Why wait?

Patience is not waiting. Patience is how you act while you wait.  God makes us wait to get us ready to receive what He has for us.    

A courageous Church in a crazy year

 2 Timothy 1:12

Living Bible

That is why I am suffering here in jail, and I am certainly not ashamed of it, for I know the one (Jesus) in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to safely guard all that I have given him until the day of his return.

 

1.  We must know our Lord Jesus not simply know about Him.  

 

Knowing Jesus builds our trust, confidence, and hope in Him. 

 

2 Timothy 1:13

Living Bible

Hold tightly to the pattern of truth I taught you, especially concerning the faith and love Christ Jesus offers you.

 

2.  We must stay on mission.  

This year has caused massive distractions. 

Satan uses division, confusion, and fear.

Unity communicates the gospel to a watching world.   

We have drifted from common sense.  

 

1 Corinthians 14:33

English Standard Version

33 For God is not a God of confusion but of peace.

 

2 Timothy 1:7

English Standard Version

7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

 

3. We can live in the power of the Holy Spirit.  

 

2 Timothy 1:14

English Standard Version

14 By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

 

Just as the body is made for breathing.  The Spirit is made for believing.   

The Purpose of Problems

You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your response to it.  God will not help you if you react in the flesh.  

Don't let critical people to poison your life.  

 

James 1:2-4

New Living Translation

 

2 Dear brothers and sisters,] when troubles of any kind come your way (expect problems), consider (God's purpose of the problem) it an opportunity for great joy. 3 For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 4 So let it grow (from problems), for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

 

 

1. Expect problems.

2. Think about God's purpose in the problem.  

3. Grow from the problem. 

 

God is wanting to use problems to build something in you. 

Problems are a means of training.

Don't think about why is this happening, but ask God what are you trying to teach me? 

 

There is kingdom potential in every earthly problem. 

 

1. Problems produces compassion. 

2. Problems produces dependence upon God. 

3. Problems produces strength to stand our ground.  

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.

Stuck in the Middle

Job’s First Test

Job 1:6-12 (NLT)

6 One day the members of the heavenly court came to present themselves before the Lord, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them. 

7 “Where have you come from?” the Lord asked Satan.

Satan answered the Lord, “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.”

8 Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil.”

9 Satan replied to the Lord, “Yes, but Job has good reason to fear God. 

10 You have always put a wall of protection around him and his home and his property. You have made him prosper in everything he does. Look how rich he is! 

11 But reach out and take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!”

12 “All right, you may test him,” the Lord said to Satan. “Do whatever you want with everything he possesses, but don’t harm him physically.” So Satan left the Lord’s presence.

This is what Job didn't know.  He didn't know about this conversation between God and the Devil.  

Sometimes crisis comes without context.  Sometimes a crisis will cause us to question God.  We must not underestimate the strength and power of God within us.  

Job was living in a dream into living in a nightmare.  Job lost it all.  

Job’s Second Test

Job 2:1-10  (NLT)

2 One day the members of the heavenly court came again to present themselves before the Lord, and the Accuser, Satan, came with them. 

2 “Where have you come from?” the Lord asked Satan.

Satan answered the Lord, “I have been patrolling the earth, watching everything that’s going on.”

3 Then the Lord asked Satan, “Have you noticed my servant Job? He is the finest man in all the earth. He is blameless—a man of complete integrity. He fears God and stays away from evil. And he has maintained his integrity, even though you urged me to harm him without cause.”

4 Satan replied to the Lord, “Skin for skin! A man will give up everything he has to save his life. 

5 But reach out and take away his health, and he will surely curse you to your face!”

6 “All right, do with him as you please,” the Lord said to Satan. “But spare his life.” 

7 So Satan left the Lord’s presence, and he struck Job with terrible boils from head to foot.

8 Job scraped his skin with a piece of broken pottery as he sat among the ashes. 

9 His wife said to him, “Are you still trying to maintain your integrity? Curse God and die.”

10 But Job replied, “You talk like a foolish woman. Should we accept only good things from the hand of God and never anything bad?” So in all this, Job said nothing wrong.

This is what Job did know.  

Job 19:25-26  (NLT)

²⁵ “But as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives,
    and he will stand upon the earth at last.
²⁶ And after my body has decayed,
    yet in my body I will see God!

A redeemer means to convert something meaningless into something that counts.  

1. Job knew that God is good. 

 The character of God must not be interpreted through our circumstances.  God is good even when bad things are happening.  

2.  Job knew that God is sovereign.

God is not confused by what's happening to us.   

3. Job knew that God is trustworthy.  

Job 13:15  (NKJV)

¹⁵ Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him.

We must decide in advance that we will trust God.  

This is what Job did.  

Job 1:20-22 (NKJV)

20 Then Job arose, tore his robe, and shaved his head; and he fell to the ground and worshiped. 

21 And he said:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb,
And naked shall I return there.
The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away;
Blessed be the name of the Lord.”

22 In all this Job did not sin nor charge God with wrong.

Job first worshiped.  

Worship is about putting God first.  God is shaking things up.  Things have become our idols.  God is looking for purity.  You can't look for a full time God with a part time commitment.  

Job filtered out wrong voices.  Job's wife told him to curse God and then die.  Job's friends accused him of sin.  We must attach all difficulty to sin.  

Job kept moving forward.  

Job 17:9 (NLT)

⁹ The righteous keep moving forward,

    and those with clean hands become stronger and stronger

Don't get stuck in the middle.  Have the best day that you can have today.  

Job 42:10 (NLT)

10 When Job prayed for his friends, the Lord restored his fortunes. In fact, the Lord gave him twice as much as before!

God's will is for us to come out better than we started.