Archive for endurance
Endurance, Pt.9
Posted by: | CommentsENDURANCE IS DISCIPLESHIP.
If you want to lose endurance, lose sight of JESUS!
If you want to lose endurance, lose sight of the CROSS Jesus died on to save our sinful and hell-broken souls!
If you want to lose endurance, fixate your eyes on your FAULTS instead of Christ’s FORGIVENESS!
If you want to lose endurance, worry about your past mistakes, instead of worshiping the Prince of Peace!
If you want to lose endurance, bury yourself in guilt, instead of believing and receiving God’s grace!
If you want to lose endurance, be more afraid of what everybody else thinks of you, instead of what God thinks of you!
If you want to lose endurance, forget about the fact that Jesus is still changing you, you are still a work in progress and HE STILL LOVES YOU NO MATTER WHAT!
If you want to lose endurance as a pastor, focus more on BUILDING A BIG CHURCH, than BELIEVING IN A BIG GOD!
If you want to lose endurance, try to do everything in your own strength, covering up all your own faults, instead of relying on Christ’s redemptive power to change you and empower you!
Oh yeah, and one more thing, if you want to lose endurance, STOP LISTENING TO JESUS and start ignoring His promptings, avoid His convictions, don’t get under His authoritative Word, and certainly don’t gather with His Body.
Endurance, Pt.8
Posted by: | CommentsDon’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1Co 6:9-11 NLT)
The Bible really is a straightforward book, God is not beating around the bush. He says it like it is. God says what He means and means what He says.
Jesus is so powerful that He can transform sinners into saints! Just think about that, just imagine for a moment that without Jesus Christ we are all filthy, dirty, broken, and hell-bound. BUT…because of Jesus Christ’s perfect work on the cross – we can be cleansed, we can be made holy, we can be made right with God!
I was once (and yes still do struggle with sinful desires) was indulging in sexual sin, worshipping idols, committing adultery, stealing, cheating, drugging, abusing.
The bottom line is that I was hell bound…BUT JESUS HAS CHANGED ALL OF THAT AND IS STILL CHANGING ME!
When you follow the desires of your sinful nature, the results are very clear: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. Let me tell you again, as I have before, that anyone living that sort of life will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to His cross and crucified them there. (Gal 5:19-24 NLT)
Endurance, Pt.7
Posted by: | CommentsOne of the best ways to lose endurance is to hide the fact that you get tired and need rest, or to hide the fact that you get overwhelmed and need guidance, or to hide the fact that you get weak and need strength, or to hide the fact that you get tempted, lazy, and off-mission and need accountability.
If you want to lose endurance pretend that you don’t need anyone else or ever require assistance in this life, like you’ve written the manual on life. Actually, that manual has already been written, its called the Bible, and guess what I didn’t write it and neither did you:-)
The best way to prevent growth is to pretend that you are already fully matured or fully grown; that you are perfect.
Pretending to be perfect is the perfect way to prevent Christ’s perfecting work in my life (try saying that 3 times real fast:-)
Endurance, Pt.6
Posted by: | CommentsYou have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy—their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols. (1Pe 4:3 NLT)
Every believer must have some kind of “conversion” experience, a time when they confessed (openly admitted) their sin and turned from their sin to follow Jesus. This could happen at a young age or an old age, but it must happen (John3:3).
Before I met and gave my life to Jesus Christ I was exactly as the Scripture above states: I enjoyed immorality and lust, feasting, drunkenness, and wild parties, and my terrible worship of idols (things I obeyed more than God; things I was enslaved to other than God). For me I was a slave to addiction, to fear, to selfishness, to immorality, to lust, to self-absorbed sex, to lying, to cheating, to secrecy, to shame, and to guilt.
BUT…JESUS HAS CHANGED ALL OF THAT. I still struggle in plenty of ways, BUT…JESUS IS STILL CHANGING ME. I find that the more I admit my own sin and my need for the Savior, the more He redeems me and takes the “pressure to be perfect” off of me!
The Gospel really is good news! I really am forgiven, and as a leader, WE MUST BANK ON THAT MORE THAN ANYONE! Often times I don’t pause to really reflect on the very message I preach every week – THE GOSPEL REALLY IS GOOD NEWS! Thank you, Jesus!!
If you want to lose endurance and leak joy – then spend your life pretending to be perfect, pretending that you don’t need any help, pretending that you don’t need accountability, pretending that you don’t need to set goals, pretending that you have all the answers.
