Learn from the past.

Romans 15:4

For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

In everything we do, we should learn from the past.  This morning I had to run the webex for the annual kick-off meeting for the Tax & Accounting segment.  This isn’t something new, I’ve been doing it for a few years.  It was nice to feel very prepared this year and confident as we have really worked out a lot of kinks in years past. 

Of course once we go into the meeting, I realized I forgot to turn off the peeps from the webex as people entered and exited.  I now have a note for future meetings to remind myself.  We must use the past to teach us for the future.

The Bible has many lessons that we can lean on to learn from so as we move forward in life, we do not have to make the same mistakes.  We can be encouraged that by what others have been able to teach us from going through the same things.

Today I encourage you to learn from the past so you don’t have to go through the same things.  Use the Bible as the ultimate example to learn from.

Thurs Devo: Heaven's war

Who is the ruler of Heaven?

Who is the ruler of this world right now?

Revelation 12:7-12    ⁷ Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. ⁸ But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. ⁹ The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.

¹⁰ Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say:

“Now have come the salvation and the power
    and the kingdom of our God,
    and the authority of his Messiah.
For the accuser of our brothers and sisters,
    who accuses them before our God day and night,
    has been hurled down.
¹¹ They triumphed over him
    by the blood of the Lamb
    and by the word of their testimony;
they did not love their lives so much
    as to shrink from death.
¹² Therefore rejoice, you heavens
    and you who dwell in them!
But woe to the earth and the sea,
    because the devil has gone down to you!
He is filled with fury,
    because he knows that his time is short.”

Knowing Satan rules this world, helps explain a lot of things, doesn’t it? Remembering this, reminds me not to pursue or look for earthly success and security. It is deceptively alluring. It will all be short-lived. I think Satan uses it to distract us from focusing on God, His promises, and His truths. As powerful as Satan is, his time of rule will end. He’s already been defeated!


How will you and I rejoice in God’s power over Satan, and pursue eternal success and security? We may need to first ask for God’s help to identify areas where we have fallen for Satan’s deception and lies. Then, we can triumph over Satan, in God’s power!

Alice

All of You

While he was still speaking to her, a messenger arrived from the home of Jairus, the leader of the synagogue. He told him, “Your daughter is dead. There’s no use troubling the Teacher now.”

But when Jesus heard what had happened, he said to Jairus, “Don’t be afraid. Just have faith, and she will be healed.”

When they arrived at the house, Jesus wouldn’t let anyone go in with him except Peter, John, James, and the little girl’s father and mother.  The house was filled with people weeping and wailing, but he said,“Stop the weeping! She isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.”

But the crowd laughed at him because they all knew she had died.  Then Jesus took her by the hand and said in a loud voice, “My child, get up!” And at that moment her life returned, and she immediately stood up! Then Jesus told them to give her something to eat.  Her parents were overwhelmed, but Jesus insisted that they not tell anyone what had happened.  Luke 8:50-56

We all desire to do our best.  My father use to tell me if you are going to do something, do it well.  My mother would work me on detail tirelessly to make sure I did everything to her satisfaction, and trust me when I say that was never easy.  I did not want to do that as a young impressionable child.  However, they instilled in me this determination to go the extra mile and do what was necessary to ensure things were not just done but done well.  This left me with the thought of serving God when you really don’t want to.  We serve Him willingly.  We love Him, and sing His praise in church and beyond.  However, one has to ask the question which none of us really likes to answer; do we really serve Him with all our heart when we don’t agree?  Do we give Him our 100% when it gets difficult or when God asks us to do something uncomfortable do we hedge our bet?  I know that I fail this sometimes, but when I trust Him, I find something rather amazing.  He always gives me something where I grow in faith and learn more about His plan for me.

Learning to give your all to God takes practice.  It is not a given.  Many of us find ourselves where we believe in God and all He has done for us.  However, we are often challenged to where we cannot see the possibility even as God has given us the vision that it would happen.  Let’s look at this story of Jesus bringing the little girl back to life.  This one resonated with me because of all of the naysayers.  “There’s no use troubling the Teacher now,” and, “the crowd laughed at Him because they all knew she had died.”  How often have we heard these words in our lives?  Of course they do not sound like that verbatim, but how about, “No use putting forth any more effort into pursing that dream!”  How about when you share what God wants you to do, someone answers, “That’s funny!”   We should remember who we serve, and to see God’s work in our lives, we must first be willing to give our all to Him.  That means not 70 or 80%.  All of us must be given for His will to be done.

God wants all of us.  One of my favorite songs has a chorus that goes:

And He says love me, love me with your whole heart
He wants it all today
Serve me, serve me with your life now
He wants it all today
Bow down, let go of your idols
He wants it all today.

There is so much to be gained from our giving ourselves utterly and completely to God.  To achieve it, we must tune out the voices that say it is not possible, and then trust in Him.  What part of your life are you holding back from God?  How can you display a greater trust in God when things don’t seem to be going your way?  My prayer is that each of you is able to give God all of you.  Amen.

Tues Devo: The comparison

Romans 8:18 “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (NASB)

Hello,

Recently I have been frustrated by a couple different things. One of them is physical with my foot. I get irritated that I can’t do what I want to right now around the house or with the kids. The other is social – leaving me frustrated with some communications/understandings between some of my friends. Both of these items I know are not world ending, but they affect my life. If I am not careful I can let these things and the rest of life’s struggles and battles take ownership of my mentality, joy level etc. We have to keep in perspective the eternal spectrum, and what is really coming in the end. In the end, the good side wins. In the end, we as followers of Christ eternally partake in that victory.

Tough now? Sure. But compared to what? We tend to compare against each other – whoops….we need to compare against the end, not against one another!

Have a blessed day,

Will Hill

RLD Week 7 - A closer look at the reproducible process

29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ 31 The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment greater than these.”  Mark 12

The biggest takeaway of going through this book has been that discipling is a guided process.  You don't pick someone and throw them into the river and hope they know how to swim.  You take your time, you work with them slowly, and you teach them differently at each point in the process.

Look at how Jesus responds to any number of people he encounters in the gospel books.  It can almost seem like he isn't the same person in each encounter.  Take a closer look at each person, and you'll start to see that each person is at a different stage of their spiritual journey.  Jesus tailored his response to each of them based on that information.  Now, Jesus could see into each of their hearts to know where they were in their journey, but we don't have that ability.  While we don't have x-ray vision into their heart, there are clues all over to help you to see that information.

People love to share about themselves, but most people get funny when you bring up God and religion, especially if they don't know you that well.  You can't come right out and ask where they are in their walk with God.  Look for the signs, and change your own responses accordingly.  You're not changing the message, you're only altering the delivery, just as Jesus did.

For those that are spiritually dead or infants, we are to share the gospel and what God has done in our lives.  

For the spiritual children, we are to get them connected to the body of Christ.  Find a small group for them.  Find other believers in the same stage of life as them, such as college students, new parents, or retired.

For the spiritual young adults, we are to train them for ministry.  Find ways for them to lead, whether it's leading one person or a group.

Finally, for the spiritual parents, they have begun leading others, and we are to release them to become further disciple makers.  At this point, they can take someone else through the same process, and continue the ministry.

Even if people aren't wearing signs around their neck to identify what stage they're in, you probably can think of someone in each of these stages.  Where do you fall?  Can you think of which stage other people around you are in?