What'd I Just Say

Mark 11:23 Have you ever said, "I'm gettin the flu?" Well yeah, you may have.

But if you think about how you said that, It's like saying, "I don't have the flu
yet, but I'm going to go get it." “I’m gonna run up to the store, get some milk,
peanut butter, and the flu.” But that doesn't seem right. You shouldn't go get
 the flu, cuz you don't want the flu. You should get rid of the flu. Maybe sell
 it. But who’s going to buy the flu? Mark 11:23 says that if a person "believes
that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever
he saith." Think about it, I will have what I say if I believe it. So I say I'm gettin
the flu, and I do believe it's true, then I can have it. What other kinds of things
are we saying? How about "I'm probably going to lose my job," or "My life is
falling a part." Jesus was teaching his disciples that what we say and believe is
important. In fact our salvation is received by confessing Jesus is Lord and
believing that God raised him from the dead. Today, listen to what you are
saying. Stop describing your problem and start speaking God's solution.

Around Me

So when you receive the Lord Jesus as your personal savior, something

interesting happens. Deep with in your heart God changes your desire. Yeah,

now deep down you want to do right. You may not always do the right thing, but

you know you want to. So then you might say, "It's so hard to live right when

everyone around me is doing wrong." Okay, great point. But when everyone

around you is doing the wrong thing, you probably just need to change who you

are around. And sure, no one is perfect, but there are some who like you who

are trying to do the right thing. And maybe, just maybe, there aren’t a lot of

people trying, so then I might say well, you just really need one good friend.
Then you might be all, “one friend, forget it.” But Proverbs 18:24 “A man of
many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer
than a brother.” Ahha - whose that friend? Where can you find that one? Well
pray and ask God to help you find the right friend. As a Christian we love
everyone, but we don't have to hang around everyone, but you can hang out
with me.

Down In My Heart

What is it that makes you happy? Psalms 19:8 "The words of the Lord are right,

giving joy to the heart" Now who couldn't use a little more joy in the heart?

Things I don’t want in my heart might be stress or fear. But I like joy, it makes

me, umm, happy. Now lots of us are searching for joy. And in the world we can

get little moments of happiness. Like eating a donut. But that sugary sublime

donut joy isn’t in my heart, Its In my stomach. The world has offers for

happiness. Hey you only live once, let’s party “smoke this and you'll feel so much better...
" Oh yeah, I can’t feel anything actually, and then it just leaves you feeling empty in

your heart. But the bible says that the words of God make things better, they

have the ability to make you smarter, to set you free from, well, whatever, and

they have power. All of creation came from God's words. Make a habit of getting

into the bible, reading God's words, saying them outloud, like He does, and well,

that gets joy in my heart. Then you'll be saying "I've got the joy joy joy joy down

in my heart." "Where?" “Down in my heart.” “Where?” I said it’s in my heart!

But I Don't Like to Suffer

Romans 8:17 teaches us that we should share in Christ's sufferings. So what are

these sufferings? Well, Christ suffered on the cross. Keep in mind that he paid

the price on the cross in full, so that I would not have to suffer. For instance, He

became sin on the cross so that I could be forgiven. Ok, so what suffering does

God want me to share in? Well, he said it clearly in John 15. He told me to lay

down my life for others. You know, stopping what you want in order to help

someone else can feel a little like suffering. He has called me to that kind of

love. This means doing the dishes when you don't want to, letting others have

the best, loving even when you don't feel like it, forgiving when no one has said

they were sorry, and giving even if you haven't received anything. It means

being in a good mood when you have had a bad day. It's a letting go of what

your wants are, and making others needs more important. And Romans 5 tells

me to rejoice in my sufferings. So be happy in your loving others. Because

suffering produces perseverance, and that produces character, and character

hope, and hope doesn't disappoint.

A New Lineage

In Genesis 4 a guy named Lamech is born. As it turns out he is the 5th
generation of Cain. So his great great great great grandfather was Cain,
remember Cain? He was the guy who killed his brother. We like to hear good
things about our grandpas, not bad stories and Lamech, five generations later,
is still talking about Cain, and still letting what Cain had done define who he was.
Now Lamech was free from what Cain had done, but he was still letting
this past create his future. We as well have been given a new beginning. We
are in the family of God, and God himself is our father. But still we can let the
failures and defeats of our fathers determine who we are. We might say "My
grandpa had this or that, my dad had it, I probably will too." Or we decide that we
will just spend our life doing and living what they did or how they lived. But
maybe God has something different for you. Whether you had perfect parents or
none at all, God wants you to define your future with who He is, and who He has
created you to be. Don't be like Lamech, dragging the past into your future. Let
God create your future.

Rules

Society separates all of us into little groups.  The world tries to separate us by color, income bracket, political beliefs, and even the way we dress.  But Paul writes in Galatians “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” Boys rule and girls drool, sure, but in Christ, neither rules nor drools.  And can we stop seeing different colored skin, please?  This generation is the closest man has ever been at being color blind and not seeing one race better than another, but we still have a very long way to go.  You might find yourself putting down the poor saying “well go get a job”, or judging the rich saying “you should’ve sold that and given it to the poor.”  Or thinking that men are better than women… And that goes for everyone thank you very much.  So there is neither black, nor white, nor brown or polka dotted, nor people with tattoos or without tattoos or piercings, or green hair, or homeless but we are all one in Christ.  Division will keep us crippled, but unity will bring us strength, and strength influence, and influence will bring change, and this whole world could use a little changing!  Remember, God looks at the heart, and that is something we cannot see.