May/31/ 2020 Filed in:
StrongerStronger Relationally
Isaiah 40:31 NKJV “But those who wait on the Lord, shall RENEW THEIR STRENGTH.”
Romans 12:3-9 NIV “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully. 9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.
Three things that weaken our relationships:
1. Insecurity
Romans 12:3 NIV “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.”
2. Independence
Romans 12:5 NIV “so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.”
3. Insincerity
Romans 12:9 NIV “Love must be sincere”
1 John 3:18 “Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”
Romans 12:9-21 NIV “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 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. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.
17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.
Five ways to strengthen our relationships:
1. More time
Romans 12:10 NIV “be devoted to one another in love”
NCV “ Love each other like brothers and sisters.”
2. More prayer
Romans 12:12 NIV “Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.”
3. More help
Romans 12:13 NIV “Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”
Luke 3:11 NIV “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.”
Galatians 6:10 NCV “When we have the opportunity to help anyone, we should do it. But we should give special attention to those who are in the family of believers.”
4. More acceptance
Romans 12:16b NIV “Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.”
5. More grace
Romans 12:16 NIV “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.”
Romans 12:18 TPT “Do your best to live as everybody’s friend.”
May/19/ 2020 Filed in:
StrongerSTRONGER
Part 1
Spiritually Stronger
Isaiah 40:28-31 NKJV
“Have you not known?
Have you not heard?
The everlasting God, the Lord,
The Creator of the ends of the earth,
Neither faints nor is weary.
His understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the weak,
And to those who have no might He increases strength.
30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary,
And the young men shall utterly fall,
31 But those who wait on the Lord
Shall renew their strength;
They shall mount up with wings like eagles,
They shall run and not be weary,
They shall walk and not faint.”
Five ways that God renews our strength:
1. Strength comes when we take time to REPENT
Judges 16:28 NIV “Then Samson prayed to the Lord, “Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.”
2. Strength comes when we take time to REFUEL
I Kings 19:8 NIV “So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.”
3. Strength comes when we take time to RECONNECT
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 NIV
“Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:
10 If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up.
11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”
4. Strength comes when we take time to RECOMMIT
Nehemiah 6:3 ESV “I’m doing a great work and I cannot come down”
Nehemiah 6:9 NIV “They were all trying to frighten us, thinking, “Their hands will get too weak for the work, and it will not be completed.” But I prayed, “Now STRENGTHEN my hands.”
5. Strength comes when we take time to RELEASE
2 Corinthians 12:8-10 NIV “Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10 That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
May/13/ 2020 Filed in:
Inside_JobInside Job
Part 4
Anxious for Nothing
Philippians 4:6 NIV “do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”
Three things about worry:
1. Worry is WIDESPREAD
Luke 21:26 NKJV “men’s hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth.”
2. Worry WEIGHS YOU DOWN
Proverbs 12:25 NIV “An anxious heart weighs a man down”
Matthew 6:34 NIV “Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
3. Worry is a WASTE
Ecclesiastes 2:22 NIV “What does a man get from all his anxious toil and striving?”
Matthew 6:25 NIV “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?”
Matthew 6:27 NIV “Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?”
Philippians 4:6 NKJV “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”
Four things about peace from this passage:
1. PEACE is a SPIRITUAL thing
Philippians 4:6 NIV “do not be anxious about anything but in every situation, by PRAYER and petition”
Philippians 4:6b NIV “with thanksgiving”
2. PEACE is a MENTAL thing
Philippians 4:8 NIV “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”
3. PEACE is a PRACTICAL thing
Philippians 4:9 NIV “Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.”
4. PEACE is a RELATIONAL thing
Philippians 4:9b NIV “the God of peace will be WITH you”
Psalm 46:1-2 NIV “God is our refuge and strength, an EVER- PRESENT help in trouble. 2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,”
May/10/ 2020 Filed in:
Inside_JobInside Job - part 3
Mother’s Day
JOY in our Salvation
Philippians 3: JOY of my SALVATION
Philippians 3:2 NLT “Watch out for those dogs, those people who do evil, those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved.”
Philippians 3:3-6 NLT
“3 For we who worship by the Spirit of God are the ones who are truly circumcised. We rely on what Christ Jesus has done for us. We put no confidence in human effort, 4 though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more!
5 I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. 6 I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.”
What gets in the way of your JOY?
1. Your Resume
Ephesians 2:8-9 NLT
8 God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. 9 Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.
Titus 3:5 NLT
5 he saved us, not because of the righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He washed away our sins, giving us a new birth and new life through the Holy Spirit.
2. Regret
How do we take back our JOY?
1. Joy is not about my RESUME, but it is about my RELATIONSHIP
Philippians 3:7-8 NLT
7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. 8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ
2. Joy is not about my REGRET, but it is about my REDEMPTION
Philippians 3:13 NLT
13 No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,
May/03/ 2020 Filed in:
Inside_Job
Inside Job
Part 2
JOY KILL
Philippians 2:1-4 NLT “Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from his love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? 2 Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. 3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too”
Two attitudes that kill joy:
1. Prideful attitude
Proverbs 13:10 NLT “pride leads to arguments”
Philippians 2:3 NIV “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves…”
2. Selfish attitude
Philippians 2:3-4 NIV “in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”
Strive to have an attitude like Christ:
Philippians 2:5 NLT “your attitude should be like that of Christ Jesus.”
1. SURRENDER your rights
Philippians 2:6-7 NIV “Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.”
Hebrews 12:2 NIV “For the JOY set before him he endured the cross”
2. SERVE others without grumbling
Philippians 2:6-7 NIV “Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 7 rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant”
Philippians 2:14 NIV “Do everything without grumbling or arguing,”
3. SPEND your life for the good of others
Philippians 2:8 NIV “And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!
Philippians 2:17 NIV “But even if I am being POURED OUT like a drink offering on the sacrifice and service coming from your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you.”
