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Pastor’s Blog 5.23.18

1 John 5:16-17 If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death , he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death . There is sin leading to death . I do not say that he should pray about that. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death . NKJV

There are degrees of sin with God, this is obvious. As we read through the scriptures, we find a common cause for the believer to strive to live above reproach and free from the bondage of sin.

1 John 2:1-7 The Test of Knowing Christ
2:1 My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin . And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world. 3 The Test of Knowing Him Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.
6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked. 7 Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. NKJV

Let’s face some hard facts about our American culture. Most people believe in Jesus, but don’t want to live in obedience to a holy lifestyle. Is the answer to act like sin is no big deal to God, and tell people they can pretty much live any way they want? That’s exactly what many churches and church leaders are doing. Is that what Jesus would do? Their reasoning is that God loves people so much He is not going to condemn them over some sin practice in their lives. The problem is that it was reasoning like this that got us into trouble to start with.

Gen 3:1-6 Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” 2 And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3 but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.'” 4 Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5 For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 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. NKJV

Did Jesus love the rich young ruler, whom he let walk away and did not go after him?

Mark 10:20-27 And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.” 21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him , and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” 22 But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
23 Then Jesus looked around and said to His disciples, “How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God!” 24 And the disciples were astonished at His words. But Jesus answered again and said to them, “Children, how hard it is for those who trust in riches to enter the kingdom of God! 25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God.”
26 And they were greatly astonished, saying among themselves, “Who then can be saved?” 27 But Jesus looked at them and said, “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.” NKJV

There is a standard that the Lord will hold us to, and I for one don’t want to reason it out. So what sins lead to death? Here are a few:

1 Corinthians 6:9-11 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, 10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. NKJV

Remember:
Proverbs 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death. NKJV

Until Next Week – Be Blessed!

Pastor’s Blog 5.16.18

Hebrews 11:1 NOW FAITH is the assurance (the confirmation, the title deed) of the things [we] hope for, being the proof of things [we] do not see and the conviction of their reality [faith perceiving as real fact what is not revealed to the senses]. AMP

In the “media” church today, we hear the word grace non-stop. Grace, in a sense is God’s endowment to us, but faith is our response to Him. Maybe that is why grace is being talked about so much. Grace depends on God, but we have a responsibility with faith don’t we?

Hebrews 11:4-8 [Prompted, actuated] by faith Abel brought God a better and more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, because of which it was testified of him that he was righteous [that he was upright and in right standing with God], and God bore witness by accepting and acknowledging his gifts. And though he died, yet [through the incident] he is still speaking. [Gen 4:3-10.] 5 Because of faith Enoch was caught up and transferred to heaven, so that he did not have a glimpse of death; and he was not found, because God had translated him. For even before he was taken to heaven, he received testimony [still on record] that he had pleased and been satisfactory to God. [Gen 5:21-24.] 6 But without faith it is impossible to please and be satisfactory to Him. For whoever would come near to God must [necessarily] believe that God exists and that He is the rewarder of those who earnestly and diligently seek Him [out].7[Prompted] by faith Noah, being forewarned by God concerning events of which as yet there was no visible sign, took heed and diligently and reverently constructed and prepared an ark for the deliverance of his own family. By this [his faith which relied on God] he passed judgment and sentence on the world’s unbelief and became an heir and possessor of righteousness ( that relation of being right into which God puts the person who has faith). [Gen 6:13-22.] 8[Urged on] by faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed and went forth to a place which he was destined to receive as an inheritance; and he went, although he did not know or trouble his mind about where he was to go. AMP

Now, take notice in each of these testimonies of faith, we see man’s response to God’s grace, given as obedience, and thus proving their faith genuine. I was listening to a seeker friendly mega church pastor the other day, and he was telling his listeners that “because they were approved by God before they had done anything right or wrong, that they could not be disapproved by an act of sin in their lives now.” What heresy! The acid test of a tree is it’s fruit! He said that who you are as a born again child of God has nothing to do with what you do.” Really? I have a new testament that contradicts that statement on nearly every page!!!

I think a culture that wants to live carnally, and follow earthly pleasures and desires, has sought a license to do so, and called it GRACE. They love to say, no one is perfect so my sin is no different than yours. Again, that is heresy!

There are degrees of sin in the Kingdom of God just as there are in our earthly judicial systems. Let’s look at 1 John 5:16-17:

16 If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death , he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death. NKJV

What is the difference between sin that leads to death and sin that does not? Stay tuned until next week!

Be blessed,
Pastor Dave

Fresh Outlook!

By Jamie Tennant

We have loving, compassionate Pastors, who seek God’s face everyday for their sheep. We have a leadership team who desire for the people of God to grow in who they are in Christ. We have a worship team using their God-given gifts to usher us into His Presence every single service. We have home groups with the sole purpose of connecting the body of Christ together in more personal ways. We have servants in the house of God with a gift to make our church experience more enjoyable and easier. We have a prayer ministry team who loves the chance to pray over whatever need or situation we have in our lives. We are blessed. Immensely.

Yet, most of us have become too familiar with the people we’re doing life with to receive the full benefit of what the Father has put inside of them. One of the definitions of familiar is: unduly intimate (unduly means ‘in an improper manner’); too personal; taking liberties; presuming.

We’ve become too familiar with the person beside us or across the aisle from us. We won’t allow certain people to minister to us because we don’t think they have anything to offer us. We don’t honor them the way we should because we ‘know’ them now: their quirks, their faults, their mess ups. We’ve seen them in their good times and their ugly times. We’ve taken our intimate knowledge of them and used it improperly and we miss the gifts that God has put inside of them for us. Or, maybe we’ve only ‘heard’ things about them. We’ve taken what we’ve heard and presumed things about them.

Presume: to assume as true in the absence of proof to the contrary.

At this point we’ve put a harness on their ability to minister to us. We’ve taken liberties (unwarranted freedom in action or speech) on who we think they are, or what we think they’re capable of offering us. Everything we need for life is in God, and God uses the tribe He’s placed us in to provide for us. If we have an area in our life that seems lacking, then it’s time to take a look at the limits we’ve placed on the people in our tribe.

I am praying, personally, for fresh eyes to see the people of God that He’s placed around me. Instead of seeing Pastor Dave on stage preaching ‘just another message’, I pray for eyes to see a man of God with an impartation from God for ME and my life. Instead of seeing the prayer team at the end of service standing there ready to pray for my cold or some calamity in my life, I pray for eyes to see the people God has placed there to speak a blessing into my life. Instead of dropping my kids off with ‘the babysitters’ in the nursery, I pray for fresh eyes to see the servants God has gifted to pour Kingdom into my children.

I heard a pastor say recently that “God is going to invade the earth through breaking off familiarity.” We can even become too familiar with what God is doing in our lives. We become too intimate, in an improper manner, with the Hand of God in our lives that we don’t even recognize or give him honor for it. It’s amazing when God supernaturally provides for us financially, but when He does it 4 or 5 or 9 times, its become familiar and we don’t honor or acknowledge Him for it anymore. We’ve just made our intimacy with God improper. When we can’t point to God for what He’s doing in our lives, He can’t be glorified. If He can’t be glorified in your life then who or what is your life actually pointing to?

We break off familiarity by acknowledging what God is doing in our life and pointing Him out to others.When we share what He’s doing in our lives others begin to look for Him in their lives, and then they begin to point Him out to others, and then those people begin to look for Him, and then, and then, and then…

Let’s start by repenting for allowing ourselves to make God’s goodness ordinary in our lives. Let’s pray for fresh eyes to see Him all around us. Let’s brag on Him every chance we get and watch Him show up time and time again, like a domino effect. Let’s begin to gather together with a fresh outlook. Let’s pray for God to allow us to see people the way He sees them. Let’s look for ways to honor our leaders, our fellow believers and increase honor, which will increase faith to expect great things! Father! Give us fresh eyes to see what You want us to see! AMEN!