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Start at Home

 

Matthew 11:1

"And it came to pass, when Jesus had made an end of commanding his twelve disciples, he departed thence to teach and to preach in their cities."

In the verse above, Jesus had just started the church. The first thing that He did after starting the church was He sent His disciples to go soul winning. However, you will notice that the first place that Jesus went was to the home cities of the disciples. Jesus took care of their home cities before He went to any other part of Israel. The reason Jesus did this is because He was teaching us the importance of the Gospel starts at home.

When you study the Great Commission, you will always find that the Great Commission starts at home. Far too many churches and Christians feel that because they support missionaries they are absolved from the responsibility of being a soul winner at home. This is not true! Though I am 100% for supporting missionaries, if you are giving to faith promise missions and are not soul winning at home, then you are not right with God. The Gospel starts at home, and the responsibility of the church is to take care of its home city before it begins to reach abroad. Yes, we are to do all at the same time, but don't forsake your home before you start going abroad.

Let me make this more personal for you to use. The first place you should start trying to witness is to your family. Be sure that the family members who live in your home are saved. Don't win the world and let your own family go to Hell. Be sure your spouse and children are saved. If there is one in your home who is not saved, pray for them to get saved, and show them how to get saved.

The next group of people you should witness to is your relatives. Do you have a family member who is not saved? Then you should do everything in your power to win them to Christ. What a shame that you would win others to Christ and let your own relatives go to Hell. Yes, it is not easy witnessing to grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins, but if you love them you will do your best to be sure they are saved.

The next place you should try to be a witness is in your neighborhood. Do everything in your power to be sure that your neighbors are saved. Of course, that would mean that you would need to live your life in such a manner that you don't ruin your Christian testimony. Your neighbors know more about you than you realize. Therefore, live right so that when you witness to them they are not shocked that you are a Christian.

Your city is another place where you should try to win others to Christ. Sure, we are to reach the world, but start with your city. Make it a weekly routine to spend time soul winning in your city. You may not be able to reach the world, but try to reach your world by winning your city to Christ.

Let me apply this truth to one other area of our lives. Don't be guilty of teaching everyone else how to live for God and not take the time to teach those nearest you. If you are not careful, you will spend your time trying to reach the world and miss the greatest opportunity of teaching those who live under your own roof.

Do your best to try to reach the world, but don't forget those nearest you. Everyone is commanded to obey the Great Commission, but remember that the Great Commission starts at home.

Don't make...

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Don't Make the Christian Life Difficult

 

Matthew 7:28

"And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:"

There is a reason why the people in the verse above were astonished at the doctrine of Christ. The reason was because His doctrine did not make the Christian life difficult, but rather His doctrine was common sense living. One of the mistakes many people make is that they make the Christian life seem so hard that many Christians live a defeated life.

You will notice in the Scriptures that the only ones who made the Christian life difficult were the Pharisees. It was the Pharisees who added to the doctrine of Scriptures so they could be recognized for their living. One of the reasons the Pharisees hated Jesus so much was because He took a group of common men and made something great with their lives. He didn't ask these men, His disciples, to do anything to impress man, but He simply taught them to live a common sense life, and the common sense life is the Christian life.

The verse above is the end of what we call the Sermon on the Mount. Jesus used the Sermon on the Mount to show how to live the Christian life. When you break down this sermon, you find that being a Christian is not as difficult as one would think, in fact, all God asks is that a person be real. Let me show you some of the things that Jesus taught that makes common sense.

In Matthew 6:5-15, Jesus taught us how to pray. In His teachings on prayer, He taught us not to be repetitious in our prayer lives, but to be concise and direct with our needs. He used phrases like this: "But when ye pray, use not vain repititions..."; "...for your Father knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him." Notice the simplicity of this teaching. The Pharisees were known for being repetitious in their prayers, but Jesus taught us to get down to business and be direct with God about about our needs. Jesus taught that before we even pray, God already knows our needs. This teaching is not difficult, but it is common sense living.

Another illustration of the common sense of the Christian life is when He taught us how to determine who we should trust in life and in doctrine. Jesus said in Matthew 7:1, "Judge not, that ye be not judged." God was very clear that we should not go around judging the motives of people. So how should we come to a conclusion of whether we should listen to a preacher or trust someone to use them? He makes it simple when He says in Matthew 7:20, "Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them." Jesus said the way to determine whether or not you should trust someone is to look at the results of their actions. This is not judging someone's motives, this is simply making a decision based upon the facts of what they have done. You cannot argue with the results of someone's actions. Again, this is common sense living.

Christian, be careful about making the Christian life so difficult to live. Study the Sermon on the Mount and look at how simply God breaks down the Christian life. When you do this, you will find that the Christian life is really not that difficult, but it is simply living by common sense. If you will be real and live with godly common sense, you will find that you will please God with your life.

Another way

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They Came Back Another Way

 

Matthew 2:12

"And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way."

The story from the verse above is about the three wise men who saw the star in the East for which they had long been waiting. These men knew that the Messiah would come some day, and that his coming would be announced by a star in the East. When they saw the star, they journeyed to Bethlehem so that they could worship Jesus. Once they arrived in the city, they asked King Herod if he knew where Jesus was born. When they left his presence, he asked them to return and tell him where the child should be born so that he could worship Him as well. However, an angel of God warned these wise men not to return to Herod because his desire was to destroy the child.

A phrase that catches my attention about these wise men is, "...they departed into their own country another way." I love this phrase because they went to see the Saviour one way, but they came back another way. Obeying God and being in the presence of the Saviour always causes a person to come back another way. It was Elisha who crossed over the Jordan River one way, but after seeing Elijah taken to Heaven in a whirlwind, he came back another way. It was David who went to fight Goliath as a youth, but came back another way as a man. It was Jacob who went to sleep as a deceiver, but after wrestling with God all night, he woke up another man. It was the three Hebrew children who went into the fiery furnace one way, but when they were in the presence of the Son of God, they came out another way. It was Zaccheus who climbed the tree one way, but after Jesus passed his way, he came down another way. On and on we could go and show the stories of people who went in one way, but after being in the presence of the Saviour came back another way.

Christian, do you ever come back another way? When you go to church, do you go in one way and come out another way? What I am talking about is being changed because you have been to church. Do you go to church to be changed, or do you go to church to fulfill your religious obligation? Oh, how we need Christians who will go to church one way and come out changed another way. Every time you go to church, your desire should be to come out another way.

Likewise, when you spend time in prayer, you should always come back another way. Moses went to the top of Mount Sinai and spent forty days and nights with God, and he came down another way. You cannot spend time in prayer without God changing you. One of the biggest reasons Christians never change is because they never spend any time in prayer so that God can change them. Prayer changes things, but most of all, prayer will change you!

Furthermore, when you spend time in the Scriptures you will always come back another way. Every day of my life I sit down to read the Scriptures one way, but I stand up from reading Them another way. You cannot spend time in the Scriptures without Them changing you. Just like a person who takes a bath is dirty and rubbing soap and water over their body causes them to come out clean, likewise a person who spends time in the Scriptures will come out another way.

The greatest need for our present society is for you to come back another way. Don't let your time with God in church, prayer and study of the Scriptures be time that is wasted. Let these times be fruitful times where you go in one way and come back another. Let God change you so that you can come back another way.

Truth Report

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Your Truth Report

 

Zechariah 8:3

"Thus saith the LORD; I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth; and the mountain of the LORD of hosts the holy mountain."

One of the most important attributes of God is His truthfulness. In fact, the Scriptures say in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." Not only is truth important to God, but He is truth. In other words, Jesus is the source of all truth.

To show you how much God loves truth, you must see how much He hates the opposite of truth which is lying. Proverbs 12:22 says, "Lying lips are abomination to the LORD: but they that deal truly are his delight." The word "abomination" means "hatred or detestation." Using the word abomination in our modern day language would be to say that lying makes God upset at His stomach. There are very few sins that God calls an abomination. Lying is categorized with such sins as sodomy, child sacrifice, molestation, adultery, idolatry and sowing discord among the brethren. This is a very disgusting list. Yet, God says that is how much He hates lying. Thus, you can see that God has the same degree of hatred for lying as he has for a love of truth.

In the verse above, when God comes to set up His kingdom, He said that "...Jerusalem shall be called a city of truth;..." God's kingdom will be a kingdom established on truth. Everything that He will do will be done in truth. However, just as the kingdom of God will be established by truth, our lives should also be established by truth. When people think of you, is one of the thoughts that come to their mind is that you are a person of truth? Let me give you several thoughts about truth.

First, telling the truth is not always going to be easy. Being a truthful person at times will be inconvenient, but you should always be truthful. Whenever you talk about a situation, you should not exaggerate, but you should tell the truth. You should never lie whenever the truth will hurt you or your family. Lying should never be an option for ANYTHING. You don't lie to protect people, you always tell the truth. Though society may say differently, God is a God of truth and He demands that we tell the truth all the time.

Second, your degree of truthfulness reveals your degree of character. You show me what it will take for you to lie and I will show you how much character you have. If you are a person of truth, then you are a person of character. On the opposite hand, if you are a person who will lie or exaggerate to make your perception better, then you are a person of little character.

Third, your degree of truthfulness reveals the degree to which you can be trusted. If there were a way to have a truth report like your finances have a credit report, what would we find on that report? Imagine if someone had to look at your truth report before they ever placed confidence in you, would you ever have confidence placed in you? The fact is, people will keep a mental report of your truthfulness and will determine how much confidence they will place in you by that mental report.

Christian, be a person of truth. Don't ever tell people to lie even if lying helps to keep a good perception. You should be a person who loves truth to the degree that God loves truth. Your degree of truthfulness will determine your degree of Christlikeness. With that being the case, how Christlike are you?

Consider

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Consider Your Ways

 

Haggai 1:5

"Now therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts; Consider your ways."

Zerubbabel was admonished by God to consider his ways. According to Webster's dictionary, the word "consider" means, "to take into view in examination." In other words, God wanted Zerubbabel to examine what his ways had produced. They had sown their crops, and had little to reap. They earned good wages, but they had no money saved of which they could talk about. God was trying to get them to see that though they worked hard, their sinful ways caused them not to reap the blessings of their work.

Just like God admonished Zerubbabel to consider his ways, you should periodically consider your ways. Many people never want to stop and take the time to look at what their ways have produced. However, you will never be able to improve yourself and what you do until you learn to seriously consider your ways. Let me give you several things you should do when considering your ways.

First, be honest with yourself. Lying to yourself will only hurt you. You can lie to yourself so you can feel better, but that doesn't change what is happening in your life. If a businessman truly wants to improve his business, then he needs to be honest about his assessment of his product and what he is doing. A nation can lie to itself about how well it's doing, but it will not improve itself until it decides to be completely honest with what their ways have produced. Whether you are a pastor, Christian, businessman, etc., you need to be honest when you decide to consider your ways.

Second, look at your actions and the results of those actions. I often tell people that my life is a study of actions and results. Many of my sermons are a result of studying the actions and results of people. When I see that certain actions lead to adverse results, I tell people not to do those actions. However, when I see that certain actions produce favorable results, I will tell people they need to do those actions. When you choose to consider your ways, look at both the actions and results and you will find out if you need to change something.

Third, study the ways of the past. You would be very wise to be a student of successful people. Find out what made them successful and do it. On the other hand, find out the mistakes they made and avoid them. When you find yourself failing in a certain area, copy the successful actions from those in the past, and you will find those actions will produce good results for you as well.

Last, change whatever bad ways you have to ways that have worked. One reason why we should not try new ways is because we don't know where those ways will take us. History teaches you the good and bad. When you see yourself following the same ways of those who were unsuccessful, then change your ways. When you find people who were successful, don't be so filled with pride that you won't follow their ways. Most likely those in history copied someone else also.

Every Christian, pastor, businessman, church and nation should regularly consider their ways. If you don't take time to consider your ways then you are sure to experience failure. If you will take the time to consider your ways, you will limit your failures in life. Take God's admonition to consider your ways so that you can change the areas of your life that need changing.