Don't Box me in.

1. Don't put a label on me.  

I am more than the clothes I wear.

I am more than the car I drive.

I am more than my GPA. 

I am more than my political party.

I am more than the color of my skin.  

I am more than my mistakes for I am growing.  

2.  People try to box God in. 

In Luke 5:17-26, people tried to box Jesus in.  They said that He was not a forgiver, but only a healer.  He didn’t let them label Him.

Don't box God into your most pressing need.  

God can handle Covid and racism at the same time.  

God knows exactly what you need.  

God knows the tears you cry.  

He knows your shame.  

God is everywhere.  

He is with you wherever you are.  

People tried to put Jesus in the box of the grave, but it couldn't contain Him.

We must not cancel each other either, but we must cancel our pain by forgiving others just like God.

3. We can't box God’s great love in.

We can't box God’s love in our heart.  

God can't be contained to a place.  

God wants to use you wherever you go by showing His great love. 

God works everything out for the good to those who dare to love Him.

We must not contain His great love to a church building.

The main event is not in the church building.  

It's God working His great love through you all week long.

https://www.churchofthehighlands.com/media/message/dont-box-me-in/

What did you do?

Jesus teaching in red letters...

Matthew 25:14-18-18

New Living Translation

Parable of the Three Servants

14 “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. He called together his servants and entrusted his money to them while he was gone. 

15 He gave five bags of silver to one, two bags of silver to another, and one bag of silver to the last—dividing it in proportion to their abilities. He then left on his trip.

1.  God has deposited something valuable to you.  

a.  Natural Gifts

b.  Spiritual Gifts

c.  Opportunities

d. Resources

Don't look at the gifts of others, and devalue the gifts given to you.

Matthew 25:16-18

New Living Translation

16 “The servant who received the five bags of silver began to invest the money and earned five more. 
17 The servant with two bags of silver also went to work and earned two more. 
18 But the servant who received the one bag of silver dug a hole in the ground and hid the master’s money.

2. Your potential is your responsibility.  

God does not give you gifts for you, but to use through you.  It requires work to develop it.   What you work with increases.  

Matthew 25:19-23

New Living Translation

19 “After a long time their master returned from his trip and called them to give an account of how they had used his money. 
20 The servant to whom he had entrusted the five bags of silver came forward with five more and said, ‘Master, you gave me five bags of silver to invest, and I have earned five more.’

21 “The master was full of praise. ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’

22 “The servant who had received the two bags of silver came forward and said, ‘Master, you gave me two bags of silver to invest, and I have earned two more.’

23 “The master said, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant. You have been faithful in handling this small amount, so now I will give you many more responsibilities. Let’s celebrate together!’ 

3. We will give an account for what we've been given.   

Matthew 25:24-29

New Living Translation

24 “Then the servant with the one bag of silver came and said, ‘Master, I knew you were a harsh man, harvesting crops you didn’t plant and gathering crops you didn’t cultivate. 

25 I was afraid I would lose your money, so I hid it in the earth. Look, here is your money back.’

26 “But the master replied, ‘You wicked and lazy servant! If you knew I harvested crops I didn’t plant and gathered crops I didn’t cultivate, 

27 why didn’t you deposit my money in the bank? At least I could have gotten some interest on it.’

28 “Then he ordered, ‘Take the money from this servant, and give it to the one with the ten bags of silver. 

29 To those who use well what they are given, even more will be given, and they will have an abundance. But from those who do nothing, even what little they have will be taken away.

The lazy servant was not punished by what he did.  He was punished for doing nothing at all.  

Why would God give you more if you don't use what you got? 

If you're not faithful with what you have, why would God give you more?  

A misunderstanding of who God is will cause fear and cause you to miss your blessing.

What we give away we keep.  What we keep we lose.  

We must give God our lives and our futures. Tell Him.  He hears you!

Ready of not. Here I come.

Matthew 24:3 (ESV)

As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?”

Jesus taught on the end times not to scare us, but to prepare us.

  

Matthew 25:1-5 (ESV)

(Jesus speaking)“Then the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps] and went to meet the bridegroom.] 2 Five of them were foolish, and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took flasks of oil with their lamps. 5 As the bridegroom was delayed, they all became drowsy and slept.

 

We must live with expectation of Jesus's return.  We must not only appear to be ready. We must be ready.  

Oil is a symbol of the Holy Spirit.  We must be full of the Spirit of God.  

Ephesians 5:18  (ESV)

... be filled with the Spirit,

It is a command of God to be constantly filled of the Holy Spirit.  Being full means to be yielded to Him.  Being full does not mean that we have more of God, but God has more of us.

In difficult times, we raise to the occasion by our level of preparation. Our battle is not social but spiritual. 

Matthew 25:9-10  (ESV)

^{(Jesus continues)} But the wise answered, saying, ‘Since there will not be enough for us and for you, go rather to the dealers and buy for yourselves.’ ¹⁰ And while they were going to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the marriage feast, and the door was shut.

We must not only get ready for Jesus’s return, but we must stay ready for Him.  We must stay focused on our mission.

Matthew 28:18-19  (ESV)

And Jesus came and said to them, “…¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all nations...

We can’t borrow someone else’s faith.  We must have our own.  We must avoid distractions.

Matthew 25:11-13 (ESV)

¹¹ Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, lord, open to us.’ ¹² But he (Jesus) answered, ‘Truly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ ¹³ Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour.

We don't know the day or the hour of Jesus's return, but we do know the times and the season. It does appear to be the season.   

Do you have a relationship with Jesus?  Do you have the appearance of knowing Him, but do not? 

Matthew 7:21  (ESV)

“Not everyone who says to me (Jesus), ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.

You can know Him. 

1 John 1:9  (ESV)

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Romans 10:13  (ESV)

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

Revelation 3:20  (ESV)

Behold, I (Jesus) stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat (intimately know) with him, and he with me.

How to run with horses (A checklist for end times living)

Jeremiah 12:5  (ESV)

“If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you,
    how will you compete with horses?

In Revelation 6, John compares the Anti-Christ who is to come by four horses.

1.        As a white horse which represents disruption and deception.

2.        As a red horse which represents fear and violence.

3.        As a black horse which represents economic collapse.

4.        As a pale horse which represents disease and death.

Although I don’t believe the Anti-Christ is revealed now, his spirit is.  

1 John 4:2-3 ESV)

² By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, ³ and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already.

Paul in 1 Thessalonians 4 and 5 gives a brief overview of the end times.  At the end, he gives 9 ways to survive them.  I’d like to discuss 4 of them now.

1.         We must run under civic, church, and family authorities (1 Thes 5:12-13). 

2.         We must run by serving others (I Thes 5:4).  The antidote of needing serving is to serve others.

3.         We must run with grace (1 Thes. 5:15).  We give people what they need.  Not what they deserve.

4.        We must run with joy (1 Thes. 5:16).   “Joy is a determined choice to praise God in all things.”  Quote by Kay Warren.   
5. We must run in prayer.  (1 Thes 5:17). Prayer is the difference between what you can do, and what God can do.  
6. We must run with gratitude. (1 Thes 5:18) 
7. We must run with discernment.  (1 Thes 5:19-20) Go through life looking up and not looking around.
8. We must run with wisdom.   (1 Thes. 5:21-22) Wisdom is the ability to apply knowledge. 
9. We must run with vision. (1 Thes. 5:23-24) We must live for an audience of one.  We must not focus on what we live on, but who we live for.  

Read God's Word at least 5 minutes a day.  Pray at least 5 minutes a day.  Play  a worship song and worship at least 5 minutes a day.