "how would you make marriage work?" and he boy replied "Tell your wife that she looks pretty even if she looks like a truck."  Children definitely have an honesty and innocence about them that is sweet, charming, and irresistible.  It is these, and many other characteristics, that God loves!

READ:  Matthew 18:1-4

Entering the Kingdom requires become like a CHILD! Mark 10:15 says, “unless you become like a child you will never enter the kingdom of God.”  A Kingdom full of children sounds terrible; crying, temper tantrums, complaining, permanent marker on the streets of gold, etc . . . I don’t think that is what Jesus had in mind.  The characteristics that make children worthy of the Kingdom is their TRUST and DEPENDENCY.  Children believe, accept, and go along with just about anything others say.  Children rely 100% on others for all of their most basic needs for living.  Children are delightfully vulnerable, helpless, weak, and powerless which requires them to be trustworthy and dependent.  How do we regain such childlikeness?  What does it mean to become like a child? 

Becoming like a child means abandoning our desire to become GREAT (Mt. 18:1) – Jesus introduces a child into an awkward conversation where His disciples are selfishly wanting to know who was “greatest” in the Kingdom.  Although children are selfish and want what they want when they want it, they are not “sophisticated” enough to strive for personal honor, recognition, or greatness.  Children do things and relate with others simply for the personal satisfaction and fulfilment that they experience, not what they can get out of it.  John Piper has a popular quote that says, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him”.  Simply put, Kingdom people are satisfied.  Our need to feel important or significant has been filled.  No more striving.  No more ambition.  No more competition.  When our attitudes are like children before God, our satisfaction comes completely from Christ and we will be able to relate with Him in complete trust and dependence.

Becoming like a child means HUMBLING ourselves (Mt. 18:4) – Childlike trust and dependency on another are not attributes that most people are striving for.  We have “moved on” and “matured” to self-sufficiency and independence.  Childlikeness would be a step backward or back down the ladder in life.  That’s why being childlike requires humility in order to obtain it.  Jesus is not upholding humility itself as a characteristic of being a child.  Instead, He is saying that Kingdom people are humbly willing to revert back to the trust and dependence on God that a child exhibits by nature.  Rather than elevate ourselves, we must be willing to lower ourselves to a place of trust and dependence.   Childlikeness is a humble choice to no longer live a life of self-sufficiency and independence.

CONCLUSION

The book of 1 John refers to believers in Christ as “children” or “little children” 14 different times in 5 chapters.  By using this word John is reminding believers that Kingdom people are those who trust and depend on God.  Whether avoiding sin (1 John 2:1), abiding in Him (1 John 2:28), avoiding being deceived (1 John 3:7), loving others in deed and truth (1 John 3:17), or keeping ourselves from idols (1 John 5:21), we need to maintain a constant attitude of trust and dependence on our Father.  Children of the Kingdom do the darndest things and our first steps back to childhood are satisfaction in God and humility.

Born Again

How many of us remember the day we were born!?!  We may not remember anything about that day, but we know it’s a special day because of the annual event that takes place every year to celebrate our life . . . our BIRTHDAY!  Based on the excitement that dad’s and mom’s and grandpa’s and grandma’s all over the world exhibit, on a “birth”-day (more specifically a conception) something miraculously special happened.  The DNA from our mother and the DNA from our father came together to create something brand new that never existed before . . . US!  Before our “birth”-day we did not exist, but after our “birth”-day we were something uniquely new and special.  Did you know that in order to enter into the Kingdom of heaven we must go through that same process all over . . . AGAIN?

READ:  John 3:1-21

Entering in the Kingdom requires being REBORN as a CHILD of GOD! When we are born something brand new that had never existed before is created.  We are not a reduplication of anything else, we are something entirely brand new.  In the same way, being “born again” involves something brand new being created within us that never existed before.  John 1:12-13 says, “to all who received Him, who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor the will of man, but of God.”  A first birth involves the will of a father and mother, but a second birth involves God’s will.  According to Ephesians 1:4-5, “In love, (God) predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of His will.”  Being born again is a process that any human being can go through in order to become one of His children.  How do we become one of God’s children?

Being “born again” as a child of God requires something BRAND NEW being created within us SPIRITUALLY (Jn. 3:5-6) – When we are physically born we have some pretty standard equipment, arms, legs, eyes, ears, nose, brain, heart, etc.  When we are physically born we arrive in the world with our heart beating, our lungs breathing, and our brain thinking.  We are very simply . . . physically alive.  Although we are physically alive, we are spiritually dead (Eph. 2:1).  When we are physically born we are given physical life, lower case “l”, but when we born spiritually we obtain spiritual LIFE, capital “L”!  Jesus said in John 10:10, “I came that they may have LIFE”.  It is God’s Spirit “born” within us that creates a brand new eternal life for us (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Being “born again” as a child of God is an INVISIBLE ADOPTION (John 3:7-8) – My wife Marianne and I adopted Darlene Nicol Juan Salvador from Guatemala in July of 2007 and she legally became our daughter.  Sarah did not become aware of her helpless condition and pursue us, we became aware of her helpless condition and pursued her.  Similarly, God, on His own free will, as of an act of love and grace pursued all of us by sending His Son Jesus to redeem us and make us His sons and daughters!  When we put our belief in Jesus Christ the invisible wind of adoption blows into our lives.  At this moment of spiritual rebirth, we are no longer merely human beings of flesh, we are spiritual children of God.  Romans 8:14-15 says, “all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons (and daughters) of God . . . you received the Spirit of adoption as sons (and daughters), by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”  It is those who possess the Spirit of God who are adopted children of God.

CONCLUSION
According to Galatians 4:4-5 God, “sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons (and daughters).”  The spiritual man (Jesus Christ) became a child of flesh in order that we might experience spiritual life!  What an amazing reversal of roles.  The One who was by nature a child of God became like us who are not naturally children of God for the whole purpose of adopting us as His children.  This is being “born again”, believing in Jesus Christ and being given the DNA of the Spirit of God, according to the purpose and plan of God, and becoming one of His adopted children!  Have you been born again and become an adopted child of God?

Repent and Believe

Can you imagine what it would be like to receive news that you had a life-threatening disease?  Maybe you, a close family member, or a friend has been in an accident or has gotten news that they had a terminal illness.  Hearing that bad news would make our hearts sink with hopelessness.  What if at some point after this news you got news that there was treatment or there was the possibility of a cure?  Hearing that good news would make our hearts leap with joy!  What if you or someone you loved were in an accident or had a life-threatening disease and there was treatment or a cure, but no one told you about it?  That would be unimaginably cruel.  If someone had treatment or a cure in a life-threatening situation, they would do anything to make sure the one who needed it heard the news.  And that is exactly why Jesus came . . .

READ:  Luke 4:42-44

Jesus came to preach the GOOD NEWS of the Kingdom!  The reason Jesus Christ was sent to the earth was to proclaim the “good news of the Kingdom of God”.  Good news about Himself, good news about who He was, and good news about what He came to do!  Good news for anyone and everyone who would respond to His message.  How are we to respond to the good news of the Kingdom?

The Kingdom is good news we respond to with REPENTANCE (Mk. 1:15; Mt. 4:17) – Have you ever changed your mind about something?  Changing our mind is hard.  Changing our mind requires admitting that we were wrong.  REPENTANCE is a complete change of MIND or ATTITUDE about something.  I thought A before, but now I think B.  What I think and feel now is different from what I thought and felt before.  In Luke 5:32 Jesus said, “I have not come to call the righteous but sinners to repentance.” In order to be a part of the Kingdom we must make a radical change of mind about our sin.  We must agree that sin is a spiritually life-threatening disease (Rom. 6:23).  We must agree with the God’s standard of what is sin.  We must agree to turn away from sin in the future (Rom. 6:11).  Repentance is more than feeling sorry, it is a decision to turn from our sinful rebellion and turn toward God’s complete rule and reign in our lives.  When we do Jesus said in Luke 15:7, “there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.”

The Kingdom is good news we respond to with BELIEF (Mk. 1:15) – There are a lot of truths that I am 100% convinced of.  I believe that the sky is blue.  I believe that the sun is hot.  I believe that gravity keeps me from floating off into space.  BELIEF is CONFIDENT TRUST (being convinced) that something is TRUE.  In order to be a part of the Kingdom we must confidently trust in who Jesus Christ is and what He has done.  One of the oldest statements of Christian belief is the “Old Roman Creed”, in use in the 2nd century, which says, “I believe in Christ Jesus (God’s) only Son, our Lord, who was born from the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, who under Pontius Pilate was crucified and buried, on the third day rose again from the dead, ascended into heaven, sits at the right hand of the Father, whence he will come to judge the living and the dead.”  Jesus said in John 3:36 that, “whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.”  It’s that simple, we must be genuinely convinced, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that Jesus Christ is God’s Son and that His death on the cross was payment for our sins.  We will never experience the Kingdom unless we are confident that this is true.

CONCLUSION
If you had a life-threatening disease and someone shared the cure with you, would you reject it?  I don’t think so.  In order to become a member of the Kingdom of God we must respond by receiving it with REPENTANCE and BELIEF!  We need to change our minds about our sin and confidently trust that Jesus died on the cross to pay the penalty for our sin.  This message is the good news!  This message is the purpose for which Jesus came.  Our response to this message results in forgiveness and salvation.  Repentance and belief are not one time decisions, but attitudes and beliefs people of the Kingdom are to live by each and every day.  Have you repented of your sin and are you completely trusting in Jesus Christ’s death on the cross for you?

Forgiving King

Creditors want to settle accounts.  I recently had some work done on our house that cost $600.  It had only been about 2 weeks since the work was done, but on Monday I got a call from the company and they politely reminded me of the debt I owed.  I payed the bill, but if I had waited 30 days, or 60 days, or if it had been an amount that I was unable to pay, they would have eventually turned me in to a collection agency and required me to pay them what I owed.  Those who do work or lend money, expect to be repaid and settle accounts with their customers.  How does God handle His account with us?

READ:  Matthew 18:21-35

The currency that we relate to God with is our love and obedience.  When we are obedient (righteous), our relational account balance with God is positive.  When we are disobedient (sinful), our relational account balance with God is negative.  According to Romans 3:10-12, we are all constantly making withdrawls from our account with God, “none is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no on seeks for God.  All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” From the day we are born, we are accumulating an immense debt of sin toward God.  And yet, God the King has limitless FORGIVENESS toward sinners who ask for MERCY!  To what extent does God mercifully forgive us of our sin?

God mercifully forgives us of a DEBT we could NEVER repay (Mt. 18:24-27) – A single talent in this time was valued at 6,000 drachmas, the equivalent of about 20 years wages.  In modern terms, if a laborer earns $15 per hour, at 2,000 hours per year he would earn $30,000 per year, a single talent would equal $600,000.   Therefore, “ten thousand talents” represents an incalculable debt of approximately $6 billion dollars!  The debt of sin we owe to God is astronomical and not anything we should ever imagine being able to pay back.   

God mercifully forgives us of MORE than we even know to ask for (Mt. 18:26) – In spite of the servant’s unpayable debt, he does not ask for forgiveness, he asks for “patience”.  He mistakenly thought what he needed was more time to “pay everything” he owed to the king.  The king knew that being repaid was impossible, so instead of giving him patience, he “released” and “forgave” him of the debt.  If we could really understand the amount of debt our sin creates between us and God we would be shocked.  It is foolishness to think that we could ever repay our debt of sin to God.  To think that we could ever do enough to make up for our sin against God is absurd.  We are at the mercy of a great King, and the good news is that He mercifully forgives!

Our willingness to extend MERCY and FORGIVENESS to OTHERS reveals whether or not we have truly received God’s merciful forgiveness in our own lives (Mt. 18:21-22, 32-35) – A hundred denarii in this time was equivalent to 100 days wages.  In modern terms about $12,000.  This is still a large amount, but miniscule compared to the debt the servant owed the king.  In the sermon on the mount in Mt. 6:14-15 Jesus says, “if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.”  Being released and forgiven of such a large debt by God should create within us the ability to release and forgive others of the tiny offenses done to us by others.  If we find it impossible or difficult to release or forgive others of sin against us, we may need to ask ourselves whether or not we have truly experienced the merciful forgiveness that God offers to all those who ask for it.

CONCLUSION

Forgiveness of sin is the greatest part of being in God’s Kingdom. Colossians 2:13-14 says, “(we) who were dead in (our) trespasses and the uncircumcision of (our) flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands.  This he set aside by nailing it to the cross.”  God has done more than just release and forgive us of what we owe, Jesus Christ paid our debt with His own life!  Have you experienced the cancellation of the record of your debt of sin by believing in Jesus’ death on the cross for you?

Generous King

What am I going to get paid?  I’m sure that’s a question that I asked a lot as a kid.  Whether it’s mowing the lawn, cleaning our room, or getting a babysitting job, we want to know the wage we are going to get paid for our labor.   Before we put in time or energy into work, we negotiate what we feel is fair to receive in return.  We may get to a point where we are mature enough not to ask the question out loud, but that does not hide the fact that the question is still going through our mind.  We selfishly want to receive what we deserve for the work that we do!

READ:  Matthew 20:1-16

A denarius in this time was the common amount of one day’s wage.  The typical work day was 6:00am (zero hour) to 6:00pm (twelfth hour).  In this parable, the master hired laborers for his vineyard in 3 hour intervals.  Those hired at 6:00am worked for 12 hours and those hired at 5:00pm worked for 1 hour.  The controversial element in the parable is that each worker received the same wage for the day.  And not unlike any of us, those who worked the longest and the hardest “grumbled” at unfairness of their wage.

What is controversial to those who are comparing themselves to others is good news to those who are simply glad to do the work.  Whether we realize it or not, it is good news that God does not give us what we deserve.  If God gave us what we deserve, none of us would want to receive the wage we have earned!  The wage we receive for laboring in God’s Kingdom is a pure gift of His goodness and grace.  In fact, when we labor for the Kingdom, God gives us much MORE than we could ever earn or deserve.  Those who WORK in the Kingdom without expectation of what they will receive in return will be GENEROUSLY rewarded by God the King!  How does God determine the wages for our labor in His Kingdom?

God generously gives to each and every one of us what is RIGHT (Mt. 20:4) – Being a part of God’s Kingdom involves work.  When we put faith and trust in Jesus Christ for salvation, God “hires” us to labor on behalf of His Kingdom.  We are laboring as fishers’ of men to make disciples.  Our labor for the Kingdom is not just a “side job”, it is to be our life’s work.  We can be confident that the reward we will receive for our work will be sufficient.  We will not be lacking.  We can fully trust God that He will give us what is “right” for any amount time and effort we invest in His Kingdom.  By selfishly demanding what we think we deserve for our time and effort we miss out on the tremendous wage God wants to give.

God CHOOSES to give, not based on what we DESERVE, but on His GENEROSITY (Mt. 20:14-15) – God determines wages for His laborers very differently from anything we could ever understand.  God does not measure our contribution to the kingdom by comparing it with the accomplishments or sacrifices of anyone else.  The wages God gives to His laborers is based solely on His gracious “choice” to be “generous”!  We need to realize how amazing it is that God does not choose to pay us a wage based on what we deserve.  In fact, the good news for us is that God chooses to give us so much MORE than we could ever earn or deserve.  We should be careful not to compare our labor for God’s Kingdom to someone else.  Comparing ourselves to others will cause us to grumble about what we receive, and worse, to falsely believe that God has wronged us somehow.  This selfish labor will earn us last place in God’s Kingdom.  In contrast, we should selflessly labor for God knowing that He will graciously give us above and beyond anything we could ever earn or deserve.

CONCLUSION
Do you call yourself a Christian or are you laboring in God’s Kingdom with any motive of what you will receive in return?  Colossians 3:23-24 says, “whatever you do, work heartily for the Lord and not for men, know that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward.”  Knowing the generous character of God we are free to serve Him with everything we’ve got and without comparison because we know God will  generously give us what is right, which is much more than we deserve!

Just King

I hate weeds.  Weeds wreak havoc and ruin a beautiful yard if not eliminated.  I made an effort to eliminate some weeds in my yard a few weeks ago by purchasing what I THOUGHT was a chemical which would only kill weeds.  Turns out, after zig zagging around my yard spraying weeds, that I also killed every inch of grass along with the weeds.  Now my yard has several large zig zag patterns of dead weeds . . . and grass.  From this experience I learned that when grass and weeds grow right beside one another, you have to be careful how you go about eliminating weeds in case you destroy the grass as well.

Our world is full of “weeds” (evil people).  Read the news on any given day and we are confronted with the harsh reality of all the evil that exists in the world.  Murder, violence, bullying, stealing, lying, abortion, divorce, . . . these are all examples of evil that happens in our world and in our own lives every day.  With all these weeds of evil growing everywhere, we might struggle at times wondering, “where is God?”, “why does He allow such evil?”, or “is He powerless to do anything about it?”  Be assured, God hates weeds more than we do, and He has plans to get rid of them, just not in the way or in the time frame that you might expect.

READ:  Matthew 13:24-30, 36-43

God the King is the MAKER and OWNER of this world and He will make sure that everyone receives JUSTICE!  According to Matthew 13:24 and 38 the world in which good and evil exist is “HIS”.  That one little possessive pronoun communicates that God is the maker and therefore the owner of the world that you and I enjoy and live in every day.  At the same time, there is a real enemy that exists in God’s world (the devil), but make no mistake, He is fully in charge of His world and His Kingdom.  How do we make sense of our experience in the world?

God allows GOOD and EVIL to exist TOGETHER beside one another in His world (Mt. 13:25-26, 30, 38) – We should not be surprised at evil in our world.  We should not be shocked when we hear about bad things that happen.  We should not become discouraged when we feel like we are surrounded on all sides by wickedness.  Our King is allowing good and evil would exist side by side in this world.  Matthew 5:45 says God, “makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.”  The sun and rain God provides which allows good wheat to grow is the same environment which allows evil weeds to grow as well.  The frustrating part is that evil weeds are right next to us and they impact our personal lives.  It is our personal experience with evil that creates within us a desire for justice!  We want someone to eliminate the evil and make things right.  There is good news for all of us who want justice in this world!

In God’s Kingdom, everyone will receive their just PUNISHMENT or REWARD (Mt. 13:30, 39b-43) – There are consequences for everything in life.  When we do what is good, good things happen to us.  When we do what is evil, bad things happen.  The consequence of being a child of the evil one is being gathered outside the Kingdom and thrown into a “fiery furnace.  In a place where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”  The consequence of being a child of the Kingdom is being gathered inside the Kingdom and welcomed into the “barn” of God’s eternal presence.  We may see and experience many injustices in this life that seem to go without consequences, but we can be sure of this, no one who will escape God’s justice.

CONCLUSION
An important question to ask is, “am I wheat or am I a weed?”  Am I a son of the kingdom or a son of the evil one?  Make no mistake, God will eternally punish or reward us depending on which one we are.  Why doesn’t God just eliminate weeds?  2 Peter 3:9 says that God is, “patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.”   God isn’t eliminating weeds just yet, because He is patiently waiting to transform them into wheat!  Being transformed from a weed into wheat involves repenting of the evil we have done and putting faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.  Is it you God is patiently waiting for to repent?

Kingdom Contradiction

Anthony Webb was a contradiction. "Spud", as he was nicknamed, is a retired professional basketball player who is known for winning the NBA slam dunk contest in 1986.  Despite being one of the shortest players in NBA history at 5’7” tall, “Spud” defeated his 6’8” teammate and defending dunk champion Dominique Wilkins, by soaring nearly 4 feet in the air on each of his dunk attempts.  He defeated Wilkins with two perfect 50-point scores in the final round.  To many, “Spud’s” small stature contradicted the amazing things he was able to do on the basketball court!

The Kingdom of heaven is a contradiction.  On the surface it appears small, unimpressive, unnoticeable, and to many completely invisible.  Jesus Christ, who came to establish God’s Kingdom is a contradiction Himself.  Isaiah 53:2 says about Jesus that, “He had no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him.”  He was born in poverty in a manger in Bethlehem.  He lived a simple life as a carpenter.  His closest companions were fisherman, sinners, and tax collectors.  During His ministry He served the unwanted and outcasts. His life ended suffering the punishment of a criminal on the cross.  There was nothing outwardly impressive about Jesus, and yet, He is undoubtedly the single most influential person in the history of the world.

READ:  Matthew 13:31-32

Just like Jesus, the KINGDOM of GOD produces UNEXPECTED results!  The people of Israel were not expecting an insignificant beginning to the Kingdom of God.  The Jews expected a Messiah to come who would establish a powerful earthly kingdom.  Comparing the Kingdom of heaven to a tiny, insignificant seed would have been a disgrace, bringing confusion and disbelief to Jesus’ listeners.

God’s Kingdom seems SMALL and INSIGNIFICANT (Mt. 13:31-32a) – A single mustard seed is usually about 1 to 2 millimeters in diameter and are colored from yellowish white to black.  It takes hundreds of mustard seeds to weigh a single ounce.  Although the mustard seed is not the smallest seed in existence, it was the smallest seed of all agricultural plants in Israel.  Jesus used the, “smallest of all seeds” to show that God’s Kingdom seems miniscule, hardly noticeable, and unimpressive.  In our culture, characteristics like humility and servanthood are considered small and insignificant.  In God’s Kingdom, these small and insignificant acts possess all the potential God needs to produce unexpected results.  We must have faith and trust in God that He will use these characteristics in our lives to make a big difference in His Kingdom and in eternity.

God’s Kingdom grows into something LARGE and SUBSTANTIAL (Mt. 13:32b) – A tiny mustard seed planted in the ground eventually grows to the height of a small tree approximately 8-12 feet.  Large enough that a bird can make a nest in its branches.  It is miraculous that something so small can turn into something, “larger than all the garden plants and becomes a tree.”  In this life, along-side all other cultural ideologies, philosophies, and religions, God’s Kingdom won’t appear impressive, but will eventually be revealed in eternity to be larger and surpass them all.  Don’t be deceived by other cultural ways of life that seem to offer more than the Kingdom of God.  What they have to offer is false and empty of true meaning and significance.  By sowing small seeds of the Kingdom with our lives, God will produce the unexpected results of an enormous spiritual harvest.

CONCLUSION
Jesus Christ is like a mustard seed.  His life may have seemed small and insignificant, but after He died and was buried in the ground, He resurrected and grew to reveal Himself as God.  He is “big enough” to carry our burdens.  He is “big enough” to carry our hurts and pain.  And ultimately, He is “big enough” to carry all of our sin.  Just like the birds can make their home in the branches of a mustard plant, we can make our eternal home in the person of Jesus Christ.  Is Jesus Christ small and insignificant or large and substantial in your life?

Kingdom Valuation

What is it that you treasure?  What is it that is of greatest value to you?  For some of us, what we treasure most is a physical possession (eg video game system, iPod, car, etc).  For others, what we treasure most is a relationship (eg, popularity, boyfriend, girlfriend).  For some, what we treasure most is an activity or accomplishment (eg, football player, band member, etc).  Our culture often dictates what we treasure.  If we don’t value the things that our culture values we are made to feel strange, different, or weird.  This unwanted pressure makes us quick to treasure and value what our culture treasures and values.

And yet, we cannot blame our culture, we treasure or value whatever is most important in our own selfish and sinful hearts.  Imagine a throne in our hearts and whatever or whoever sits on that throne rules and reigns in our life.  Whatever or whoever that is gets the most and the best of our time, money, and attention.  Whether we realize it or not, we choose what or who sits on the throne in our heart.  Because it is extremely important what or who sits on the throne of our heart we must ask, “What does God consider treasure or valuable?”

READ:  Matthew 13:44-46

In this parable, Jesus reveals to us something that is truly worthy of being the highest treasure and of greatest value in our lives.  The KINGDOM of GOD is to be the greatest treasure in our lives!  What is the Kingdom?  When Jesus began His ministry He immediately started talking about a Kingdom.  In Matthew 4:17 Jesus said, “repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”  The Kingdom Jesus is referring to is God’s RULE and REIGN in our lives.  He was talking about Himself sitting on the throne of our hearts, because we have placed Him there, and executing His perfect will.

It was this Kingdom that Jesus was referring to when He taught His disciples to pray in Matthew 5:10 that His, “(Father’s) Kingdom come, and (His) will be done on earth as it is in heaven.”  Jesus wants us to be a part of His Kingdom culture.  A culture where God’s rule and reign is the highest treasure and the greatest value in EVERY aspect of our daily lives.  How valuable is God’s Kingdom?  What is it worth?

God’s Kingdom is worth EVERYTHING that we possess (Mt. 13:44, 46) – As a teenager my first big purchase was a $300 stereo system.  I was willing to part with a large amount of my hard earned money because I valued music.  It was a tough decision, but I remember thinking it was worth it!  In trying explain to those who were listening to Him about how valuable the Kingdom is, Jesus said it was worth selling, “ALL that (they) had”.  Not some, not most, ALL, EVERYTHING!  According to Jesus (the creator of all that there is to enjoy), there is nothing in this life valuable enough that is worth holding onto if it means losing out on possessing the Kingdom.  We can confidently, and without hesitation, invest everything in the Kingdom of God because it is worth it.  

God’s Kingdom is our source of inexpressible JOY (Mt. 13:44) – What would it mean to hit the “jackpot of joy” in your life?  Being the MVP of the World Series or the Super Bowl?  Being in a relationship with the perfect guy or the perfect girl?  Many of the ways that we might answer that question, what we are really talking about, is happiness and not joy.  Happiness is temporary and joy is eternal.  When God’s Kingdom is our treasure and of greatest value in our lives we experience an unexplainable, unfading, eternal joy that cannot be taken away.  The only way to experience true lasting joy is if God’s Kingdom is our treasure and of greatest value to us.

CONCLUSION

Missionary Jim Elliott said, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.”  There is nothing in this life that is worth holding onto if it means missing out on being a part of God’s Kingdom.  According to Jesus Christ, giving up anything and everything this world has to offer in order to possess God’s Kingdom is the richest and most valuable way you can invest your life!  Have you discovered the treasure of God’s Kingdom in your life?  Is God’s Kingdom the most valuable thing that you possess?  

Guarding Our Heart

The new movie “Avengers: Age of Ultron” is about a team of super heroes who are defending the earth from a highly advanced artificial intelligence named Ultron and his robot armies who are out to exterminate the human race.  In the final climactic scene of the movie, all 8 Avengers are in a united explosive effort to prevent Ultron from accessing a detonator that would release a meteor to earth and destroy humanity.  The Avengers use all their strength and abilities to valiantly defend the source of what would be the destruction of humanity.

We have an enemy who is making every effort to gain access to our heart and destroy us.  1 Peter 5:8 says, “be watchful.  (Our) adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.  Resist him”.  Satan’s point of attack in our lives is our heart.  If Satan’s target is our heart then what are we supposed to do?

READ: Proverbs 4:23

Since we have an ENEMY who wants to DESTROY us, our heart must be valiantly DEFENDED!  Just like the Avengers put every effort into defending the detonator from their enemy, we must put every effort into defending our heart from our enemy.  The words “keep” and “vigilance” combine to communicate the idea of being a watchman on guard defending a fortress against an enemy.  This is no casual security guard or a mall cop, but a soldier at war. What are some ways Satan tries to access our heart that we must defend?

We must valiantly defend our heart with our EARS (Proverbs 17:4) – Do you remember hearing a cuss word for the first time?  It’s always a bit unnerving when your child comes home from school and tells you about what they “heard” at school whether a cuss word, a crude joke, or a lie.  It’s unnerving because any evil that we hear has the potential of taking root in our heart.  Why?  Because hearing about wickedness and mischief awakens our sin nature.  According to Proverbs 17:4, an evildoer “listens” to wickedness and a liar “gives ear” to a mischievous tongue.  Our sin nature’s ears are “tuned in” to evil.  Our choices of what we allow our ears to hear in music, conversation, and media is one way to defend our hearts from Satan’s attack. When we choose to hit the “mute” button on wickedness and evil the sin nature of our heart is deafened.

We must valiantly defend our heart with our EYES (Ps 101:3) – The word “worthless” means wicked or morally objectionable.  We are bombarded by “worthless” images in our world today.  Our culture gives us unlimited access to graphic violent, crude, sexual, and perverted visual content.  Psalm 101:3 says that we must choose to “blind” ourselves to anything “worthless” by not intentionally putting anything wicked or evil in front of our eyes.  Our choices of what we allow are eyes to look at in magazines, movies, and internet sites is another way to defend our hearts from Satan’s attack.

We must valiantly defend our heart with our MIND (Phil 4:8; 2 Cor. 10:5) – “Get your mind out of the gutter”.  That’s a phrase that we hear when our thinking is evil or wicked.  There are simply thoughts we must not allow to enter or stay in our minds.  Philippians 4:8 provides us with a standard for what we should allow to enter into and stay in our minds, “whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellence, or worthy of praise.”  2 Cor. 10:5 tells us what to do with any other wandering thought that enters into our mind, we are to, “take every thought captive to obey Christ.”  Any and every thought that wanders through our mind must captured and brought (or dragged) into the presence of Christ.  It is Christ, then, who makes the decision as to whether the thought is allowed to stay or go.  If a thought is something that Jesus would want us to think about, keep it, if a thought is not something that Jesus would want us to think about, reject it . . . that way it never has a chance to impact our heart!

CONCLUSION
Are we on watch valiantly defending our heart against Satan?  If not, we are like superheroes who sit idly by and do nothing to defend ourselves against the enemy.  Our hearts need guarding.  If we are not watchful with our ears, our eyes, and our minds, Satan WILL enter unhindered and devour our heart and our entire life with it.  It’s time to be watchful, resist him, and guard the most important part of who we are . . . our heart!

God's Word in Our Heart

Rules are important.  There are rules in almost every aspect of life.  Without rules athletic competitions, classrooms, and entire societies would be in constant chaos and disorder.  Rules set the standard for actions and behaviors that are expected and acceptable in any given environment.  There are consequences for not playing by the rules or living according to the law.  God’s Word is the “rule book” for life.  In God’s Word we are given God’s standards of what is right and what is wrong.  Whenever we live according to God’s rules, life works, and whenever we don’t live according to God’s rules, life does not work.

The Old Testament law is made up of hundreds of relational, social, and civil “rules”.  The most well-known of these rules are the 10 commandments.  According to Jewish tradition there are 613 “rules” or commandments in the law including 248 “positive” commandments, things that we are to do, and 365 “negative” commandments, things that we are not to do.  God gave all of these rules that we might know how to live in right relationship with Him and each other.

Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible, 176 individual verses.  Psalm 119 refers to God’s Word 165 times with 8 different words including law (25), testimony (23), way (4), precept (21), statute (22), commandment (23), rule (17), and word (30).  It’s overwhelmingly obvious that Psalm 119 is a poetic prayer of heart desiring God and wanting to be saturated with God’s Word.  A PASSIONATE HEART for God’s Word creates a PASSIONATE HEART for God!  How does our passion for God’s Word inspire our passion for God?

Psalm 119:1-16

A passionate heart for God’s Word PRAISES God (Psalm 119:7) – Whether privately or corporately, praising God is an appropriate response to what we learn about who God is and what He has done through His Word.  The word “praise” means to express gratitude or thanksgiving.  Therefore, to praise God means expressing our gratefulness and thankfulness to God.  As God reveals more of Himself to us through His Word our desire to praise Him will grow.  As God reveals more of what He has done for us through His Word our desire to praise Him will increase.  As God reveals more of how we are to live to us through His Word our desire to praise Him will abound.  Spending time in God’s Word is marked by a life of praise for God!

A passionate heart for God’s Word SEEKS God (Psalm 119:10) – Life is a journey, and rules are like a highly visible, well-lit path that leads us in the right direction.  Going off the path makes the journey hard and dangerous.  Staying on the path makes the journey easy and safe.  A well-marked path is necessary in life in order to keep us from wandering off into the dark wilderness.  Where do we find such a path for the journey of life?   Psalm 119:105 says, “your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path”.  In the journey of life, God’s Word provides us with an illuminated next step.  When we seek God’s Word we are ultimately seeking God’s guidance, direction, and will for each and every step on the path of our life.

A passionate heart for God’s Word does not SIN against God (Psalm 119:11) – In Matthew 6:45 Jesus said “the good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good.”  How do we store an ever increasing amount of good treasure in our hearts?  By filling it up with God’s Word!  When we store God’s Word, His rules, His statutes, His precepts, His laws, His commandments, in our hearts we will produce the fruit of righteousness and eliminate the bad fruit of sin.  The best way to eliminate sin from our life is not to try harder to not sin, but rather to fill our hearts to the point of overflowing with God’s Word!

CONCLUSION
Psalm 119:111 says, “Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.”  Spending time with God by reading His Word should be one of the greatest joys of our heart.  It is not a joy because we learn new rules to obey or disobey, but because it brings us closer to the One who revealed Himself to us.  Where do we experience joy in life?  Is it in taking all the right turns on the path of life?  Or is it in relating with the One who is walking along the path of life with us?  May our passion for God’s Word ignite a passion for God Himself!

Good in Our Heart

Apples, oranges, bananas, grapes, watermelon, cantaloupe, etc.  There is a wide variety of fruit, and yet they all have one thing in common, they are meant to be enjoyed!  Our families taste buds enjoys strawberries more than any other fruit.  Unlike many foods that our children complain and grumble about, when strawberries are brought to the table everyone makes their excitement known.  God desires for us to bear fruit with our lives for the blessing and enjoyment of others as well.  The fruit of our lives will either leave a sweet or rotten taste in the mouths of others.  What type of fruit is your life producing?

READ: Luke 6:43-45

Although we are all born “bad apples”, it is possible for the fruit of our lives to change. A transformed heart where the Spirit of God dwells has a new supernatural ability to produce good fruit.  With God living inside of us we have a good heart, and a GOOD heart produces GOOD fruit!  Galatians 5:22 says, “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self control.”  When God dwells inside our hearts, when He is our treasure, our lives will overflow with righteousness that is designed for others to taste and enjoy.  What types of good fruit comes out of our lives as a result of having a good heart?  

READ: 2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

Paul prays that God would establish the Thessalonian’s hearts.  The word “establish” means to cause someone to become stronger in the sense of being more firm or unchanging.  It’s like anchoring a fence post in the ground with cement so that it can’t move.  God is at work establishing our hearts for two specific purposes . . .

A God-established heart produces good WORKS (2 Thes. 2:17) – Most of us are not fans of work.  Work is exhausting, boring, tedious, and hard.  And yet, God create us to work (Gen. 2:15).  One significant purpose of our lives is doing work that not only benefits us but others as well.  Bearing the fruit of good works is hard, and yet, God is the one who gives us the strength to do this work day after day after day.  Titus 3:8, 14 says that we are to, “devote (ourselves) to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people . . . so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful”.  Our lives produce good fruit when we do something that profits someone else. Our lives produce good fruit when do something to helps satisfy a need in someone else’s life.  Such good works require the hard work of self-sacrifice, unselfishness, and humility, but the God who dwells in our heart will give us all the strength and endurance we need to do them and continue doing them!

A God-established heart produces good WORDS (2 Thes. 2:17) – According to James 3:10 our tongue has unlimited potential to bless or curse others. We all know and understand that our words set the tone of our relationships with others.  Bearing the fruit of good words will bring encouragement, inspiration, and joy to those who hear.  Ephesians 4:29 says, “let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.”  In any and every situation we are in, we must be careful to use our words for the purpose of building others up and never tearing them down.  God wants to speak good through you into the lives of others, He can’t do it when our words are rotten.

CONCLUSION
Luke 8:15 says, “as for that in the good soil, they are those who, heart the word, hold it fast in an honest and good heart, and bear fruit with patience.”   Those whose hearts have received the word of God, those whom have received a spiritual heart transplant, those in whom the Spirit of God dwells, will bear good fruit with their lives.  It will be natural outgrowth of who we are.  In Christ, we are no longer bad trees who can only bear bad fruit, we are good trees who bear good fruit.  Goodness is one of the marks of a changed life.  And the fruit of a changed life will have a deep impact on the lives of all those around them.  What good godly fruit are you bearing in life that puts your good heart on display?

God Dwells In Our Heart

My wife Marianne and I adopted our daughter Sarah from Guatemala.  Sarah was born to a single mother who did not have the physical or financial stability to raise her.  Her mother gave her up and she was placed in an orphanage called Eagle’s Nest after she was born in Solola, Guatemala.  She lived at Eagle’s Nest for 10 months before we were able to bring her home July of 2008.  Before Sarah was adopted, she was in the vulnerable position of being without the provision and protection of a mother or father.  If we had not pursued and adopted Sarah, she would not have been part of a family and vulnerable to much suffering and difficulty.

READ: Galatians 4:3-7

God dwells inside the hearts of all those who are His ADOPTED children!  Aren’t all human beings God’s children?  The answer is NO!  By sin, we all have chosen to walk out on our Creator’s provision and protection and made ourselves spiritual orphans; helpless, hopeless, and vulnerable to the wrath of God.  Ephesians 2:1-2 says, “(we) were dead in our trespasses and sins, . . . and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.”  While in such vulnerable circumstances, it was not us who pursued God, it was God who pursued us by sending His Son to redeem us from slavery to sin and adopt us into His family.  What happens to those who have been adopted as God’s children? 

God’s adopted children are given the Holy Spirt by which we are able to call God “FATHER” (Gal. 4:6) – Sarah has been in our home now for 7 years.  During those years she has come to think and know of us as dad and mom.  When she wants to talk to us, tell us something, or get our attention she calls us “mommy” and “daddy”.  Does that make any sense?  Why would she do that?  She thinks of us, looks at us, and calls us father and mother because we pursued her at the most vulnerable moment in her life and adopted her and made her a permanent member of our family.  As a result of our adoption of Sarah, she has a sure place in her heart by which she knows us as her mother and father.  At the moment when we were most vulnerable, God sent His Son Jesus Christ for the purpose of adopting us and making us a permanent member of His family.  As a result of our adoption by God, we are given the Holy Spirit by which we have the supernatural desire and ability to know that God is our Father and we are His children!

God’s adopted children are HEIRS to the same INHERITANCE as His Son Jesus Christ (Gal. 4:7) – Sarah is privileged to the best of everything Marianne and I possess.  She is ours and we will give to her every material and spiritual blessing that we are capable of as parents.  Each and every one of our children, because of their relationship with us as our sons and daughters have special rights to everything that Marianne and I possess.  Whatever inheritance that Marianne and I have to give is reserved for OUR heirs who are OUR children.  Jesus Christ is God’s Son and therefore an heir, and we too, as adopted sons and daughters of God are heirs as well.  Romans 8:17 says, “the Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs-heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ.”  According to 1 Peter 1:4 as heirs we have hope in an eternal inheritance that is “imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept for (us) in heaven!”

CONCLUSION
In Ephesians 3:14-19 Paul prays that, “according to the riches of (God’s) glory He may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith . . . to comprehend . . . what is the breadth and the length and the height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge.”  When we are adopted, we know we are loved!  When God is our Father, we will have a strong sense inside of us that we are important and valuable, no longer hopeless, helpless, and vulnerable.  Have you accepted God's invitation to adopt you into His family?  Do you KNOW beyond a shadow of a doubt that God loves you and that He is your Heavenly Father?  If not, it’s time to put your faith in Jesus Christ and become a child of God!

God Transforms Our Heart

My wife Marianne has an uncle who was born with a life threatening heart condition that doctors didn’t believe would allow him to live past 2 years old.  At the age of 48 he received a heart transplant.  As a result of someone’s death, Marianne’s uncle’s diseased heart was replaced with a new healthy heart and he is still alive today at the age of 71.  It was a new heart that allowed Marianne’s uncle to avoid death and experience life.

We all have an eternal-life threatening heart condition called sin.  Our only hope to escape death is a supernatural heart transplant.  We need someone to die in order that we might obtain a new spiritually and eternally healthy heart.  The good news is that God is a spiritual cardiologist!  Nearly 600 years before Jesus was born God made His spiritual surgical plans known through the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel to the nation of Israel.

READ: Jeremiah 31:31, 33; Ezekiel 36:26-27

God transforms our lives by removing our OLD heart and giving us a NEW heart!  The new covenant God promised to us through the prophets was nothing less than a spiritual heart transplant!  Jesus Christ, who loved and obeyed God perfectly, exchanged His perfect heart for our sinful heart when He died on the cross.  How do we get a spiritual heart transplant and what happens when we get a new heart?  In describing the post heart transplant of the Corinthians who had believed in Jesus Christ Paul wrote in . . .

READ:  2 Corinthians 3:3-18

God transforms us by putting His SPIRIT in our heart (2 Cor. 3:3, 6, 8) – Have you ever struggled with wanting to do what God wanted you to do?  What about wanting to want to do what God wants you to do?  By placing His Spirit into our hearts God miraculously replaces our old sinful wants and desire with His wants and desires.  It is God’s Spirit dwelling inside our hearts that gives us new thoughts, new attitudes, new intentions, new motivations, new words, and new actions.  Without God’s Spirit in our hearts, we will continue in a life of unforgiven sin.  This transformation happens, “when one turns to the Lord”.  At the moment we repent of the sin in our heart and put faith in Jesus Christ, God does His surgical work of removing our diseased heart of sin through forgiveness and putting His Spirit into our hearts.

God transforms us into the GLORY of the image of JESUS CHRIST (2 Cor. 3:16-18) – Just as a dimmer switch can increase the brightness of a lightbulb in order to illuminate a room, God is working in our hearts to increase the “brightness” of His image in our lives in order to illuminate the world.  Amazingly, the “brightness” of our lives has the divine potential to be greater than the sun.  How?  Romans 8:28 says that, “those whom He foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son”.  Our maximum brightness are the very thoughts, attitudes, intentions, motivations, words, and actions of Jesus Christ Himself!  As a result of giving us a new heart, little by little, one characteristic at a time, God gradually increases the brightness of Christlikeness that comes out of lives.   In ever increasing amounts, our lives should reflect more and more of the thoughts, attitudes, words, and actions of Jesus Christ.  

CONCLUSION
2 Corinthians 4:6 says, “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.”   The God of the universe, who created light, wants the light of His glory to dwell inside of us. Without Him in our lives, we have no other choice but to be darkness.  A transformed heart starts with a belief in the light of Jesus Christ (John 1:1-5, 9-14). Have you allowed the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ to shine in your life?  God’s glory shone most brightly through Jesus Christ on the cross.  The reason Jesus died was to forgive our sins, but also so that God could transplant His righteous heart for our sinful heart so that we might shine like the Son (pun intended)!

Evil in Our Heart

A couple years ago my kids and I tried to grow a few vegetables in a small 4 foot by 4 foot raised garden bed.  It was more for the experience than the expectation that we might get anything out of it, but we wanted to give it a shot, so we planted some carrots and green beans. We had no idea what we were doing, but the one thing that we understood and got right is that when we put a carrot seed in the ground, it was supposed to produce a carrot, and it did. When we put a green bean seed in the ground, it was supposed to produce a green bean, and it did.  This simple principle of God’s created world is true of the “fruit” that comes out of our lives as well.  

READ: Luke 6:43-45

Just as the fruit produced by a tree proves the type of tree it is, what comes out of our LIVES proves what is in our HEART!  A facebook friend recently posted a quote from Anne Frank which says, "In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart."  While I think we would all love for this to be true, evidenced by all of our behavior, it is not.  The Bible is pretty clear that we are all born bad apples!  Romans 3:23 says, “all have sinned, and fallen short of the glory of God.”  Ecclesiastes 9:3 says, “the hearts of the children of man are full of evil, and madness is in their hearts while they live.”  No matter how good we would like to think we are, we are all a bad tree.  How do we know if there is evil in our heart?

An EVIL heart is going to produce EVIL behavior (Luke 6:43) – A detective investigates a crime in order to compile evidence to determine the truth about something. Without solid evidence no one could be considered guilty of a crime.  If a detective wanted to discover the truth of what is in our hearts, where would he investigate?  According to God’s Word he would look at the words and actions that come out of our lives.  Matthew 15:18 and Mark 7:21-22 combine to make quite a list of evil behaviors Jesus says give evidence of the evil that resides in our hearts, “out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander . . . coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, pride.”  Based on the facts of this evidence, we are all guilty of having evil and sin in our hearts.  It appears that the opposite of what Anne Frank thinks is true, in spite of any good things we might do, the Bible gives clear evidence that people are really bad at heart.  Just like a seed planted grows into a plant or fruit, the evil that is planted in our hearts grows into evil attitudes, words, and actions!  

Our behavior is evil because we TREASURE it in our hearts (Luke 6:45) – Marianne and I have a small safe in our house where we store a few of our most important and valuable belongings.  The safe protects these important and valuable belongings from being stolen or damaged.  Matthew 6:21 says, “for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”  Our heart is the place where we store and protect the things that we “treasure” in life because of their importance and value.  The sad truth is that instead of storing good, we all store evil and sin in our hearts.  Whether words, attitudes, or actions, sin comes out of our lives because we have got it locked up tight in the safe place of our heart.  Whether we are willing to admit it or not, we enjoy our sin, many times deceiving ourselves into thinking that our happiness depends on it.  And so, we store it deep down in our hearts, often times where no one else can see.  God designed us to treasure Him and His commands, but sadly, we treasure our sin and evil even more.

CONCLUSION

Hebrews 3:12 says, “Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God.”   Our hearts will remain evil as long as there is any unbelief in Jesus Christ.  No amount of good words, attitudes, or actions will make our heart good.  We can even do more good than evil in our lives, but that does not make our hearts good.  God desires a good heart, one that is completely empty of sin and evil.  The only way to obtain a good heart is to give God the key to our heart, confess our sin to Him, and put faith in Jesus Christ for forgiveness.  Have you removed the evil from within your heart through belief in Jesus Christ?

God Tests the Heart

What is the hardest test you’ve ever taken?  The hardest tests I remember taking were in a college class called History of the Restoration Movement.  The tests always involved lots of facts, dates, and more information than I could ever fit into my brain at one time.  Nobody likes taking a test.  Taking a test requires lots of study and hard work.  Taking a test is nerve wracking.  As hard and time consuming test taking is, they are necessary in order to display whether we genuinely have learned whatever information we were expected to put in our mind.  Without taking a test there is no way of knowing whether we understand and grasp the information we have been taught.  When it comes down to it, test taking proves or disproves what we know.

Just as a teacher tests our minds in order to prove what we know, God TESTS our heart in order to PROVE who the REAL us is!  Proverbs 17:3 says, “the crucible is for silver, the furnace is for gold, and the Lord tests hearts.”  The intense heat of a crucible or a furnace is applied to precious metals in order to burn away and eliminate any impurities, anything that is NOT silver or gold.  God takes the human heart through a similar process to eliminate what is not intended to be there and see if the love and obedience He designed to be there genuinely exists there.  When it comes down to it, testing is God’s way of authenticating who we are.  How and why does God test our heart?

READ:  Deuteronomy 8:1-20

God tests our heart by bringing HUMBLING circumstances into our life (Deut. 8:2-3) – God applied “heat” to the lives of the people of Israel by leading them away from their prosperity in Egypt and leaving them hungry in the wilderness.  Their “hunger” was a humbling circumstance intended to expose the reality of their dependence, or lack of dependence, on God.  The Israelites were not to depend on bread, but rather the word of God!  God leads us into humbling times of sadness, disappointment, struggle, trial, frustration, sickness, and even persecution for the purpose of seeing whether our belief in and our dependence on Him is real.  We pass the test if we go through these times without grumbling, complaining, or blaming God, and instead patiently loving, trusting, depending, and remaining obedient to Him.

God tests our heart by DISCIPLINING us (Deut. 8:5) – Disciplining my children is never fun.  Whether I apply discipline through training or instruction or enforce consequences or punishment, disciple is painful.  And yet, discipline is for my children’s good.  Discipline involves creating undesirable circumstances in order to discourage them from doing something foolish or wrong.  Just like I discipline my children, God disciplines us!  God applies the “heat” of discipline in our lives in order to give us the opportunity to eliminate foolishness and sin from our hearts.  Discipline is a gracious and merciful effort on God’s part to inspire repentance and change.

God tests our heart so that we REMEMBER and not FORGET His provision (Deut. 8:2, 11, *14, 18-19) – When is it most easy to forget that God is all we ever really need to be satisfied?  When our lives are easy, comfortable, healthy, and enjoyable.  Humbling circumstances and discipline provide important opportunities for us to “remember” God and not “forget” Him.  Whether we are rich or poor, healthy or sick, happy or sad, loved or lonely, we must remember that with God in our lives, we have all we need in life to be satisfied.  God allows these opportunities sometimes (and for many, often) in order to remind us that HE is all we should ever really want or need!  Difficult circumstances should not push us further away from God, but closer to Him.

CONCLUSION
Psalm 26:2 says, “prove me, O Lord, and try me; test my heart and my mind.”   This is a dangerous prayer but a necessary prayer.  We must be willing to go through times of testing in order for our love and obedience for God to be proved genuine.  It is through testing that not only does God proves the genuineness of our heart for Him, but we get to see the genuineness of our own heart.  Be ready, in His time and in His way, God will test our heart to prove that our love and obedience toward Him is real.  This is one test we do not want to fail!

God Looks at the Heart

I discovered in April of 1998 that God is lot like a gemologist.  A gemologist is someone who determines the value of fine gems.  In 1998 I was particularly interested in finding a gemologist who specialized in diamond engagement rings.  In searching for a gemologist, I quickly discovered that three things are important in determining the worth of a diamond:  color, cut, and clarity.  Each of these qualities contribute to the value and beauty of a diamond but are indiscernible to the naked eye.  I chose a gemologist who was able to place a diamond under a microscope and project it onto a jumbo television screen where I could see for myself the hidden beauty inside the diamond.  At the conclusion of my search I found a perfect diamond engagement ring for a perfect lady!

In the same way that a gemologist meticulously looks at what is within a diamond, God looks at us in the hidden spiritual place of our HEART to determine WHO WE ARE!  When God looks at you and me, He is looking deep into our hearts.  What specifically is God looking at when He looks into our heart?  Let’s look at three biblical characters that reveal a little about how God determines what is in our hearts . . .

God is looking beyond our EXTERNAL CHARACTERISTICS (1 Sam. 16:1-13) – When God sent Samuel to find a king to replace Saul, He sent him to the house of Jesse.  God instructed Samuel NOT to choose one of his sons based on his “appearance” or the “height of his stature”.  We tend to evaluate others or our own value or worth based on external characteristics like personality, good looks, clothing, abilities, education, money, or any number of other external features.  Although this is how we might determines someone else’s value or worth or how we might determine our own value or worth, that is not how God determines our value or worth . . . He looks at the heart!

God is looking at our PLANS and THOUGHTS (1 Chron. 28:1-10) – Can you imagine if after every word and action of our life a neon sign flashed above our head revealing your inner plans and thoughts (motives)?  We might say with our mouth, “mom/dad, I’m going over to a friend’s house to study” while in our heart we’re thinking about the guy or girl we like who’s going to be at our friend’s house too.  Our words and actions can be very different from our inner plans and thoughts.  Our inner motives are as visible to God as a neon sign blinking above our heads.  God is not as concerned about “what” we do as much as He is concerned about “why” we do it.  God looks at the motivation underneath what we say and do, He sees deeply into who we are and knows what we are really about.

God is looking at whether or not we are RELYING ENTIRELY on Him (2 Chron. 14:4, 9-12, 16:1-9) – Two different battles, two different outcomes.  Why was King Asa able to defeat the Ethiopian army of 1 million soldiers and 300 chariots and the Syrian army was able to escape?  Very simple, against the Ethiopian army King Asa, “relied on God”, but against the Syrian army King Asa, “did not rely on the Lord (his) God.”  God is looking to provide and protect for all those whose hearts are entirely, completely, 100% dependent on Him!  If in our hearts we are relying on our own strength or ability to accomplish something then God will allow us to function using our own limited human effort.  But if in our hearts we are relying on God’s strength and ability then we have access to His unlimited divine power and He will fight for us.

CONCLUSION
Hebrews 4:12-13 says, “the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.  And no creature is hidden from His sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”   The fact that God looks into our heart in essence means that He knows EVERYTHING about us and who we are.  This can be a comforting reality or it may be a terrifying reality.  We are all accountable to God, not just for our actions, but for what we think no one can see that is hidden in our hearts.  What does God see when He looks into your heart!?!