Baptist City Blog

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The Burden of Serving

Numbers 4:49

"According to the commandment of the LORD they were numbered by the hand of Moses, every one according to his service, and according to his burden: thus were they numbered of him, as the LORD commanded Moses."

In the verse above, you will find an interesting statement about serving God.  It says, "...every one according to his service, and according to his burden..." God made it clear in this chapter that He gave each person a burden to carry. God did not try to cover up the fact that serving Him would take work, but the results of serving God are great. However, you must realize that if you are going to serve God, their will be a burden in doing so.  Let me give you several thoughts about the burden of serving.

First, every way of life has a burden. Don't get this mentality that serving God is the only life that can be burdensome. Christian, you must realize that the world's way of life is burdensome as well. They may not advertise how burdensome their way is, but God tells us in the Scriptures that both the world's way of life and the Christian's way of life can be burdensome.  The difference between the two is that God's burden is light for He will help you carry your load.

Second, the burden of serving will grow you as a Christian.  You will never grow without serving.  Yes, their may be a burden you must carry to serve the LORD, but you will never grow without that burden. A person trying to build muscles doesn't lift a barbell without weights. No, he adds weight to the barbell so he can grow his muscles.  Likewise, you must carry the burden of serving if you are going to grow as a Christian.

Third, everyone's limit of what they can carry is different. One of the mistakes many Christians make is they try to do what someone else has done or is doing only to overburden themselves. Just because someone can carry a heavier load than you does not make them a better Christian, God made you with your limit, so carry the amount of weight in serving God as you are capable.

Fourth, everyone has a burden unique to them. God made you to serve Him in a unique area. That means that your burden is unique to you.  Only you can best carry your burden of serving.  If someone else tried to carry what you carry, then they would fail in carrying as well as you can for you are the only one who can carry your burden the best.  This is why it is important for you not to quit and to be in your place of service, because you are the best person to carry the burden in the place of service for which God made you.

Finally, know the limit of what you can carry. Christian, every person has a limit of what they can do in the LORD's work.  Don't continue to take on duties and overload yourself to the point that you become bitter at God and the church. Learn to say, "No" when you are at your limit. I would rather you serve God the rest of your life with the load that you carry now than to take on a bigger load and quit serving God. Don't let the idea that you don't want to let your pastor down cause you to take on more than you can carry. Know your limit and don't take on more than you can carry.

If you are going to grow, then you need to find a place of service in the LORD's work. However, be careful about taking on more than your limit will allow you. You don't want to spiritually collapse because you took on more than you could carry.  Remember, your load will increase in time, so slowly take on duties of service to the proportion of which you are capable.

The bulletin from FBC Hammond for 05/22/2011 is now up at www.baptist-city.com.

The song of the week is "Everlasting Blood" now at www.baptist-city.com.

More terrific sermons for you to listen to at www.baptist-city.com. These are for the week of 5/08/11.
Enjoy!

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Creating Passion

Exodus 36:2

"And Moses called Bezaleel and Aholiab, and every wise hearted man, in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom, even every one whose heart stirred him up to come unto the work to do it:"

One of the most important ingredients for anyone to excel in any area is passion.  It seems as if one of the missing ingredients in Christianity today is passion.  When you go to the average church, you see leadership and people simply going through the motions to do what they "have to" get done.  Without passion, whatever you do with flounder.

In the verse above, you see two men who had a passion about what they were doing for God.  Not only do you see that these men had passion, but you also learn how they got their passion.  Their passion caused God to use them in a greater way than He used anyone else with their talent and knowledge.  Let me show you what it takes to create passion by learning from these two men.

First, it takes wisdom.  Notice that it says in the verse above, "...in whose heart the LORD had put wisdom..." These men weren't blindly doing their work, but God knew the importance of them having the wisdom to do His work. People will never get passion if they don't have the wisdom to know what to do.  It is important that we teach and train people what to do in the Christian life.  Without a knowledge of what to do, you will create is frustration. When teaching people what to do, make it clear so there is no misunderstanding.

Second, it takes a know how. The Scriptures say in verse 1, "...in whom the LORD put wisdom and understanding to know how to work all manner of work for the service of the sanctuary,..." Notice that God gave them wisdom first, and then He gave them the know how.  In other words, God not only told them what to do, but He also told them why they were to do it.  People need to know why they are to do certain things.  Without the knowledge of why being answered, then you will create a people who will quit when difficulties come.  People need to know the why as much as they need to know the what.  Be sure to ground people in doctrine, but tell them why they must do it.

Third, in verse 1, you notice that God gave them understanding as well. This is application.  In other words, once a person knows what to do, and why to do it, then they need to know how to apply what to do in every area.  Application is important to creating passion.  When someone knows how to apply the what of Christianity to their life, then that is when excitement begins to stir in their heart. The reason being is because purpose for their life becomes reality.

Last, passion is a result of wisdom, know how and application.  Once these two men had these three elements, then their hearts were stirred.  You will not create passion in people until you accomplish all three of these areas in their life. Once passion comes, then you will see people who become unstoppable in the LORD's work.

Do you have a lack of passion, or do you see a lack of passion in those whom you lead?  Then be sure to get the wisdom and know how, then apply these to life, and you will find passion will be the result.  Oh how we need some people who are passionate about the LORD's work. Be sure in every thing you do for Christ that you do what it takes to create passion, so that not only we, but also everyone who follows us, will have a passion for Christ.

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Provide a Place of Mercy

Exodus 25:17

"And thou shalt make a mercy seat of pure gold: two cubits and a half shall be the length thereof, and a cubit and a half the breadth thereof."

The mercy seat is a very important place for the child of God. It is the place where God sprinkled His blood for the atonement of our sins.  It is the mercy seat that allows a person to establish a relationship with God. Without the mercy seat, every person would be destined to Hell. God knew that man would need a place to have their sins atoned so that they could establish a relationship with God.

Just like God provided a mercy seat for every person, I believe that you should provide a mercy seat for people.  What I mean by this is that you must establish a place of mercy in your heart for others when they wrong you.  Let's be realistic, people are going to hurt you and wrong you.  Because people are going to wrong you, you need to have a place of mercy in your heart so that you can continue to have a good relationship with others.

Because God built a mercy seat, that means He expected mankind to wrong Him. Just like God expected mankind to wrong Him, you need to expect that every person will wrong you or hurt you at some time in your relationship.  If you are unrealistic about your relationships with others, then you will never overcome the hurts of people.  For instance, you need to expect that your spouse will hurt you at some time in your marriage.  You need to expect that your child will hurt you at some time in your life.  You need to expect that your parents will hurt you at some time.  You need to expect that your siblings will do something to hurt you.  You need to expect that your pastor or a fellow Christian will hurt you at some time. It is unrealistic to expect people to never hurt you.  The reason it is unrealistic is because people are sinners, and sinners will do wrong.

Furthermore, because you know that people will do wrong, then you need to have mercy on them so you can have a good relationship with them.  God provided the mercy seat so that He could have mercy on us when we do wrong, and you need to be merciful to people when they do wrong.  Stop blowing up and ruining every relationship because someone hurt you.  Realize you need to have a place of mercy in your heart for people when they wrong you.  If you expect people to wrong you and you give them a chance for mercy, then you can keep from destroying others and relationships.

Without a place of mercy in your heart for people, then you will become suspicious and judgmental towards everyone.  Life is too short not to practice mercy towards those who do wrong.  Always have a place of mercy in your heart so that you can keep good relationships with others.

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Building In-Law Relations

Exodus 18:2

"Then Jethro, Moses' father in law, took Zipporah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her back,"

One of the best in-law relationships that you find in the Scriptures is the relationship between Moses and Jethro, his father-in-law.  Moses' status among the Israelites and his busy schedule could have caused problems with Jethro, but we find that these two men got along very well.  When you study their relationship, you find several keys that helped them build a good relationship.

First, Jethro supported their marriage.  I don't know, and this is pure speculation, but it seems from the verse above that maybe Moses and his wife were having some marriage problems. The verse above states that Jethro sent his daughter back to Moses.  He realized that he needed to support their marriage and not be a wedge between his daughter and her husband, Moses.  If you want to build good relations with your in-laws, then you need to support their marriage.  Listen, you should never try to destroy the marriage of your children because you don't like who they married. You should do your best to support the marriage realizing that God's command is for them to stay married until death parts them.  If you become a wedge in your children's marriage, you could in essence be fighting against God's command for them to stay married.  You will do more to help your children by supporting their marriage than you will by fighting against your in-laws.

Second, be genuinely concerned about your in-laws.  Notice in verses 7-8, that Moses and Jethro were concerned how each were doing.  Don't just be concerned with your side of the family, but be concerned with the in-laws as well.  Being concerned with them will help you to build good relations with your in-laws.

Third, do spiritual acts together.  In verse 12, you see Jethro and Moses making a sacrifice together.  In other words, they were serving God together.  One of the best tools in building good relations with your in-laws is serving God together.  One of the things that has helped me to have a very good relationship with my in-laws is that we serve God together.  This gives us a common thing to talk about when we are together.  You would be wise to spend time serving God with your in-laws.

Fourth, be careful and wise when giving advice.  In the latter part of chapter 18, you will read that Jethro gave some good advice to Moses that helped him in his career. Let me be very forward and tell you that you should rarely give advice to your in-laws.  If they want your advice they will ask you.  Be stingy with your advice, and only give it when asked.  The only other time you should give advice is when its obvious that it will help them, but even then you would be wise to keep it to yourself. You don't want to be seen as someone who is meddling in your in-laws personal affairs.

Last, leave properly. In verse 27, Jethro left Moses properly.  Whenever you leave your in-laws, always strive to leave under good circumstances.  It should be that your in-laws were happy to see you and look forward to you coming back.

In-law relations can be good.  I thank God for my in-laws and the great relationship we have with each other.  When you have good relations with your in-laws, then you have built another block in the foundation of a great marriage.  Do everything in your power to have good relations with your in-laws.

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The LORD Shewed Him a Tree

Exodus 15:25

"And he cried unto the LORD; and the LORD shewed him a tree, which when he had cast into the waters, the waters were made sweet: there he made for them a statute and an ordinance, and there he proved them,"

In the verse above, we find the answer for Israel's murmuring.  When Israel found themselves without water, they began to murmur.  It is amazing that these people were just delivered from the hand of Pharaoh by going through the Red Sea on dry land, and yet they still murmured against God.  These people quickly forgot that God provided their deliverance and would provide water for them if they were patient. Yet, in their murmuring, God showed them a tree.  That tree was their deliverance from their problem and was the solution to their murmuring.

I am constantly amazed at how God's people murmur and complain as often as they do.  With all the blessings that God has given them, they still complain about what they feel is God's lack of provision for them.  Honestly, it's time that Christians take their eyes off themselves and realize that God has been very good to them. The answer to a Christian's dissatisfaction is the tree.  The tree is a reminder of Calvary.  The tree reminds us of the cross.  You see, if you will only look at the cross, you will find that your murmuring is unwarranted.  The answer to all of your dissatisfaction in life is the cross.  If you will look to the tree, you can quickly overcome your dissatisfaction and murmuring.

When you're dissatisfied with your church, look to the tree.  I know that your church isn't perfect, and I know that your pastor may not be doing everything right, but you are not perfect and doing everything right either.  The way to keep yourself from becoming dissatisfied with your church is to keep your eyes on Calvary.

When you're dissatisfied with your job, then look to the tree.  When you're dissatisfied with what you have, then look to the tree.  When your dissatisfied with a person, then look to the tree. The answer to your dissatisfaction with your possessions and people is Calvary.

When you're dissatisfied with your marriage, then look to the tree.  Complaining about your spouse and griping about what they don't do for you could be solved if you would take your eyes off yourself and place them on Calvary.  When you see the cross of Calvary, then you will realize how blessed you are in your marriage.

When you're dissatisfied with family, then look to the tree. Christian, family members will disappoint you, but Calvary is never disappointing.  Family members will let you down, but Calvary will never let you down.  Family members will often hurt you, but Calvary will never hurt you. The answer to your dissatisfaction with your family is looking to the tree.

When you're dissatisfied with your country, then look to the tree.  The answer for your country is Calvary.  If you will look to the tree and point others to that same tree, then you will find you can change what is going on in your country.

Calvary is the answer to your dissatisfaction. Calvary has a way of refocusing your viewpoint on what is really important.  Keep your eyes on the tree and you will continually be satisfied with life.