God Encounters / True Worship

The last  post we began to  will deal with Jesus and His encounter with the woman at the well.  What we saw was that Jesus went through Samaria because He had a divine appointment with the woman at the well.  Jesus was reaching out to this woman who was an outcast in a whole region of outcast.  Jesus was willing to defile himself so that he could reach out to this woman.  If you do not know the story click here and read it.

Let me pick up from the last post and ask: why was this woman considered an outcast among outcasts? Why would she have to come in the heat of the day to get water? It comes down to her sin which Jesus addresses – she has had five husbands and is now living with a man who is not her husband. What we understand from this is she has been engaged in a series of illicit relationships, and she was not married to her current lover. Sexual relations outside of marriage are forbidden in both Testaments and by the way this has not changed and Jesus addresses this issue with this woman.

In Jesus addressing this we see that in God encounters, God tells the truth in love (17–18). What happens when Jesus tells her the truth in love? She does not react defensively and it is very significant that she does not react defensively to Jesus’ knowledge of her broken relationships. After Jesus confronts these relationships she then calls Jesus a prophet which affirms Jesus. What the woman does is focuses on who Jesus is because of what He says to her and does not get defensive. So her attention remains on Jesus’ person even though her sinful life is being confronted by Jesus. This focus on Jesus is a key characteristic of true faith. When you are confronted about your sin – how do you react? Do you immediately point out the sin of the other person or look to Jesus? She looked to Jesus and realized her sinfulness.

I believe this all happened because Jesus encountered her with the truth in a loving way and he did not judge her because of her past – he just pointed it out in a loving way that what she was engaged in was wrong. Do you treat people with love? Do you tell people the truth in love? Consider for a moment this quote by Warren Wiersbe – “Truth without love is brutality, and love without truth is hypocrisy.” Are you brutal with people? Are practicing hypocrisy? Let us all tell the truth but do it in love as we are told in to Ephesians 4:15.

Something else that we see in this story with this woman is that God encounters bring about true worship (23). First thing we need to realize is that in verse 20 the woman is asking where should she worship, in Jerusalem which is where the Jews worship or on Mount Gerizim which is where the Samaritans made their offerings. Jesus reveals to the woman that where a person worships is unimportant. It is not limited to a place but we should worship in spirit and in truth. Jesus is letting her know that the worship of the Father is not confined to a place but is an action of heart. Jesus also is letting her know that all worship must be in keeping with the truth of God’s revealed Word. Jesus tells her and tells us that God is spirit and those who worship him must worship Him in spirit and truth. You cannot worship in any other way.

To worship in spirit means you are concerned with the spiritual realities, not outward sacrifices, cleansings and how beautiful things look or what is done around you but what is happening inside. It is not about what is on the outside but what is going on in the inside – the Pharisees looked great on the outside but were filthy on the inside according to Jesus. Are you a Pharisee when it comes to worship? To worship in truth means you worship according to the whole council of God’s word, especially in light of the New Testament revelation of Jesus. We worship in the truth of what Jesus Christ has done for us on the cross. Let me ask you – are you worshipping in the spirit and in truth that God says to or are you worshiping what you want to think is right? We must worship the way God says not what our preferences are!

What do you believe that it means to worship in spirit and in truth?  How are you at telling the truth in love?

Power Phrases

I have been posting about words and word power.  As I have been posting , I have been thinking that I want my words to be acceptable to God.  When it comes to words, there are certain words that when they are used they supply us with an unmistakable energy that I like to call power words or phrases. These words and phrases for the most part are common and everyday that we have forgotten about or we have forgotten exactly how powerful they are. Some of these are phrases that really pack a powerful punch.

What are these words and phrases that we need to make sure we use each day?

The first is: Thank You – There is something that motivates people when they hear a simple thank you. The apostle Paul was always thanking people in his letters. Thank you holds power and provides others with the energy to continue on. Make sure you always say Thank You.

I am Sorry – When someone gives a genuine I am sorry it gives energy. When we make mistakes and we all will and do, we need to say these three words – I am sorry. When we use this phrase we encourage others to do the same when they make a mistake or do something wrong. If you are too proud to say you are sorry you will or will have raised kids who most likely will be too proud to do the same. Make sure you always say you are sorry when you have done something wrong because it is empowering to you and the other person.

I am Proud of You – To hear the words “I am Proud of You” is an energizing thing. I want you to remember that God was proud of his Son, He said, This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased. God let Jesus know he was proud of him and we need to do the same and let others know we are proud of them! We need to be using this phrase often – I am proud of you.

I Believe in you – when I hear I Believe in you said to me really gives me energy and it has motivated me to do things I never thought possible! To know others believe I can do something is a wonderful gift and a better gift is to know that God believes I can. Tell others you believe in them and so does God!

I Love you – There is something special about hearing these words and knowing that the person truly means it. When God sent Jesus to die for us that was him saying to the world “I love you”. To hear these words from my wife, daughter, son, and others is very energizing. When you love someone you have got to let them know. Jesus has told us – now we need to tell it to others – I love you.

These are Powerful Words and Phrases and to not use these is destructive. We are a people who need to use these powerful words because they make a difference. There is one more powerful phrase I would like to share with you.

I Forgive You – I forgive you is to me the three most powerful words. We should use these words often. There are words all throughout the Bible that are written in red, these are the most powerful words, they are the words of Jesus. It is our job as men and women who have been changed by the power of Jesus to share these powerful words with others. The most powerful thing that Jesus says to us is that we are forgiven. Do you get that today? God has forgiven us and now we need to forgive others! I forgive you needs to be said and meant!

What are your thoughts?  Is there another phrase that you would add to this list?

A Loving Husband?

Last week I looked at the wives and thought that things should be fair and now look at the husbands.  Look here at Colossians 3:19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be embittered against them.

Throughout the Bible, God says more about the quality of the husband’s leadership than He does about the wife’s submission. Bad marriages are usually the result of the husband’s inability to love his wife instead of the wife’s refusal to be submitted as to the Lord. Rarely will you ever find a wife who would not be willing to follow the leadership of her husband who loves her unconditionally.

In Ephesians 5, Paul devoted twice as many words telling husbands to love their wives as he did in telling wives to submit to their husbands. Ephesians 5:25 tells us that Husbands are to love their wives in the same way that Christ loves the church. That means I must love my wife to the point of dying for her. You husbands must love your wives to the point of dying for them.

The word here for love is agape, which is the type of love that is based on commitment, not emotions or romance. If you’re here this morning and you no longer feel like you’re in love with your wife, let me shoot straight with you. It doesn’t matter whether you feel love or not. Biblical love is a verb and a command. 1 Corinthians 13:4-5 reminds us that, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”

If you do not have the feelings of love, it does not mean that you can take a pass on your responsibility as a husband. Act with love, and the emotions will follow. A happy marriage does not come automatically because we are naturally self-centered but marriages work because the husband and wife work at it.

I have done good amount of marriage counseling through the years. I have had husbands tell me that they did not love their wives anymore. I remember specifically a couple I counseled several years ago. The first time they came in they sat three feet apart and did not look at each other. They both told me separately that divorce was on the horizon and the husband said he did not think he loved his wife anymore. I told the husband to do the following for two weeks then both of them come back. I said – whatever it was you did when you were dating to impress her, do it again. If you wrote notes, write notes. If you wrote poems, write poems. If you took her out to certain places, do it again. If it was flowers then take her flowers. Whatever it was – you do it for two weeks and act in a loving way toward her. Two weeks later they came back. I set the chairs apart on purpose and they pulled them together. The held hands the whole time and they glowed. I asked them to tell me what changed. He said, I started doing all those things I used to do for her and for whatever reasons I fell madly in love with her again.

Husbands you need to love your wives in word and action – regardless how long you have been married. Love is a verb and a command!

The last part of verse 19 here challenges husbands to “not be embittered” with their wives. That means that even if your wife is not doing what you think she should, you are not to become resentful. Husbands must prevent a sour attitude from taking root. The only other time this word embittered is used in the New Testament, it refers to something bitter in taste. Husbands are not to be caustic, bitter, resentful or sarcastic toward their wives. These things are especially hurtful to women. Women are different than men in that you can be sarcastic with another man and he will shrug it off and not become upset by it, but if you do that with your wife you will cut her deeply, far more than you may realize. So, put off these traits of criticism and sarcasm because they are from the old life. As Christian husbands you do not act that way anymore. If a husband says something sharp to his wife it is very difficult for her to give him the support which the Lord asks of her. We need to be encouraging our wives relationship with Christ – not discouraging it by our words, attitude, and actions.

Husbands- love your wives!

What did I miss?  What is the best marital advice you ever got?

I am going to be at The Sticks Conference and travelling there today – I will comment when I get a chance.  Look out Orangeberg  –  Me and the Cycleguy are coming!

Three Goals

I have been thinking about how to improve as an individual and how the church I pastor can improve.  In thinking about this I wondered so how do you get better at doing something? The only way we can get better at anything is by doing it. The only way to ever accomplish a goal is to get started on it. With that in mind I can up with three goals for me to work on personally.  If all those in the church work on these three as well I believe the power of God will be moving.

Here are the goals  I and the church need to be working on:

1) We need to be seeing how we can serve others – regardless of age – younger need to serve the older – the older serve the younger – it is all about everyone serving one another. It is about serving and not taking note that you served someone else because that is not love as you can read in 1 Corinthians 13. We need to be 1 Corinthian 13 Christians – selfless and loving!

2) We need to be friendly to every person that we come in contact with regardless of who they are or what they have done.  We always need to keep in mind that  love begins with a smile and a kind word.

3) Find those who are hurting and help them out. It might just be something as simple as sending a card or a phone call but all of us need to be doing this with those we know really well and those who we hardly know. We need to step outside the comfort areas of our lives.

These are three goals I have for me and the church I pastor.

 Which of  these three do you need to work on?  What is a different goal that you  would  add to this list  for you or the church you attend?

All Access Pass

Ephesians 3:17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; and that you, being rooted and grounded in love,

Yesterday we talked about verse 16 and looked at being strengthened in the inner man.  Christ dwelling in your heart is the result of the inner man being strengthened. For all of us, when we come to know Jesus as savior we get all the Holy Spirit we ever get but what happens when the inner man is strengthened is Christ feels at home in the heart. He has an all access pass to all areas of your heart.

Have you ever seen one of those TV shows where they give you an all access pass to whatever? Maybe an all access pass to the White House or an all access pass to behind the scene of a sports team. You get to see every – there is nowhere or nothing that the one doing it cannot go. 

Let me ask this: have you given Jesus an all access pass in your life?

Think about it this way: your life is a House – have you given Jesus an all access pass to every room in your house? What rooms have you allowed Jesus into and what rooms do you tell him to stay out of? He wants to have an all access pass to your life but will only go where you allow him. What areas of your life are you afraid to let Jesus into? It is not easy to have Jesus have an all access pass because he will see your dirt, your messes, and all the junk – the stuff you try to hide from Him and everyone else. Remember he will help you clean it up but you have to give Him access first.

The result of Christ having the all access pass to our heart is we become rooted in and ground in love. The root of the plant is what keeps it nourished and supported. For us, to be rooted and grounded in love means that we practice love as way of life. Those who love as they should are those who lives are that are kind, selfless, humble, and meek.

Have you ever got an all access pass to anything?  Have you given Jesus an all access pass to your heart?

Love and Unity

When it comes to unity  it must come because God works in a heart. We can not make unity happen. Unity has to happen because of God and what he does in the hearts of people. The Church of Jesus Christ is one of the most amazing things ever. It takes people of all financial backgrounds, social backgrounds, racial background, and positions in life – mixes them together as one and as equals and they work together – for the most part – to further the Kingdom of God.

When thinking about this I come to the words of Paul in Galatians 3:28 – There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus. We are all equal and unified. We are called to unity regardless of where we have been, what we have done, or how long we have been together because we are all one in Christ. We are called to love one another and that is a big order.

When thinking about this big order of love my mind went to 1^stJohn 4:7,8 which says: 7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In unity we are called to love – if you have hatred for another in Christ then there is question whether or not you know God according to the verse. What we see is that unity is love thing.

When I began to really grasp this idea of love and unity the Lord brought this to mind.  1 Corinthians 13:4-7 which says, 4 Love is patient, love is kind and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, 5 does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, 6 does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; 7 bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Powerful verses when you think about love in the context of unity.

The 1 Corinthians verses really hit me when I thought about unity.  How often does disunity come because of jealousy,  arrogance, acting unbecomingly,  taking into account others wrongs, rejoices because someone else failed?  The answer for me is all too often.  How about with you?

Do you see the connection between love and unity and unloving and disunity?  What are your thoughts?

Brokers of….

2nd Samuel 3:20- 21 Then Abner and twenty men with him came to David at Hebron. And David made a feast for Abner and the men who were with him.  Abner said to David, "Let me arise and go and gather all Israel to my lord the king, that they may make a covenant with you, and that you may be king over all that your soul desires." So David sent Abner away, and he went in peace.

We see here that David treats Abner with great honor and respect. This is an interesting thing because David has much reason to not like Abner at all. Abner is the commander of the army who chased David for all those years. Abner has been leading his troops against David since he became King of Judah. David has many reasons to have real problems with Abner but he does not. We see, as I said, David treat him with honor and respect.

This though is David; he is showing his wisdom and a generous spirit towards a former adversary. David had his faults and areas of struggle as we well know if when we look at his life, but in this area he shows a very forgiving heart. Certainly a lesser man would never forgive Abner for leading an army against him, but David was a great, wise, and generous man. May we practice such wisdom and generousness?

How often are we found treating those who have persecuted us in the past in a manner that is poor? How often do we lack a generous heart with people who are friends let alone someone who has been an adversary? I have said it before – we need to make being generous what we are known for. We need to be generous brokers of mercy, grace, and love as well as financially.

So how are you with being a broker of mercy, grace, love, and financially?  There are areas that I need to work for sure, but how about you?