The Mission

Last night, I had the opportunity to speak at the Sunday Breakfast Mission (SBM). The band played some great songs and did a great job. Then I had about 20 minutes to share some hope from God's Word and hopefully be able to encourage folks to give their lives to Christ. Not only were the men there more receptive than I expected, they were a blessing and encouragement to me! And out of about 75-90 or so guys, only about 2 of them fell asleep! I think they were asleep before I got up there though... :-) We met one guy at the end that was really a blessing. He gave me a couple of things that he wrote and I told them I would share them... He has a real gift in writing.


Power of the Word!
by Dwayne Butler

God says, 'study to show ourselves approved unto Him one of workmen who need not be ashamed by rightly dividing the word of truth. If they don't study, we must feed the Spirit 'God's Word' in order to grow. Power comes from knowing God's Word. It's like a father and his son. If the father says, "son, this weekend I'll buy you a bike." The son believes his father's word, and say, "dad, you said you would buy me a bike at this appointed time." So how much more can we depend upon God's Word and the Promises he blesses us with. We must know His Word in order to bring it to its full effect in our lives. Remember Jesus' example in the wilderness when He defeated Satan with the Word of God, making it known that the Word of God conquers all things.

Don’t allow ignorance of your purpose to take away your joy.

"…whenever trouble comes your way, let it be an opportunity for joy. For when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be strong in character and ready for anything." James 1:3-4

Even in the midst of problems, we can have great joy because our joy comes from God and not worldly success. Our troubles can bring us closer to God, and the closer we are to God, the more joyful we can become. The Apostle Paul was in prison, and he had every reason to despair, but instead he said in Philippians 4:4 "Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again – rejoice!"

Paul didn't say I am rejoicing because we have cable TV, internet access, university classes, a weight room and library books in prison. Don't think the prisons yesterday were like the prisons today. Paul was in discomfort and in pain, but yet he knew that true joy comes through the midst of our problems. One man prayed in the midst of many trials, "Lord, when am I going to get out of this?" But upon further reflection, he prayed, "Lord, what am I going to get out of this?" Joy is the gift of discovering God's purpose and plan in the midst of trials.

Don’t allow society’s agenda to take away your joy

Too many of us are swayed by the ploys of our environment. I'm not talking about 'global warming,' but the society in which we live. It seems we fall for way too many of the ads and infomercials andeven the programs we watch, etc. "If you put a lime in your Coke (you nut), then you feel better." That'll solve all my problems. If that doesn't do it, I'll watch a rerun of Matlock. He's got all the answers. "It is the same with my word. I send it out, and it always produces fruit. It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it. You will live in joy and peace. Themountains and hills will burst into song, and the trees of the field will clap their hands!" Isaiah 55:11-12

Too many good Christians are overworked, over-churched, over-committed, and trying to serve with an empty cup. Stop running yourself, ragged and sit at the feet of Jesus and drink from the fountain of living water. If you will meet with the Lord in prayer,Bible study, worship, God will fill your cup, and it will overflow with an indescribable joy. Psalm 23:5 says, "My cup overflows." Too many of us have lost joy because we are doing what God has not called us to do. We are serving out of guilt and duty, and we are not allowing our ministry to overflow from that joyful relationship with God. Why? We are not in the spending time with Jesus. We don't have joy and peace because we are not led of the Spirit, but we are led by the flesh and worldly cares, and we are stressed out.

Don't allow critics to take away your joy.

Don't allow critics to take away your joy."Justice is a joy to the godly, but it causes dismay among evildoers." Proverbs 21:15Some of us cannot enjoy life because we are afraid of what others will think. The chronic critics will never accomplish what God requires of them, and neither will you, if you listen to them and not the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Don't let others advise and second-guess you out of God's very best for you! I don't know about you, but I would rather have the blessing of God and the ridicule of my critics than to have the blessing of my critics and the ridicule of God. When you do what is right, it will be a joy to you, but it will also enrage the critics.1 Chronicles 15:29 says, "And as the ark of the covenant of the Lord came to the city of David, Michal the daughter of Saul looked out the window, and saw King David dancing and making merry; and she despised him in her heart." What's especially bad is when your friends or family members are the critics who want to make you as miserable as they are. One definition of a critic is someone who is miserable only because you are happy. Don't let critics steal your joy! After a church service on Sunday morning, a young boy suddenly announced to his mother that he was going to surrender his life to the call of God, "Mom, I've decided to become a minister when I grow up." The mother was overjoyed with excitement. Had he heard the voice of God? Had he seen a glorious vision of God's presence? The mother said, "That's okay with us, but what made you decide that?" The little boy said, "Well, I have to go to church on Sunday anyway, and I figure it would be more fun to stand up and yell at people, than to sit and listen." You know, I have so much fun and so much joy every Sunday because I can stand up and "yell" at people--preach the Word of God--but it should also be such a great joy to worship God every Sunday in a way that God leads you. You may not get to stand up and yell at people, but we can all make a joyful noise to the Lord. Don't let anyone take away your joy!

Don't allow your past to take away your joy!

Sunday, my opening thoughts had to do with "Don’t allow your past to take away your joy." I wanted to take a few moments to review, as I know there were a few that missed the whole thing and others that didn't get to hear all of it. As I think of the story of Lot and his family leaving Sodom and Gomorrah in Genesis 19, Lot's wife comes to mind and why she dissobeyed God and looked back. Maybe there were friends back in the past she couldn’t leave behind. Maybe there were pieces of furniture in her home that she couldn’t bear to forget. Maybe there were memories that she couldn’t close the book on. Maybe there were family members she had to forsake. Whatever the longings, Lot’s wife lingered in her soul, and she turned back and turned around to her past. Satan, the father of lies, wants to bury you beneath the burden of guilt. Jesus Christ wants you to begin again with a grace that sin cannot defeat. A woman came to me once and asked, "Can God forgive me? I answered, "Yes, God can! But what you are really asking is ‘Can I forgive myself?’" God is more willing to forgive us than we are to forgive ourselves and forget the past.“Friends, don't get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward - to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back.” Philippians 3:13-14 (Message)Charles Allen said, "Life is a journey. If you go someplace, you must leave some place. You cannot both go and stay. . . We are compelled to leave some experiences in order to have others." We cannot walk into the future, if we can’t leave the past. We cannot reach for tomorrow while holding on to yesterday! Don’t let where you have been determine where you are going. Don’t let the past steal your joy!

Keeping Grace Flowing
by Dr. Charles Stanley

16 There are six things the LORD hates – no, seven things he detests: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that kill the innocent, 18 a heart that plots evil, feet that race to do wrong, 19 a false witness who pours out lies, a person who sows discord among brothers. Prov. 6:16-19

While you can never lose your salvation, you can dam up the grace of God in your life by your attitudes and behavior. Proverbs 6:16-17 states that God hates pride. Dr. Don McMinn, in his book Spiritual Strongholds, defines pride as "inordinate self-esteem, vainglory, preoccupation with one’s self."

McMinn lists some characteristics of pride: "selfish, ostentatious, showy, haughty, egotistical, vain, conceited, loves self, pompous, arrogant, immodest, contentious, narrow-minded, opinionated, loud, boastful, materialistic, demanding, moody, critical, reluctant to accept criticism, highly competitive, desire to always be in control, refusal to admit one’s weaknesses, inflated sense of one’s abilities or opinion, inability to accept God’s forgiveness." McMinn’s first recommended solution to pride is to develop humility: "At least three times the Bible instructs us to ‘humble ourselves’ (Matthew 18:4, James 4:10, 1 Peter 5:6), so humility can be self-induced. Humility involves confessing our dependence upon God and respect for other people. The Bible promises wisdom (Proverbs 11:2), good tidings (Isaiah 61:1), and honor (Proverbs 15:33) to those who are humble." All other sins cry out, "I have a need." Pride is the only sin that cries out, "I need nothing. I can manage." And that is exactly why God hates it.

1 What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Isn't it the whole army of evil desires at war within you? 2 You want what you don't have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous for what others have, and you can't possess it, so you fight and quarrel to take it away from them. And yet the reason you don't have what you want is that you don't ask God for it. 3 And even when you do ask, you don't get it because your whole motive is wrong – you want only what will give you pleasure. 4 You adulterers! Don't you realize that friendship with this world makes you an enemy of God? I say it again, that if your aim is to enjoy this world, you can't be a friend of God. 5 What do you think the Scriptures mean when they say that the Holy Spirit, whom God has placed within us, jealously longs for us to be faithful? 6 He gives us more and more strength to stand against such evil desires. As the Scriptures say, "God sets himself against the proud, but he shows favor to the humble." James 4:1-6