Signs of the times

 There will be an increase of wickedness (Matthew 24:9-13, 36,  2 Timothy 3:1-5).  There will be world wide satellite technology (Revelation 11:1-11).  The Gospel will be spreading across the world (Matthew 24:14).  There will be an increase in knowledge and travel(Daniel 12:8-13).  

Therefore, we ought to live holy and godly lives (2 Peter 3:10-12).  We must follow God, not culture (Matthew 24:37-44).  God didn't call us to be right, but effective.  Make an eternal difference with our lives (2 Peter 3:9, Acts 1:6-8).   

God answers prayer...

God answers prayer based on who He is not who we are.    

If you are the only one who knows your secrets, you are in trouble.  

Follow God not culture (Chris Hodges).

Pray focused on God's strength, and not our weakness (Dino Rizzo).

Don't Win Arguments. Win Hearts.

We are to be witnesses.  Not judges or prosecutors not even defenders, but witnesses.  We are to share what we have experienced.   

Share how you realized that you needed Jesus.  Share how you surrendered your life to Him.  Share the difference Jesus has made in your life since you made Him your Lord.   

 

1 Peter 3:15 But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect...

Pray for people to know Jesus.  Ask Him to open their eyes.  Add value to their lives.  Ask yourself what can I give them that they don't currently have?  Invite them to your church.  

People have a problem that God is Holy, but we are sinful.  

 

Romans 3:23 ...for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God...

 

Hell is a place for people who have chosen to pay for their own sin.  

 

Romans 5:8

 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

John 14:6    Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.

 

Acts 4:12

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

 

Romans 10:9-10

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

 

Quotes from New International Version

  

 

An Attitude Adjustment

 What happens to others does not dictate what happens to me.  (Read Numbers 13:31-33) 

An exception is a rule breaker.  The Bible is filled with exceptions.  None of the adjectives in the Bible describe normal.  

 

As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.  (Read Proverbs 23:7) 

When the enemy cannot get us to change what we believe about God, he attempts to get us to change what we believe about ourselves. 

The enemy will try to get us to think too highly about ourselves.  If this doesn't work, he'll try to make us to think too lowly of ourselves. 

Humility is having a right view about ourselves.  Arrogance doesn't come from who you are or what you do.  It comes from forgetting who gave it to you.  

 

God has to talk us through our inadequacies to get us to our callings. What you think that disqualifies you, is what qualifies you. 

Don't rehearse your limitations.  (Read Exodus 4:10) 

The book of Exodus is derived from the word "exit".  If God is the God of exits, you'll never be trapped.  (Read Exodus 13:13-17)

 

Shorter is not always better.  Wilderness seasons are only negative if you stay longer than necessary. Don't face your new season with old problems. 

What was scary was not how they talked about the giants, but how they talked about themselves.  (Read Numbers 13:33) 

The problem was not that there were giants in the land, but how they saw themselves.  They assumed others saw them as they saw themselves.  

 

They lost the fight that was fixed by God because they didn't have the courage to fight.  The giants weren't too big, but that they had a grasshopper mentality. 

We must equally address arrogance and inadequacies. When God created us, He didn't leave anything out that is needed for our destinies. 

With everything that God has done in our past, it is illogical to doubt God in our future.    

https://www.churchofthehighlands.com/media/message/an-attitude-adjustment/

 

Easter at Church of the Highlands 2022 - Tears, doubts, and failure.

 

1.  Jesus is drawn to the broken hearted.  

He was with  Mary Magdalene.  When you cry, God notices. 

 

John 20:11-14

New International Version

11 Now Mary stood outside the tomb crying. As she wept, she bent over to look into the tomb 12 and saw two angels in white, seated where Jesus’ body had been, one at the head and the other at the foot.

13 They asked her, “Woman, why are you crying?”

“They have taken my Lord away,” she said, “and I don’t know where they have put him.” 14 At this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, but she did not realize that it was Jesus.

 

Psalm 34:18

New International Version

18 The Lord is close to the brokenhearted
    and saves those who are crushed in spirit.

 

 

2.  Jesus comes for the doubters. 

He did for Thomas. Jesus is not bothered by your doubts, so reach out to Him.  

 

John 20:24-28

New International Version

 

24 Now Thomas (also known as Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. 25 So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!”

But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”

26 A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 27 Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

28 Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!”    

 

 

3. Jesus comes for the failures.  

 

Those who are disappointed in themselves.... Like Peter. 

 

In John 21, Jesus found Peter after he had gone back to his previous job which is fishing.  

Peter was so disappointed in himself for abandoning Jesus during His execution on the cross.  

Jesus met Peter where he was, and called upon the imperfect love that Peter had for Jesus.  God used Peter to preach the sermon at Pentecost in Acts 2.

 

It was the the same story with Adam and Eve when they hid from God after they disobeyed God by eating the forbidden fruit.

Sin causes the loss of innocence and shame.  

 

It was the same in the end in Revelation when Jesus calls out to us to forgive our sin. 

 

Revelation 3:20

New International Version

20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.

 

God never gives up.  He still reaches out for you.  Where are you spiritually?  

Jesus takes 999 steps toward you.  

Will you take one step toward Him?

 

Tell Jesus.  Please forgive me.  Be my Lord and Savior.  Take over my life.  Amen.             

  

Passion...Day 6

On Friday, there was pain.  On Sunday, was the fulfillment of the promise.  In the middle, was Saturday day six was the gap.  

 

There is always a gap between the promise and the pain.  Waiting is a part of the spiritual journey.  

 

On Saturday, Jesus was confronting hell in the waiting.  When you think that God is doing nothing, He is working on your behalf while you are waiting. 

 

We must wait patiently.  

 

Hebrews 6:15

New International Version

15 And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised.

 

God is more interested in working in your life that answering your prayers. 

 

James 1:2-3

New International Version

2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters,] whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 

 

When something is happening to you, God is working something in you. 

 

James 1:4

New International Version

4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. 

 

If you want to get the pain over, focus on passing the test.  Ask God.  What are you trying to teach me? 

 

James 1:5

New International Version

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

 

We must wait hopefully.

  

Hebrews 10:36-39

New International Version

36 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised. 37 For,

“In just a little while,
    he who is coming will come
    and will not delay.”

38 And,

“But my righteous] one will live by faith.
    And I take no pleasure
    in the one who shrinks back.”]

39 But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved.

 

Don't give up!

 

Galatians 6:9

New International Version

9 Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.

 

We must war consistently.  Prayer is not only communion with God, but confronting the enemy. 

 

2 Corinthians 10:3-5

New International Version

3 For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does. 4 The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. 5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. 

 

A stronghold is something that Satan convinced you of that is untrue.  We must war confidently. 

 

Philippians 2:8-10

New International Version

8 And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth.

How to win over worry

Pray about everything.  

Prayer needs to be our first response.  Not our last resort.  

What do we need to give to God in prayer?

 

Philippians 4:6-7

New Living Translation

6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. 

7 Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

 

1 Peter 5:7

New Living Translation

7 Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

God's Voice Within?

 

Listen to God's voice of the Holy Spirit within you.  

The Holy Spirit's voice is only as loud as you are willing to hear Him.  

What has the Holy Spirit been trying to tell you?

 

John 16:8

New Living Translation

8 And when he comes, he (the Holy Spirit) will convict the world of its sin, and of God’s righteousness, and of the coming judgment.

 

John 16:13

New Living Translation

13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he (the Holy Spirit) will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.

The God Puzzle

We can do more together than when we are apart.  When we all do a little, we can all do a lot.  

What is your part?  

What is your piece to God's puzzle?

 

 

John 17:21

New Living Translation

21 I (Jesus) pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me.

John 16:1

New Living Translation

16 “I (Jesus) have told you these things so that you won’t abandon (create a scandal) your faith.    

In courage?

Are you so earthly minded that you're no heavenly good?  

When earth gets hard, focus on heaven. 

 If we don't know God, earth is the only heaven that we will experience.  If we do know God, earth is the only hell that we will experience.  

Who do you need to encourage today? 

John 14:1-3

New Living Translation

14 “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me (Jesus). 2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.

The Secret of Serving

Your highest calling in life is to serve others.  

Find a need and fill it.  Find a hurt and heal it.  

What are you going to do this week to intentionally serve others?

 

 

John 13:12-17

New Living Translation

12 After washing their feet, he (Jesus) put on his robe again and sat down and asked, “Do you understand what I was doing? 13 You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and you are right, because that’s what I am. 14 And since I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you ought to wash each other’s feet. 15 I have given you an example to follow. Do as I have done to you. 16 I tell you the truth, slaves are not greater than their master. Nor is the messenger more important than the one who sends the message. 17 Now that you know these things, God will bless you for doing them.

We all worship something!

God doesn't mind other loves.  He minds us loving something more than Him.  

What we worship becomes an obsession.  Whatever I obsessed with is what I become.  

Here is the greatest commandment in the Bible. 

 

Mark 12:28-30

New International Version

 

28 One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one.30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 

 

God wants us to worship Him with all our affections.  Love is expressed. God expressed His love for us on the cross.  

God has a love language.  We must love Him like we are loved by Him.  

Let us express our love for Him with all that is within us. 

 

Psalm 150

New International Version

 

1 Praise the Lord.[a]

Praise God in his sanctuary;
    praise him in his mighty heavens.
2 Praise him for his acts of power;
    praise him for his surpassing greatness.
3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
    praise him with the harp and lyre,
4 praise him with timbrel and dancing,
    praise him with the strings and pipe,
5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,
    praise him with resounding cymbals.

6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.

Praise the Lord.

 

Pardon our noise.  It's the sound of freedom.  

God has forgiven us for sin's control over us and paid the penalty for our sin.  

God wants us to worship him with all of our attention.  

God wants to be on our schedule.  Let us have a preplanned time to be with God each day.   

 

Romans 12:2

New International Version

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.

 

God wants us to worship Him with all our abilities. Let us show our love for God by loving and doing good to others.  

Mark 12:28-30

New International Version 

31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’] There is no commandment greater than these.”

 

Hebrews 13:15-16

New International Version

15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name. 16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.