Everything is Changing and I wish it Would Quit!!!

"The Sun Comes Up there's a New Day Dawning" 

I can't believe another year is already gone! How was your 2014? In answering this question there is one area of our life we tend to focus on, change. To determine whether my year was good or bad, I evaluate if the change was negative or positive. If the majority of the changes were negative, I typically can't wait to get on to the next year, but it is a good year if the changes benefited me.

Many of the changes in our life are unsettling even if in hindsight they turn out positive. It is natural  to long for stability. (to test this theory try rearranging the furniture in the church building before next Sunday and see what happens). In fact, Many people who have worked with children and home-life have determined that stability is necessary for proper development.

In the 30 short years I have been alive, I have learned at least one thing. Change is inevitable. There will always be change, and a majority of the change in our lives will be negative,  unless we can learn to change our perspective. We need to gain the perspective of change that Paul obviously had. In Philippians 4:12 he says, "I know how to get along with humble means, and I also know how to live in prosperity; in any and every circumstance I have learned the secret of being filled and going hungry, both of having abundance and suffering need." He is basically saying I know how to handle change both good and bad.

As most of us evaluate the world and the culture we live in, it can be depressing to see the changes that are occurring. Economically we see change. There is no certainty that incomes will last. Politically, our country is changing all the time. It would be a huge understatement to say our country is morally changing. I never thought we would see some of the moral changes that are going on around us. Culture changes all the time.

Not only are there cultural changes that bring frustration, each of us deals with personal changes as well. Many of you may be dealing with financial changes, health changes, family changes (additions and deaths), and many other things that aren't certain to stay the same. Again, change is inevitable. However, the inevitability of it doesn't make it any easier.

As we deal with the changes, many of us will long for "better times" or "the good ol days." The reality is, 2014 will one day be a "good ol day" to someone. It is easy to think that we had it better before the change, but most likely there was some other change we just finished dealing with.

As noted earlier we naturally desire stability. I believe this is a God-given desire within us. He created us to need stability. We might think this is strange since the world is full of instability and is always changing. This can leave us irritated frustrated and maybe even angry with God. We may even fight the temptation to blame God for all of the difficulties and changes in our life.

You see, there is one other thing I have learned in my life. Unlike the world, God never changes! He is the same yesterday, today and forever. The Psalmist acknowledges this in Psalm 102:25-27. Also, Israel learned this lesson as they experienced many changes because of their up and down obedience to God. As God had promised them, He was with them when they obeyed and He punished them when they disobeyed. During the punishment many thought God was the one changing. God reminds them in Malachi 3:6, "I the Lord, do not change."

Not only does God not change in His nature. The good gifts he gives us (especially the gift of salvation through His Son) do not change. James tells us this in James 1:17. We find our stability in God and the gifts He has given us.

Instead of seeking stability in earthly things and in this life, where we know it will always change, let's find our stability in God. He is unchanging by nature. He provides the stability that he created us to need! This was precisely Paul's answer to how he can feel content in the midst of various (Changing) situations. In the very next verse (Philippians 4:13) Paul reveals the source of his contentment. "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me!" God provides the only stability that is guaranteed. In 2015 join me in not getting depressed and frustrated at the ever-changing world and find your stability in GOD!

Blessings,
Jeremy

"Encourage one another, build up one another."

Who is responsible for bringing you the Gospel of Christ?

Mom brought over a home video from 1991, I was six years old. After watching only a few clips my wife learned why I am the way I am. In the early nineties nobody had a camera in their pocket like today. In fact, we rented a video camera to "tape" our Christmas program. One particular scene shows my dad and I making faces and funny noises to show off for the camera. We were two peas in a pod. I guess you might say a lot of who I am as a man I learned from my father.

Dad taught me many things for which I am grateful. He taught me to hunt, fish and clean the game for meat. He developed within me a love for the outdoors, sports and very importantly a love for the Denver Broncos! He is responsible for many things I am good at and enjoy, but MOST importantly he gave me something far greater than anyone could ever give someone. He gave me the Gospel of Jesus. Dad became a Christian when I was a young boy, and he (by himself) took my sister and I to church every time the doors were open. More importantly, he taught us the gospel by his words and his actions. I often wonder if it had not been for him I probably wouldn't be a Christian today and I definitely wouldn't be a Gospel preacher. I owe a lot to my dad for having the faithfulness and devotion to God in order to pass it on to me.

Who brought you the Gospel of Jesus? Was it your parents, a friend, a co-worker, or maybe your spouse? Think for a moment what your life would be like had they not taken the opportunity to share with you this life-saving message? How different would your life be?

Could you imagine if they had not taken the time and made the effort to share with you? There are many people in your life whose lives are depending on someone to take the time with them. Will you take the opportunity? There are tons of excuses and reasons not to share the Gospel. All I can say is, I am glad my dad didn't buy those excuses!

Romans 10:14 says, "How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? How will they believe in Him whom they have not heard? And how will they hear without a preacher?" You don't have to have the position of "preacher" in a church to preach the Gospel to someone. You don't even have to have all the knowledge about Christianity. I always say, "if you know enough about the Gospel that you were saved by it, then you know enough to share with another so they can be saved by it."

I want to encourage you today to share the Gospel with the people around you. Share the Gospel with your words but more importantly share the Gospel with your actions and your Love. You never know whose life you may change forever by the power of the blood of Jesus!

Blessings,
Jeremy

"Encourage one another, build up one another."

Does God Expect You to be Perfect?

When I have asked this question where I preach, I always give a "trick question" disclaimer...and most everyone still gets it wrong. So I will ask you, Does God expect you to be perfect? Yes He does. I will even take it a step further...He DEMANDS that you be perfect! By God's very nature he does not allow sin in His presence. In the sermon on the mount Jesus commands His hearers, "therefore you are to be perfect because your heavenly Father is perfect." (Now, Hold on before you label me as self-righteous and arrogant and keep reading).

A problem comes to mind, we know we are not perfect. The Bible clearly acknowledges we, "all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God."(Romans 3:23) So how can we say that God demands perfection? There needs to be a perspective change. When I think of perfection, I tend to think it is attained by my own doing or merit. If I achieve perfection in my Job, it is by my own discipline and attention to details. If I am flawless in my performance of a particular sport, it is a result of practice that one achieves perfection. It is easy to think that this is how perfection comes in our spiritual lives as well. It is not! We cannot attain moral or spiritual perfection by our own doing. We are human. Ephesians 2 tells us, "we are saved by Grace through faith and that not of ourselves it is the gift of God; not as a result of works!" Even if you were to reach a level of perfection from this point forward in your life, there are already imperfections and sin that have taken us away from God. 

So how then can we say that God expects us to be perfect? The answer is shown in scripture, God has provided the way to make us perfected through Christ! "For by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy." (Hebrews 10:14) It is by the blood of Jesus that we are perfected. Nothing more nothing less. After we are cleansed by the blood of Jesus now we are called to live a life for God  and no longer for the world. Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9 that he disciplines His body as an athlete does for a race so that he does not become disqualified. My encouragement to us is that we continue to strive to live conformed to the image of Christ! 

The blood of Jesus is the only way one can be perfected in the eyes of God. My question to you is have you been perfected by the blood of Jesus? If no, why not obey the Gospel of Jesus and become a new and living Creature being buried and raised with Christ in Baptism (Romans 6:2)? If yes, are you continually responding to the sacrifice that was made by becoming more and more conformed to the image of Christ who has cleansed you with his bloodshed? 

Blessings,
Jeremy

"Encourage one another, build up one another."