Would You Just Listen???

This week, my daughter who is two and a half years old, would ignore pretty much everything my wife and I would  tell her not to do. We would tell her to not touch something for her own good, she would not listen, and in one extreme case, my wife told her to not drink the soap, and she did it anyway. After drinking the soap she got sick and threw up everything she had eaten that day. When I was holding her and trying to comfort her, I thought to myself, is this what we do to our Heavenly Father? Does he keep telling us to not do some things for our own good, yet we keep ignoring him, till we get hurt? Think about this for a minute, as a parent I don't want my daughter hurt in any way, but I also want her to listen to me when I ask her to do things that are for her own good. When she doesn't listen, it hurts my heart, and when she hurts herself because of not listening to me, it hearts my heart even more.

What if we listen to God more carefully and obey Him? Have you tried paying attention to what He is telling you not to do lately? If not, know that when you ignore Him, you will get hurt because you will make wrong decisions, and more than that you will hurt His heart. He loves you way more than wanting to see you get hurt and He wants to embrace you in His arms.

John 8:47 
Whoever belongs to God hears what God says. The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.

John 10:27-28
My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand.

Know That Your PM

A couple weeks ago I wrote about your AM (Attitude Matters). Today I want to remind you of the importance of knowing that your PM (Prayers Matter).
Often we underestimate the power of prayer, but the reality is that prayers do work. Your prayers are one of the ways that God unleashes His power in your and other people's lives. If your prayers were not important, would God constantly tell us to pray in His word. In fact through out the scripture, the power of prayer is evident and we need to take prayer seriously. If you don't believe me, do a Google search on "Prayer in the Bible".

One of the most important things to know about prayer is that prayer is the way you communicate with God. That is why Apostle Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-8 "Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus." If you don't talk to the person you are trying to have a relationship with, then you won't have much of a relationship. The same thing applies to God. If you want to have a close relationship with Him, then you need to make sure you pray continually.

So, perhaps every time you see PM, you can remember that your prayers matter and God enjoys talking and listening to you. 

Should I Cuss?

Lately one of the things that has been bothering me has been hearing Christians cuss or seeing them post bible verses on their Facebook page one minute and then cuss somebody or something out the next. A questions most Christians often ask is, "Is it OK to cuss?"

Well, in order to be able to answer this question, we need to be looking at who our role model is. Is your role model in your life, your friend, your co-worker, your parents or someone else? Although the people who are your role models poses beautiful qualities that attract you, your first role model should always be Jesus. You should always try to look more like Him and compare the actions of those whom you gravitate towards with Jesus. So, if your friend whom you try to imitate, constantly swears, then should you really want to imitate him. Through all the four gospels, can you see Jesus cuss once? 

You have to realize that your bodies are a temple for God. Can you make a temple unholy? Yes. Should you make the temple unholy? No. I love the way James describes this concept in his letter. 

James 3: 9-12 

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse human beings, who have been made in God’s likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers and sisters, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

You have to also realize that everything that comes out of your mouth and thoughts, can either build lives or destroy them. As Christians we are called to build people up and lead them closer to God. 

Ephesians 4:29 

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

So, when you post things on social media, or when you say things in front of others, just think of what you are posting or saying and try to glorify God with your spoken and written words.

Why People Leave a Church

Lately this question has been in my mind and I have been wondering about the reasons why people leave a church? As I thought about this and compared it to my own church, I came up with four reasons that cause people to leave a church.

1. Too far of a commute
People often leave a church, because they either move to a different location or after going to a church for a while they see that it is too long of a commute for them, so they choose to go to a church closer to where they live.

2. Called somewhere else
Some leave a church, because they are called to go into a different ministry, such as planting a new church, missions field, or other ministry opportunities that God puts in front of them. This is a noble reason to leave the church; however it needs to be done in the right manner. Unfortunately many use this reason to justify the third reason that I am going to talk about.

3. Disagreement with someone or something
The sad truth is that many leave a church because they are in disagreement with a person (in leadership or church attender), or they leave because they do not agree with the church polity. Although there are occasions that this is done correctly, in most cases these people leave to their own selfishness and their own desires. Just because the church, or the leadership and the people do not operate the way these people like, they choose to leave the church. They don't involve God into the equation and ask Him what he wants. This is usually a sign of immaturity in their faith. What if God wants to use the thing you disagree with to grow you in your faith, or to make that church a better place by having you voice your concerns?

4. The Cult church
Many go to a church and later on find out that the church they attend is not based on a biblical foundation, the church simply makes up things as they go, follow certain traditions, or their focus is on someone/something else other than Jesus. The church is a cult. The reality is that there are so many churches that are not Bible based, so it is easy to fall into the trap of cult churches. That's why maturity in faith, and reading your Bible will help determine whether or not you should go to a church or not to begin with.

These are the four reasons that I came up with. Regardless of what you ever decide now or in the future, make sure that you understand the importance of being in the church body. Think about this for a minute, When wolves attack a herd of animals and try to hunt, their tactic is to separate one from the herd, then they can kill the animal. It is the same for us, if Satan can separate you from the church body, then it is much easier for him to lead you to spiritual death or an eternity of torment.

Know That Your AM

So, What does AM stand for? Some of you might think I am talking about the morning (Before Midday), No, but if that helps you remember what I am talking about here, that's great. AM to me stands for "Attitude Matters". It is all about your attitude and for you to know that your attitude matters.

Have you ever tried to do something that you don't really want to do and your attitude towards it is not as good as it should be? Well, here is the problem, when you go into doing something with a bad attitude, you are most likely to do a terrible job with it and on top of that, you will drag other people who have a good attitude about the same thing down.

This happens a lot in ministry when we are asked to do something for the glory of our God, but we have a terrible attitude towards it. What we neglect to understand is that if you are doing something for God, and you are doing it with a bad attitude, you might as well stop and not do it, because what God cares about is not what you do, but where your heart is with the thing that you are doing. Remember, that God doesn't need you to do something for Him, He has simply given you the privilege to have a part in His plan. Don't deceive yourself, because the reality is that you can't really lead people to follow God, if you are not with Him at that moment.

So next time when you try to do something (regardless of what it is) stop and think about  AM. In the morning when you get up and you look at the time, on your computer or your phone and you see the time next to the letters AM, remember that at that time your attitude matters!

Do all things without grumbling or questioning, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world, "Philippians 2:14-15"

Appreciate The Moment

I was thinking recently about all the good and bad things in my life that have happened in the past and thinking to myself how I wish I had some moments back, and how I wish to not ever experience some of them again. As I was thinking about this though, I was reminded that I do not live for the past, but for the future.

It is hard to learn to appreciate the moments and be thankful for all the good memories you have. Yet it is easy to be dissatisfied with what you have right now and forget all the blessings you have had.

It is never too late to start though, you can start recalling your good memories and giving thanks to God for them. It could be as simple as remembering a good time with your wife, kid(s), family, or a friend and thanking God that you got a chance to have those times. Life does not always go the way we like it to go, but learning to appreciate good moments and creating lasting memories out of them can help us go through hard times much easier. Because we will know that all things pass, weather good or bad.

Romans 12:2

Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Soloness

Do you ever think and tell yourself that: "I can do things better on my own", "I don't need others to help me", "Life is so much better without others", "All people do is hurting me", and so on ....?

You know, the truth is that people often slow us down from what we want to do, they keep us from our passions, our desires, but without people around us we are nothing! As hard as it might be to deal with people sometimes, God intended for us to Love one another and care for another, knowing full well that we would hurt each other. Why would he do that? If you ask me, I will tell you that if He didn't, then we would never learn how valuable the life He has given us is. We would have never gained wisdom.

When Jesus started His ministry, He chose twelve to be His disciples. What if he had not chosen anyone? Would he have a ministry? Would he have left a legacy behind? Would anyone know and hear that He was the Son of God?

We need one another. Anytime we chose to do life alone we fall into Satan's trap.


Ecclesiastes 4:9–12 “Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken.” (NLT

Better to be Like Him

We live in times where people do not know the true meaning of integrity. We live in times where everyone only cares for himself, his own position and his own wellbeing. The truth of the matter is that when you are betrayed and stabbed in the back, it is hard to forgive and to love those who have hurt you.  

I was recently reminded of a verse!

When my wife and I got married, we chose 1 John 4:19 as our life verse.

1 John 4:19 says “ We love because He first loved us.” We wanted this verse to signify something in our lives. To be a constant reminder in our marriage and our relationship with others.

Personally I don’t want to love, I don’t want to care, and I don't want to forgive, but if I don’t, what is the difference between me and the one who has betrayed or hurt me?

I want to choose to be better. I was a betrayer once, but Jesus loved me and died for me. I want to be like him……

Can’t be Nice

On Friday, while my daughter who is almost two years old was tired, I was trying to talk to her and sing some songs with her, but she kept being mean to me. So, my wife told her, “baby, please be nice to daddy”. She immediately replied, “I can’t, this is my story! Sorry!”. My wife and I had a good laugh, but as I thought about her comment, I realized that this is exactly what we tell God when He wants us to do something that we don’t want to do. We simply ignore Him, and tell Him that we are going to write our own story. The problem is that when we actually write our own stories, we keep failing, but our heavenly Father, never gives up on us. He still lifts us up and gently asks us to be nice to our Daddy..
“For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.” (Isaiah 41:13)

His Spirit in US

Last Thursday at Lifegroup (Small Group), we studied Romans 8. We focused mostly on a particular verse that I thought to be very strong and meaningful.

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.(Romans 8:26)

The verse simply implies that when we are in situations that we have absolutely no words for, or perhaps when there is too much emotional hurt and pain involved to the point that we can not even pray to God because we have no words to say, His spirit will be interceding for us.

Since Thursday I have been in situations like this at least a couple of times, I can’t tell you how much of a relief it was to know that Holy Spirit within me is interceding for me. That He is sending the prayers which I can’t even think about to the Father. What a beautiful concept, what a beautiful God.

I do encourage you to read Romans 8 if you get a chance this week.