Making Time to Make a Difference

Romans 5:8(NASB) ⁸But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.

Several years ago I was preaching a revival on Long Island in New York. The meetings were unusual in that they began the night after Christmas and continued through New Year’s Eve. As everyone knows, New Year’s Eve in New York is an amazing event. However, instead of spending our time at Times Square, we were at a small church in the midst of millions of people.

After the service that New Year’s Eve, we spent the rest of the time talking and praying until just after midnight. Shortly after the new year began, we made our way to eat breakfast in a local restaurant. During our meal, a fight among two rival groups broke out in the streets right outside of where we were eating. Very few people in the restaurant even seemed to notice.

From where I was sitting I could see that there were police nearby sitting in cars. I was stunned. Why didn’t they stop the violence? The minister I was with assured me that it was safer for the police to pick up the pieces than to break up the fight.

Later that morning, as I prepared to go to bed, my mind was still racing. The pieces left behind in the fight were people - broken, battered, and bruised. They were created in the image of God. And Jesus had died for them. Most of these were young men who had lost a sense of purpose and were grasping for something that would redefine them. That night I wondered how many hundreds and thousands of other people were lost in the struggle of discovery having never heard of the love, forgiveness, and abundant life offered by Jesus.

Every soul is important to Jesus Christ. He came for the purpose of revolutionizing the lives of each individual. Luke 19:10(NASB) ¹⁰"For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost." Jesus left us with the mission of sharing the eternal hope that can be found in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:20(NASB) ²⁰Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were making an appeal through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.

That night I asked the question. How many of us are making the time to appeal to others and beg them to be reconciled to God so that their lives may be morphed by His wonderful mercy and love? Or how many of us just wait to pick up the pieces, making time for everything else in our lives without giving a thought to sharing Hope with someone else? With those questions in mind, I penned this poem.

ALONE IN THE SOLITUDE OF TIME

Alone in the solitude of time

watching the busy day go by,

Through the alley and the streets

the children run unnoticed

and untouched by a loving hand.

Searching and seeking to find answers

to the fairytales of life

only to find reality too soon.

Never young and never happy,

too busy to be a person

yet too afraid to stop and try.

But to find that time moves on

and the time of youth vanishes

without knowing the meaning of life.

Grown to be against us,

Yet, God chose them to be for us.

But which of us has shown him love?

And which of us has shown him life?

The life of truth and good,

The life of light and love,

Or which of us have stayed,

Alone in the solitude of time

watching the busy day passing by?

God loved us so much that He demonstrated it on the cross. Today, let’s choose to love Him so much that we will demonstrate it by sharing the Hope of the world with others. The world is depending on it.

Replacing Habits

We seem to be creatures of habit. I have often heard the phrase, "Practice makes Perfect." In reality practice only makes the action, whether correct or incorrect, a consistent part of our life. The practices become automatic. They become so reflexive that we become unaware that they are a part of our daily actions.

Many people, when they hear the word habit immediately think of ones that are bad. The context of the words "bad habit" denotes a wide range of negative behavior. A negative habit is anything that inhibits Christian growth. Usually omitting growth leads us to offend others, but most definitely puts us in the position as an offender of God. Bad habits rob us of positive energy for negative results. As we surrender all to Jesus, we must conclude that our habits are a part of that.

The Scripture calls on us to "walk in newness of life." (Rom.6:4) The newness incorporates a change in us, which moves us from anything which is negative to those things that are positive. Changes are sometimes difficult but possible. God will work through us to bring our lives into line with what pleases Him, and benefits us.

When we’re thinking about changing to good habits, we need to remember these eight things.

1. We need to commit our life to Jesus Christ or reexamine our commitment to Jesus Christ. (Rom. 13:14)

2. We need to understand that we can change because we can do all things through Christ who strengthens us. (Phil. 4:13)

3. We need to be specific and identify the non-glorifying habit(s) that needs to be changed. Remember the cures are neither instantaneous nor easy. (Rom. 7:24)

4. We need to confess our bad habit(s) to the Lord as sin and ask for His forgiveness. (1 John 1:9)

5. We need to choose to take a stand with God. (Josh.24:15)

6. We need to replace bad habits with good principles. (Eph. 4:20-32)

7. We need to make it a daily habit to read the Bible, memorize Scripture, and pray. (2 Tim. 2:15)

8. We need to develop a buddy system or accountability group to help us stay focused. (Prov. 21:17, Eccl. 4:12)

We are told that it takes 21 days to instill a good habit into our lives. Let’s do an inventory and begin to replace those habits in our lives which don’t bring God the highest glory to ones which will bring Him the glory. We already know that whatever brings God the greatest glory in and through our lives, brings us the highest good.

Striving to do better because I want to give Him Glory!

The Square Box

As children there are many times that we want to do something and we assume that the excellence which we see in someone else can be copied quickly and without all the effort that’s necessary to become a craftsman. I can remember one time when I wanted to build some furniture like my dad was building that he had a prerequisite for me. He suggested that my very first serious project should be to build a perfectly square box.

Inside, I was frustrated. I believed that building something as simple as a box was way below my skill level. The challenge was not that great, so the effort I put into completing the challenge wasn’t that great either. When I confidently presented my box to him, I found out that my quick attempt to build the square box was a failure.

In assuming the simplicity, I neglected the craftsmanship. Oh, it was a box, but not truly square. You see I had looked at the task that I was given as being beneath my skill level, undemanding, and really unnecessary. I didn’t see the values he was trying to instruct me in.

Are we disappointed in life when God asks us to do something that we consider having gone far beyond earlier? Do we consider the simple task as something which requires much less than our best?

We need to understand that the Heavenly Father has a plan for each of us. There are no parts to that plan which are unnecessary, demeaning, or undemanding. The "Oh, I can already do that" mentality will get us into trouble very fast. We will carelessly listen to directions, half-heartedly attempt the task, or rush right past the teachable moment.

We see the disaster of this approach with Joshua and the Hebrew people when they rushed to battle with Ai. It seemed so simple that they did not seek seriously the input of God. A simple, supposed victory turned into a horrific defeat (Joshua 6-7).

When we start living out the truths of God’s Word, we will find that even the simple things require a full measure of faith and trust in the Father. To truly love others the way Jesus tells us to love requires a personal connection with Him.

When Jesus said to, "Love our enemy," that doesn’t make sense. Further, He informed His followers to carry a Roman soldiers burden for an extra mile. Surely, as a Christian did this joyfully, it would raise the questions that would allow for the sharing of the Good News. It is interesting to see that by the end of the first century there was a church in practically ever city that had a Roman outpost. Had the simple act of obedience and the witness of the love for Christ changed the entire known world? (Matthew 5:41,44)

One of the most beautiful things with Christianity is that Christ says, "Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." He will teach us to be the craftsmen that He needs, in order to bring Him glory. (Matthew 4:19)

Lord help me not to think of the task you give me as simple and therefore failing to give my best and forfeiting the benefits. Teach me to be the craftsman you want me to be.

Be Alert

1 Peter 5:8 ( HCSB ) ⁸Be sober! Be on the alert! Your adversary the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.

Red Alert!! The enemy is at the door. Scripture sounds the warning. Peter tells us to be sober. The meaning of sober is to be discreet, sensible, and discerning. Satan uses a tremendous amount of subtlety when dealing with us. We need the discerning power of the Holy Spirit.

Satan attempts to deceive us in many ways. Sometimes the attacks of the Devil do not seem to be attacks at all. He tries to convince us as Christians that we are skilled and mature, and asks why do we need to go to God in ceaseless prayer as Paul states? He asks us, Isn’t getting the job done enough? Satan says that we must pace ourselves, giving it all right now would leave us spent. All his desire is to see that we are less than God wants. We need the uncommon insight of the Holy Spirit to help us see through the deceit.

When we follow the deceivers prompting and do what we can in our strength, then the glory is ours, not God’s. When we partially commit to a task God has called us too, we stoop to believe that either God is incapable of suppling future strength or that He is not worth the effort. Our failure to pray in humility places presumptuous demands on God instead of being submissive. Satan wants us to feel fine with what we are doing. God wants us to see through the smoke and mirrors to take careful thought of what is godly and follow Him with all our heart.

See. Satan is a sly opponent. He attempts to blind us to the "minor" failures in our lives, even our prayer lives. Everyone is a target of his attacks. That is why Peter calls us to be vigilant and watchful. With the alertness brought about through the fresh and daily relationship with Jesus, we will be able to thwart the enemy.

Satan cannot overpower God. To be alert, focus on Jesus, learn from Him, yield to Him, and allow Him to live life in all its fulness through you. The slanderous words and false accusations of Satan fall flat when we are constantly realize that Jesus loves us deeply.

Gaining Control of Anger

Proverbs 29:11 states, "A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control."

Anger is discussed a number of times in the Bible. There are examples of anger because of unfaithfulness to God and the stubbornness of people. Sometimes anger can be called for as a reaction to sin: Eph. 4:26 (NASB) "Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger."

Although there are examples of anger, there is not ever an appropriate time for uncontrolled anger. Bitterness, spite and hatred quickly attach themselves to anger. To make this connection is definitely sinful.

Signs of uncontrolled anger:

• Outbursts of temper or bad and damaging language.

• Bitterness, resentment and hostility.

• Inner turmoil - feeling like God is displeased with our behavior.

• Harming others, emotionally, physically, verbally.

Uncontrolled anger damages our testimony and personal walk with God. Anger distorts our view of our family, friends and ourselves.

Gaining Control of Anger

1. Don’t see everything as a personal offense or hurt.

2. Pinpoint the things which cause excessive anger.

3. Pray seriously about your attitudes and responses.

4. Agree with God that excessive anger is sin.

5. Learn to "put off" the old nature and "put on" the new nature. (Eph. 4:22-24)

6. Surrender each day to the Holy Spirit.

7. Read, study and memorize the Word of God.

Two good verses to start memorizing to help control anger are:

Prov. 15:1 (NASB) A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.

James 1:19-20 (NASB) ¹⁹This you know, my beloved brethren. But everyone must be quick to hear, slow to speak and slow to anger; ²⁰for the anger of man does not achieve the righteousness of God.

Focused on Him.

Listen While We Pray

One of the greatest opportunities of our prayer life is most often overlooked. We spend so much time talking to God that we forget to listen. Prayer has been defined as a two-way conversation between God and us. However, there have been too many times in my life that I carried out the exercise of a monologue and called it prayer.

The key to my learning anything from God is to listen. Listening can be uncomfortable. God may be silent awhile to insure that we are going to give Him time before He begins to speak. When He does begin to speak, I am going to find that there are some things that I am not very excited to hear. He will correct those things in my life that are wrong, even if I am just a little off. Correction can sometimes be painful.

Following His loving correction can come beneficial direction. Through all the problems of my life God will give good directions. I don’t need to take over the leadership of my life to come up with my own directions. When I do that I am unintentionally saying that God doesn’t really have an answer, and I know that He does. It is important for us to listen well to God so we can learn.

If we will listen to Him we will gain the wisdom to repair a broken relationship. We can learn how to love our spouses and children allowing us to strengthen our marriages and families. Financial difficulties which hound us can be overcome through listening to God’s guidance. Hearing the Lord clearly allows us to navigate the mine field of our daily spiritual battles.

To succeed I need to be a good listener. We need to plan time to hear from God when we pray.

Deut. 13:4 (NASB)"You shall follow the LORD your God and fear Him; and you shall keep His commandments, listen to His voice, serve Him, and cling to Him."

I am Desiring to Hear from Him!

Be Encouraged

Nehemiah 4:14-15(NASB) ¹⁴When I saw their fear, I rose and spoke to the nobles, the officials and the rest of the people: "Do not be afraid of them; remember the Lord who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives and your houses." ¹⁵When our enemies heard that it was known to us, and that God had frustrated their plan, then all of us returned to the wall, each one to his work.

Nehemiah built the walls of Jerusalem in fifty-two days. Of course it wasn’t just Nehemiah. There was an army of folks helping. Each person knew their task, worked on their assigned part of the wall, and was a part of a team. Although they were sure of the task, to build the wall, and even knew the reason, safety and security, they lost sight of these. At the half-way mark, we find Nehemiah reminding the people of "why" they were rebuilding the wall.

The initial euphoria had waned. Enemies were gathering. The nay sayers were hard at work. Ridicule was constant. Nehemiah knew that the hard work and years of oppression was taking its toll on the workers. Even though most things were going well, he knew the importance of rallying the people and reminding them of the "why."

He was not content merely accomplishing the task of rebuilding the wall but he also wanted to encourage and strengthen the people. They needed to be reminded that God was working mightily through them to accomplish what seemed just a few weeks earlier to be impossible.

As Christians we have work hard and we achieve many wonderful things. However, even though most things are going well, we still have a lot of work ahead of us. Why should we continue to give the effort?

We are here to reach the lost. More unchurched people than we will admit live immediately around our location. Many of these people do not know Jesus. We are here for them!

We are here to disciple the saved. There are many believers who are not actively studying God’s Word. We need to provide as many opportunities as possible to give people a chance to hear how Jesus can impact their lives every day.

We are here to minister to our families. Each family is important and we need to reach out to encourage, care, and comfort. Through numerous opportunities we can make a difference.

It is important to remember "why" we are following Christ and going beyond ourselves and moving outside our comfort zone. Let’s not forget the reason we started and finish well. Also, we need to remember that we are empowered by Jesus! Our strength, wisdom, and skills are a gift from Him. We need to lean on Him, He is great and awesome and will fight for us.