At the Crossroads of Action or Reaction

 

Proverbs 14:17 "He that is soon angry dealeth foolishly: and a man of wicked devices is hated." 

Proverbs 25:11 "A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver." 

Proverbs 29:20 "Seest thou a man that is hasty in his words? There is more hope of a fool than of him."

I was at a crossroads this morning and I'd like to take a minute or two and share with you my personal experience in choosing which direction to go.    As I faced this crossroads in my life I was forced to make a decision between action and reaction.  In my flesh, I wanted to react.  As a matter of fact I wanted to react in such a way that what I was reacting to, would have had no doubt that I was reacting.  But something in my spirit, ok maybe not my spirit...something in my wife's spirit, which then spoke to my spirit, caused me to consider my reaction to this particular situation. 

The scripture references above came to me as I rapidly searched through my Bible trying to find somewhere that would justify my reaction.  While part of me wishes I could have found something to justify what I was feeling at the time, I realized after pondering on them for a little while that I was wrong.  Reacting hastily, and quickly to situations that frustrate us, usually ends up making us look far worse than what we think it will.

As I continued to study on this topic I found that action means "an act that one consciously wills and that may be characterized by physical or mental activity." While on the other hand, I laughed out loud when I looked up reaction.  Now keep in mind, there were several different definitions for this word, but only one seemed to sum up what I was feeling at the crossroads this morning - reaction: "A pattern of behavior constituting a mental disorder or personality type."  :)  And since I do not have any "mental disorders" (or at least any I admit too) I decided against reacting and decided to take action on the high road instead this time. 

Would you like to know something?  While the high road was not as easy to turn down, I am happy that I did.  Take action today over reaction, you'll be glad that you did.

The Blessed Life

James 1:12 "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him"

It is such a struggle to do right sometimes. Doing right takes a lot of thinking and planning on our parts.  The Bible says that we are all tempted when we enticed by our own lust. And when we have given ourselves to that lust we have gone into sin, and sin always brings death.  Why would we want to choose to be around death?

Notice what our verse says though, "Blessed is the man that endureth temptation..." We can have a blessed life, we just have to discipline ourselves to not give into the temptations that we are faced with each day.  That is to say we must learn to tell ourselves - NO.  That's right tell yourself, NO! 

We will always be tempted of something. And once you get victory over something that tempts you often, something else will come along to tempt you as well.  Just say NO, and live the blessed life.  The choice is your.

 

How To Have a Life With No Regrets

Philippians 1:6 "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ."

I have travelled down the Regret Hwy, more times than I care to admit.  It sometimes starts out as a pleasent trip, but every time the trip ends the same - in misery and regret. 

In studying the word regret, I found that in its origin it means to "remember with distress or longing."  Oh, I have many memories of regrets.  I could go all the back to early childhood and find many regrets in choices that I have made, things that I have said to people, things that I have done, things I haven't done...they all can leave us stranded on this long painful highway of regret.

While I have many things in my life that I regret, I want to share with you about another highway that I have travelled too.  It is similar in name, but yet so different to travel on.  It is the road named No Regrets.  It is on this road that brings much peace, joy, and happiness.  But I must tell you something, this road is not heavily travelled on.  It is even a little out of the way, and there are not any short cuts in order to get to it either.  No Regret Rd. is a single lane road that only goes to one direction and always leads to the same place as long as your stay on its path.  Now you will find that while you travel down No Regret Rd. there are plenty of other roads that you will be tempted to turn down, and you may even give into the temptation.  But there is not another road that leads to where No Regret Rd. will take you to.  You have to learn to be patient on this road, but is worth minute it takes to get.

Where is this No Regret Rd, you ask?  Well, it is the road that we travel as we walk with God, the path that He wants us to take.  While I may have many regrets in this life, I have never, not one single time, ever regretted serving God and walking His path.  His way has never, and never will lead to regret.  What I have regretted in my Christian life are the times that I gave into the temptation to do my own thing and go my own way.  I have found that as long as I keep myself on the path that God places in front of me - it always leads to a life of no regret.

You want to really know how to have a life with no regrets?  Live your life for God, walk in His ways, love him, keep his commandment, and you will have a life of no regrets.  Occasionally you may come across someone that says, "I have regrets from serving God."  And all I can say to that is this, "you obviously were not walking with God when you thought you were, because God's path always leads to no regrets."

Today at the Crossroads, you have a choice to make.  You will find your self at these Crossroads everyday of your life.  NO Regret Rd or Regret Highway.  Which way will you choose?  I hope you choose the No Regret Rd.  - walk with God and have a lifetime of no regrets.

My Lips are Sealed

Ephesians 4:29 "Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers."


I am always amazed by the things people say to each other.  The fact of the matter is, people can be down right cruel.  As a child I was taught, as many of you were, the saying, "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me."  I know the intention behind that phrase is good, but it is an absolute false statement.  Words do hurt, and they hurt deeply and badly.

The Bible instructs us here in our scripture verse today, that we are to let no "corrupt communication" leave our mouths.  There is another phrase which says, "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all."  That phrase too, while it sounds good, doesn't go with what the scripture says.  It is important to note that Ephesians 4:29 doesn't stop at "no corrupt communication", it continues on to say, "but that which is good."  We are not supposed to just say nothing, we are speak good and encouraging words that build up those around us rather than tear them down. 

Now, let me say something here while you are working on training yourself on speaking encouraging words.  There are going to be times in the beginning that your lips must remain sealed.  What I mean by that is - think about what you are wanting to say first - and if it isn't kind, don't say it.  You're gonna have to train your self to speak kind encouraging words, but once you're trained it will be extremely easy to speak kindly rather than corruptly.

Maybe we need to adapt some new phrases today.  How about this one: "If you can't say something nice, say something nice instead."  Or this one: "Sticks and stones may break the bones, but words will wound the heart." 

If we will learn to speak kindly to others, I promise you others will learn to speak kindly to us as well.

Hard or Soft?

Psalm 95:8a "Harden not your heart..."  Ephesians 4:32 "Be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you."

I am going to try and keep it really simple today.  Are our hearts hard or soft? And what difference does it make?  And, no I'm not talking about tacos either. :)

I have heard many people say many times that they have hardened their heart because they had gotten hurt and they were not going to get hurt any more.  While on the surface a statement like that makes a lot of sense, when you dig a little deeper into the matter it never does what the person is attempting to do.

Anyone that I have ever seen harden their heart with the purpose of never getting hurt again always seems to get the same results from their hard heart - they get hurt even worse, and their heart grows even harder.  Each time their heart gets harder it actually becomes easier for them to get hurt.  They begin expecting to be hurt and they find hurt almost everywhere they look.  After a while people with hard hearts become as easy to spot as who is 7 feet tall.

Ephesians 4:32 exhorts us to keep our hearts tender and soft, always kind and forgiving.  I know from personal experience that forgiving someone is not the simplest of tasks. But we must understand that the forgiveness that is being offered is not really for the person being forgiven as much as it is for ourselves not to become hard hearted.

I know I said I was going to keep it simple today and believe it or not it is a very simple concept, but not as simple to carry out.  I will promise you this though - the more you forgive others, the simpler it becomes to forgive more.  As you consider forgiving someone or not, take just a moment and ponder on what God through Christ has forgiven you for.  If can truly take a close look at what God has freely forgiven you of - in comparison you too can and should forgive.

 

Greatness is in the preparation

Proverbs 24:30-34 "I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding; And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down. Then I saw, and considered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction. Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep. So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; and thy want as an armed man."

It was about 20 year ago when I first heard the statement, "Greatness is in the preparation."  As a 15 year boy, it really didn't mean that much to me at the time, but I never forgot it. Over the years I have pondered on it from time to time and I have come to understand it better now more than ever.

If something is going to be great, not so great, or lousy, it is going to be the preparation that often makes the difference.  Take a sports team for example.  They spend more time on preparing for game time than they do the actual game.  A great movie will take months in preparation for a great 2 hour long movie.  A great garden requires much preparation.  A great event must be prepared for in order to ensure its greatness. 

You may be asking yourself, how does this apply to my life, most importantly my Christian life?  Well, if greatness is in the preparation, then how we prepare for our daily lives is important if we want to have and experience a great Christian life.  How much preparation are you putting into your daily life?  Is one church service a week enough?  Is 2 or 3?  Not if you are expecting to have great victories in your life it isn't.  It is going to require daily preparation in studying God's word, in spending time with God in prayer, in making an effort to do what God is prompting you to do.  If you are prepared for the devils attacks they will be easier to avoid.  Get yourself prepared and begin experiencing the great benefits of being a Christian. For greatness is in the preparation.

Is Christ Being Magnified?

Philippians 1:20 According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.

The phrase, "so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body" leaped out of the scripture at me this morning.   To magnify something is to draw attention to, to enlarge, or intensify. Oh that Christ would be magnified in our lives.  Who is drawing more attention, us or Christ?

I want to point out that it was Paul's choice for Christ to be magnified.  He made the choice to not be ashamed to be known as a Christian everywhere he went.  As a matter of fact, he was bold about it, he didn't wait to be asked by people, he just told them. His choices were on purpose and his purpose was that Christ would be magnified in his life.  He even lived in a time that making those choices and taking such bold stands meant that he could face death just for doing them.  Ultimately that is what happened to him, he was put to death for his bold, unashamed stand that magnified Christ. And, yet he still made those choices while knowing what the consequences were.

Why are so many of us afraid to make the choice for Christ to magnified in our lives?  Are we afraid that we will be put to death? I don't think so. Are we afraid of rejection? It will happen.  Are we afraid that someone will make fun of us? So what, people will always find something to make fun of us for. Is Christ being magnified not worth that? Are we afraid that we will miss out on something that we want to do or be? Whatever our reasons, they probably aren't good enough to justify our choices. 

I made the statement the other day that I was becoming disenchanted with the status quo of life.  I truly want to see God do something in and through my life.  But I must ask myself a question. Am I willing to put aside the status quo and be bold?  Am I willing to be unashamed?  Do I want Christ to be magnified in my life whatever the cost may be?  I want Christ to be bigger in my life.  I want Him to magnified.  To God be the glory.

Do you Believe God?

Romans 5:19-25 "And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sarah's womb: He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; And being fully persuaded that what He had promised, He was able to perform. And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness. Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him; But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification."

Someone once said, "A weak faith is weakened by predicaments and catastrophes, whereas a strong faith is strengthened by them."  That was certainly the case in the life of Abraham.  In Genesis 15 God told Abraham that his descendents would be greater than the number of stars in the sky.  This was at a time when Abraham was up in years, his wife was getting older and passed the child bearing years, and they didn't have any children whatsoever.  Yet Abraham believed what God said.  Just as Abraham believed, God came through on His promise.

What do you believe today?  Have you been let down by so many people, that you have let that affect your faith in God?  It is against our sinful human nature to trust or believe.  Think about it, Eve trusted the seperent, Adam trusted Eve, and what did that get them?  That's right, sin.  And it's been passed on to everyone ever since.  Who was the first one that Adam and Eve stopped trusting?  It was God.  Satan knew that if he could stop man from believing God that he would have an advantage.

The lie of Satan has not changed since the garden of Eden.  The thought of "trust no one" is continuing to perperptrate our thinking today.  It is amazing to me that while we are supposed to be trusting no one we are actually still trusting someone - ourselves and the system that says "trust no one. "Trust no one but youself, you'll be fine." "You are the only one who truly knows what you need and want."  "Watch out for number one, and number one is yourself."  These are all lies that we buy into and believe.  The main problem with trusting yourself is that you are a liar.  Sorry, if that insults you, but hey, I'm a liar too. (Does that help any?)  Yes, we lie to ourselves all the time - we cannot be trusted, even when it come to our own best interests.

So what are we to do?  If we can't believe ourselves who can we believe?  We can believe God. We can believe His Word.  Abraham believed God, and look how that turned out for him - God did what He promised.  And once he believed Him, he didn't stagger, he didnt waiver, he kept on believing that God would do what he said.  We not only need to believe God, but we need to continue to believe God.

Hebrews 11:6 "But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must BELIEVE that He IS, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." Stop believing the lie of the world and Satan, and start believing God. There are greater rewards for believing God, and none for believe a lie. Trust Him, it's well worth it.  Don't stagger through life in unbelief.  Keep your faith strong. Give God the glory that He deserves.  Do you believe God? 

Why God derserves the Glory and not you

Galatians 1:3-5 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father: To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen

In the New Testament alone there is over 120 verses that draw us to the fact that God is to be given glory.  The more I study the Bible, the more I see this theme of God being given glory.  It is there over and over again.  Not only is it there multiple times, when it is there, the context of the scriptures surrounding the verses on glory point to the glory also.

Now in order to bring glory to God, we must first have an understanding of what "glory" is.  Glory is something that brings or is worthy of exaltation, praise, adoration, worship, thanksgiving, or honour.  As you consider what glory is, as given above.  We must come to the conclusion that when you take that list as a whole, God is the only one who is worthy of glory.  One may be able to take one aspect of glory and attribute it to someone or something else, but again when taken in its completion - God is the only one that deserves all glory.

How is your life bringing glory to God?  If we are going give God the glory that He deserves for our lives we must be able to say along with the Apostle Paul, "And they glorified God in me."  That means that the evidence of what is happening in our lives must always point to God moving and working in and throughout our lives.  When things don't go the way I expect them to go, I have a habit of immediately trying to figure out how I'm going fix them. The problem with that is, when we begin "fixing" the situations that need fixing, we more times than not, try to take the glory for ourselves. The fact is though, we can't fix anything all on our own.  The wisdom that we may have, the knowledge that we may have, the skills that we may have - all come from God.  So if we use any of those things or any other things - it is God who deserves the glory and not ourselves. If we will learn to change our perception about ourselves,  we can start allowing our lives to bring the glory back to God where it belongs. 

Do you want more out of life?

In the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon bears open the agony of his heart.  In the 17th verse of chapter 2, he says, "Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit."  Early on in chapter 2 he tells the reader that he has had basically anything that he has ever wanted in life, and has found himself always coming up empty.

Are you tired of coming up empty in your life?  Are you tired of trying new things, only to find a temporary happiness before you are empty once again?  Are you tired of putting all your strength and energy into your life only to find out that you have fallen short once again? If your tired of these things and more - you are not alone. I am glad to tell you that there is hope!  The hope rests in the same place that Solomon found his hope.

Listen, your life doesn't have to be empty and barren. God wants you to have a fruitful life that is full of His joy.  What is the answer?  According to Solomon's conclusion, the answer is to fear God and keep His commandments.  Yes, it's that simple! And yet we struggle with that every day. I am convinced that the reason we struggle is not because we can't fear God. It's not even because we can't keep His commandments.  The reason we struggle with Solomon's conclusion is because we love ourselves more than God. We fear being unhappy in our lives more than we fear Him. Then we choose our own desires rather than keeping His commandments. All of which leads us to the same empty place that Solomon was in - hating our lives.

Do you want a better life? Solomon sure did.  He tried everything under the sun to find fulfillment in his life.  He found it the same place you will find it - by fearing God and keeping His word.  Do you hate your life? Do you want more out of it?  You can find it with God! Get in His word everyday and find out what great things He has in store for your life.

At the Crossroads of Life

Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy path"


At the Crossroads of life, everyone needs directions. I know this because the Bible says of itself that part of its own purpose is to guide us along our journey of this Christian life. What happens at the crossroads? Well, the way I see it, you have 4 choices to make: you can go straight, turn left, turn right, or just stop where you are at and go nowhere. Which decision is correct? Which one will you make? This decision is not always an easy one. We must be tuned in to the Holy Spirit and the Word of God if we want to increase our opportunity of choosing correctly. We all need to tune up our spiritual senses and make sure we are on the right path as we the crossroads of life. Trust in God, to direct your path.

Where have all the faithful ones gone?

II Timothy 2:2 "And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also."

Paul is instructing a young preacher named Timothy, to teach the things that he has been taught to the faithful men in the church so that they may be able to teach others also. there is a word there that is key in this passage, the word "Faithful". He is not being instructed just to teach the men, but rather the "faithful" men. So what is a preacher to do when there are none that are being faithful? Who is he to teach? Who is going to help him be able to teach others also? We are seeing an epidemic of unfaithfulness in our churches today. We have men that are more faithful to fantasy football, hunting, golfing, and other events than they are to church and to the saviour who died for them. Where have all the faithful ones gone? We need men and women of God to be more faithful today than at any other time in our history. We are losing the our own generation to the world at a rapid rate and the next generation even faster. Encourage your pastor and your church - BE FAITHFUL, DON'T QUIT, DON'T DO LESS - DO MORE, BE FAITHFUL. 

"Can you love yourslf too much?"

Philippians 2:4-5 "Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:"

According to dictionary.com the word "Selfish" means: "Devoted to or caring only for oneself; concerned primarily with one's own interest, benefits, welfare, etc., regardless of others."
I am convinced that selfishness may very well be our own detriment. For years now, I have been observing how selfish people have become. I'm sure there has always been selfish people, but I not sure selfishness has ever been so prevalent in the Christian Church. This really concerns me, because I have observed this horrific character flaw in many places that ultimately it has ended up destroying not just the individual but also those around them. I've seen the spirit of selfishness ruin and destroy marriages, parents, children, siblings, and even pulpits. As Bible believers, we must get serious about getting rid of this horrible character flaw from our lives and ministry. May we do as the Apostle Paul instructed in our text and stop looking at ourselves and begin looking at others! Stop being selfish, do something for someone else before your are left with no one else to care for except yourself. This was not the mind of Christ, He was anything but selfish. When you read the verses following vs. 5 you will see what He gave up unselfishly for and for me. Stop being a selfish brat!

"Feeling Good?"

Psalm 73:1 "Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart."

I have just realized something recently and I don't have a clue why it took me over 32 years to learn it either. I realized that when I do right instead of wrong, I feel better. The psalmist said, "God is good, even to such as are of a clean heart." What a concept! God is good, to those that are good. I don't know about you - but I'm gonna do my best to keep my heart clean today because I want to feel good!

"Someone is watching"

I Corinthians 11:1 "Be ye followers of me, even as I also am of Christ."

No, I am not trying to get people to follow me. These are the words of the apostle Paul. However, as I read this verse this morning, I am reminded that no matter where I may be in my Christian life - someone is always watching.

It is of utmost importance that we have a pretty good understanding about this. Basically what Paul is saying is this: "As long I am following Christ, it is okay to follow me, but if I stop following Christ, stop following me." The hardest part most people have with this is the fact that when we begin following a man, it is sometimes hard to determine when they are following Christ and when they are not. Let me give you a few things that may help you figure this out a little bit:

1. Someone who follows Christ, always points people to Christ. (See I Corinthians 11:3)


2. Someone who follows Christ, is aware that he/she is a sinful creature (See Romans 7:18-20)


3. Someone who follows Christ, understands that even though they may follow Christ right now, it is possible that they may stop and if they do - stop following (See Galatians 1:8)

The most important thing to remember is that following Christ must be the most important thing. As we live our lives for Christ - someone will always be watching to see who we follow. Are you following your own desires and ambitions, or are you following Christ?