Transformational Thanksgiving

The Bible warns us that one of the signs of the last days is that people will not be thankful. Romans 1:18, 21 says, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness ….because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”
God has so blessed us that we can begin to take the blessings of God for granted in our lives. There is a growing sense of entitlement in our culture that, if we are not watchful, can begin to affect our relationship with God. Paul warns us that the result of this lack of thankfulness is that we become futile in our thoughts and our foolish hearts are darkened. The lack of thanksgiving results in a world full of greed, and corruption to the point of self-destruction. The tragedy of it all is that our thoughts are so darkened we don’t even understand that we are destroying ourselves and the future of our children.
The cure to this self-destructive trend in our society is transformational thanksgiving in which we purposefully begin to publicly glorify God and give Him thanks for what He does in our lives and gives to us. When was the last time you thanked someone at work, at home or in the market place for something simple he/she did for you? When was the last time you publicly thanked God and gave Him glory for something He helped you with on the job or at home, or something He provided for you?
We need to cultivate an atmosphere of thanksgiving. 1 Thessalonians 5:18 says, “In everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Don’t just give thanks when things are going well or for the special things or special occasions,, but in everything give thanks. Thanksgiving should become a lifestyle that just flows out of us in gratitude to God.
Psalms 100:4-5 exhorts us to “Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, and His truth endures to all generations.” The gateway to entering into the transformational presence of God is through thanksgiving. We need to take our focus off of our possessions, which we think we cannot live without, and put our focus on God, His goodness, mercy and truth.
In this world filled with grumbling, complaining, criticism and anger, we need to be salt and light by developing lips that continually give thanks and praise to God. As we give thanks and glory to God, it will begin to change our perspective on life and will begin to affect others around us and transform our environment. Thanksgiving will produce love, joy, peace, longsuffering and patience in our lives.
Purpose in your heart today to begin developing a lifestyle of thanksgiving, and you will be amazed at what God will do.

Until an Opportune Time

As I was reading the Scripture this morning a profound declaration stood out to me in Luke 1:13 - " When the devil had finished all this tempting, he left him until an opportune time."

Left him at until an opportune time. The devil lost the fight with Jesus in the wilderness, but Satan was not about ready to give up or call it quits. He would go away and wait for a more opportune time. Satan is tenacious. This is why so many believers have fallen over the span of history.

I Peter 3:17 - " Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position."

I Peter 5:8 - " Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

We are in a battle as believers. We will have our victories and defeats, but we must continually be on our guard and persevere to the very end.

I Corinthians 16:13 - " Be on your guard; stand firm in the faith; be courageous; be strong."

The battle is ours as we continually yield to the power of the Holy Spirit. We must never call it quits. We must never let down our guard.

Hebrews 10:36 - "You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised."

Equality

2 Corinthians 8:13-15 - "¹³ Our desire is not that others might be relieved while you are hard pressed, but that there might be equality. ¹⁴ At the present time your plenty will supply what they need, so that in turn their plenty will supply what you need. The goal is equality, ¹⁵ as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little."

I don't know how many of you have watched the show "Hoarders". In this show people are obsessed with accumulating more and more. Most of us would not go to the extreme that they do, but some of us accumulate more than we should. The apostle Paul says, that we should seek equality in the church. I don't believe that Paul is saying that we should all have the same amount of money and things, but we shouldn't have abundance while other lack the basics of life. 

In the United States there is a growing gap between the wealthy and the poor. The middle class is shrinking. This is true in most nations of the world. Yet, it should not be this way in the church. In the church there should not be a group of people who have accumulated many non necessary things or things they may never use or rarely use and those who struggle to make ends meet. In Haiti, a Haitian feels he has the right to ask or even take without asking something of yours if you have two of them. In his mind you have two and you don't need the other so what it the big deal if you give him one or he takes it without your knowledge. Not that we should condone this attitude or action, but they may have a point.

Applying the principle of equality is not an easy thing to do. It is hard to strike the balance between having to much and not having enough. How much is to much? How much is to little? These two questions may never be adequately answered. Yet, I find believers who are abundantly blessed often justify their abundance by saying God has blessed me. This is no fault of my own. I deserve it. You can't argue with God. He chose to bless me materially and not you. Sorry, I am not God. He does what he wills. All this to say, it is fine for me to live in the lap of luxury and I am not responsible for your lack of or suffering. 

I believe that Scripture would differ with you on this. We are a body if one part suffers all parts suffer. If on part hurts, we want to fix the hurt. We are a family. If one member of the family lacks something, we want to meet that need. We just don't say, tough luck, sorry, life is hard. I will be praying for you. We will do everything in our power to help the hurting part or hurting family member. If not, we are selfish and self-centered. We are no different than the world.

You may say I give and help others in need more than many other people do. The Bible says, we are not to compare ourselves with others or ourselves to justify our actions. Compare yourself with God who gave His all for us. Think on the great sacrifice Christ made on our behalf. Use Christ as your measuring stick. Also, it is not important how much you have given; rather, how much do you have left to give. Your giving is to be in proportion to what you have. You have much. Then much is required.

I am not indifferent to the challenges of equality. I live in Haiti where the majority are dirt poor and they look at me as very wealthy. Yet, we must wrestle with this issue daily and seek a greater equality in God's church.

Leader experince fear and discouragment.

In my morning devotions two words hit me in 2 Corinthians 6:5-6 - fears within & downcast. Paul is talking about the trials he faced in Macedonia. Paul the great apostle, and in some peoples minds the greatest apostle was fearful and downcast. Wow! This is an encouragement to me to know that even great leaders can experience fear and discouragement. I am not alone. Sometimes as leaders we think we should never have these feelings and may be ashamed when we do, but be encouraged, it happens. He goes on to say that I was comforted and my joy was greater than ever. Hey! We as leaders need people to comfort us. Oh and by the way, if you are fearful and downcast today be encouraged there is greater joy that is coming.

Jesus Journey

As you read in my devotional last week entitled “Jesus,” the only hope for our world that groans in the bondage of sin is the manifestation of the children of God, that is Jesus Christ in us the hope of glory. (Romans 8:17, Colossians 1:27) For God’s glory to manifest in us we must walk the Jesus journey.

 

The summary of the first thirty years of Jesus’ journey are written in Luke 2:52,

“And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” Jesus is twelve years old and has gone to the temple with his parents, and Luke records in 2:47

“And all who heard Him were astonished at His understanding and answers.” Though Jesus had revelation knowledge that surpassed the greatest teachers of His day, he spent His first thirty years growing “in wisdom and stature, and favor with God and men.” We can become so busy with life that we do not allow time in our journey for God to develop His character in us. When we watch the Olympics, we will see people who have spent a lifetime of discipline in developing the character and skills necessary to stand for a moment on the world stage. Whatever we do in life, our Jesus journey begins with the disciplines of a Christlike character in us. We do not live according to the values of this world but by the values revealed to us in His Word and developed in us by submission to our heavenly coach, the Holy Spirit.

 

The next phase of Jesus’ journey is recorded in Luke 3:22, “and a voice came from heaven which said, "You are My beloved Son; in You I am well pleased." Wherever our journey takes us, the voice of affirmation over our lives must come from heaven. While Jesus grew in favor with man, the affirmation of who he was and what he did came only from the Father. No matter what kind of work we do, our only measure of success and sense of fulfillment can come from God. God’s pleasure with His son did not come from performance, because Jesus’ ministry had not yet begun. God’s pleasure was with Jesus the carpenter who had learned to walk as a son in a love relationship of submission and obedience.

 

The Jesus journey continues with the test of identity and character in the wilderness in Luke chapter four. The repeated challenge of the enemy was “If you are the son of God,” then prove it. Jesus’ consistent response was “It is written.” Satan constantly tests our identity and our character through success and suffering. He constantly flaunts the world before us, tempting us to measure ourselves by those around us, what we see and what we feel, instead of the Word of God.

 

The conclusion of Jesus’ journey is in Acts 10:38, “how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him.” This can be the testimony of your journey when your identity and life is hidden in Christ. Through the Holy Spirit, you can do good works that God has ordained for you and bring healing to those around you.

Delayed Promise or Inheritance

Numbers 14:20-24 - "The Lord replied, “I have forgiven them, as you asked. ²¹ Nevertheless, as surely as I live and as surely as the glory of the Lord fills the whole earth, ²² not one of those who saw my glory and the signs I performed in Egypt and in the wilderness but who disobeyed me and tested me ten times— ²³ not one of them will ever see the land I promised on oath to their ancestors. No one who has treated me with contempt will ever see it. ²⁴ But because my servant Caleb has a different spirit and follows me wholeheartedly, I will bring him into the land he went to, and his descendants will inherit it.<sup>"

In these verses we see God's actions towards a nation in disobedience and his actions towards individuals who lived obedient lives. A nation may be judged by God for their disobedience, but in the midst of judging them he shows his love and kindness to those who follow Him completely. 

Those whom rebelled against God had been promised to receive this wonderful land. Yet, because of their disobedience they didn't receive the promise, but Caleb and Joshua received the promise. The promises God has made to us can not be annulled by the majority. The inheritance God has promised us can not be lost due to the disobedience of others. The realization of God's promise to us is solely dependent on God's faithfulness and our faithfulness towards Him.

Yet, here we do see that God's promise to Joshua and Caleb were delayed (40 years) due to the disobedience of the nation of Israel. In the same way, the promises God has made to us can be delayed do to the disobedience of those around and God's judgment on them. Yet, ultimately God's promise to us will be fulfilled as we remain faithful to Him and take hold of it by faith. Therefore, if your promise has been delayed, do not be discouraged because it is on its way. 

I think it is wonderful to know that God's goodness towards us is not thwarted by the sin of others or God's judgement on them. God punished the people of Egypt, but in the midst of their judgement, God spared His people.</sup> 

Enlarge Your Capacity

Last week I was lying on my bed about 11pm at night in my hotel room in Bungoma, Kenya, praying and meditating on what I was going to share on Community Transformation the next morning at the Leadership Conference, and the Lord dropped two Scriptures in my heart defining two essential elements to community transformation.

 

The first Scripture was Isaiah 54:2-3: "Enlarge the place of your tent, and let them stretch out the curtains of your dwellings; do not spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your stakes. For you shall expand to the right and to the left, and your descendants will inherit the nations, and make the desolate cities inhabited.”

 

The first essential element to community transformation is to enlarge your personal capacity. The command is for you to enlarge the place of your tent. It goes on to say, do not spare, don’t hold back, go all out, and allow the Holy Spirit to stretch you and lengthen your cords. Do not settle for the status quo, but allow the Spirit to stretch your faith, your capacity to love, forgive, and to serve. Allow the Spirit to nurture, develop and sharpen your God-given gifts and talents. As you grow, drive down your stakes deep into God so that you will not be blown away by the tempests of life.

 

1 Corinthians 3:16-17 says, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.” Do not allow the temptations and cares of life to rob you of your potential in Christ. Your ability to resist spiritual mediocrity will not only enlarge your capacity, but also affect your descendents and their place of habitation.

 

The second essential element to community transformation is found in Genesis 5:5:

“Then He (the Lord) brought him (Abraham) outside and said, "Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them." And He said to him,” So shall your descendants be.” What did the Lord bring Abraham outside of? His tent. For community transformation God not only needs to enlarge your capacity but also your vision. Because Abraham had left his country and laid down everything in his pursuit and obedience, God blessed Abraham beyond his wildest imagination. God had enlarged his tent so that he had over 800 servants who could fight and livestock beyond numbering.

 

However, at one hundred years of age Abraham had not received the son of promise, and God called him out of his tent to look at the stars and believe for the impossible, that he would be the father of nations. I don’t know where you are today, but God wants to do the impossible through you. First of all, you need to resist complacency, allow Him to enlarge your capacity, then step out of your limitations into His limitlessness and believe Him for the impossible.

AS YOU SERVE DO NOT MISS THE ONE

As we serve, we must be careful not to miss the "one". Christ has given us the commission to go into the whole world and preach the Gospel. The task is great and there are many who need the touch of Jesus. Yet, we need to follow Christ's example.

Jesus came to save the world, but didn’t miss every opportunity to touch individual lives. We have many examples of this in Jesus life. We have the story of Jesus touching the life of the Samaritan woman. (John 4:1-36) He was on his way to minister in Galilee when he chose to go through Samaria. As he was resting by Jacob's well. The Samaritan woman came to draw water. There were many reasons that he could of used to ignore this sinful woman. Yet, he chose to bring her unto salvation. 

Another good example is while Jesus is in the middle of a teaching session with the religious leaders of his day. Parents begin bringing their children to Jesus to bless them. The disciples rebuke these parents for disturbing Jesus. Logically, they had every right to rebuke. There was a large crowd listening to him after he healed many. Jesus was busy teaching and  healing. Yet, God took the time to minister to these children. (Matthew 19:1-15)

How often in the business of doing God's work or the business of life, we do not take the time to minister to the one who needs us. Our eyes are fixed on the crowds. Our eyes are fixed on the larger picture. We are focused on the master plan. We are focused on ministering to the  many and overlook the one right there in front of us.

In Luke 18:31-42, we see Jesus on the way to Jerusalem. He has just told his disciples that He is going to be handed over to the rulers, be killed and raised from the grave. He knows the time is at hand to give up his life to bring salvation to all man kind. You can be assured that the wait of the world was on His shoulders.

As he is going through Jericho a blind beggar cries out to Jesus. The crowds who are following Jesus tells him to be quiet. Yet, Jesus stops and orders the man to be brought to Him. He then heals the man of his blindness. What importance was the healing of the blind man in the greater scheme of things. 

I think most of us would of not given the blind beggar the time of day. Our minds would of been focused on the task at hand. We would have been burdened down with the wait of the mission.

Also, while Jesus is walking on the road through Jericho to Jerusalem. He calls to Zacchaeus in a tree and says I am coming to your house to eat.  (Luke 19:1-9) I would have fallen out of the tree with surprise that Jesus new me by name and that he wanted to eat with me. Take note in this passage that it says that Jesus was passing through Jericho. Jercho wasn't His destination. Jerusalem and the cross was his destination. Yet, he took time out to eat with Zacchaeus and bring salvation to his home. What importance was Zacchaeus salvation compared to the salvation of all humanity. Yet, the Bible says that all the angels in heaven rejoice over on lost soul.

           

As we go on with our busy lives, let us not overlook the one right in front of us who needs a word of encouragement, and a word of instruction. Let us not overlook the need of the one while we try to meet our need and the need of the many. Let us put some time aside for the "one".

Slothfulness - both physical and spiritual

The Bible condemns slothfulness. Slothfulness can be defined as no desire to work, laziness, complacency, and apathy.

Proverbs 19:15 - "Laziness brings on deep sleep,  and the shiftless go hungry."
Proverbs 21:25 - " The craving of a sluggard will be the death of him, because his hands refuse to work."

In these two passages and many other it talks of laziness in the sense of unwilling to work or exert oneself in a given task. God condemns this and speak of the terrible consequences of these slothful actions. Yet, there is a slothfulness which is worse than the physical slothfulness. It is spiritual slothfulness. Society in general condemns laziness in the sense of work or not be diligent in ones task. Yet, society in general does not condemn spiritual slothfulness which I believe in God's eyes is a greater sin and has greater consequences, even eternal consequences.

Hebrews 6:12 - "We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised."

Here he is speaking of spiritual slothfulness. Even as Proverbs says that laziness brings on deep sleep, spiritual laziness will bring spiritual sleep. When one falls into a spiritual sleep, he is unaware what God is doing around him. He is unaware what God is doing through others and unaware that God wants to work through him. Spiritual apathy brings spiritual slumber. Often those who have fallen into a spiritual slumber are not even aware that they are a sleep.This is why another believer needs to poke them and say wake up. If they are not woken, they will become entirely weak and unable to arise. A hospital knows that the longer someone is in bed, the harder for them to recover. There is even the possibility of never recovering fully or at all. The end result could be spiritual death.

Hebrews 6:1 says, "Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God."

Neglecting fervent prayer and the reading of the Word brings slothfulness. It is as well an indicator of slothfulness. Neglecting coming together as believers will bring spiritual slothfulness as well as an indicator of slothfulness. When our faith is weakened we will fall into spiritual apathy. When we no longer believe 2 Timothy 3:16 - " All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness." We become apathetic as believers. We will lose are zeal for the Lord and the things of God.

Colossians 3:23 - "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters."

As believers we are to put our whole selves into whatever we do, both in natural work and spiritual work.  We must guard against despair. We must guard our hearts from resentfulness towards others or God. When our hearts become hardened, we become numb and lose our fervor in serving others and God. 

Revelation 3:14-19 warns about being lukewarm. How it is better be cold or hot and how God will reject those who are lukewarm in the church.

The antidote to slothfulness in both the physical realm and spiritual realm is two fold. The first is love.

Matthew 22:37-39 tells us to love God and others. The amount of love we have will determine the amount of commitment we have to God and any task, be spiritual or physical. Our laziness and apathy is a result of our lack of love. When one loves someone, they want to please them and do their best for them. Also, love and faith causes us to be patient and persevere. Love is not dependent on others approval or disapproval, it remains true not matter what. The basis of godly character is love.

The second antidote is the infilling of the Spirit of God. The Spirit of God will produce zeal, passion, faithfulness, godly character and love. There are those who are not lazy and do not have the Spirit because they are motivated by greed, favor, power, and other factors. Yet, this does not change the fact that the love of God and the Spirit of God should be our motivating factor.

Romans 12:12-10-12 - "
Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.¹¹ Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. ¹² Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer."

Transformational Presence

Our failure to have transformational impact on our culture is because we have become so busy and self-sufficient that we have defrocked God of His Lordship and power in our lives. We think because God has blessed us and our nation that we are somehow okay. However, the blessings and prosperity of God in our lives is not what identifies us as the people of God. Our religious achievements with all our dedication, work, talents and technology has not transformed our nation.

 

What will transform our churches, families, community and nation is the transformational presence of God. In Exodus chapter 32 after Israel had angered God because of their idolatry, God told Moses, I’ll send an angel with you into the Promised Land. Yet, Moses who has just spent forty days in God’s presence replies, "If Your Presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here. For how then will it be known that Your people and I have found grace in Your sight, except You go with us? So we shall be separate, Your people and I, from all the people who are upon the face of the earth." (Exodus 33:15-16) Are we satisfied simply with God’s provision and not His presence?

 

What identifies us as God’s people is the transformational presence of God in our lives. It was the cloud and fire of His presence that lead Israel in the wilderness. It was His presence that caused the enemy to tremble and brought them into the fullness of His promises. It was the presence of Jesus in the boat on Galilee that brought peace to the storm and brought them to their destination. It was the presence of Jesus that healed the woman with the issue of blood with just a touch of His garment. It was the presence of Jesus with the two discouraged disciples on the road to Emmaus that caused their hearts to burn within them and sent them running back to Jerusalem with the good news.

 

It was the transformational presence of Jesus in the lives of Peter and John that healed the lame man at the gate beautiful. When the authorities arrested them for their good deed and for preaching about Jesus, it says in Acts 4:13, “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.”

 

Do people recognize that you have been with Jesus? Time in the morning and evening is important, but what is even more important is that we invite His presence into every area of our lives. It was when Israel became impatient with Moses on the mountain that they reduced God to a calf. Oftentimes, in our rush to do things in our way and in our ability, we reduce God to a powerless calf in our life. A small God does not impose any threat to our lifestyle but He also has no power to carry us into the Promised Land.

 

Begin to develop a greater awareness of God. Give Him a greater place and authority in every aspect of your life, and His presence will transform your world.

Be One even as the Father and Son are One

Philippians 2:1-2 - "Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind."

John 13:35 - " By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

As believers God wants us to be unified with other believers. The Bible teaches how we are Christ's body, many parts but one body. We all have the same Spirit in us. Therefore, we are to be like minded, loving one another and one in spirit and mind. Yet, the reality of this is not always true. There is often division between believers, hard feelings and the holding of grudges. Often there is unforgiveness and many times permanent division or discord. This is because of our human nature. Pride and selfishness is at the heart of all division and discord. 

James 4:1-2 - " What causes fights and quarrels among you? Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you? ² You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God."

There will always be a division in the church because everyone is full of the Spirit of God or led fully by His Spirit. Yet, God's desire is that be one even as he is one. God is not seeking conformity or exact likeness. He is seeking oneness, harmony and love.

Matthew 5:9 - "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God."

2 Corinthians 5:18 - " All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:"

Let us look at some steps in resolving conflict and bringing reconciliation between us and someone else.

First of all, discuss the problem with God. When we go to God in prayer, you will find direction on what the next step should be. When you go to God in prayer, you will find that your heart will soften and change, and God will begin to work in the heart of the other person.

Secondly, it is not important who offended who or who did what to who. What is important is that you seek reconciliation. Often, we want the the other person to take the first step in this process, but we should not wait on them.  (Matthew 5:23-24) We should not allow a lot of time to elapse before we seek to reconcile. The more time that elapses, the more difficult it will be and often become a bigger problem. Also, unforgiveness towards our brother will hinder our spiritual life. Yet, in all this we must find the appropriate time and place to do this.

Thirdly, we must be sympathetic and put ourselves in the other persons shoes. We need to seek to understand the person and why he said or did what he did. We need to listen to the other person before we speak. Along with this, we need to put the other person first. (Philippians 2:4; Romans 15:2)

Fourthly, we need to admit that we are part of the problem. (Matthew 7:5; I John 1:8) When we confess our sin or weakness to the other, it opens the way for reconciliation.

Fifthly, we are to attack the problem, not the person. We can never resolve a conflict if we attack a persons character. We need to speak with the person in love. (Proverbs 15:1; Philippians 4:29)

Sixthly, we need to be ready to make compromises. Not compromises God's Word or the truth, but compromising none the less.

Seventhly and lastly, seek reconciliation, not agreement. We can disagree, but still be unified. God asks for unity, not conformity. God looks at the attitudes and the things of the heart. If theses are right, everything else will fall into place.

I challenge you today. If there be anyone you hold in your heart or have not reconciled too, you should wait no longer but be reconciled.