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.

Good and Evil

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Your Response to Good and Evil

 

Amos 5:14-15

"Seek good, and not evil, that ye may live: and so the LORD, the God of hosts, shall be with you, as ye have spoken. Hate the evil, and love the good, and establish judgment in the gate: it may be that the LORD God of hosts will be gracious unto the remnant of Joseph."

According to the verse above, God makes it very plain that there is good and evil. The day in which we live seems to deny the fact that there is such a thing as evil, but whether or not people want to admit this doesn't change the fact the evil exists. However, your response to good and evil will highly determine your success in handling situations. Let me give you several ideas on how you should respond to good and evil.

First, make clear lines in everything that you do. You must not allow gray areas in life. Gray areas tend to lend towards chaos and disorganization. There must be a right way and a wrong way in everything that you do. There is a right and wrong way in handling leadership responsibilities. There is a right and wrong way in how to discipline. There is a right and wrong way on how to live. There is a right and wrong way to everything you do. Therefore, be sure to make clear lines in whatever you do as either the right or wrong way.

Second, look for the good and not the bad in everyone. You will see that God commands in verse 14, "Seek good, and not evil..." If you want fulfilling relationships, then you need to seek the good in every person. If you don't want to live your life second guessing the motives of people, then you will need to make it a point to look for the good in every person. It's not hard to find the wrong, but you will have to purposely seek the good in people. Don't be anxious about finding out the evil about people and the situations in their lives, but be anxious to hear the good about them.

Third, be wise in your knowledge of good. A couple of times in the Scriptures God commands us to be wise concerning good and simple concerning evil. Again, God commands to "Seek good, and not evil..." We are too interested in investigating why something is wrong when we should investigate why something is good. If you will learn why something is good, then you will easily ascertain why something is evil.

Last, be consistent with your dealings of right and wrong. What I mean by this is you need to be consistent on how you treat wrong actions. In verse 15 it says, "...establish judgment in the gate:..." This is teaching us the importance of punishing evil and rewarding good when they happen. When someone does wrong, even if they are family or someone close, you need to be consistent in your punishment of that wrong. If you would punish one person one way and your family another way, then you don't truly hate evil. A hatred of evil will cause you to punish wrong in a consistent manner no matter who commits that wrong. If you truly hate evil, then you will punish wrong consistently.

Your response to good and evil will display how good of a Christian you are. The closer you get to becoming like Christ, the more you will have a hatred for evil. Work hard at being proper and consistent in your treatment of good and evil.

Price tag

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Your Price Tag of Love

 

Hosea 3:1

"Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine."

The Book of Hosea is a love story, but not the normal type of love story. This love story was filled with heartache, disappointment, and shame, and was about the undying love that Hosea had for his wife. Can you imagine how Hosea must have felt when his wife left him, not just for another man, but she left him to live a life of prostitution? If she left him for another man that would have been hard enough to carry, but to leave him to sell her body to lustful men was a blow that would be hard for anyone to take. Yet, though she left him, he still loved her to the end and proved it by buying her back to be his wife when she was being sold as a slave.

Love, is one of the most costly things for which you will pay for in life. Most people don't know that there is a price tag on love when they choose to love someone. Though the price tag of love is great, if you will pay the price, you will enjoy a great relationship in the end. Let me show you several things that are included in the price tag of love.

First, love hurts. When you choose to love someone, you need to expect that you will be hurt by them at sometime in your life. To expect that someone will never hurt you is unrealistic. Everybody is a sinner, and sinners will do things that hurt those who love them the most even though they may not purposely try to do this. When you choose to love someone, don't think that you will go unscathed, for there will be a time when you will be hurt by them.

Second, love is disappointing. There will be times when the one you love will disappoint you, but true love will continue to love that person. Just because they disappoint you should not stop your love for them for if it does then you never truly loved that person. Just think how often we have disappointed God, and yet He still loves us. When someone disappoints you, don't let that disappointment stop your love.

Third, love can be shameful. Imagine the shame that Hosea felt when he faced others who saw his wife on the street corner selling her body to lustful men. This was certainly a shameful feeling. However, his love for her did not waver even though he was shamed. True love is not dependent upon whether or not someone will shame or embarrass you. There will be times when you will have to carry the shame for the one that you love, but it is worth it when you can restore the fellowship in that love.

Fourth, love may be spurned. Hosea's wife actually left him, but though she left and probably told him that she didn't love him when she did, he still loved her. One of the things you must understand about love is that there is no off switch to love. Though someone may spurn you and be hateful towards you, true love continues to love that person.

Fifth, love has no degree at which it will stop to restore a loved one. The undying love of Hosea was seen when he made a bid for his wife to bring her back home. True love will continue to do everything it can to restore fellowship with the one it loves. Love will be willing to look over the wrong so that it can have the one back whom it loves.

Christian, the only way you will have this true love is to focus on the object of your love and not on the benefits or actions of the one you love. Every parent, spouse, child, friend and Christian needs to know that your love will go through these stages. My question for you is this, are you willing to pay the price tag of love? If you are, then you will have fulfilling relationships.