2018 Fast - Speak

And pray for me, too. Ask God to give me the right words so I can boldly explain God’s mysterious plan that the Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike.  Ephesians 6:19

Paul asked for the church to pray for him!

1. To give him the right words - sometime we lack in our own ability to have the right words to speak and God can give us words when others are praying for us.  This doesn't diminish the role of reading God's word and preparing by practicing, but our efforts will always fall short without the power of God behind our word.  Fancy words and memorized speeches will not always be "right" and definately won't be as powerful or affective as the word from the Holy Spirit.  

2. Boldness - sometimes it takes a boldness to speak up at the right time.  We need to have a wisdom to know the moment to speak and then a boldness to follow through when the Spirit leads us!  We can be an example as much as we want but sooner or later we must boldly speak the message of the Good News.

 
3. Ability to explain God's mysterious plan - people are at so many different places in their journey with God.  It can be dificult to know what words need to be used in which situation.  Some people struggle with their doubts, some struggle with their past, some don't think they are good enough to ever be forgiven... With out prayer and God's leading we will never be able to explain God's mysterious plan for different people in different places. 

4. Good News is for Jews and Gentiles alike - we need to remember that God's Good News is for EVERYONE!  

Pray for each other to  boldly speak and tell our story of what God has done for us!  

2018 Fast - Imitate

Jesus has many lovers of his heavenly kingdom but few bearers of his cross.  He has many seekers of comfort but few willing to face troubles and trial.  He finds many companions at his table but few with him fasting.  Many desire to rejoice with him, but few are willing to undergo adversity for his sake.  Many follow Jesus that they may eat of his bread, but few are willing to drink of the cup of his passion.  Many astonished at his miracles, but few follow after the shame of his cross.  Many love Jesus so long as no troubles happen to them.  Many praise him and bless him, so long as they receive comforts from him.  But if Jesus hides himself and seems to withdraw from them for even a little while, they immediately begin complaining or feeling a great sense of dejection. (Thomas A Kempis - Imitation of Christ)

Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. (Ephesians 5:1) 

2018 Fast - Truth

Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. (Ephesians 4:15) 

Truthfulness and honesty are a foundation to faith in Jesus and to unity in the Body of Christ!  
- without honesty there is no trust in God or others
- without honesty there is no depth to our sharing and relationships remain shallow
- without honesty we lose our testimony of love to our community 

Paul give us a key component to truth and that is that it must be accompanied by love!  Spoken truth can sometimes be harsh and will most likely not be received very well by people if it is not accompanied by love.  Love allows someone to hear that the truth you are speaking and be able to place it in their lives.  When I know someone loves me and they speak truth I need to hear, I receive it.  When someone doesn't care about me or ever act in love toward me and they speak the truth into my life, I tend to reject that truth and say, "consider the source!"  

If we want to grow more and more like Jesus we have to learn to put this into practice in our lives!
1. Learning to speak to others people truth even when it is difficult 
2. Learn to pray for enough love to speak to someone in truth 
3. Learn to receive the truth from others and let the truth do its work in our lives to become more like Jesus 

When are we tempted to be deceptive?  
When are we tempted to sugar coat the truth so not to offend? 
Do we believe the truth is powerful enough to speak it? 

2018 Fast - United

Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. (Ephesians 4:2-3) 

Paul reminds us that we can ALWAYS be humble and gentle!  Today humility and gentle spirits are so identified with weakness that we fail to see the value in these characteristics.  We don't get rewarded for them and we probably seldom get complimented for these qualities.  But that doesn't change the reality we are called to live humble and gentle lives in the context of our calling of God.  The "always" doesn't leave us too many exceptions for harsh or prideful behavior. 

Paul then goes on to call us to be patient with each other and to overlook other people's faults because of our love.  When we truly love others we can overlook their faults.  When we truly understand that God loves us even in our faults we can find the patience to deal with other people.  When I think about the long journey with God and His incredible patience with me through the years:  it helps me to have more patience for others.  Am I or will we ever be perfect in loving others and being patient with others?  No -most likely this is a lifetime journey of growth toward the completed goal.  

So Paul reminds us that we need to make every effort to keep ourselves unified with the Spirit of God.  The only way for us to be humble, gentle, patient and forgiving is to work hard at staying unified with the Holy Spirit of God.  It is not about making a New Year's Resolution to be humble, gentle, patient and forgiving because then we believe we can do it in our own strength!  We must spend our effort on staying connected to the powerful Spirit of God and He will help us increase in living in peace with each other.  

2018 Fast - Power

Ephesians 3:16-19
I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. 17 Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. 18 And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. 19 May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Strength and power are the keys to these verses from Paul's heart to the church.  Did you notice?  
1. God will empower us
2. Inner strength
3. Roots will grow
4. Power to understand God's love
5. Experience the love
6. Fullness of power from God

I often feel weak and limited.  In those times I need to remind myself that when I am weak, God is strong!  He can display His strength and love in me when I am weak.  

I often struggle to trust in God's power instead of doing things in my own ability.  God has blessed us with many gifts and so I am not saying we can't trust ourselves or believe in ourselves, but we must do things through prayer and asking God for empowerment.  When I get in trouble is when I end up telling God I can do this without Him by not doing my work with prayer and relying on the Holy Spirit to work beyond my abilities.  

God has all the power we need!  He wants to empower us with inner strength, growth and love!  Will we seek His power today?   

2018 Fast - Citizenship

Ephesians 2:19 So now you Gentiles are no longer strangers and foreigners. You are citizens along with all of God’s holy people. You are members of God’s family.

There is something powerful about belonging or conversely not belonging.  It is an amazing feeling to be connected to a group and to know your place and role in that group.  Peace and comfort are easy to find when we are connected!  However there may be no worse feeling then being isolated.  Belonging is one of the basic human needs.  We often try and believe we don't need it but it is just a lie of the enemy when we say we don't need other people.  We are create to live in community and in harmony with other people. 

Paul reminds the Gentiles that there status with God is one of belonging and they are no longer to see themselves as strangers or foreigners.  God in his plan to develop a people for Himself, the chosen people of Israel, had always desired His people to be a blessing to the world.  Instead the chosen people often chose to create an "us and them" mentality.  We are God's chosen people - everyone else is a Gentile heathen.  Paul reminds us that Jesus through the cross has broken down that separation and has made ONE Body of Christ of all who believe.  

Now we all have the opportunity to be citizens of God's family!  Citizenship has it rights and it has its obligations.  We have certain rights and freedoms as citizens of a nation but we have obligations like taxes and following the laws of the land.  As citizens of God's family there are incredible rights of prayer, spiritual power, forgiveness, peace, joy... As citizens we are asked to represent the family well!  Most of all as citizens of God's family we belong!  

Advent Week Two

He is Lord!  

I think that many of us, when Christ has enabled us to overcome one or two sins that were an obvious nuisance, are inclined to feel (though we do not put it into words) that we are now good enough. He has done all we wanted him to do, and we should be obliged if he would leave us alone. But the question is not what we intended ourselves to be, but what he intended us to be when he made us...

Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what he is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on. You knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised.

But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is he up to? The explanation is that he is building quite a different house from the one you thought of -- throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards.

You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage, but he is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it himself. (CS Lewis)

You call Me Master and obey me not,

You call Me Light and see me not,

You call Me way and follow me not

You call Me Life and desire me not,

You call Me wise and acknowledge me not,

You call Me fair and love me not,

You  call Me rich and ask me not,

You call Me eternal and seek me not,

You call Me gracious and trust me not,

You call Me Noble and serve me not,

You call Me mighty and honor me not,

You call Me just and fear me not,

If I condemn you, blame me not.

You call Me Master and obey me not!

Who is really in charge of your life and your daily decisions? You or Jesus? If He is Lord then we must live in submission to His will and His plan for our lives. We must pray daily like Jesus prayed in the garden, "I want your will to be done, not mine." Luke 22:42