MINISTRY NOTES

Week of February 14, 2010

Hi Everyone,

"stand firm"

Recently I had some work done that involved mostly three skilled men working for over 60 man-hours. I returned after being gone for several hours and discovered an unacceptable error or negligent workmanship. It was totally unacceptable and I was in a state of shock on how to respond. All I could think was that soon I would be involved in my nighttime prayer time and could discuss my options with God. There have been times that God would not allow me to object. Then God said, "stand firm". At first I ignored Him thinking I need to talk to God about my concern when God again said, "stand firm". By the third time I heard those words, I knew God was talking about this situation. Then in our family prayers (about 15 minutes later), currently we are reading words that God said, my wife read the next verses due to be read which were from Isaiah 41:10-13, which in part from the (TEV) are, "Do not be afraid--I am with you! … I will make you strong and help you…". The next day after several phone calls, I informed the boss over the three workers of my concern. He came by and saw what I was concerned about. Knowing that they were several hours past that point, he offered a valid possible solution without having to go back and redo the sloppy work. As I listened to his suggestion, I could hear God saying again, "stand firm" and I repeated politely and firmly, "no it must be done correctly". After the boss talked to the lead man, there was a new explanation (or lame excuse) as to why it was done and a different valid correction idea offered and I responded, "no it must be done correctly". Normally, I would have accepted either of the corrective solutions. They redid the work and it did not take as long as expected and it was not as invasive as they had thought it would be. The boss even commented how easy the redo went. I was concerned about the workers' possible hostility during the rest of their work, however they seemed to actually be nicer and work harder and went out of their way to do a superior job. It reminded me of the words of God in the (ICB) in the same scripture, "…You will look for your enemies. But you will not find them…". No one wanted to treat me like an enemy. Later, at the conclusion of the work, the lead man privately came to me and apologized for the previous poor workmanship.

As I encourage everyone to hear God, I would remind you that at times you need to hear Him during a conversation or while you are talking. Also, sometimes people think I have memorized verses in the Bible. No, when God uses a scripture like this it becomes memorable. I will not soon forget what God said as found in Isaiah 41:10. God is awesome!

Marriage Workshop Moment

To refresh what you have learned in our Workshop or entice you to experience our Workshop

"Remember, all marriages can be better, if you use what you learned."

God stated in Genesis 2:24 and Jesus quoted it in Mark 10:8 (NIV) that when two people get married "…the two will become one…". Functioning as one and being a team of two that works together is one of the main things we help people accomplish in our workshop. From God's viewpoint, it appears He treats married couples as one. In the story of Job, Satan was not allowed to kill Job and all of his family members were destroyed but not his wife (Job 1-2:9). To become one spiritually, it is good for a couple to talk about their spiritual views. If you have different views it is good to discuss them and may be a good time to use the Speaker Listener Technique. Unlike most discussions in your marriage, just because you as a couple agree doesn't make it correct before God. It is good to support your opinions with what Jesus or God said. It is good for you to have family prayers together, worship God together in the same church, and even share a ministry together. That may sound heavy but I knew a couple who had no children and had been married over twenty years who helped in the nursery together in a large church. That was a nice way to share a ministry together.

The Better Half "When your partner won't support your efforts to make your marriage better" Without your spouse's support to improve your marriage, you can still pray daily for God's will to be done in each of your lives and your marriage ("all things are possible with God", Mark 10:27 NIV). From God's viewpoint it appears He treats married couples as one. In the story of Job, Satan was not allowed to hurt Job and all of his family members were destroyed but not his wife, who did not appear to be a supportive spouse. For you to function as one as a couple does require both of you to make an effort. You should develop your personal relationship with God, as that is an individual thing. In addition to praying for your spouse and encouraging them to be closer to God you can live your life as a good example. It may be hard to encourage your spouse to get closer to God, if you do not set a godly example.

A Psalm for reflection "For the sake of Your name, Lord, forgive my many sins." Psalm 25:11 (ICB)

Understanding the Teaching: What I share in the teaching is what I believe God wants me to share. All the direct quotes from God are highlighted in royal purple. Of course the words of Jesus are in red. Rather than follow some made up doctrine, remember that Jesus said that every thing He said (Jn 12:49) and everything He did (Jn 14:31) comes from God. All teachings and all opinions should be supported by what we learn from God or Jesus (see the scripture referred to in the footnote).

A Jesus Teaching:

Misguided Sin Reaction

We all have sinned. Jesus encourages us to "repent" or turn from our sins and forgive others so that God will "forgive" us1. Seems simple and yet people mess it up As people follow teachings that other people have made up, it appears to be easy to ignore what Jesus teaches about forgiving others. Some will follow a teaching that all you have to do is confess or admit your sins, which is a lot easier than forgiving others. It seems rather naïve to ignore the teachings of the "Son of God" who said everything He said was what God told Him to "say" and that He has the authority to "judge"2. And follow what one of His disciples wrote in a letter3 about confessing sins.

Unforgivable

As we discuss sin, we need to pause to cover the subject of the unforgivable sin. Jesus tells us it is unforgivable for someone who "blasphemes" against the Holy Spirit4. This seems to be particularly concerning to new Christians who may have said things in the past and they don't want to have the possibility of an unforgivable sin in their past. Previously I have mentioned looking up the original Hebrew word used for the Greek word in the Septuagint, however in this case it is not possible as the verb "blaspheme" is not found in the Septuagint. First, please set aside all doctrine and past teachings about the Spirit and let's just listen to what Jesus says. Jesus tells us, "God is Spirit…"5. It may be easier to understand if we refer to the Holy Spirit as Jesus did when He called it the "Spirit of God"6. The Spirit of God is God powerful instrument for everything from casting out demons, healing, convicting of sin, prophecy, empowerment, etc.. Jesus gives us insight for the Spirit when He tells us that the Spirit "…will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears…"7. The Spirit of God is what descended upon Jesus at His baptism8. Mark tells us that the reason Jesus made the statement about blaspheme was that the religious teachers said Jesus "has an evil spirit"4. To say the Spirit of God is evil is like calling God evil and God is the source of forgiveness. If you have called God evil or the Spirit of God evil in the past and can convince me that you have repented and are totally living your life like God would want you to, God told me I can intercede for you like Moses did for the children of Israel9. (this is the first time God has ever suggested that I could intercede for someone's forgiveness, normally it is not necessary) Are you living your life like God wants you to?

Frequently, when people sin they blame themselves. We may be at fault for all our sins and Jesus has given you a way to be forgiven by repenting and forgiving others1. If you are misguided in your response to your sins as we touched on last week, please consider that God does not ask you to inflict punishment on your self or engage in masochism. If you are aware of religious leaders who suggest punishment activities as penitence for sins, consider they may be like the religious leaders in Jesus day who Jesus accuses of making others "twice as much a son of hell as you are"10. Some religious leaders make as an act of punishment fasting or praying what Jesus taught us to pray, etc.. To treat acts of worship or obedience to God as punishment may be mostly beneficial to the enemy who wants to turn people against God.

Sometimes we have sins or temptations that seem to reoccur. It is good to realize that the devil may be involved. As the accuser and a liar, the devil may try deceiving us into thinking that it is our fault. Always remember that as a follower of Jesus, that Jesus has been given "all authority in heaven and on earth"11, not just what is left over by the devil. All means all and the devil is only dangerous if we listen to him. We can and should take authority over the devil and all his demons and drive them out in Jesus' "name"12. What if it is the devils not at fault? No problem, he needs to be reminded regularly that he is a looser and kicking his tail is good. Some Christians will argue that the devil is the prince of this world because Jesus called him that but they fail to read the whole verse where Jesus says, "the prince of this world now stands condemned"13.

Let's pray,

"Thank You God for showing us how to receive forgiveness and thank You for forgiving our sins. Help us use spiritual warfare and resist the temptation to sin. Protect us and keep us from even being aware of the opportunity to sin. Thank you for helping us to be sin free, in Jesus name, amen."

1. Mathew 3:2; 6:14-15

2. John 10:36; 12:49; 5:27

3. 1 John 1:9

4. Mark 3:29-30

5. John 4:24

6. Matthew 12:28

7. John 6:13 (NIV)

8. Matthew 3:16

9. Exodus 32:9-14

10. Matthew 23:15 (NIV)

11. Matthew 28:18 (NIV)

12. Mark 16:18

13. John 16:11 (NIV)