Luke 12:34
Where your treasure is, there your heart will be too.
Treasure: what you value, what is the most important thing in your life
What my treasure is determines where my heart is. My heart is what I focus my life on. It is what I love the most.
So what you value determines how you:
Think
Feel
Act
In Luke 9:25 Jesus asks a question. He asks, “What will you gain, if you own the whole world but destroy yourself or waste your life?”
If you gain what the culture teaches us are the most important things what will it really gain or benefit you? Are you willing to give up who you are and waste your life on things that don’t last?
Isaiah 55:2
Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy?
In Luke 12:13-20 Jesus shares a story of a rich farmer. He describes this farmer’s life as one that is focused on
Wealth
Pleasure
Pleasing Himself
Taking Care of #1
We are told that the rich farmer dies and all the stuff he had spent his life acquiring goes to someone else.
Jesus’ message here is very clear.
True life does not come from an abundance of things.
True success does not come from an abundance of things.
True security does not come from an abundance of things.
Matthew 6:19-20
Stop storing up treasure for yourselves on earth, where moths and rust destroy and thieves break in and steal. Instead, store up treasure for yourselves in heaven, where moths and rust don’t destroy and thieves don’t break in and steal.
Store up godly wealth!
The farmer’s problem was coveting.
God commands us not to covet.
Exodus 20:17
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male slave, or his female slave, or his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor’s.
We are not to covet. So what is coveting? We can understand what coveting is by looking at other meanings of the Hebrew word that we translate covet.
Genesis 3:6
So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.
Coveting means to see something as pleasant and desirable.
Proverbs 1:22
How long, O simple [open to evil], will you love being simple? And the scoffers delight in scoffing and [self-confident] fools hate knowledge?
Coveting means delighting in something.
Psalm 39:11
You discipline people for their sin, punishing them; like a moth, you ruin what they treasure. Yes, human life is just a puff of air.
Coveting means to treasure something.
Proverbs 6:25
Lust not after her beauty in your heart, neither let her capture you with her eyelids.
Coveting is lusting after something.
Isaiah 44:9
Those who make an image, all of them are useless, and their precious things shall not profit, they are their own witness; they neither see nor know, that they may be ashamed.
Covet means to hold on to something as your precious thing.
Coveting is when something or someone other than Jesus is so desirable to you that it becomes your delight and the treasure of your life. It is when you make something or someone other than Jesus the most precious thing in your life and the attraction become so strong that you lust after it continually.
The rich farmer wanted more than anything wealth and pleasure. The focus on his life was taking care of himself and making sure that everything was as he wanted it to be.
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is about being other focused.
Jesus tells us in Mark 12:30-31 that we are love God with all that we are and love others as much as we love ourselves.
The rich farmer saw life as being about him.
Jesus says life is about Him and others.
What do you find more pleasant, desirable and delightful than Jesus?
What do treasure and find more precious than Jesus?
GET RID OF IT OR THEM!
David found being in God’s presence the most desirable thing he could imagine.
Psalm 84:1-2,10-12
How lovely is Your dwelling place, O Lord of Heaven’s of Armies. I long, yes, I faint with longing to enter the courts of the Lord. With my whole being, body, and soul, I will shout joyful to the living God.
A single day in Your courts is better than a thousand anywhere else! I would rather be a gatekeeper in the house of my God than live the good life in the home of the wicked. For the Lord God is our sun and our shield. He gives us grace and glory. The Lord will withhold no good thing from those who do what is right. O Lord of Heaven’s Armies, what joy for those who trust in You.
Jesus ends the story of the rich farmer by remind us that our choices in life will affect our relationship with God.
Luke 12:21
This how it will be with whoever stores up things for themselves but is not rich toward God.
Rich toward God means knowing God and living based on the truth that He owns you.
Where our treasure is will determine where our hearts are and where our hearts are will determine how we live and how we live determines where eternally we will dwell.
I want my treasure to be Jesus.
I want my heart to be focused on Jesus.
I want my life to be about Jesus.
If I want that, I have to surrender all I am, all I will ever be, all I have, and all I will ever have to Jesus.
With Godly Wealth Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Sunday, June 8, 2014
Let God Satisfy Your Soul
John 8:44
Your father is the devil, and you do exactly what he wants. He has always been a murderer and a liar. There is nothing truthful about him. He speaks on his own, and everything he says is a lie. Not only is he a liar himself, but he is also the father of all lies.
Satan is a liar and the father or source of all lies.
When we believe the lies, we will live our lives based on them and seek our satisfaction following the lies.
In Romans 1:18-25 Paul goes into great detail on the fact that humanity as a whole has rejected Jesus as Creator and Lord. Humanity has chosen to worship the created things and not the Creator. Because humanity rejected Jesus as Creator and Lord, certain consequences followed.
#1: God’s wrath is being poured out on godlessness and wickedness.
#2: Humanity’s thinking became futile.
#3: Humanity’s hearts became darkened.
#4: Humanity became foolish.
#5: Humanity rejected and lost God’s glory.
#6: Humanity became sinful (full of sin).
#7: Humanity rejected the truth and accepted a lie.
One of the biggest consequences was that humanity worshiped created things instead of the Creator God. That leads us to seek our satisfaction in the created things and not the Creator. That leads to never being satisfied. Created things cannot satisfy us; only the Creator can.
If we are going to find true eternal satisfaction we have to:
Reject the lie
Seek our satisfaction in Jesus
There are some lies that our culture has bought into and is now teaching that hinder us from seeking Jesus and finding satisfaction.
Lie #1: Humans evolved by time and chance.
We as humans are a product of chance coming together of all the necessary ingredients over billions of years. AKA - we are a cosmic accident.
That leads to hopelessness.
Lie #2: There are no absolutes.
Everything is relative. Everything is based on our circumstances. There are no eternal absolute truths.
That leads to confusion.
Lie #3: Humans have no moral obligation.
If there is no Creator, we are who we are by chance. If there is no absolute truth, then we have no moral obligation to do or not do anything.
That leads to immorality.
Lie #4: Human life has the same value as animal and plant life.
If there is no Creator and human life came about in the same way all other animal and plant life did, than humans and animals and plants are all of equal value. That means the life of a puppy or kitten or flower or tree or weed is just as value and sacred as the life of a little boy or girl.
That leads to a lack of sacredness for human life.
Lie #5: Humans exist to serve and satisfy self.
My life is about ME!
You and I exist for our own pleasure and benefit. No one else is as important as me.
That leads to selfishness.
So if we live based on the lies of Satan we will have a culture that is:
Hopeless
Confused
Immoral
Calloused Toward Human Life
Selfish
Guess what? We have a culture that is all those.
But we are not without hope because we have truths that can free and satisfy us.
Truth #1: We are created for God’s purpose.
Ephesians 1:11
In Him we were chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will.
That leads to meaning for everything we do.
Truth #2: We are wonderfully designed by God.
Psalm 139:13-14
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit them together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
That leads to hope.
Truth #3: God is an absolute and His Word gives us absolute truth.
Isaiah 45:5-6
I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God. I strengthen you - though you don’t know Me - so all will know, from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is nothing apart from Me. I am the Lord, there is no other.
James 1:18
God decided to give us life through the word of truth to make us His most important creatures.
That leads to direction for our lives.
Truth #4: We are accountable to God.
Job 40:6-7
Then the Lord spoke to Job from the storm: “Be strong, like a man! I will ask you questions, and you must answer Me.”
That leads to accountability and morality.
Truth #5: Human life is sacred
1 Corinthians 3:16-17
You realize, don’t you, that you are the temple of God, and God Himself is present in you? No one will get by with vandalizing God’s temple, you can be sure of that. God’s temple is sacred - and you, remember, are the temple.
That leads to a respect and reverence for human life.
Truth #6: We were created to serve God.
Deuteronomy 6:13
Fear the Lord your God, serve Him only and take your oaths in His name.
Matthew 4:10
“Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”
That leads to purpose in our every day living.
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is based on truth.
Truth frees us
Truth satisfies us.
We were created BY God.
We were created FOR God.
We were created in God’s IMAGE.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were brought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.
Raising the Roof and Removing Walls is about acknowledging and living based on the truth that God owns you. He paid for you with His death on the cross.
We can only find satisfaction in the Father through a relationship with Jesus. That satisfaction comes as you make Jesus everything by surrendering yourself completely to Him.
Psalm 63:1-5
O God, You are my God: I earnestly search for You. My soul thirsts for You; my whole body longs for You in this parched and weary land where there is no water. I have seen You in Your sanctuary and gazed upon Your power and glory. Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise You! I will praise You as long as I live, lifting my hands to You in prayer. You satisfy me more than the richest feast. I will praise You with songs of joy.
God will satisfy you when you let Him by surrendering everything to Him.
Satisfied in Jesus Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
Your father is the devil, and you do exactly what he wants. He has always been a murderer and a liar. There is nothing truthful about him. He speaks on his own, and everything he says is a lie. Not only is he a liar himself, but he is also the father of all lies.
Satan is a liar and the father or source of all lies.
When we believe the lies, we will live our lives based on them and seek our satisfaction following the lies.
In Romans 1:18-25 Paul goes into great detail on the fact that humanity as a whole has rejected Jesus as Creator and Lord. Humanity has chosen to worship the created things and not the Creator. Because humanity rejected Jesus as Creator and Lord, certain consequences followed.
#1: God’s wrath is being poured out on godlessness and wickedness.
#2: Humanity’s thinking became futile.
#3: Humanity’s hearts became darkened.
#4: Humanity became foolish.
#5: Humanity rejected and lost God’s glory.
#6: Humanity became sinful (full of sin).
#7: Humanity rejected the truth and accepted a lie.
One of the biggest consequences was that humanity worshiped created things instead of the Creator God. That leads us to seek our satisfaction in the created things and not the Creator. That leads to never being satisfied. Created things cannot satisfy us; only the Creator can.
If we are going to find true eternal satisfaction we have to:
Reject the lie
Seek our satisfaction in Jesus
There are some lies that our culture has bought into and is now teaching that hinder us from seeking Jesus and finding satisfaction.
Lie #1: Humans evolved by time and chance.
We as humans are a product of chance coming together of all the necessary ingredients over billions of years. AKA - we are a cosmic accident.
That leads to hopelessness.
Lie #2: There are no absolutes.
Everything is relative. Everything is based on our circumstances. There are no eternal absolute truths.
That leads to confusion.
Lie #3: Humans have no moral obligation.
If there is no Creator, we are who we are by chance. If there is no absolute truth, then we have no moral obligation to do or not do anything.
That leads to immorality.
Lie #4: Human life has the same value as animal and plant life.
If there is no Creator and human life came about in the same way all other animal and plant life did, than humans and animals and plants are all of equal value. That means the life of a puppy or kitten or flower or tree or weed is just as value and sacred as the life of a little boy or girl.
That leads to a lack of sacredness for human life.
Lie #5: Humans exist to serve and satisfy self.
My life is about ME!
You and I exist for our own pleasure and benefit. No one else is as important as me.
That leads to selfishness.
So if we live based on the lies of Satan we will have a culture that is:
Hopeless
Confused
Immoral
Calloused Toward Human Life
Selfish
Guess what? We have a culture that is all those.
But we are not without hope because we have truths that can free and satisfy us.
Truth #1: We are created for God’s purpose.
Ephesians 1:11
In Him we were chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of Him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of His will.
That leads to meaning for everything we do.
Truth #2: We are wonderfully designed by God.
Psalm 139:13-14
You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit them together in my mother’s womb. Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
That leads to hope.
Truth #3: God is an absolute and His Word gives us absolute truth.
Isaiah 45:5-6
I am the Lord, and there is no other, besides me there is no God. I strengthen you - though you don’t know Me - so all will know, from the rising of the sun to its setting that there is nothing apart from Me. I am the Lord, there is no other.
James 1:18
God decided to give us life through the word of truth to make us His most important creatures.
That leads to direction for our lives.
Truth #4: We are accountable to God.
Job 40:6-7
Then the Lord spoke to Job from the storm: “Be strong, like a man! I will ask you questions, and you must answer Me.”
That leads to accountability and morality.
Truth #5: Human life is sacred
1 Corinthians 3:16-17
You realize, don’t you, that you are the temple of God, and God Himself is present in you? No one will get by with vandalizing God’s temple, you can be sure of that. God’s temple is sacred - and you, remember, are the temple.
That leads to a respect and reverence for human life.
Truth #6: We were created to serve God.
Deuteronomy 6:13
Fear the Lord your God, serve Him only and take your oaths in His name.
Matthew 4:10
“Get out of here, Satan,” Jesus told him. “For the Scriptures say, ‘You must worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’”
That leads to purpose in our every day living.
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is based on truth.
Truth frees us
Truth satisfies us.
We were created BY God.
We were created FOR God.
We were created in God’s IMAGE.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were brought at a price. Therefore glorify God with your body.
Raising the Roof and Removing Walls is about acknowledging and living based on the truth that God owns you. He paid for you with His death on the cross.
We can only find satisfaction in the Father through a relationship with Jesus. That satisfaction comes as you make Jesus everything by surrendering yourself completely to Him.
Psalm 63:1-5
O God, You are my God: I earnestly search for You. My soul thirsts for You; my whole body longs for You in this parched and weary land where there is no water. I have seen You in Your sanctuary and gazed upon Your power and glory. Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise You! I will praise You as long as I live, lifting my hands to You in prayer. You satisfy me more than the richest feast. I will praise You with songs of joy.
God will satisfy you when you let Him by surrendering everything to Him.
Satisfied in Jesus Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
Sunday, June 1, 2014
How Healing Begins
In Matthew 19:16-22 Jesus encounters a man who is described as rich, young, and with authority. We have come to call him the Rich Young Ruler (mostly because God doesn’t give us his name).
Then in Luke 19:1-10 Jesus encounters another rich man. His name is Zacchaeus.
The Rich Young Ruler is
Moral
Religious
Pious (devout and God-fearing)
Respected
Good Guy (the kind of guy you want your daughter to marry and your
son to hang out with)
Zacchaeus is
Immoral
Dishonest
Not Religious
Not Pious
Hated
Someone you could feel good about not liking
The men had different result from their encounters with Jesus.
The Rich Young Ruler went away sad because he didn’t get what he wanted - eternal life.
Zacchaeus went away joyful because he did get what he wanted - forgiveness and salvation.
Zacchaeus wanted a relationship and the Rich Young Ruler wanted a product.
Why did their encounters lead to such vastly different results?
The Rich Young Ruler was depending on his good works to earn eternal life. In Matthew 19:16 he asked Jesus what must “I do.”
Zacchaeus was depending on grace. In Luke 19:5, Jesus invites Himself to Zacchaeus for lunch. Jesus, not Zacchaeus, begins the relationship. Zacchaeus simply accepted Jesus and gave his life to Him.
The difference was GRACE!
Grace is an awesome thing.
Grace is God’s undeserved and never-can-earn love for you.
Grace brings life.
Romans 5:17
For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
Grace allows us to stand.
Romans 5:2
We have access by faith into this grace in which we stand through Him, and we boast in the hope of God’s glory.
Grace is greater than our sin.
Romans 5:20
The Law came, so that the full power of sin could be seen. Yet where sin was powerful, God gift of undeserved grace was more powerful.
Grace is a gift from God.
Ephesians 3:7
I was made a servant of this [gospel] by the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of His power.
Grace is our means of salvation.
Ephesians 2:5
That even though you were dead because of sins. He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)
Ephesians 2:8
God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.
Grace comes through surrendering our lives to Jesus.
2 Corinthians 8:9
You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know that Christ was rich, but for you He became poor so that by His becoming poor you might become rich.
Grace is a healing agent in our lives.
In Exodus 15:26 God is called Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals.
God also heals those who are brokenhearted.
He heals the brokenhearted, and bandages their wounds.
In Isaiah 53 we are given a beautiful picture of how Jesus’ suffering at the crucifixion brings us forgiveness and healing.
Isaiah 53:5 says, “But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed.”
We are healed through Jesus’ wounds!
Sin always hurts and damages us and, if not dealt with, will destroy us.
In James 5:16 James writes, “Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed.”
Confession and prayer bring healing.
Give Up! Surrender! Submit!
To Jesus
1 John 1:5-7
This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you; God is light, and there is no darkness in Him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, His Son cleanses us from all sin.
Let Jesus purify and heal you by His grace.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about grace.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about healing.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about experiencing the grace of God through Jesus and being healed and formed into His image.
In the Grace of Jesus Raising the Roof and Removing the Wall
Joe
Then in Luke 19:1-10 Jesus encounters another rich man. His name is Zacchaeus.
The Rich Young Ruler is
Moral
Religious
Pious (devout and God-fearing)
Respected
Good Guy (the kind of guy you want your daughter to marry and your
son to hang out with)
Zacchaeus is
Immoral
Dishonest
Not Religious
Not Pious
Hated
Someone you could feel good about not liking
The men had different result from their encounters with Jesus.
The Rich Young Ruler went away sad because he didn’t get what he wanted - eternal life.
Zacchaeus went away joyful because he did get what he wanted - forgiveness and salvation.
Zacchaeus wanted a relationship and the Rich Young Ruler wanted a product.
Why did their encounters lead to such vastly different results?
The Rich Young Ruler was depending on his good works to earn eternal life. In Matthew 19:16 he asked Jesus what must “I do.”
Zacchaeus was depending on grace. In Luke 19:5, Jesus invites Himself to Zacchaeus for lunch. Jesus, not Zacchaeus, begins the relationship. Zacchaeus simply accepted Jesus and gave his life to Him.
The difference was GRACE!
Grace is an awesome thing.
Grace is God’s undeserved and never-can-earn love for you.
Grace brings life.
Romans 5:17
For if, because of one man’s trespass, death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.
Grace allows us to stand.
Romans 5:2
We have access by faith into this grace in which we stand through Him, and we boast in the hope of God’s glory.
Grace is greater than our sin.
Romans 5:20
The Law came, so that the full power of sin could be seen. Yet where sin was powerful, God gift of undeserved grace was more powerful.
Grace is a gift from God.
Ephesians 3:7
I was made a servant of this [gospel] by the gift of God’s grace that was given to me by the working of His power.
Grace is our means of salvation.
Ephesians 2:5
That even though you were dead because of sins. He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)
Ephesians 2:8
God saved you by His grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.
Grace comes through surrendering our lives to Jesus.
2 Corinthians 8:9
You know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know that Christ was rich, but for you He became poor so that by His becoming poor you might become rich.
Grace is a healing agent in our lives.
In Exodus 15:26 God is called Jehovah Rapha, the God who heals.
God also heals those who are brokenhearted.
He heals the brokenhearted, and bandages their wounds.
In Isaiah 53 we are given a beautiful picture of how Jesus’ suffering at the crucifixion brings us forgiveness and healing.
Isaiah 53:5 says, “But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on Him, and by His wounds we are healed.”
We are healed through Jesus’ wounds!
Sin always hurts and damages us and, if not dealt with, will destroy us.
In James 5:16 James writes, “Make this your common practice: Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you can live together whole and healed.”
Confession and prayer bring healing.
Give Up! Surrender! Submit!
To Jesus
1 John 1:5-7
This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you; God is light, and there is no darkness in Him at all. So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, His Son cleanses us from all sin.
Let Jesus purify and heal you by His grace.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about grace.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about healing.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about experiencing the grace of God through Jesus and being healed and formed into His image.
In the Grace of Jesus Raising the Roof and Removing the Wall
Joe
The Ways of God Are Holy
Psalm 99:3
Let them praise Your great and awesome name - He is holy.
Psalm 99:5
Exalt the Lord our God and worship at His footstool, He is holy.
Psalm 99:9
Exalt the Lord our God and worship at His holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy.
God is Holy!
Holy means to be set apart, to be completely separated from something and separated to something, also to be morally upright. It is separated from the world’s values and separated to God’s will. There is to be behavior that reflects that separation.
How important is it to be holy?
It is commanded in both the Old and New Testaments.
Leviticus 11:44-15
For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth. For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.
1 Peter 1:15-16
But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
We are also called a holy nation.
1 Peter 2:9
But you are not to be like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for He called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light.
God’s way is called the Way of Holiness.
Isaiah 35:8
And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it, it shall belong to those who walk on the way, even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.
What does it mean to be holy?
It means to be morally upright.
Deuteronomy 28:9
You will be the Lord’s holy people; as He promised you with an oath. He will do this if you obey the commands of the Lord your God and follow His directions.
In today’s American culture:
Truth is Relative
Wrong and Right is for Me to Decide
The Direction of My Life is for Me to Set
If It feels Good I Should Be Able to Do It
It is About Me Profiting and Getting What I Want
It is About Living by the Toddler’s Rules of Possession - anything I want is mine to have
To be morally upright means there is absolute truth and it is defined by God - God says it and I do it.
We have to chose for Jesus to be our standard.
We have to chose Jesus to determine how we live every day.
It means total surrender to Jesus.
Luke 9:23
Then He said to all, “Anyone who wants to follow Me must put aside his own desires and conveniences and carry his cross with him every day and keep close to Me.”
We serve many gods:
Materialism
Pleasure
Success
Power
Job
Family
But mostly we serve the god - Self!
Holiness means I serve one God - Jesus!
It means having God’s will as the primary motivation of your life.
Romans 12:2
Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God - what is good and pleasing to Him and is perfect.
We need to ask ourselves
Why do I work?
Why do I work where I do?
Why do I live where I do?
Why do I do the everyday things I do?
There is only one reason to do anything - that it is God’s will.
Holiness means the will of God always comes first.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about us as God’s people being holy.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is therefore about being morally upright, being totally surrendered to Jesus, and having God’s will as our only motivation for all that we do.
So what hinders you and me from being holy? - SIN!
Romans 7:17-20
But I am not really the one who is doing these hated things; it is sin living in me that does them. Yes, I know that nothing good lives in me - I mean nothing good lives in the part of me that is earthly and sinful. I want to do the things that are good, but I do not do them. I do not do the good things I want to do, but I do the bad things I do not want to do. So if I do things I do not want to do, then I am not the one doing them. It is sin living in me that does those things.
Sin hinders us from living morally upright.
Sin hinders us from surrendering our lives fully to Jesus.
Sin hinders us from letting God’s will direct our lives.
We have to take sin seriously. We cannot allow it to build up and take root in our lives.
Hebrews 12:15
See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.
Holiness is living the life of Jesus as the Holy Spirit fills you and empowers you to do that.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is allowing Jesus to live His life through you and His life is HOLY.
We have to ask ourselves:
Am I holy?
Do I want to be holy?
What will I do to let Jesus make me holy?
In Holiness Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
Let them praise Your great and awesome name - He is holy.
Psalm 99:5
Exalt the Lord our God and worship at His footstool, He is holy.
Psalm 99:9
Exalt the Lord our God and worship at His holy mountain, for the Lord our God is holy.
God is Holy!
Holy means to be set apart, to be completely separated from something and separated to something, also to be morally upright. It is separated from the world’s values and separated to God’s will. There is to be behavior that reflects that separation.
How important is it to be holy?
It is commanded in both the Old and New Testaments.
Leviticus 11:44-15
For I am the Lord your God. You shall therefore consecrate yourselves, and you shall be holy; for I am holy. Neither shall you defile yourselves with any creeping thing that creeps on the earth. For I am the Lord who brings you up out of the land of Egypt, to be your God. You shall therefore be holy, for I am holy.
1 Peter 1:15-16
But as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
We are also called a holy nation.
1 Peter 2:9
But you are not to be like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for He called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light.
God’s way is called the Way of Holiness.
Isaiah 35:8
And a highway shall be there, and it shall be called the way of Holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it, it shall belong to those who walk on the way, even if they are fools, they shall not go astray.
What does it mean to be holy?
It means to be morally upright.
Deuteronomy 28:9
You will be the Lord’s holy people; as He promised you with an oath. He will do this if you obey the commands of the Lord your God and follow His directions.
In today’s American culture:
Truth is Relative
Wrong and Right is for Me to Decide
The Direction of My Life is for Me to Set
If It feels Good I Should Be Able to Do It
It is About Me Profiting and Getting What I Want
It is About Living by the Toddler’s Rules of Possession - anything I want is mine to have
To be morally upright means there is absolute truth and it is defined by God - God says it and I do it.
We have to chose for Jesus to be our standard.
We have to chose Jesus to determine how we live every day.
It means total surrender to Jesus.
Luke 9:23
Then He said to all, “Anyone who wants to follow Me must put aside his own desires and conveniences and carry his cross with him every day and keep close to Me.”
We serve many gods:
Materialism
Pleasure
Success
Power
Job
Family
But mostly we serve the god - Self!
Holiness means I serve one God - Jesus!
It means having God’s will as the primary motivation of your life.
Romans 12:2
Do not conform yourselves to the standards of this world, but let God transform you inwardly by a complete change of your mind. Then you will be able to know the will of God - what is good and pleasing to Him and is perfect.
We need to ask ourselves
Why do I work?
Why do I work where I do?
Why do I live where I do?
Why do I do the everyday things I do?
There is only one reason to do anything - that it is God’s will.
Holiness means the will of God always comes first.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about us as God’s people being holy.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is therefore about being morally upright, being totally surrendered to Jesus, and having God’s will as our only motivation for all that we do.
So what hinders you and me from being holy? - SIN!
Romans 7:17-20
But I am not really the one who is doing these hated things; it is sin living in me that does them. Yes, I know that nothing good lives in me - I mean nothing good lives in the part of me that is earthly and sinful. I want to do the things that are good, but I do not do them. I do not do the good things I want to do, but I do the bad things I do not want to do. So if I do things I do not want to do, then I am not the one doing them. It is sin living in me that does those things.
Sin hinders us from living morally upright.
Sin hinders us from surrendering our lives fully to Jesus.
Sin hinders us from letting God’s will direct our lives.
We have to take sin seriously. We cannot allow it to build up and take root in our lives.
Hebrews 12:15
See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled.
Holiness is living the life of Jesus as the Holy Spirit fills you and empowers you to do that.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is allowing Jesus to live His life through you and His life is HOLY.
We have to ask ourselves:
Am I holy?
Do I want to be holy?
What will I do to let Jesus make me holy?
In Holiness Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
Sunday, May 18, 2014
The Ways of God Are Love
John tells us in 1 John 4:8 and 16 that God is love.
In John 3:16 John tells that because God is love He did something. He sent His one and only Son to give His life for our sin. God’s love moved Him to do something of infinite good for us.
So if God is love and He loves us, what is love?
Our culture says that love is:
(1) an attraction based on kinship or admiration or common interests
(2) a strong sexual attraction
God says that love is very different from what the culture says it is.
God says that love is:
(1) showing undeserved kindness
(2) being faithful
(3) delighting in the presence of another
(4) putting someone’s needs ahead of your own
God’s love is about others.
God’s love is always unconditional and eternal.
Four Pictures of God’s Love
Picture #1: God’s love is grace.
Genesis 20:1-2
Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in the Gerar, and there Abraham said to his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.
Abraham, a man of faith, the man God had chosen to form a nation out of for Himself lied to Abimelek about Sarah being his wife. Abraham betrays his wife and fails God.
In Genesis 20:11 Abraham explains why he lied to the king about Sarah being his wife. He says, “I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’”
Now, I understand. Abraham was fearful and didn’t trust God to take care of him and Sarah. He didn’t believe that God would or could protect them. And this is a man of faith?
Because of his lack of faith in God. Abraham gets into a position where he could not only lose his wife, but also hinders the promises that God had made him. He was messing with God’s will.
So what does God do?
Genesis 20:6-7
Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against Me. This is why I did not let you touch her. Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all who belong to you will die.”
God intervenes and keeps Abimelek from having sex with Sarah. God also demands that Abimelek give Sarah back to Abraham.
Genesis 20:14-16
Then Abimelek brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him. And Abimelek said, “My land is before you; live wherever you like.” To Sarah he said, “I am giving your brother a thousand shekels of silver. This is to cover the offense against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated.”
Then God has Abimelek give gifts to Abraham and Sarah that enrich them. He also had Abimelek allow Abraham to live anywhere he wanted.
Grace gives us more than we deserve. God took a lack of faith on Abraham’s part and turned into a huge blessing.
Now, we need to remember that God promises us grace, but we can never presume on that grace. We cannot live like we want to and assume God will, because of His grace, get us out of any bad situation we get into.
God does assure us that His love will be there in the midst of our sin and our struggles.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is based in and on the grace of God.
Picture #2: God’s love is protecting.
Genesis 3:24
He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden He placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
Many would see God’s action here as discipline or punishment for Adam and Eve’s rebellion against God.
This action is protection. God didn’t want Adam and Eve eating from the tree of life and living forever in a state of rebellion against Him. God wants us to live forever in right relationship with Him, not in sin.
God will not let His children stay in an unhealthy spiritual condition without making us desire to change.
God will confront us about our sin because He knows it will destroy us if not dealt with.
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is about putting ourselves under the authority of God and His protection.
Picture #3: God’s love is accepting.
In John 8 the scribes and Pharisees bring a woman to Jesus who they had caught in the act of committing adultery. I have always wondered exactly how they accomplished that and where the guy who she was committing it with was.
The religious leaders ask Jesus what He thought they should do with her. They then reminded Him that the Law said to stone her, like Jesus needed to be reminded what the Law said.
Jesus simply told them that the one without sin could throw the first rock. They all dropped their rocks and left.
Then Jesus goes to the woman. He asked, “Where did they go? Has anyone condemned you?” The woman answered, “No one, sir.” Jesus said, “I don’t condemn you either. Go! From now on don’t sin.”
Jesus didn’t condemn her.
Jesus didn’t reject her.
Jesus accepted her.
God’s love accepts us like we are. But God’s love also always motivates and empowers us to change.
God loves and accepts us, but not our sin. God hates our sin.
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is about accepting people and loving people and, with God’s love, helping people to be transformed into the image of Jesus.
Picture #4: God’s love is restoring
John 21:15-17
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, You know I love You.” Jesus said, “Feed My lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, You know I love You.” Jesus said, “Take care of My sheep.” A third time He said, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love Me?” Peter said, “Lord, You know everything; You know I love You!” He said to him, “Feed My sheep.”
Why did Jesus ask Peter three times if he loved Him? Peter said he did the first time and the second. Why did Jesus ask the third time? Well, let’s go back to Peter’s denial of Jesus. Peter denied he knew Jesus three times. Jesus was allowing Peter to affirm his love for Jesus the same number of times that he denied his love for Jesus.
When our fellowship, our intimacy with Jesus is broken, Jesus desires to bring us back to Himself. His will is always for us to be in right relationship and right fellowship, intimately connected to Him.
Jesus will do what it takes in our lives to bring us to that place.
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is about building intimacy in our relationship with Jesus. And helping others be restored to Jesus.
Jesus loves you! That is the overwhelming message of the Bible.
Jesus wants you to experience His love in your life all the time. That can only happen if you are in right relationship and right fellowship with Him.
We have to be honest with Jesus. We have to let Jesus Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls from our lives. Then we can share our lives with Jesus. We can share every part of our lives with Him.
We can share the:
Sins
Struggles
Fears
Hurts
Joys
Desires
Dreams
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is about surrendering you life to Jesus so you can share all of it with Him and experience His unconditional, no boundaries, no time limit love.
In And With Jesus’ Love Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
In John 3:16 John tells that because God is love He did something. He sent His one and only Son to give His life for our sin. God’s love moved Him to do something of infinite good for us.
So if God is love and He loves us, what is love?
Our culture says that love is:
(1) an attraction based on kinship or admiration or common interests
(2) a strong sexual attraction
God says that love is very different from what the culture says it is.
God says that love is:
(1) showing undeserved kindness
(2) being faithful
(3) delighting in the presence of another
(4) putting someone’s needs ahead of your own
God’s love is about others.
God’s love is always unconditional and eternal.
Four Pictures of God’s Love
Picture #1: God’s love is grace.
Genesis 20:1-2
Now Abraham moved on from there into the region of the Negev and lived between Kadesh and Shur. For a while he stayed in the Gerar, and there Abraham said to his wife Sarah, “She is my sister.” Then Abimelek king of Gerar sent for Sarah and took her.
Abraham, a man of faith, the man God had chosen to form a nation out of for Himself lied to Abimelek about Sarah being his wife. Abraham betrays his wife and fails God.
In Genesis 20:11 Abraham explains why he lied to the king about Sarah being his wife. He says, “I said to myself, ‘There is surely no fear of God in this place, and they will kill me because of my wife.’”
Now, I understand. Abraham was fearful and didn’t trust God to take care of him and Sarah. He didn’t believe that God would or could protect them. And this is a man of faith?
Because of his lack of faith in God. Abraham gets into a position where he could not only lose his wife, but also hinders the promises that God had made him. He was messing with God’s will.
So what does God do?
Genesis 20:6-7
Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against Me. This is why I did not let you touch her. Now return the man’s wife, for he is a prophet, and he will pray for you and you will live. But if you do not return her, you may be sure that you and all who belong to you will die.”
God intervenes and keeps Abimelek from having sex with Sarah. God also demands that Abimelek give Sarah back to Abraham.
Genesis 20:14-16
Then Abimelek brought sheep and cattle and male and female slaves and gave them to Abraham, and he returned Sarah his wife to him. And Abimelek said, “My land is before you; live wherever you like.” To Sarah he said, “I am giving your brother a thousand shekels of silver. This is to cover the offense against you before all who are with you; you are completely vindicated.”
Then God has Abimelek give gifts to Abraham and Sarah that enrich them. He also had Abimelek allow Abraham to live anywhere he wanted.
Grace gives us more than we deserve. God took a lack of faith on Abraham’s part and turned into a huge blessing.
Now, we need to remember that God promises us grace, but we can never presume on that grace. We cannot live like we want to and assume God will, because of His grace, get us out of any bad situation we get into.
God does assure us that His love will be there in the midst of our sin and our struggles.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is based in and on the grace of God.
Picture #2: God’s love is protecting.
Genesis 3:24
He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden He placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.
Many would see God’s action here as discipline or punishment for Adam and Eve’s rebellion against God.
This action is protection. God didn’t want Adam and Eve eating from the tree of life and living forever in a state of rebellion against Him. God wants us to live forever in right relationship with Him, not in sin.
God will not let His children stay in an unhealthy spiritual condition without making us desire to change.
God will confront us about our sin because He knows it will destroy us if not dealt with.
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is about putting ourselves under the authority of God and His protection.
Picture #3: God’s love is accepting.
In John 8 the scribes and Pharisees bring a woman to Jesus who they had caught in the act of committing adultery. I have always wondered exactly how they accomplished that and where the guy who she was committing it with was.
The religious leaders ask Jesus what He thought they should do with her. They then reminded Him that the Law said to stone her, like Jesus needed to be reminded what the Law said.
Jesus simply told them that the one without sin could throw the first rock. They all dropped their rocks and left.
Then Jesus goes to the woman. He asked, “Where did they go? Has anyone condemned you?” The woman answered, “No one, sir.” Jesus said, “I don’t condemn you either. Go! From now on don’t sin.”
Jesus didn’t condemn her.
Jesus didn’t reject her.
Jesus accepted her.
God’s love accepts us like we are. But God’s love also always motivates and empowers us to change.
God loves and accepts us, but not our sin. God hates our sin.
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is about accepting people and loving people and, with God’s love, helping people to be transformed into the image of Jesus.
Picture #4: God’s love is restoring
John 21:15-17
When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, You know I love You.” Jesus said, “Feed My lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, You know I love You.” Jesus said, “Take care of My sheep.” A third time He said, “Simon son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love Me?” Peter said, “Lord, You know everything; You know I love You!” He said to him, “Feed My sheep.”
Why did Jesus ask Peter three times if he loved Him? Peter said he did the first time and the second. Why did Jesus ask the third time? Well, let’s go back to Peter’s denial of Jesus. Peter denied he knew Jesus three times. Jesus was allowing Peter to affirm his love for Jesus the same number of times that he denied his love for Jesus.
When our fellowship, our intimacy with Jesus is broken, Jesus desires to bring us back to Himself. His will is always for us to be in right relationship and right fellowship, intimately connected to Him.
Jesus will do what it takes in our lives to bring us to that place.
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is about building intimacy in our relationship with Jesus. And helping others be restored to Jesus.
Jesus loves you! That is the overwhelming message of the Bible.
Jesus wants you to experience His love in your life all the time. That can only happen if you are in right relationship and right fellowship with Him.
We have to be honest with Jesus. We have to let Jesus Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls from our lives. Then we can share our lives with Jesus. We can share every part of our lives with Him.
We can share the:
Sins
Struggles
Fears
Hurts
Joys
Desires
Dreams
Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls is about surrendering you life to Jesus so you can share all of it with Him and experience His unconditional, no boundaries, no time limit love.
In And With Jesus’ Love Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
Sunday, May 11, 2014
God's Way is Truth
In John 18:38 Pilate asks what is truth. That is very ironic because he is looking right at truth.
You see, truth is not a
Religion
Way of Life
Philosophy
Truth is a person - Jesus!
In Ephesians 4:15 we are commanded to speak the truth in love.
All through Scripture, truth is who God is and a thing He highly values in us as His people.
Truth is to be part of our worship of Jesus.
John 4:23-24
But the hour is coming and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.
Truth is found in and by the Holy Spirit.
John 15:26
But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about Me.
Truth is found in God’s Word.
John 17:17
Sanctify them in the truth; Your Word is truth.
Truth is found in the Gospel.
Galatians 2:5
We didn’t give in and submit to them for a single moment, so that the truth of the Gospel would continue to be with you.
Truth is found in the church.
1 Timothy 3:15
So if I am delayed, you will know how everyone who belongs to God’s family ought to behave. After all, the church of the living God is the strong foundation of truth.
The truth is vital because it does two things that are absolutely necessary if we are to follow Jesus.
Truth frees us.
John 8:31-32
To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said, “If you hold to My teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Truth purifies us.
1 Peter 1:22
Now that your obedience to the truth has purified your souls, you can have true love for your Christian brothers and sisters. So love each other deeply with all your heart.
So since according to The Ephesians 4:15 passage I am to speak the truth in love, I want to share a truth that can transform you and all God’s people if we will believe it and live it.
The truth is that we were created by God to be in Community. God didn’t created us to be lone rangers. God created us to relate to others for support, encouragement, and accountability.
We live in a culture that emphasizes individuality and independence.
Jesus emphasizes community and interdependence.
So what does community consist of?
C : commitment
Psalm 37:5-6
Commit your way to the Lord ! Trust Him! He will act and will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, your justice like high noon.
We are to be committed to Jesus and His church and His Kingdom, not our own comfort and convenience.
O : others
Philippians 2:1-4
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourself, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
It is not about you! It is about JOY - Jesus, others, you.
M : mature
2 Corinthians 13:11
Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you.
We are to grow into the likeness of Jesus. If your children were not progressing as you believed they should, you would seek out help. We need to progress by growing to be more like Jesus every day.
M : men
1 Chronicles 12:32
From Issachar’s descendants there were 200 leaders who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.
Our churches, our communities, our nation will not be healthy until men step up to be the spiritual leaders in their families.
Men, we are commanded by God to love our wives unconditionally
Men, we are commanded by God to provide for our families.
Men, we are commanded by God to lead our families to Jesus.
U: unity
Romans 15:5-6
Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The church is a family. We are the Body of Christ. Jesus desires that we be in unity.
N : new
Ezekiel 36:26-27
I will give you a new heart and a new mind. I will take away your stubborn heart of stone and give you an obedient heart. I will put My Spirit in you and will see to it that you follow My laws and keep all the commands I have given you.
Jesus gives us a New mind, a New heart, a New spirit. The newness of Jesus brings refreshment. He brings new works of God into our lives. He brings changes. Changes are hard but good and necessary.
I : intensity
Romans 12:11
Do not slack in your faithfulness and hard work. Let your spirit be on fire, bubbling up and boiling over, as you serve the Lord.
We need to passionately
Love Jesus
Worship Jesus
Study God’s Word
Serve Jesus
Pray
Share our Jesus story
T : transparent
1 Thessalonians 1:5
And here is why: what you experienced in the good news we brought you was more than words channeling down your ears; it came to you as a life-empowering, Spirit-infused message that offers complete hope and assurance! We lived transparently before you so that you would know what sort of people we truly are. We did it for your sake.
We have to take off the masks. We have to let God work in our lives like He wants to. We have to let the world see who we are and how God is transforming us from sinners to saints.
Y : yield
Romans 12:1
Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice - alive, holy, and pleasing to God - which is your reasonable service.
Give yourself to Jesus with nothing held back.
Submit everything to Jesus.
Surrender yourself and all you have to Jesus as your King.
God is inviting you to go on a great adventure with Him and His people. He makes some awesome promises to us as His people, His community.
Jesus promises:
That He has a plan for us that will give us hope and success
That He will listen when we call on Him
That He will direct our lives
That He will reveal Himself to us
To know the truth, believe the truth, act on the truth we have to be in community. And we have to do it with our whole hearts.
With Truth and In Community Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
You see, truth is not a
Religion
Way of Life
Philosophy
Truth is a person - Jesus!
In Ephesians 4:15 we are commanded to speak the truth in love.
All through Scripture, truth is who God is and a thing He highly values in us as His people.
Truth is to be part of our worship of Jesus.
John 4:23-24
But the hour is coming and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.
Truth is found in and by the Holy Spirit.
John 15:26
But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth, who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness about Me.
Truth is found in God’s Word.
John 17:17
Sanctify them in the truth; Your Word is truth.
Truth is found in the Gospel.
Galatians 2:5
We didn’t give in and submit to them for a single moment, so that the truth of the Gospel would continue to be with you.
Truth is found in the church.
1 Timothy 3:15
So if I am delayed, you will know how everyone who belongs to God’s family ought to behave. After all, the church of the living God is the strong foundation of truth.
The truth is vital because it does two things that are absolutely necessary if we are to follow Jesus.
Truth frees us.
John 8:31-32
To the Jews who had believed Him, Jesus said, “If you hold to My teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Truth purifies us.
1 Peter 1:22
Now that your obedience to the truth has purified your souls, you can have true love for your Christian brothers and sisters. So love each other deeply with all your heart.
So since according to The Ephesians 4:15 passage I am to speak the truth in love, I want to share a truth that can transform you and all God’s people if we will believe it and live it.
The truth is that we were created by God to be in Community. God didn’t created us to be lone rangers. God created us to relate to others for support, encouragement, and accountability.
We live in a culture that emphasizes individuality and independence.
Jesus emphasizes community and interdependence.
So what does community consist of?
C : commitment
Psalm 37:5-6
Commit your way to the Lord ! Trust Him! He will act and will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, your justice like high noon.
We are to be committed to Jesus and His church and His Kingdom, not our own comfort and convenience.
O : others
Philippians 2:1-4
Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from His love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourself, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
It is not about you! It is about JOY - Jesus, others, you.
M : mature
2 Corinthians 13:11
Dear brothers and sisters, I close my letter with these last words: Be joyful. Grow to maturity. Encourage each other. Live in harmony and peace. Then the God of love and peace will be with you.
We are to grow into the likeness of Jesus. If your children were not progressing as you believed they should, you would seek out help. We need to progress by growing to be more like Jesus every day.
M : men
1 Chronicles 12:32
From Issachar’s descendants there were 200 leaders who understood the times and knew what Israel should do.
Our churches, our communities, our nation will not be healthy until men step up to be the spiritual leaders in their families.
Men, we are commanded by God to love our wives unconditionally
Men, we are commanded by God to provide for our families.
Men, we are commanded by God to lead our families to Jesus.
U: unity
Romans 15:5-6
Now may the God who gives perseverance and encouragement grant you to be of the same mind with one another according to Christ Jesus, so that with one accord you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
The church is a family. We are the Body of Christ. Jesus desires that we be in unity.
N : new
Ezekiel 36:26-27
I will give you a new heart and a new mind. I will take away your stubborn heart of stone and give you an obedient heart. I will put My Spirit in you and will see to it that you follow My laws and keep all the commands I have given you.
Jesus gives us a New mind, a New heart, a New spirit. The newness of Jesus brings refreshment. He brings new works of God into our lives. He brings changes. Changes are hard but good and necessary.
I : intensity
Romans 12:11
Do not slack in your faithfulness and hard work. Let your spirit be on fire, bubbling up and boiling over, as you serve the Lord.
We need to passionately
Love Jesus
Worship Jesus
Study God’s Word
Serve Jesus
Pray
Share our Jesus story
T : transparent
1 Thessalonians 1:5
And here is why: what you experienced in the good news we brought you was more than words channeling down your ears; it came to you as a life-empowering, Spirit-infused message that offers complete hope and assurance! We lived transparently before you so that you would know what sort of people we truly are. We did it for your sake.
We have to take off the masks. We have to let God work in our lives like He wants to. We have to let the world see who we are and how God is transforming us from sinners to saints.
Y : yield
Romans 12:1
Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice - alive, holy, and pleasing to God - which is your reasonable service.
Give yourself to Jesus with nothing held back.
Submit everything to Jesus.
Surrender yourself and all you have to Jesus as your King.
God is inviting you to go on a great adventure with Him and His people. He makes some awesome promises to us as His people, His community.
Jesus promises:
That He has a plan for us that will give us hope and success
That He will listen when we call on Him
That He will direct our lives
That He will reveal Himself to us
To know the truth, believe the truth, act on the truth we have to be in community. And we have to do it with our whole hearts.
With Truth and In Community Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
Sunday, May 4, 2014
The God's Thoughts and Ways
Isaiah 55:8-9
The Lord said, “My thoughts and My ways are not like yours. Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, My thoughts and My ways are higher than yours.”
God’s thoughts are not our thoughts.
God’s ways are not our ways.
His thoughts and ways are higher than our.
His thoughts and ways are better than ours.
Then why don’t we base how we live on God’s thoughts and follow His ways in our daily living?
I have seen three reasons that people don’t follow God’s ways.
They don’t know what God’s thoughts and ways are - Ignorance.
They are struggling to understand God’s thoughts and follow God’s ways - Confusion.
They don’t want to know God or follow Him - Apathy.
The solution to the first is to ask God. In James 1:5 we are told, “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.”
The solution to the second is to seek God. In Matthew 7:7-8 Jesus says, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
The solution to the third is repentance and transformation. We have to want God and to know Him. That is not an automatic thing. We have to turn from living life based on our desires and turn to Jesus and living life based on His desires. The turning is our choice and the living based on Jesus’ desires is God transforming you.
So what are God’s thoughts and ways?
First is AVAILABLE.
Isaiah 55:6-7
Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is yet near. Let the wicked abandon their ways and the sinful their schemes. Let them return to the Lord so that He may have mercy on them, to our God, because He is generous with forgiveness.
We are commanded to:
Seek God while He may be found
Call on God while He is near
This passage implies that there are times when God cannot be found and when he is not near.
We have grown up in the American church being taught that God is available whenever we want Him or when we are ready for Him.
I believe that is a lie.
In John 15:16 Jesus says, “You did not choose Me, but I choose and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.”
In John 14:6 Jesus says, “No one come to the Father except through Me.”
We come to God:
Through Jesus
On God’s Terms
On God’s Timetable
We are blessed by God:
Through Jesus
On God’s Terms
On God’s Timetable
We don’t relate to God based on our terms, but based on His.
Second is FORGIVING.
Psalm 103:10-12
He has not punished us as we deserve for all our sins, for His mercy toward those who fear and honor Him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far away from us as the east is from the west.
God is a loving and forgiving God.
God’s love is unconditional.
God’s forgiveness is NOT!
David outlines conditions for God’s forgiveness in Psalm 103:13, 17-18.
Verse 13: The Lord is like a father to His children, tender and compassionate to those who fear Him.
Verses 17-18: But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear Him. His salvation extends to the children’s children of those who are faithful to His covenant, of those who obey His commandments.
God forgives those who:
Acknowledge Their Sin
Repent of Their Sin
Obey Him
God loves us no matter what.
God forgives us when we turn to Him in confession and repentance.
Third is FAITHFUL.
1 Corinthians 1:9
God faithfully keeps His promises. He called you to be partners with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
2 Timothy 2:13
If we are not faithful, He remains faithful, because He cannt be false to Himself.
God will never go back on any of His promises. God will not back off His promise to bless or His promise to not bless.
God will always do what He says He will do.
Psalm 145:13
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is trustworthy in all His promises and faithful in all He does.
You can count on God.
Fourth is HOLY.
1 Peter 1:15-16
But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
We are commanded to be holy. What does that mean?
Holiness has two aspects to it.
One is separation. We are to be separated to God for His purposes and His alone. We are not to be focused on our will but on God’s will. We are to be focused and living to do God’s will exclusively.
Two is moral excellence. We are to live according to God’s values and standards not the values and standards of this fallen world.
We are to live holy!
Fifth is TRUTHFUL.
John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
Everything Jesus said was true.
Everything Jesus did was right.
The Word of God is absolute truth with no error.
Anything that disagrees with God and His Word is wrong, it is a lie.
Lies lead to captivity.
Truth leads to freedom.
John 8:31-32,36
He said to the Jews who believed, “If you keep and obey My Word, then you are My followers for sure. You will know the truth and the truth will make you free.”
“So if the Son makes you free, you will be free for sure.”
If anything in your life disagrees with Jesus or His Word, it should have no place in your life. You need to get rid of it.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about acknowledging that God’s thoughts and God’s ways are better than our thoughts and ways.
If you want a life that has
Purpose
That is Full
That is Eternal
The only way is God’s way.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about coming to Jesus and letting His thoughts and ways be what you base your daily living on.
In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus gives us the invitation of a lifetime. He says, “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to Me. Get away with Me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Look at that invitation.
Come to Jesus
Get Away with Jesus
Walk with Jesus
Keep Company with Jesus
The results are
Rest
Grace
Freedom
So come to Jesus and let His thoughts be your thoughts.
So come to Jesus and let His ways be your ways.
With Jesus’ Thoughts and In Jesus’ Ways Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
The Lord said, “My thoughts and My ways are not like yours. Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, My thoughts and My ways are higher than yours.”
God’s thoughts are not our thoughts.
God’s ways are not our ways.
His thoughts and ways are higher than our.
His thoughts and ways are better than ours.
Then why don’t we base how we live on God’s thoughts and follow His ways in our daily living?
I have seen three reasons that people don’t follow God’s ways.
They don’t know what God’s thoughts and ways are - Ignorance.
They are struggling to understand God’s thoughts and follow God’s ways - Confusion.
They don’t want to know God or follow Him - Apathy.
The solution to the first is to ask God. In James 1:5 we are told, “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.”
The solution to the second is to seek God. In Matthew 7:7-8 Jesus says, “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”
The solution to the third is repentance and transformation. We have to want God and to know Him. That is not an automatic thing. We have to turn from living life based on our desires and turn to Jesus and living life based on His desires. The turning is our choice and the living based on Jesus’ desires is God transforming you.
So what are God’s thoughts and ways?
First is AVAILABLE.
Isaiah 55:6-7
Seek the Lord while He may be found; call on Him while He is yet near. Let the wicked abandon their ways and the sinful their schemes. Let them return to the Lord so that He may have mercy on them, to our God, because He is generous with forgiveness.
We are commanded to:
Seek God while He may be found
Call on God while He is near
This passage implies that there are times when God cannot be found and when he is not near.
We have grown up in the American church being taught that God is available whenever we want Him or when we are ready for Him.
I believe that is a lie.
In John 15:16 Jesus says, “You did not choose Me, but I choose and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.”
In John 14:6 Jesus says, “No one come to the Father except through Me.”
We come to God:
Through Jesus
On God’s Terms
On God’s Timetable
We are blessed by God:
Through Jesus
On God’s Terms
On God’s Timetable
We don’t relate to God based on our terms, but based on His.
Second is FORGIVING.
Psalm 103:10-12
He has not punished us as we deserve for all our sins, for His mercy toward those who fear and honor Him is as great as the height of the heavens above the earth. He has removed our sins as far away from us as the east is from the west.
God is a loving and forgiving God.
God’s love is unconditional.
God’s forgiveness is NOT!
David outlines conditions for God’s forgiveness in Psalm 103:13, 17-18.
Verse 13: The Lord is like a father to His children, tender and compassionate to those who fear Him.
Verses 17-18: But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear Him. His salvation extends to the children’s children of those who are faithful to His covenant, of those who obey His commandments.
God forgives those who:
Acknowledge Their Sin
Repent of Their Sin
Obey Him
God loves us no matter what.
God forgives us when we turn to Him in confession and repentance.
Third is FAITHFUL.
1 Corinthians 1:9
God faithfully keeps His promises. He called you to be partners with His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.
2 Timothy 2:13
If we are not faithful, He remains faithful, because He cannt be false to Himself.
God will never go back on any of His promises. God will not back off His promise to bless or His promise to not bless.
God will always do what He says He will do.
Psalm 145:13
Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and Your dominion endures through all generations. The Lord is trustworthy in all His promises and faithful in all He does.
You can count on God.
Fourth is HOLY.
1 Peter 1:15-16
But as he who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, since it is written, “You shall be holy, for I am holy.”
We are commanded to be holy. What does that mean?
Holiness has two aspects to it.
One is separation. We are to be separated to God for His purposes and His alone. We are not to be focused on our will but on God’s will. We are to be focused and living to do God’s will exclusively.
Two is moral excellence. We are to live according to God’s values and standards not the values and standards of this fallen world.
We are to live holy!
Fifth is TRUTHFUL.
John 14:6
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.”
Everything Jesus said was true.
Everything Jesus did was right.
The Word of God is absolute truth with no error.
Anything that disagrees with God and His Word is wrong, it is a lie.
Lies lead to captivity.
Truth leads to freedom.
John 8:31-32,36
He said to the Jews who believed, “If you keep and obey My Word, then you are My followers for sure. You will know the truth and the truth will make you free.”
“So if the Son makes you free, you will be free for sure.”
If anything in your life disagrees with Jesus or His Word, it should have no place in your life. You need to get rid of it.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about acknowledging that God’s thoughts and God’s ways are better than our thoughts and ways.
If you want a life that has
Purpose
That is Full
That is Eternal
The only way is God’s way.
Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about coming to Jesus and letting His thoughts and ways be what you base your daily living on.
In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus gives us the invitation of a lifetime. He says, “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to Me. Get away with Me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with Me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
Look at that invitation.
Come to Jesus
Get Away with Jesus
Walk with Jesus
Keep Company with Jesus
The results are
Rest
Grace
Freedom
So come to Jesus and let His thoughts be your thoughts.
So come to Jesus and let His ways be your ways.
With Jesus’ Thoughts and In Jesus’ Ways Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls
Joe
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