Motivation in Ministry

When you study the life of Paul, you wonder what motivated him to continue in the ministry God had called him to. Paul paid a great price in following Christ. Immediately after he was struck blind on the Damascus road, Ananias was told that Paul would suffer for the sake of Christ and I wonder if he shared this with Paul.
Act 9:15 But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel.
Act 9:16 For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name."
Paul lived an extraordinary life and stayed faithful to the Lord throughout his entire life. He never quit in spite of all the challenges he faced. The church in Corinth that he established even questioned his qualifications as an apostle. When he wrote to the church in Corinth he defended his call to ministry and equality with the other apostles.
2Co 11:5 Indeed, I consider that I am not in the least inferior to these super-apostles.
2Co 11:6 Even if I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge; indeed, in every way we have made this plain to you in all things.
He even stated that he endured more suffering and hardships than anyone and went on to list all the things that happened to him in his pursuit of fulfilling God’s call on his life.
2Co 11:23 Are they servants of Christ? I am a better one--I am talking like a madman--with far greater labors, far more imprisonments, with countless beatings, and often near death.
2Co 11:24 Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one.
2Co 11:25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea;
2Co 11:26 on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers;
2Co 11:27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure.
2Co 11:28 And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.
Paul had a determination to fulfill his ministry, to pour himself out regardless of the cost or price of obedience. Nothing else seemed to matter to him and whatever trial or hardship or punishment that came his way was simply considered part of consequence of his calling. I am sure Paul did not enjoy these difficult times. Being whipped 4 times with 39 lashes each time must have caused intense pain that stayed with him for several days. Paul must have been Satan’s #1 enemy because of the damage he was doing to his work. He was targeted all the time because of the impact he was having on a lost world. Paul probably fought battles that you and I have yet to face. The level of intensity he encountered was most likely greater than you and I have ever faced. What was it that kept Paul running the race, fighting the enemy, constantly moving forward to advance the Kingdom and caring for the church that often had big issues to resolve? How did Paul stayed motivated to continue in the ministry?
I think of several things about Paul that I believe helped motivate him in his pursuit of God and I believe these are the same things that will help us as well.
First, Paul saw his horrendous condition before he met Christ. He saw how wretched a man he was before he encountered Christ. In Romans 6 he even stated that he was a wretched man who struggled to do what was right and often did the opposite thing he wanted to do before he met Christ.
Rom 7:22 For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being,
Rom 7:23 but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.
Rom 7:24 Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?
Paul called himself the chief of sinners.
1Co 15:8 Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me.
1Co 15:9 For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God.
1Co 15:10 But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me.
The damage he did to the believers prior to his salvation must have stayed with him throughout his life. Yes he was forgiven but the memory of what he had done was never wiped away. Paul saw himself for who he was, fully admitted his faults and realized that apart from God’s intervention in his life he would have continued to live a misguided life and caused further damage to God’s Kingdom. Paul recognized he was a debtor to Christ. He had nothing on his own that could ever give him what Christ had given him through salvation.
Eph 3:7 Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power.
Eph 3:8 To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
When he looked back on his life before he met Christ, he had nothing to boast about, all was loss to him.
Php 3:7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.
Php 3:8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

Whatever accomplishments he may have achieved when he was a devout Pharisee were considered as filthy rags to be thrown away. Paul did not have a high view of himself or his accomplishments in his life before he met Christ.
Prior to know Christ Paul stated that men are hostile toward God and he was including himself in this description. In Romans 1 Paul states that mankind recognizes that there is a God through the creation yet they choose to not believe in him because in doing so it will require them to submit to him.
Rom 1:28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
Rom 1:29 They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips,
Rom 1:30 slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,
Rom 1:31 foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.
Rom 1:32 Though they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.
We are rebels against God because we want to do what we want to do. Paul recognized this in his life as well.
We live in a time when people do not really want to admit how rebellious they are toward God. Most people will admit they are not perfect but they do not see themselves as rebels against God. They compare themselves with others according to human standards and in most cases they can say that they are not as bad as some people. Paul did not compare himself with others, he compared himself to the standard that God had set and in doing so saw himself for who he truly was and how desperately he needed Christ to save him from his sin and sin nature. If we do not see ourselves in our state of rebellion against God, being at enmity or hostility against God we will find it difficult to see a need to change.
Eph 2:1 And you were dead in the trespasses and sins
Eph 2:2 in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience--
Eph 2:3 among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.
One of the great motivating factors in Paul’s life is that he knew where he came from and how lost he was even though he was a very religious person. He saw the depth of his sin and was indebted to Christ for what he had done for him. We too must remember where we have been and how lost we were without Christ. Some of us have gone through some very difficult things in our lives before we met Christ and the consequences of our sinful lives perhaps are still with us. Others may have not experienced the same degree of sin but all of us were sinners bound for hell before Christ came into our lives to rescue us. The punishment and the destination of sinners regardless of the severity or amount of sin is the same.
In the jail that used to be in Antigua there were 2 sections. One section for people without money and the other for people with money. Those with money stayed in an area that was protected from the other section. They had a couch, refrigerator, tv, stove and the beer truck stopped each week to make deliveries. Hell is not like that, there is no special place for people who have committed what we would call lesser sins. All sin comes from a heart of rebellion against God and hostility toward God. The destination is the same. Paul knew what God had saved him from and eternity in hell and from living a life of rebellion against God. What Christ had done for Paul, I believe this was a primary motivation in fulfilling his call in spite of the difficulties he faced.

A second thing that motivated Paul was his love for Christ and his church. Because of his love for Christ he accepted his call to be an apostle to establish the church that is the Body of Christ. Christ and his church are inseparable; serving the church was serving Christ. Paul’s love for Christ was reflected in his love for the church. He labored to establish a local church wherever he was sent to proclaim the gospel. When you read any of the letters he wrote to the churches you quickly see how much he loved the church and how he longed for the church to become everything God wanted it to be. He encouraged, admonished, labored in prayer, disciplined, rebuked, made financial sacrifices, set standards for leadership, promoted unity, combated division, confronted sin, taught sound doctrine all for the purpose of making the church what it was designed to be. Paul’s love for Christ’s Body was evident and he devoted great effort to establish and maintain a healthy church. As an apostle, this was his calling and he could not walk away from it. To do so would be an act of disobedience to the Lord. His love for Christ was evidenced by his obedience to him and his service to the church. Our love for Christ must be the motivation for our obedience to his call in our life. Each of us has a calling from God just as Paul was called to be an apostle and establish the church. We do not pick and choose what we will do for the Lord. God asks us to love him and from this love serve him in whatever calling he gives us. When you truly love someone, you are willing to do whatever they desire that is in agreement with the word of God. There is a devotion to the person that is evidenced in our willingness and desire to do what is pleasing to them. Paul’s love for Christ motivated him in his service to him.
2Co_5:14 For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died;
We never read where Paul refused to do what God asked him to do. As you grow in your love for Christ, it will become easier for you to make changes in what you do for him. He may ask you to go a completely different direction or pursue an entirely new field. If you truly love him and know that he loves you, it will not be a hard thing to make the changes. Your heart will be set on being obedient to him and you trust him to take care of you as you walk out the calling. Faith works by love.
Gal_5:6 For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love.
If we truly love God it will not be a difficult thing to walk by faith because we trust the one who is leading us. Many people struggle with trying to figure out what they should do with their lives while other people choose to do what they want to do and do not give God consideration. Our first priority is to love God and develop our relationship with him. Out of this relationship of love we learn to set aside our selfish ambitions and make ourselves available to him to fulfill his calling on our lives.
Psa_37:4 Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
I believe that if we focus our attention and love on God he will make clear what he desires of us and we will respond in obedience because we desire to please him.
A third motivation of Paul was knowledge of the reward that would be given to him for completing his calling. Paul said, ‘I press on to receive the reward of the high calling.”
Php 3:13 Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,
Php 3:14 I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Paul had been given a glimpse of heaven and I believe he understood that there was a reward waiting for him as he completed the mission God had given him. We do not know all that God has prepared for us but what we do know is that is will be beyond our wildest dreams and expectations.
1Co_2:9 But, as it is written, "What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him"--
Paul understood that he did not labor in vain.
1Co 15:58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
The work he was doing for God had benefits on earth but also benefits for eternity. God is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.
Heb 11:6 And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.
He does not forget what you have done in obedience to him but takes note and will reward each of us for what we do to bring honor to him.
We are destined to be joint heirs of the rich inheritance God has for us. We will reign with him through out eternity and enjoy the presence and glory of God. We have so much to look forward to and like Paul stated
Php 1:21 For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.
Php 1:22 If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell.
Php 1:23 I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
Though Paul knew that heaven was a better place to be, he also knew there was fruitful labor for him to accomplish until the day God called him home. This should be our example as well that we continue in the race and remain motivated to accomplish fruitful ministry until our time on earth is over and we go on to receive our eternal reward.
When you begin to feel that you are waning in your motivation for service remember and remind yourself of these three things.
1. Where you have come from and where you would have been without Christ’s intervention.
2. Truly loving Christ and the work he has called you to do.
3. The reward that awaits you when you receive your inheritance.

The Road Less Traveled...July 2011

Happy 4th of July to my USA friends and family! I pray it is a great day of celebration of the freedom God has given to a nation that has been blessed in so many ways.
June was another great month of ministry as we continue to host teams and reach out into our community as well as other cities in Guatemala. We hosted a team from Louisiana and then had a YWAM Discipleship Training School team from Los Angeles stay with us for a week. The students were all from South Korea and were on their final weeks of their 2 month outreach and were looking for a place to minister so they contacted us on short notice and it all worked out for them to come. God has ways of fitting things together when we allow him to work in and through us. Only a few of the 9 adults spoke a little English and no one spoke Spanish so it was a bit of a challenge to communicate but it all worked out and their ministry was well received. We had a couple of days of Kids Club ministry with the team and the neighborhood kids really enjoyed learning about Korea. We enjoyed some of their Korean foods and were able to share with some of the families in the neighborhood as well. While the Korean team was with us we were also joined by 3 students from the DTS in Guatemala City who also came to finish their outreach phase. They plugged into our ministries and were a great help and blessing to us. We also had an intern, Dave Miller, from Philadelphia Bible University with us for 6 weeks. Dave is not a stranger to us as he participated in our discipleship school back in 2006. While here he met his wife who was studying Spanish in Antigua and they eventually married. He is finishing his degree and will begin full time ministry in a church. We have had a variety of people with different types of ministries working with us and we have truly enjoyed each one.
Currently we are hosting a group of 23 youth and adults from Georgia and will have one more team after they leave coming from Minnesota for a week of ministry before we begin the DTS at the base. It will be nonstop until December 15 for all our staff. We have 13 students coming for the DTS and we are looking forward to working with them. We have been blessed to have a new staff member join us who was a former student in a previous DTS we conducted. She will be helping with the DTS as well as taking on the hospitality of the base along with other ministries that we conduct. This has been an answer to our prayers and we thank God for his faithfulness to send the help we need.

Church Construction Update
Last month I sent out a request to help Pastor Antonio finish the construction on his church "Vida Real" (Real Life) in San Pablo La Laguna. Through the generous offerings of several people all the money has been raised and the new roof will be put in place soon! This has been a true miracle for the church to see God provide for their needs through the Body of Christ. I plan to be at the church when they have its dedication. I remember almost 5 years ago that we dedicated the piece of land that the church is now constructed on and prayed that God would do miraculous things through the church to reach out into the community. Thank you for praying and giving to help this church that is making a difference in their community.
International meal
One of the things I enjoy about YWAM is the opportunity to meet people from other countries and enjoy or at least try the foods they prepare. In this picture we had people speaking 5 different languages but our common bond was Christ.
Movie Night
Last Friday night we traveled to Parramos to show a film in the Central Park of the city. We were able to show about 10 minutes of the movie before the rains came and forced us to move to another location. We had four young men who had never gone to church or read a Bible come to Christ after the movie.

Helping the poor
Many of the children who come to our Kids Club live in very difficult situations. Eder and Carolina who head up the Kids Club make a point to visit some of the families each week. Often they find out the families have very little to eat and lack jobs to be able to provide. Some of the families have an absent father either due to death or abandonment. When we discover these needs we visit the families with some food and pray for them. We will be reaching out to the moms of the children who come to the Kids Club as well by inviting them to a special meeting to share a Christian movie and in the future help educate them on hygiene and nutrition for their children as well as share Christian principles for raising their families. Several of the children come to both the morning and afternoon session of the Kids Club as they are not attending school. One mom brought her deaf daughter to our meeting and asked for special prayer for her. She said her daughter could hear if she had a hearing aid but many who receive hearing aids are unable to pay for the batteries to be able to continue to use them. Please keep our Kids Club ministry in your prayers as it is such an important ministry for the future of the children.
Thank You!
I appreciate your prayers and financial support that have enabled me to be here. May God richly bless your life.
Contribution address:
YWAM Chico
15850 Richardson Springs Rd
Chico, CA 95973

Correspondence Address:
Bruce Ahlberg
3ra Av 1-30, Zona 6
Ciudad Vieja, Guatemala

Do you fear God?

When the United States invaded Iraq to overthrow Sadaam Hussein, they came in with a tremendous amount of firepower with the intention of causing “shock and awe” among the people leading to a quick surrender. When the Iraqi forces experienced the superior firepower of the opposing militaries they quickly deserted their army and allegiance to Sadaam Hussein. The hearts of the soldiers melted in fear and they quickly changed their minds. The shock and awe produced fear and trembling.
The Bible speaks about fear and trembling but not in the same sense as what happened in Iraq. There is a Biblical fear of the Lord and a trembling that comes from a proper understanding of the character and nature of God.
When we read portions of the Old Testament we often come across statements such as these:
Isa 66:1-2 Thus says the LORD: "Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool; what is the house that you would build for me, and what is the place of my rest? All these things my hand has made, and so all these things came to be, declares the LORD. But this is the one to whom I will look: he who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word.
Jer 5:21-22 "Hear this, O foolish and senseless people, who have eyes, but see not, who have ears, but hear not. Do you not fear me? declares the LORD. Do you not tremble before me? I placed the sand as the boundary for the sea, a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass; though the waves toss, they cannot prevail; though they roar, they cannot pass over it.
Psa 119:120 My flesh trembles for fear of you, and I am afraid of your judgments.
The word tremble according to Strong’s dictionary means: to twirl or spin, to writhe in pain, to fall grievously,
We don’t like to think about fear and trembling as a physical and mental reaction we should have in our relationship with God. We would much rather relate to the softer side of God who is gentle, compassionate, kind and merciful. Yet we cannot neglect the kindness nor the severity of God. We need to have a healthy understanding of greatness of God and the holiness of God. He is not to be treated as though he were just a common person. He is God and there is none other like Him. He wants us to take Him seriously and honor his Word through our obedience.
Israel’s failure
One of the problems the Israelites faced was going through all the rituals and ceremonies without a humble and contrite heart. Soon the sacrifices came to mean little to them, they were just an obligation, not a true desire of their heart to worship God in obedience to His word and love for him. It became routine, common and the true meaning was lost. Eventually they tried to offer sacrifices that were blemished, not even respecting the word God had given them through Moses. They lost their reverence for God and the things of God. They honored God with their lips, they said all the right things but their heart was far from Him. Their heart was set on doing things they wanted to do, God was a sideshow to them. They neither feared nor reverenced him. They did not tremble at God’s Word. In the end they gave themselves to worship false gods, idols made by the hands of man turning their backs on God and provoking him to wrath. There was no fear of God which according to Proverbs 8:13 is the hatred of all sin in thought, word and deed.
Pro 8:13 The fear of the LORD is hatred of evil. Pride and arrogance and the way of evil and perverted speech I hate.
Our Challenge
This same issues is something we as believers must constantly be on guard against it happening in our lives. Maintaining a proper fear of God, a humble and contrite heart is needed in this day when it is so easy for us to take lightly the things of God and focus on ourselves, doing things our way, according to what we desire. We become accustomed to the grace and mercy of God and make it cheap, taking advantage of it so we can do things we know are not a reflection of a true fear and reverence for God. This warped view of God has led many believers to embrace universalism. The Christian Post quoted a survey that indicated 1 of 5 Christians believe in universalism which means that everyone will eventually go to heaven because a loving God could not send anyone to hell. He will make a way for everyone to get into heaven. Some believe that even if people are sent to hell, God will continue to reach out in love for them until his love breaks the hardness of their heart and they are saved from their sin and brought into heaven. The Bible does not teach that at all. It teaches that few will find the narrow road that leads to heaven. There are no second chances after death.
Paul understood that one of the reactions to the knowledge of grace was that the people may think they could or should sin more so more grace could abound.
Rom 6:1-2 What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?
When we come to Christ we receive a new life, a life that desires to not sin, to be holy even as God is holy.
1Pe 1:14-16 As obedient children, do not be conformed to the passions of your former ignorance, 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."
If there is no desire for holiness, no fear of God which translates into a hatred for sin, no trembling before Him, then one has to question the depth of understanding of God’s nature and the depth of commitment to live in obedience to Him.
In Jesus’ first sermon given at the Mount, his first two beatitudes set the attitude that we must have if we are going to be serious and devoted followers of Christ.
Mat 5:3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Mat 5:4 "Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.
To be poor in spirit means that we see ourselves in our poverty of spiritual status before God. We see how needy we are, how much we need God and need to pursue Him wholeheartedly because in our own strength we fall short of what he requires of our lives. We see that we are nothing in ourselves but because of the grace and mercy of God we have received everything we need in Christ. Apart from Christ we are nothing and have nothing of value to God. When God looks at us, He sees the Christ in us, the righteousness we have received in Christ that has made us acceptable to him and useful to the work of His kingdom. We easily recognize physical or material poverty, it is all around us in Guatemala. But are we as quick to recognize our own spiritual poverty? Jesus said those who see their spiritual poverty are blessed, they are happy.
When we can see our poverty, it causes us to humble ourselves before God with a contrite and broken spirit. Have you ever had those moments when you remember how you responded in your flesh and carnal mind and you shake your head and say to yourself, “What was I thinking!” We see our lack of spirituality and we can only call upon the grace and forgiveness of God. I have had many flashbacks that have caused me to tremble at my own sinfulness and selfishness. Oh how I wish I could relive those moments so I could change the memory. Had I been living in the true fear of God and trembling at His Word I would have never done those things because I would have had the correct attitude toward God, His Word and how He wants me to treat people.
We sing “I am desperate for you.” We will only be able to sing this and mean it when we see our poverty of spirit and how much we must call upon God and cry out to Him to be our life. Jesus said those who mourn will be comforted. We mourn over our spiritual condition when we see ourselves in our great need.
We do not in our human and fleshly nature like to admit our poverty. We like to be self reliant, not needing anyone or anything because we are the captain of our ship. We fight against this attitude all the time when we do not consult others or insist on our way or are quick to give advice to another person without seeking God’s wisdom.
Christ modeled this humility by constantly seeking to only say and do what the Father revealed to Him.
Joh 5:19 So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.
He came to do the will of His father, not his own.
Joh 6:38 For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.
His teachings were not his own but what the Father had revealed to Him.
Joh 7:16 So Jesus answered them, "My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me.
Christ lived with a dependency upon his Father and without humility he would never have been able to do this. Humility causes us to submit ourselves to God and to one another. We realize our poverty and need and are willing to submit ourselves to God and to each other in true humility.
Because of our poverty of spirit we have to learn to first go to God and in humility and contriteness of heart to seek His wisdom and counsel so we don’t just do what we want to do. We come to God in humility, dependence upon Him because we see our need and in expectation that He will respond. Joy Dawson is one woman who has learned to seek God in her ministry and life. She was invited to speak at a conference but when she prayed about what she should teach, the Lord did not give her a word to share with the people. So when she got up to speak she told the audience that she did not have a word from God and they would have to wait in prayer with her until he gave her something to say. Now for most people this would be very uncomfortable and perhaps humiliating but for Joy she did not care about pleasing people but being obedient to God. She said she waited joyfully for 10 minutes and then the Lord gave her a word to share with the people. She has learned to fear God, to wait upon him until he speaks before she acts.
Pro 18:1 Whoever isolates himself seeks his own desire; he breaks out against all sound judgment.
This verse is talking about someone who is so intent on getting what they desire that they refuse to seek the counsel of anyone, isolating himself from everyone. He is not open to receiving counsel and in truth does not want it. When we isolate ourselves we insulate ourselves from the help of others and we do it because we do not want them to speak against what we have already determined we want. In so doing we shut out sound judgment and we are destined to fail.
Humility and contriteness of heart is also demonstrated when we invite the counsel of others who will also seek the mind of God. I believe that when we have this attitude we please the heart of God and He will give us what we need.
When the early church had to make a decision about what to do with the new Gentile believers, they met together in Jerusalem to seek the wisdom of God. They came up with a solution that “was good to us and to the Holy Spirit”.
Act 15:28 For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements:
They did not come up with their own solution based on their own ideas but relied on the Holy Spirit to show them what was the right way to respond to the issue they faced. This response reflected that they understood they were poor in spirit and needed the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
When we recognize this poverty of spirit it should drive us to our knees in prayer. We should be less prone to make quick decisions based solely on our own understanding and desires. We should immediately seek God for his wisdom and trust that he will give us the answer and the wisdom we need. If we are in a crisis God will respond and give us the solution as we seek Him.
The early church learned quickly to take God seriously and not try to deceive the Holy Spirit. When Ananias and Sapphira were stuck dead because they lied to the Holy Spirit, great fear came upon the people.
Act 5:11 And great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard of these things.
The church did not shrink nor were people afraid to join the church but it grew quickly and God did great signs and wonders among the people.
Act 9:31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.
When God is feared and taken seriously it has a positive effect and people are drawn to him in repentance.
When you read of the revivals in England and in the USA during the 1800 and early 1900 one of the amazing results was how people were convicted of their sin as the fear of the Lord came upon them. Bars were shut down and people fell under conviction of their sin. They got serious with God and abandoned their sins to seek Him with all their heart. There was a healthy fear and trembling that took place in these revivals.
We need to pray and ask for the fear of the Lord to come upon us in our daily pursuit of God. When we have the fear of the Lord it will be demonstrated in hatred for evil and a desire to be obedient to whatever the Lord asks of us. Our main desire will be to please him and do what he desires in instant obedience.
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction. (Prov. 1:7). If we desire to grow in knowledge of God it begins with having an understanding of the fear of the Lord. We must pray not only for ourselves to have this fear but also for those who are teachers and preachers of God’s Word who are held at a higher standard because of the influence they have (James 3:1 Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.)
We must also pray for the lost that the fear of God will come upon them to cause them to repent and seek God wholeheartedly. In the ministry to the homeless many of them are where they are at because of a sinful lifestyle that is marked with addictions to drugs. In talking with some of them there is no desire to totally give up what is holding them back and keeping them in their situation. There is no fear of God, no hatred for the sin that is keeping them in bondage. They are playing with sin and it is destroying their lives. We need to start praying for the fear of God to fall upon them, for such a hatred of what they are doing that they will repent from it and renounce it and seek the help they need to see their lives completely transformed.
Joy Dawson told a story of an evangelist with YWAM Allan Williams. Before he came to Christ, he was living a life of a pagan. He was a sailor and spent every weekend on shore in the bars. When he arrived in New Zealand he did the same things he always did, got drunk and lived immorally. But during this time several people in New Zealand were praying for the fear of the Lord to fall upon sinners and bring them to salvation. One day when Allan was walking down a main street of Auckland he suddenly said to himself, “Is there no other way to live?” As he kept repeating these words he saw a church and went into it, kneeling in prayer, he asked God to show him if there was another way to live. The next day he went walking again and walk into a coffee shop. A believer sitting next to him began to share the gospel message with him. He listened but did not make a decision for Christ at this time. Two days later he was walking the same street and another man came up to him and invited him to go to an evangelistic service at a mission and he accepted. At this service he accepted Christ and never turned back from following him. Allan became one of the most effective street preachers in YWAM and has led many people to Christ.
As we come in contact with people who are lost let’s begin to pray that the fear of the Lord will fall on them to turn them away from sin and toward God who desires to set them free.
I believe God is calling us to a higher standard in these days when evil abounds. He wants us to be separated unto him. When we reverence Him and fear Him, we lay the foundation upon which he can build our lives based on the knowledge of him and live a holy life to honor Him. He wants us to take Him and His word seriously. As we live this out, we can pray for others to also live in the fear of the Lord and enter into the life of obedience that God desires and deserves.

So What?

I remember one time witnessing to some young girls from the USA in Central Park of Antigua who were not believers in Christ and were in fact quite hostile toward Christians. When they were told that Christ died for them, one girl said “So what, a lot of people die for other people.” To her the death of Christ was not anything more special than the death of someone who perhaps gave their life to protect freedom or some other cause. She did not understand what the death of Christ accomplished because she did not understand her need for a Savior. When we understand our status before God without Christ we should tremble. The prophet Isaiah had this experience when he was in the presence of God.

(Isa 6:1-7) In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the LORD of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost (undone); for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.”

When Isaiah stood in the presence of God, he saw himself for who he was and his comment was “Woe is me for I am undone.” The word undone can be translated disintegrated, or coming apart. He felt shattered in the presence of a holy God because he knew he was a man of unclean lips. He saw himself as he truly was and how unworthy he was to be in the presence of a holy God because of his sin. The holiness of God, his utter separation from sin and hatred of sin, is a concept foreign to many people today. We tend to downplay sin and make it a trivial thing that everyone does so get used to it kind of thing rather than see it for what it is in the eyes of God and what he had to do to take care of the problem of sin. The world tries its best to make us insensitive to sin until we reach the point where we accept behaviors identified as sin in the Bible, as normal.

When Peter met Christ and saw his miraculous power at work, he saw himself for who he was.

(Luk 5:1-8) On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret, and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets. Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat. And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking. They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink. But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”

When we have a revelation of the holiness of God, we see ourselves as we truly are and we are made aware of our sinful state. We live in a time when people do not want to see God for who he is, they want to see him in the way they have created him so they can continue living a lifestyle that is not in agreement with his standards. I read of a couple in England who were rejected as potential foster parents because they said that homosexual behavior was wrong and because of this they were deemed unfit to be foster parents because they would teach this belief to others which in the eyes of the authorities were wrong. Your Christian beliefs may disqualify you from work with a government that has accepted values that are not in alignment with the Scriptures. The separation of true believers in Christ and the truth of the Bible is becoming more defined each day. God’s holiness is not understood and it is being trampled under the feet of those who have no revelation of this aspect of God’s character and nature. It is the responsibility of the Holy Spirit to convict the world of sin. He has to reveal to the heart of man his sinful condition before a Holy God so that he will feel undone. If we do not have this revelation, we will never grasp the significance of the death of Christ and what he has accomplished for us.

Sin has infected the entire world, no one is exempt from its influence. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). Sin brought death to mankind, physical death and eternal separation was what Adam and Eve received when they disobeyed God. Adam was not created to die but to live with God eternally, sin cut his life short as well as the lives of all who would be born after him. Physical death meant separation from God and the possibility of living eternally with God no longer existed. God did not want to be eternally separated from his creation that he created to have an eternal relationship with him. The only way the death penalty could be taken away was to deal with the problem of sin that brought death. The solution was found in Christ who was slain before the foundation of the world. God’s plan was to send His Son who would live a sinless life and give his life as a sacrifice to meet the just demand of God for payment for sin.

In preparation for Christ’s death on the cross for mankind’s sin, God introduced the sacrificial system in the Passover feast celebrated by the Jews at this time of year. The symbolism and the significance of this event would be fulfilled and explained in the death of Christ. The lamb that chosen by each family and was slain symbolized the Lamb of God who would one day come to take away the sins of the world. This lamb was unblemished and was a mature lamb just as Christ was sinless and at a mature age. When the blood of the lamb was spread on the door posts of each home, the death angel passed over it and the lives of all inside the home were spared. Death of the first born whether animal or male was required. Those who did not offer the lamb lost their first born son. Christ was God’s first born and he had to die, he had to shed his blood, in order for God’s justice to be served and the death penalty to be met. His blood represented his life and through his blood we received forgiveness for our sins so that we would not be eternally separated from God. The problem of sin and its penalty were taken care of on the cross where Jesus willingly laid down his life and shed his blood for us. His blood cleanses us from all our sin, it wiped out the record of all our wrong doings past present and future. Without the shedding of blood there can be no forgiveness of sin and the penalty of death and separation would still be upon us.

Jesus experienced the wrath of God for sin when he took on our sins. We no longer have to experience the wrath of God because Jesus took our place. Those who have placed their faith in the finished work of Christ have been liberated from the wrath of God and the penalty of sin.

God could not overlook sin; it was too serious an offense and a violation of his nature to brush it off lightly. Payment had to be made to maintain the character of God. He could not be a holy or loving God if he allowed sin to remain and not go unpunished. True love is demonstrated in hatred of sin. Every parent hates to see things happen to their children that will destroy them. Their love for their child is demonstrated in their hatred of things that will destroy or harm them. God has a holy hatred of sin because of the death and destruction it has brought into the world. He cannot tolerate it and remain holy or say that he loves us. Sin stirs up the wrath of God and Jesus became the object of God’s wrath when he took upon himself the sins of the world. The most violent display of God’s wrath was demonstrated in the crucifixion of Christ. God’s full wrath against sin was placed on Jesus. As Jesus hung on the cross and neared his time of death, darkness came upon the physical earth which is symbolic of the darkness of sin that would enter Jesus. When the full brunt of sin was placed upon Jesus he cried out, “It is finished!” In the Old Testament sacrificial system when the priest offered the lamb to be slain he would state, “It is finished.” Jesus used those same words when he offered himself as the sacrifice for our sins.

Immediately after this the heavy curtain that separated the Holy of Holies from the Holy place was torn from top to bottom signifying that access to God was not completely restored. When a Jewish father learned of the death of a son, he would rip his clothing from top to bottom.

The debt of sin has been paid in full and the death of Christ was the full payment God required. Paul used this analogy .

Colossians 2:13-15; 13And when you were dead in trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made youalive together with him, when he forgave us all our trespasses, 14erasing the record that stood against us with its legal demands. He set this aside, nailing it to the cross. 15He disarmedthe rulers and authorities and made a public example of them, triumphing over them in it.

In the days of Paul it was customary for the debt of a person to be written by the debtor on a piece of paper and placed on the door of their home as a reminder of what they owed. When the debt was paid the person who the debt was owed would write that the debt had been paid in full and fold the paper over so that no one would see the debt. Another way that was used to eliminate the debt record was to wipe the ink from the vellum that was used to record the debt. The ink did not penetrate the vellum so a person could use a wet cloth and wipe completely clean the ink record of the debt. Christ’s death wiped clean the record against us which was the Law that we could not keep. Christ paid a debt he did not owe and I owed a debt I could not pay! How can we say “So what?” when we understand what Christ has done for us in our helpless condition! We should be doing cartwheels, handstands, loud shouting and whatever expressions that reflect the gift we have received. Christ has done for us what we could never do for ourselves. The weight of debt has been lifted off of us and we are free!

Christ’s death satisfied God’s just requirement. It is the only solution for the problem of sin in the world today. Nothing but the blood of Jesus could satisfy God’s justice. Thank you Jesus for your blood!!!

Christ’s resurrection was the capstone of the work of Christ. His resurrection makes possible our resurrection.

(1Co 15:12-17) Now if Christ is proclaimed as raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead. But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, then our preaching is in vain and your faith is in vain. We are even found to be misrepresenting God, because we testified about God that he raised Christ, whom he did not raise if it is true that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile and you are still in your sins.

Had Christ not been raised we would not have the hope of eternal life. If there is no resurrection Paul stated that we have been fools because we are destined to the grave and that is all there is. If Christ was not raised from the dead it would mean that falsehood and lies are stronger than the truth. If the enemies of Christ has succeeded in destroying him, their lies would have been stronger than the truth he proclaimed. John 8:40 “ but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did.”

It would have also meant that evil and hatred were stronger than goodness and love. If Christ was not raised from the dead then these forces that were unleashed in the crucifixion were stronger than goodness and love. We would have no hope that evil and hatred would ever be overcome.

If Christ was not raised from the dead it would mean that death is stronger than life. We would have no hope of being resurrected from the dead, the grave would be our final destination.

Our resurrection means we will be transformed with a new body just as Christ was transformed. The physical limitations we have experienced will be eliminated. We will receive a glorified body that will not perish but live for eternity with God. The apostle John said, 1Jn 3:2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. It will be an instantaneous transformation that takes place, we shall be changed. Doctors can do a lot today to transform our bodies. We can receive artificial limbs, someone else’s organs and now they are able to take someone else’s face and put it on you. But all of these things are temporal, death will come to all of us but through the resurrection of Christ we too will be resurrected to a new body and life that will be beyond any human description. God has something special prepared for us and we will have to have a new mind and body to be able to enjoy it. I can’t wait for that to happen, in fact I have asked God in 2011 to give me a visit to heaven. Now I don’t know if I will get my request and I am not asking for an early death, I just want to get a little glimpse of what is waiting for us. If you are interested in joining me let me know so that when the journey happens I can ask if you can come with us!

We want to remember Christ tonight as we take the communion elements. Jesus had a great desire to celebrate the Passover with his disciples. He made special arrangement to be with them in a private room where he would have his final meal with them. When he took the bread and the wine he gave them new meaning. The bread would from now on symbolize his body that would be beaten to shreds and placed on the cross. The wine represented his blood that would symbolize the new covenant that would never need to have a high priest make sacrifices of animals nor all the ceremonies that accompanied the sacrificial system.

(Heb 9:11-23) But when Christ appeared as a high priest of the good things that have come, then through the greater and more perfect tent (not made with hands, that is, not of this creation) he entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption. For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh, how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God. Therefore he is the mediator of a new covenant, so that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance, since a death has occurred that redeems them from the transgressions committed under the first covenant. For where a will is involved, the death of the one who made it must be established. For a will takes effect only at death, since it is not in force as long as the one who made it is alive. Therefore not even the first covenant was inaugurated without blood. For when every commandment of the law had been declared by Moses to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, with water and scarlet wool and hyssop, and sprinkled both the book itself and all the people, saying, “This is the blood of the covenant that God commanded for you.” And in the same way he sprinkled with the blood both the tent and all the vessels used in worship. Indeed, under the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness of sins. Thus it was necessary for the copies of the heavenly things to be purified with these rites, but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

Mat 26:26-29 Now as they were eating, Jesus took bread, and after blessing it broke it and gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my body.” And he took a cup, and when he had given thanks he gave it to them, saying, “Drink of it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. I tell you I will not drink again of this fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”

As we prepare to celebrate the Resurrection Day, let us always be mindful of all Christ has done for us through his death that has enable us to have access to God and the hope of life eternal.

God's Heart for the lost

Jesus came to show us the heart of His Father toward the lost and in every encounter Jesus had with people we understand more clearly what God is like and what we are also to become. Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well in Samaria gives us a clearer understanding of God’s heart toward the lost.
When Jesus encountered the woman at the well in Samaria, he did several things that crossed barriers between the Jews and Samaritans. He crossed an ethnic and religious barrier by talking with a Samaritan. There was no love between these two groups of people, they were bitter enemies of each other. The Samaritans were not considered true Jews because they intermarried with the pagan nations after their captivity in 722 B.C. and lost their identity as a nation and became known as the lost tribes of Israel. They were also at odds with the other tribes because they did not worship in Jerusalem but worshipped at Mount Gerizim. The Samaritans were considered as pigs to the true Jews.
The Jews in route from Galilee to Judea had to pass through Samaria which was in between the two areas or take an alterative route that was twice as long. So in order to save time Jesus and his disciples were passing through.
Another barrier was the gender issue of talking to a woman. Rabbis were not supposed to talk to women or their wives or daughters in public. Women in general were not treated with great respect nor given equal opportunities for education and training in the Law. A sect of Jewish Pharisees would close their eyes when a woman was coming toward them so as to not look at them. This caused them to run into things which caused some physical pain. The woman Jesus was talking to had another strike against her as she was a 5 time divorcee and was currently shacking up with a man. There were enough strikes against her to keep a true Jew and Rabbi away from her and this is why the disciples were shocked to see Jesus interacting with her.

Their small confined world needed to be expanded to see God's love for all people and desire to give them "living water." They needed a revelation of the heart of God and Jesus modeled that to them. Tonight I want to look at several of the misunderstanding the disciples had about the heart of the Father toward the lost as we look at the actions and words of Jesus.
John 4:31-42

Joh 4:31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, "Rabbi, eat."
Joh 4:32 But he said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about."
Joh 4:33 So the disciples said to one another, "Has anyone brought him something to eat?"
Joh 4:34 Jesus said to them, "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.
Joh 4:35 Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.
Joh 4:36 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.
Joh 4:37 For here the saying holds true, 'One sows and another reaps.'
Joh 4:38 I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor."
Joh 4:39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me all that I ever did."
Joh 4:40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days.
Joh 4:41 And many more believed because of his word.
Joh 4:42 They said to the woman, "It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world."

The disciples did not understand Jesus' motivations for talking with this woman. The scriptures said they did not say anything to him when they returned from shopping and saw Him talking to her but John records what was going through their minds..." "What do you seek?" or, "Why are you talking with her? You have to wonder what they were thinking Jesus was after, was it good or bad? Maybe they thought Jesus had some bad motives in talking to her. Perhaps they put themselves in the situation and thought about what they would have been seeking from this woman who came alone. Jesus' motivations are always pure; they are always with the best in mind for whomever he is talking to. The disciples perhaps wrestled with the idea of impure motivations but they did not say anything. We can often do the same thing with God. We question him in our mind and lack understanding of why he is doing something in our life or the life of another person. God's motivations are always based in his love for us, there can never be an evil thought in God's mind in his dealing with us.
Or perhaps the disciples had learned by this time to not question what or why Jesus did the things he did. Maybe they at least understood that he had good reasons and motivations for what he did even though they did not understand and inwardly questioned his actions because of their prejudices against Samaritans and women.
Our motivations in talking with people have to come from our obedience to God and they must be pure. Jesus was concerned about the spiritual well fare of this woman. He understood her wrong beliefs as well as the rejection she faced from many people. His motivation was to bring truth to her and be a blessing to her life. In crossing the ethnic, religious and gender barriers Jesus demonstrated that he cared for her as a person and the things held against her would not keep him from demonstrating his concern for her.

Jesus gave this woman value, she was worthy of his time and effort to engage in a conversation with her.
The disciples did not give this woman the same value that Jesus gave her. She was a 5 time loser when it came to marriage fidelity. She probably did not have many friends and came to the well by herself at the hottest part of the day. She was doctrinally way off and ethnically not the right pedigree. Jesus saw past all of that but the disciples could not. They were locked into a different mindset that would not give any value to this woman. Jesus saw a woman who needed understanding. She needed to be set free from misunderstandings and be given the opportunity to see her true Messiah. Jesus could have completely ignored this woman and the disciples would have totally understood and agreed with his actions. But Jesus came to save sinners not condemn them. The value of the human soul cannot be measured and that is why it is imperative that every person has the opportunity to meet the Messiah. Jesus did not care what the disciples might think when they saw him talking to her. He saw a person of infinite value who deserved to know the truth. He was willing to taint his reputation to talk with her because she was of such value in the eyes of God.
Sometimes the hardest thing for us is to look beyond the exterior or even the interior of a person to see their true value to God. How we treat people and interact with them is often a reflection of the value we give them. We are all of equal value and importance to God and if this were not true Jesus would not have become a man to save us from our sin. Often we need to just get over our prejudices and preconceived ideas and get beyond our limited understanding so we can get to the real issue and the need of lost people.
If you have never had the opportunity to listen to "A Man Called Norman" by Mike Atkins I would encourage you to do it. It is the story of Mike's befriending his neighbor Norman who was an outcast in his city. Mike was able to get over many of his self imposed barriers, get beyond Norman’s limitations and idiosyncrasies so he could get to the heart of Norman and reveal the Messiah to him. It is a great testimony that I know you will enjoy.

Another thing the disciples did not understand was the real purpose of Jesus' life. They often only thought in terms of the physical and did not see the spiritual aspect of Jesus life and words. When they wanted him to eat he came up with a reply that they did not understand in the sense that Jesus meant it to be understood.
"I have food to eat that you do not know about." Their first thoughts and only thought at this time was that Jesus was talking about physical food. Jesus often seemed to communicate at a level that they were not able to understand and I am sure it was a bit frustrating for them. Their lack of spiritual understanding was evident in their response. ”Has anyone brought him something to eat?" The disciples did not understand that they were spiritual beings that had a soul that lived in a body. They saw and interpreted things through their 5 senses and thus did not understand the spiritual things Jesus was communicating to them. Years later they could look back and say, "Oh now I get it!"
The food Jesus was talking about was his true purpose in life "My food is to do the will
of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.
This took precedence over physical needs and this was the priority of His life. The very thing that gave Him life was His obedience to His Father. His greatest desire and I believe His greatest joy was found in doing the will of His Father.
This has to be our focus as well, knowing and doing the will of the Father. There are two areas we must focus on to accomplish the will of God.

One is to destroy the works of the enemy by proclaiming what Christ has done to defeat him. Jesus' resurrection has stripped him of his greatest weapon, the fear of death. The resurrection of Jesus is the greatest moment in history because of its impact on Satan. As long as Satan could kill people in their sin they would never be able to be united with a Holy God. He experienced being cast out of heaven because of his own rebellion. He understands that sin brings death and his greatest tool was creating a fear of death and its destiny. We were helpless to do anything that could take away this fear. We were in bondage to the enemy whose greatest delight is to see people killed and die in their sin. He knows there destiny and when Jesus died he thought the battle was won. Christ's resurrection destroyed his power and liberates everyone who believes in Christ from the fear of death. Every time we proclaim the gospel message we do violence to Satan and his demons. They do not want to hear the gospel proclaimed and we can see the wrath of the enemy in the laws of certain religious beliefs that today are killing people who do not believe as they do. This belief is 100 percent inspired by Satan because its whole purpose is to impose death and silence the voice of messengers of the gospel. Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life, he who believes in me will never die." These are powerful words that destroy the work of the enemy.

The second focus is to establish God's Kingdom and will on earth as it is in heaven. Heaven is our pattern. If it exists in heaven then we need to bring it to earth. Establishing God's Kingdom means we bring heaven to earth. When Jesus came to earth he brought the Kingdom of heaven to earth through his acts of obedience to the will of His Father. Everything that Jesus did was in response to what he saw his Father do. Jesus performed the will of His Father which involved revelation of truth and its proclamation, miracles, signs and wonders.
Bill Johnson, pastor of Bethel Church in Redding, Cal. made this statement. "We often form our theology based on the things that don't happen rather than on the things that do happen." When someone is healed of a sickness we don't base our theology on the healing but instead base it on those who were prayed for but not healed. If sickness is God's will then why should we fight against it? Will we not be fighting against God? If we base our beliefs on what heaven is like it will solve some of the areas that we see confusion. We have to believe with all our heart that what God desires on earth is the same thing he has in existence in heaven. Our job is to bring that Kingdom to earth but that will only happen when we truly believe that this is what God desires.
We can look at the end times prophesies in a couple of ways. We can see them as promises of what is going to happen and sort of just give in and say it is coming to an end and there is not much we can do about it. Or we can look at these words as being descriptors of the conditions that we will face in the battle to establish God's Kingdom. I believe God wants us to engage in the battle with greater intensity in spite of all the things that are happening that are causing some to lose heart and lose faith. We are not to throw in the towel but take up the towel and serve as Jesus served. Our goal is to establish as much of the Kingdom of God as is possible until they day Jesus returns to reign for 1000 years.

The disciples also did not understand the time factor.
Do you not say, 'There are yet four months, then comes the harvest'? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.
The harvest as they viewed it was in the future but in Jesus' eyes it was now. The Samaritans were the harvest field and the time of the harvest was now. I believe that God is opening a door for the gospel in several of the nations in the Middle East. I listened to a message from Andrew White, a Vicar from the Anglican church of England who has been working in Iraq for 13 years. He reported that the church is growing and God is doing miracles among the people. Christians have been killed and Andrew asked God what he should do and he told him to get the Islamic leaders together for a meeting at which he presented a fatwa. A fatwa is an Islamic religious ruling, a scholarly opinion on a matter of Islamic law.
He did that and presented the problem of the killing of Christians and since that time there has been any killings.
God is opening the doors in Libya as well. CBN in their news broadcast called "World Christian News"(April 1: 6.50) has reported that there is an openness to the gospel and a great need for literature to be given to the people.
We must understand the time and act quickly because the harvest is ripe. We have to always be ready to share with people. The devil will always tell you that this is not the right place or time to do it. You may be in a public place or in your work place and it may seem to be awkward but when the opportunity is there we have to take advantage of it. Delayed obedience is disobedience. We need to be more concerned about being obedient to God than any lies and limitations the enemy may place in your mind to tell you to wait.
The time for the Samaritans to hear the message from Jesus was now and after Jesus' conversation with the woman he stayed in the city for two days to minister to the lost and many came to believe in Him.

The disciples also needed to have the same vision that Jesus had. They had to lift up their eyes so they could see the harvest. Their focus was on getting through Samaria and they missed seeing the harvest field of souls that was there. We can miss out on what God wants to do because we are so focused on the next thing that we do not see what is in front of us or around us. We have to be in tune with the Holy Spirit and respond when he puts a message in our heart to talk with someone. God has spoken to Jesus about this Samaritan woman's life and Jesus knew that this was given to him to be used to open her heart to him. God revealed to Jesus that this woman had been married five times and was now shacking up with a man. I don't think he did this to shame her but used it as a way to get her attention and reveal His true nature and mission. Words of knowledge have a way of getting our attention and are gifts from God to show us his love and concern for us. We need to keep our eyes open to see what God sees so we can respond as He wants us to respond. As we learn to walk in the Spirit and hear God's voice I believe He will reveal things to us about people that will open their hearts to receive the gospel. One of the gifts of the Holy Spirit is the Word of Knowledge where the Holy Spirit supernaturally gives you knowledge about a person or situation. It is a great gift to have when we are witnessing to people. The Samaritan woman was so impressed that she went back to her village and invited the people to meet Jesus. "He told me all that I ever did." was her summation of Jesus' conversation with her. Ask God for his vision to see the harvest field of souls and for the gift of the word of knowledge to help open the door to the soul of a person.

The final area the disciples did not understand was the process of sowing and reaping when it pertains to the salvation of people. God is always at work to prepare people to receive the gospel message. He has placed eternity in the hearts of people. When we talk with people we are either ones who are sowing seeds of the gospel in the heart of the person or we may be the one who leads them to Christ. We may not always see instant results but we must believe that when the word is sown it will not return void. It will produce results. Some seed may take years to take root and grow while others will be planted in fertile soil and come to Christ quickly. Our witness must always draw people to Christ and give them a clearer picture of the love of God for them.
In the news of recent days we have witnessed the response of the Muslims in Afghanistan after the pastor Terry Jones from Florida had a trial on the Koran and it was burned. The Daily Beast reported the following:
"During his day in New York City, in full peace-maker mode, Jones promised Today show host Carl Quintanilla that his church wouldn't burn any Korans, "not now, not never." By the New Year, however, Jones had come up with a knockout pitch. The church couldn't burn Korans—but what if it was no longer a church? What if it was, instead, a courtroom, the Koran was on trial, and burning was one of the possible penalties? "The complaints about International Burn a Koran Day was that it was unfair," the pastor told The Daily Beast. "Muslims told us that it was not a book of violence but one of peace. We said, OK: a fair way to discern that would be to put the book on trial. We'd bring charges against it and invite them to defend it." The charges were the following:
"1) Crimes against humanity: training and promoting terrorist activities throughout the world. 2) Death, rape, and torture of people worldwide whose only crime is not being of the Islamic faith. 3) Crimes against women, against minorities, against Christians with the promoting of prejudice against anyone who is not a Moslem."
The Koran was found guilty and sentenced to burning. The aftermath has been horrible as over 20 people have been killed by irate Muslims.
NBC April 3 ( 6:13) gave this report.
The political process and relationships that have been established have been set back by these actions and I am sure the spiritual advances in the lives of many of these people have also been damaged. Actions like these hardly show the love of God for the Muslim world. Has the burning of the Koran drawn people to Christ or driven them further away?
We must be careful of what type of seeds we are planting in the hearts of people. We must speak the truth in love if we want it to be received and responded to positively. We do not have to apologize for the truth but we must be careful how we speak against what other beliefs and trust the Word of God to be living and active, sharper than a two edged sword (Hebrews 4:12). The Word of God will accomplish more than any negative criticism we speak against people. We have a message of love, redemption, healing, freedom, forgiveness and grace that this lost world needs to hear.

Jesus came to reveal God's heart for the lost. In his interaction with the Samaritan women and through his teaching to the disciples at this incident we see more clearly what this involves.
1. Our motivation in sharing with people must always be pure and for their benefit.
2. We must give them the same value that God does putting away all or our preconceived ideas and prejudices.
3. We must embrace our true purpose as Jesus did by destroying the works of the enemy and establishing the Kingdom of God.
4. We have to understand the time of the harvest is now and take action.
5. Our vision must be focused on the ripened harvest and not ourselves.
6. Our witness is part of the process of sowing and reaping. Our seeds must always draw people closer to acceptance of Christ as Savior.

I pray that each of us will have the heart of the Father toward the lost and be actively sharing the gospel message as Jesus has demonstrated to us in his life and ministry.

The Cultural of Abundant Life

We live in a time when death and destruction are all around us and it seems to be on the increase with everything that is happening in the world today. The natural disasters, revolutions and increase in violence have the potential of causing our attention to be focused on death. For some people life is too hard or is meaningless and they make decisions to end their life and often the life of other people who they have seemingly insurmountable issues. In my home state of Minnesota a 16 year girl was murdered by her17 year old boyfriend who then committed suicide. He had been planning this act and left evidence of it on his computer. Japan is a nation with a high suicide rate because of its emphasis on success and the pressures that are created from it. We need to continue to pray for the people in Japan who have suffered great losses that the temptation to end their lives will be replaced with the message of hope that comes from the gospel.
During this time in Guatemala there is great emphasis on the suffering and death of Christ. You will see many processions that play the dirge music and show Mary weeping and Christ's suffering. The term the passion of the Christ means the suffering of Christ. It is important for us to remember what Christ endured for our sins and we must never take lightly the suffering he encountered physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually when he was on the earth. He came to earth to give us life through his death. He came to free us from the bondage of sin so we could experience life in its fullness. He wants us to celebrate being a culture of abundant life and not death. Jesus came to show us the life that we can have when we are in right relationship with God.
In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said,
Mat 6:25 "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Mat 6:27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?
One of the first things Jesus addressed was being anxious about the basic life needs of food, drink and clothing. Jesus wants us to be free from these concerns so we can focus on what is really the essence of life. The reason we can do this is explained in the next verses that assure us that God, our Father knows what we need and will be faithful to provide for us when we focus on seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.
(Mat 6:32) For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
(Mat 6:33) But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
(Mat 6:34) "Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

We will experience the life God wants for us when we first set our mind on seeking the things that have the highest priority: God's Kingdom and His righteousness. God wants us to be free in our thinking to be able to have fellowship with Him and enjoy our relationship with Him. Anxiety about the basic needs of life will distract us from our true focus that will give us the life that God has for us.
Rolland and Heidi Baker are tremendous modern day examples of people who have placed their trust in God’s faithfulness to fulfill his word to meet physical needs. Many times they have seen food multiplied to meet the needs of the people who they did not expect to come. They minister in Mozambique where the needs are great but as Heidi has stated, “Jesus is more than enough.”
Anxiety and worry can consume our lives and for many people it does. If we are in right relationship with God we can have confidence that He will fulfill his promise to provide for the basic needs of life. Paul encouraged the Philippian church to be anxious for nothing
(Php 4:6) do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
Through trust and prayer, the enemy of anxiety can be conquered and we can be free to focus on the work of the Kingdom.

Another enemy of experiencing the life God has for us is covetousness.

Jesus also spoke against covetousness because it is a major distraction to keep us from experiencing real life.
Luk 12:15 And he said to them, "Take care, and be on your guard against all covetousness, for one's life does not consist in the abundance of his possessions."

The word covet means to “always desire to have more” Vine’s dictionary

We are a consumer driven society and the focus of our life is not to be on the accumulation of possessions, striving after things that bring only temporary pleasure. Advertisers play on our greed and a feeling of entitlement to have more things that we so deserve even if we cannot afford them. I noticed that Best Buy stores are now offering to buy back your computer when you want to upgrade to the next level. They want to eliminate any concerns that you may have about selling your computer so you can buy a new one. There will always be better, faster, easier etc. things that will be on the market and we must be careful that we do not allow greed or covetousness to motivate our actions. John D. Rockefeller was an extremely wealthy man. When asked how much was enough, he replied, " A little more." For him there was never enough and with that focus one will always be seeking for more. We can spend a lot of time thinking, planning, searching for the next new thing that we have to have and this will divert our attention away from the things that really matter in life.

One example of a believer who lived a life without many possessions was Sundar Singh. He felt that God had called him to be a teacher of His word among the people of India, Nepal and Tibet. He spent most of his life walking through these countries sharing the gospel with the people. The only things he carried with him were the saffron tunic he wore, his sandals and his Bible. He depended on God to supply his needs for food and shelter. He often refused to accept gifts from people because he did not need them. One time he was given a blanket which he kept only for a few minutes because he met someone who needed it and he gave it away. He lived his life not trying to accumulate possession or coveting after things. He was content with the little that he had and to fulfill his calling he did not want or need much of anything else. He may be an extreme example because he did not have other responsibilities such s a wife or family to care for yet his heart attitude is one that is a model for us to follow.
Everything we have should be held with an open hand to be able to freely give it away without any feelings of loss. The more things we possess the more time we have to devote to maintain them or built a place to store them. Sometimes the greatest freedom we can experience is found in giving away all the things that are cluttering our lives and taking away our focus from what is really important.

A third obstacle to living the life God has for us that Jesus taught is trying to save our life or protect and preserve our life. This is living for yourself and making sure that you keep everything that is yours and build a fortress to ensure that it will not be taken from you. “The natural tendency is to save our lives by selfish, complacent, routine, petty existences. We may indulge our pleasures and appetites by basking in comfort, luxury, and ease, by living for the present, by trading our finest talents to the world in exchange for a few years of mock security
When we try to preserve our lives we miss out on the real life God has for us. We have to lose this life in order to gain the life the truly is life.

Luk 9:23 And he said to all, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
Luk 9:24 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
Luk 9:25 For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?

Following Jesus requires us to die to our self life and place everything under His Lordship. It may require that we lay down our life for the sake of His Kingdom. Fear of death can keep us from being obedient to follow after Christ and his call upon our lives. The life on earth is temporary and we tend to live it as safely as we can which can keep us from stepping out in faith and obedience to what God calls us to do.

Sundar Singh was on a journey with another man and they were walking through the snow in the mountains when they saw a man who had slid off the path, down the mountain and was laying motionless. The man who was with Sundar wanted to keep going and not risk helping the man in need. The weather was getting worse and it was cold and in his mind the delay and the dangers involved in rescuing this man were going to jeopardize their ability to reach their destination. Sundar ignored his advice and went down the slope to rescue the man while his partner decided to go on without him. Sundar rescued the man who could not walk and carried him on his back toward their destination. In route, they came across a man who was lying on the path. He had frozen to death. When Sundar looked at the man's face he recognized that it was his partner who had left him behind. Sundar realized that the man he was carrying caused his body to generate heat from the extra weight and effort he had to make to carry him and because of this he was able to keep from freezing. In being willing to lose his life, he actually saved it. When we take risks for God in obedience to Him he honors and rewards us. Being "safe" is not our highest priority and can be one of the greatest hindrances to advancing God's kingdom.
I recently listened to a message by Afshin Ziafat, given at Dallas Theological Seminary. He told about a young man named BJ Higgins whose story is captured in the book about him called, "I would die for you."
At 8yrs old BJ accepted Christ. When he was 9-10 years old he was actively sharing his faith on school bus with great passion telling the passengers that they would be going to hell if they did not accept Christ. When he was 13-14 years old he was sharing faith on line on a regular basis, leading people to Christ. At age 15 he was called to mission field and wanted to go to Morocco, a Muslim nation. He and his sister went to Peru on mission trip where he contracted and died of a rare disease. The book that was written about his life was based on the diary he kept. The impact of BJ's short life has touched many people, possibly more than it would have touched had he not died. Afshin learned from this book, that BJ accepted Christ after hearing him preach at his first outside speaking engagement. He and his wife decided that they wanted to meet BJ's parents after contacting them via the internet. When they met Afshin learned more about the impact of BJ's life.
After BJ's funeral his parents took his ashes to Morocco, the country BJ felt called to serve. They walked up a hill that overlooked a Muslim village and poured out his ashes and prayed for the village. The Muslim guide was told about BJ's life and he was greatly impacted by his story and eventually gave his life to Christ. He is now pastoring one of the underground churches in Morocco. BJ's life also impacted another life of a young man from Sudan.
When BJ’s father was on a bus in Kenya a Sudanese young man sat down next to him and he shared his faith with him. The young man wanted a Bible but the only Bible he had was BJ’s with all of his treasured writings in it. He was reluctant to give it to him because of its value to him but he did. He prayed for him and God spoke to him that he was praying for the next evangelist in Kenya. He shared this with the 15 year old young man who was the same age as BJ when he died. Today this man is preaching the gospel in Kenya.
We never know the impact our life will have on people when we surrender it completely to the Lord and allow Him to direct us wherever He wants us to go. Even in death our lives can bear much fruit.
The life that Jesus has for us is an abundant life. Anxiety, covetousness, selfishness and self preservation keep us from experiencing the real life Jesus has for us.
Joh 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
The word for life is "zoe" which is the life of God, the very life that He gave to Jesus. Jesus wants us to experience and live the same life he had. The zoe life is a life of abundance because God is not lacking in anything.
The words more abundant in the Greek mean: super abundant, superior in quality and excessive. I relate the abundant life to the fruit and the power of the Holy Spirit. Some may want to relate this verse to material things but to me the Kingdom of God is not about possessions or things. It is more about the inner qualities that reflect the character and nature of God that God wants us to have in abundance. When the fruit of the spirit is in operation in my life I am living the zoe life.
Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
Gal 5:23 gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
In a world that is filled with hatred, killing, anger, deception, selfishness, greed, and all the other works of the enemy the value and importance of having the fruit of the Spirit growing in our lives becomes more obvious to those who do not have it.
Afshin Ziafat grew up in a devout Muslim family that fled Iran to the USA when he was young. While living in the USA, he and his friends would throw rocks at a group of Catholic nuns when they left their home. One day his friend threw a rock that broke a clay pot the nun was carrying. He was afraid of what would happen to him so he turned to run away. He tripped and fell and was injured. The nun approached him and he thought she would harm him for what he had done. Instead she bent down and tended his injures. That image profoundly impacted these young boys as they witnessed the fruit of the Spirit working in the life of the nun. She responded in the opposite spirit because she was controlled by the Holy Spirit.
How we respond to opposition will reveal our character and the maturity level of the fruit of the Spirit in us. When we have the abundant life in us it can flow out of us in times of adversity and trial and be a witness to the world that expects the opposite. In the midst of every storm in life we can experience the life of God in abundance. When we are squeezed by ungodly actions of people, difficult circumstances, trials and tests of our Christian beliefs, our true fragrance will be emitted.
Abundant living is living the life of God. It is living with the evidence of the fruit of the Holy Spirit and the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. Paul understood the greatness of this power that was at work in him and his prayers and writings to the churches and leaders reflect this.
 
To the Ephesian believers he wrote:
Eph 1:19 and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might
Eph 3:16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being,
Eph 3:20 Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,
To the church at Colossae he wrote:
Col 1:11 May you be strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy,
Col 1:29 For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me.
To the church in Thessalonica he wrote:
1Th 1:5 because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.
To Timothy a young pastor he wrote:
2Ti 1:7 for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.
God supernatural power is at work within each of us and He wants us to learn how to operate in its power as part of the abundant life He has for us.
Holy Spirit fruit plus Holy Spirit power will make us witnesses and workers who will experience the abundant life God desires for each person. Let us never settle for anything less than what God desires and has made available to us.

When good things happen to bad people

We all wrestle with understanding why bad things happen to good people but tonight I want to look at the opposite of this, “when good things happen to bad and needy people.”

God is his grace gives certain things to everyone and we will look at that later but first I want to look at an issue that we see frequently and that is wicked and selfish people who obtain good things by doing evil things such as manipulation, exploitation and abuse of their powers. Asaph and Job wrote about this issue.

Asaph wrote about this in Psalms 73:1-12

A Psalm of Asaph. Truly God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.

But as for me, my feet had almost stumbled, my steps had nearly slipped.

For I was envious of the arrogant when I saw the prosperity of the wicked.

For they have no pangs until death; their bodies are fat and sleek.

They are not in trouble as others are; they are not stricken like the rest of mankind.

Therefore pride is their necklace; violence covers them as a garment.

Their eyes swell out through fatness; their hearts overflow with follies.

They scoff and speak with malice; loftily they threaten oppression.

They set their mouths against the heavens, and their tongue struts through the earth.

Therefore his people turn back to them, and find no fault in them.

And they say, “How can God know? Is there knowledge in the Most High?”

Behold, these are the wicked; always at ease, they increase in riches.



It is difficult for us to understand why the wicked live at ease while so many who seem more deserving struggle for survival. To us it seems unfair, unjust and we wonder why. In the news recently the lifestyles of some of the world’s leaders have been exposed. Former President of Egypt Mubarak is worth billions of dollars in a nation where the majority of the people live on less than $2 per day. Khadafi who rules over Libya is also extremely wealthy and has no problem flaunting it in a nation that also has a majority of the people living in poverty. The list could extend to many leaders, business owners as well as common people of the world who are evil people yet live lives of comfort and luxury. It is easy for us to condemn them and question why they get away with what seems to be great inequity and injustice.

Job had the same questions that Asaph had when he was placed on trial.

Job 21:7 -20

Why do the wicked live, reach old age, and grow mighty in power? Their offspring are established in their presence, and their descendants before their eyes. Their houses are safe from fear, and no rod of God is upon them. Their bull breeds without fail; their cow calves and does not miscarry. They send out their little boys like a flock, and their children dance. They sing to the tambourine and the lyre and rejoice to the sound of the pipe. They spend their days in prosperity, and in peace they go down to Sheol.They say to God, ‘Depart from us! We do not desire the knowledge of your ways. What is the Almighty, that we should serve him? And what profit do we get if we pray to him?’ Behold, is not their prosperity in their hand? The counsel of the wicked is far from me. “How often is it that the lamp of the wicked is put out? That their calamity comes upon them? That God distributes pains in his anger? That they are like straw before the wind, and like chaff that the storm carries away? You say, ‘God stores up their iniquity for their children.’ Let him pay it out to them, that they may know it. Let their own eyes see their destruction, and let them drink of the wrath of the Almighty.

The problem Asaph and Job had when they viewed the prosperity of the wicked is that they did not consider that God will have a day of justice for all of mankind. He sees everything and knows the thoughts and intentions of the heart of every person. A day of reckoning will come and for some it will happen while they are still alive when their schemes are uncovered and they are brought to trial in civilian court or some other form of judgment takes place to strip them of what they have. God has established his law of sowing and reaping. He will not be mocked and in one form or another those who have exploited, manipulated and gained wealth in ways that dishonor God’s nature and character will be judged and punished. As believers we have a responsibility to bring to light the things done in darkness that are destroying people’s lives. We cannot sit back and not respond thinking that in the end they will pay for what they have done. We have to be the defender of the weak, the poor, those enslaved by others of which there are more than 27 million people in this category. God loves justice because it is his nature and when we carry out his justice it releases people and brings glory to God.

When we see the wicked prosper we need to trust in God’s perfect judgments be executed but we also need to take action to rescue the oppressed and bring the violators to justice in a way that reflects God’s nature and character. I think all of us have read of cases in Guatemala where the people took justice into their own hands and put to death people who were accused of committing crimes. Some times their actions are based on the impunity of the courts and the corruption that takes place in the justice system. When the violator is not caught or properly punished which is a very common the people take things into their own hands because they lack confidence in the system to execute justice. In Guatemala less than 5% of the crimes committed are brought to court which only serves to justify the actions of the people who bring their own form of justice to bear on the violator. This not the right way to resolve the issues of injustice and we cannot condone these actions.

We must be careful in what we call “good” because much of what we call good may really be evil based on how it is obtained, how it is used and what are the final results. If receiving all the pleasures and goods this world has to offer alienates me from God or keeps me from even seeking God how can that be a good thing? If I exploit other people or lie or steal to gain something that is good, how good is it? We have to look at what is good from God’s perspective and not our own.

Jas 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

If we do not acknowledge God or see that every good and perfect gift comes from him then we will be quick to use those things exclusively for our own benefit because we claim ownership of them rather than the Christian concept of stewardship of everything God has given to us. Our sinful nature is very selfish. We think of ourselves first, what is best for me, what I want always takes precedence. We live in a very fallen world and we see injustice and selfishness on a daily basis. Yet God’s eyes are not blind to those who seem to be living in luxury at the expense of others. Their day of justice will come and the kingdoms they have built will be counted as nothing when the see the King of Glory and see themselves for who they really are.

Pro 10:22 The blessing of the LORD makes rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.

Those who gain through evil means have a sorrow added to it by the Lord. That sorrow may be experienced in this life or at the judgment seat on the final day.

People who do evil to obtain what appears to be good things is one thing but I also want to look at why things that are truly good things, gifts from God, are given to bad and needy people. You and I are or were in this category at one time in our lives.

In a word this defines grace. God’s undeserved or unmerited favor, receiving something that we do not deserve.



God’s nature is one of goodness. The original Saxon word for God really meant “the good.” God is good and there is no evil in him. His goodness is extended to all of mankind, the rich, the poor, the righteous and the unrighteous, he causes good things to happen to everyone. In the Sermon on the Mount Jesus said, “so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. “Mat 5:45

Psa 104:14 You cause the grass to grow for the livestock and plants for man to cultivate, that he may bring forth food from the earth

Psa 104:27 These all look to you, to give them their food in due season.

God is his goodness and grace has provided a fertile earth and all that is needed to give food to all of his creation.

God’s greatest act of grace was his gift of Jesus. Through this gift of grace we see God’s goodness to provide a way for our sins to be forgiven, our relationships to be restored and the gift of eternal life given to all who receive God’s gift in Christ.

Rom 2:4 Or despisest thou the riches of his goodness and forbearance and longsuffering; not knowing that the goodness of God leadeth thee to repentance?

God wants his goodness to lead men to repentance. This can only happen when the eyes of our understanding are flooded with the light of God’s truth. Then we can see clearly that every good thing we have in life is a gift from God and our response must be one of complete surrender to Him who is the Source of all goodness. We realize that without God we are nothing and everything that we have given greater value in our life of sin is as nothing. When we see ourselves properly we can only admit that we are not deserving of anything. Every one of us has fallen short of God’s original intent for our lives. Before we surrendered our lives to God, we lived as though He did not exist and the world revolved around us. We did not seek Him but He sought us. His love for us caused him to give us the greatest most undeserved gift possible and that was his Son who would give his life to ransom ours. God has given the greatest good gift to a world that is full of evil. Paul stated in Rom 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

A good thing has happened to bad people and we are one of them. We did not deserve it but God in his grace, gave us what we did not deserve. God made Jesus to be our sin that we may become righteous or in right standing with Him. The blood that Jesus shed on the cross was the just payment of a righteous God. The blood satisfied the requirement God demanded to pay for the sins of all of mankind. This blood was God’s grace in action. Ravi Zacharias tells the story of a man who survived the assault on the hotel in Mumbai in 2008 where over 200 people were slaughtered by the assassins. When the assassins began shooting the people this man went down to the floor and pretended he was dead even though he was not shot. When asked afterward why he was not killed he said the man next to him had been shot and because his blood was splattered on his body, the assassins thought he was dead. The blood of this man spared his life. You and I have received the blood of Jesus and the death we deserved has been atoned for by the blood of Jesus. This is the good thing God has given to bad people.

John stated in John 1:16 “And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace.” The grace of God was not just a one time gift but it is a continual gift to us. God loves to give good things to people who do not deserve them. This is his nature, he enjoys who he is and giving his grace is something he delights in doing.

We are to be people of grace, willing to give freely and generously to people who some may claim are not worthy. God calls us to demonstrate His grace to a fallen world and that can take on many forms. One of the ways we have been able to extend God’s grace and show His goodness is through some building projects and distributing food to the needy.

We have been able to build a few homes for people in need in San Pablo La Laguna. We work through a couple of pastors who know their community and see people in need. We have built a couple homes for people who many have deemed unworthy of receiving them because of the way they live. Many ask why we built a home for this family when the parent’s are not saints. In their minds there are people more deserving than the ones selected. Regardless, the need that they have for a home is there and often there are young children involved or circumstances that happened such as a mudslide that destroyed their previous home that brought about the need. Our hope is that through the gift of the home they will see the goodness of God and desire to know Him. If we wait until people are good enough we will probably never help them but if we are people of grace as our God is a God of grace we will give to meet the needs of people and trust God to work in their lives to bring about the awareness of his goodness to them.

We have also received food that we are giving away to people in need as a way of demonstrating God’s goodness and His grace. Mark and Dayle have been taking food to the homeless people living near the Mercado each week. The need is obvious and though some may label these people as unworthy God sees them differently and through the giving of a meal to them our prayer is that they will see a God who sees and responds in love to meet them at their point of need.

God has created us to do good works because it is through our good works that people can see God’s goodness and give glory to Him. This has to be the motivation for the work God has given us and we must always give God the glory for the good things we are able to do to help people. We are simply God’s instruments he has chosen to use to bring glory to him. We must be quick to give him the honor and point people to Him. Just like a compass always points to true north our good works should always point to God.

Paul wrote to Titus and encouraged the people to be devoted to good works.

Tit 3:8 The saying is trustworthy, and I want you to insist on these things, so that those who have believed in God may be careful to devote themselves to good works. These things are excellent and profitable for people

Tit 3:14 And let our people learn to devote themselves to good works, so as to help cases of urgent need, and not be unfruitful.

Good works are ways that we get to demonstrate the grace of God to people. Works do not save us but give evidence that we are saved from selfish and judgmental living. Good works flow out of a new nature we have received. We have a new nature of goodness that is reflected in Christ who lives in us. What better people to be the recipients of good works than those who do not know God or live for Him. I can not think of a better way to demonstrate God’s love and grace than through tangible acts of kindness and goodwill to people. People may not completely understand our motive and some may think that we are trying to get something out of them or back from them but when they do understand that it is a free and unconditional gift they are receiving I believe it will help open their hearts to see God in a new perspective. I would much rather leave people with an image of a God of love and grace than one of judgment and condemnation.

Paul specified 2 types of works; those that are profitable and excellent and those that meet urgent needs. Our works should be quality that of excellence that reflect that we care enough to give something of value and worth. Giving someone a stale piece of bread or one that has mold on it communicates a strong message to the recipient. Some may say it is better than nothing but the question we need to ask is, is this the best I can give from what I have? Does this meet the standard of excellence and profitability that God would want me to hold myself to? We can not use a different standard when it comes to doing good works for other people. “Good enough” , “Beggars can’t be fussy”; “It’s better than nothing” are phrases that I have said and heard from others when it comes to helping some people. These are not the standards God expects of us because they do not reflect how he feels about the people and what he wants for them.

The last home we built was for a family near the base. When I went to visit them and see what they needed and what we could do for them, I had in my mind what would be best and explained to the dad what we could do. When I came back to see them a couple days later, they presented me with some of their own ideas of what they would like. At first I thought their ideas were not going to work and I stated again what we could do. After I left I began to think about their needs and desires and what would be best for them. I changed my mind to give them what they really wanted and needed. I did not want to insist on my ideas and in the end have the family a little upset that I did not care about what they needed. So we built the home the way they wanted within the budget we had and everyone was happy. The same thing happened with the stove built for them. I had in mind what I thought would be a great stove that was developed by a guy who worked in Guatemala with the Peace Corp for a couple of year. I downloaded the instruction in Spanish complete with pictures of how to build the stove and showed it to the son-in-law who would be building the stove. I simply asked him to read it over and let me know if this was something he could do and if not we would look at some other options. After looking at the design, he came up with a bigger and hopefully better way to do it. The stove is about twice as big as I had originally thought it would be but it is exactly what the family needs to help them with their tortilla business. It was done with excellence and I pray it will be profitable for their business.

The other type of work Paul described is meeting urgent needs. We have seen the urgent needs in Japan and I hope you have been able to give in some way to help meet the needs. There are many worthy organizations that are doing a lot to help the people and we can give with confidence that our gifts will go to the need.

World Vision’s founder was Bob Pierce. The organization came as a result of a trip that Bob took to China when he was working with Youth For Christ. During the trip, he shared the gospel message at a school of 400 children living on an island off of China. He gave an invitation for the children to receive Christ and then told those who gave their lives to Christ to go home and tell their parents that they were going to be Christians. Bob wrote what happened next.

“Well, when I came to the mission school the next morning, Tena (the school teacher) met me with a little girl in her arms. The child’s back was bleeding from the caning her father had given her when she went home and announced that she was a Christian, and she was going to live for the one true God…she’d gone home and told her father who was incensed because that by turning to Christ she had dishonored his ancestors.”

The school teacher told Bob Pierce that he was not leaving the island without doing something for her. The girl could not return home and the teacher did not have the resources to care for her as she was already taking care of several children. Bob had only $5 with him which he gave to the teacher but the teacher was very adamant in holding Bob responsible for the on-going care of the children. She said to him, “That’s just the beginning, Bob Pierce. You will send me five dollars every month. I ‘ll let her sleep in the kitchen like my other six do, and I promise you I’ll take care of her.” Bob had to make a decision whether he would make a one time gift or a long term commitment to help this girl. Bob made a commitment to send money each month and wrote Tena’s name in his Bible as a record of his commitment. This was the beginning of World Vision that still operates today in many parts of the world. Like Bob Pierce, we all have opportunities to reach out and meet urgent needs of people and for some of you this will develop into a ministry that will involve a greater commitment of your time, energy and resources. Bob Pierce is remembered for a statement that he wrote in his Bible while on Kojedo Island which many of you may have heard that shaped his life and ministry and I pray it will do the same for each one of us. “Let my heart be broken with the things that break the heart of God.” These are the things that God reveals to us and calls us to action to display His goodness and grace through the good works we are able to do to meet needs. (Bob Pierce This One Thing I Do)

As you spend time in Guatemala I pray that God will speak to you and show you exactly what your mission of good works should be. It will be a great challenge as you pursue the mission but you will also see God’s great provision because you are manifesting His nature and character to the people He loves and cares deeply for each person.