We Can Make a Difference….. But Are We?
Its 23 days until we celebrate The Birth of our Lord and Savior,
Here we are, right in between 2 of 3, of the most important dates on the calendar, Christmas and Thanksgiving.
As Andy williams says;
It’s the most wonderful time of the year
With the kids jingle belling
And everyone telling you "Be of good cheer"
It’s the most wonderful time of the year
You know coming off of Thanksgiving, we should be realizing how much we truly do have to be thankful for,
Were fast tracking towards Christmas, the real reason, we have anything to be thankful for in the first place,
Jesus certainly is the reason for the season, for every season, for everything we hold dear in life.
Christmas, Its all about Him, but the closer we get to His Birthday, for some, the less it becomes about Him and the more it becomes about them,
What do you want, I don’t know, what do you want, I don’t know, what do you want???
that’s how it usually goes, unless you’re a little child, then there’s no problem presenting your want or wish list.
I want this and this and this and a big one of those and a, and a, and a!
I wonder what Jesus, would like to have for His birthday? Many more brothers and sisters, would be at the top of His list!
I reminded of a song, I’ve heard before on the radio called; I want to talk about me.
It goes like this;
I wanna talk about me,
Wanna talk about I,
Wanna talk about number one Oh my me my,
What I think,
what I like,
what I know,
what I want,
what I see,
I like talking about you, you, you, you, usually, but occasionally I wanna talk about me,
I’’ve often thought it could be a Christian song, from the Lord’s perspective;
We spend an awful lot of time talking about ourselves in our lifetime and making our pray requests, all 397 million of them known to the Lord,
And that’s biblical, cause TBS. in
Matthew 7:7 NKJ to Keep Asking, Seeking, Knocking
7. “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
But do you wonder if the Lord ever thinks to Himself, like that song suggest?
I like talking about you, you, you, you, usually, but occasionally, Why don’t you talk about me
After all, that’s the first thing the Shepherds did after they left the manger,
Go tell it on the mountain, over the hills and everywhere, Go tell it on the mountains, that Jesus Christ is Born.
That’s what those who were there with Jesus at His ascension, when the great commission was given, did!
They went and told!
That’s what almost every person in the Bible, who Jesus ever healed did!
They went and told, what He had done for them!
In fact, there were times He even told them not to tell, and they told everyone they knew anyways!
That’s why He was thronged everywhere that He went by so many, to be healed in the first place,
And He healed so many and did so many miracles and things, that it says in;
John 21:25 MSG.
25. There are so many other things Jesus did. If they were all written down, each of them, one by one, I can’t imagine a world big enough to hold such a library of books.
Jesus, was and is and will always be a giver, He is the Gift that keeps on Giving!
It used to be that people couldn’t wait to tell what Jesus was capable of and what He had done for them,
Instead of the entitlement mentality of the world nowadays, what have you done for me lately?
Its no wonder the world is in the moral decline and the sorry state, it is in!
It seems like anymore, they believe He exists, but no one wants to tell people about Jesus and where they can find the hope, they so desperately need!
It seems as though, no one wants to serve the Lord and give back of what they have been given!
Serving and Giving to the Lord, of not only your time, but of your resources as well, is a Great Privilege.
We all need to strive to make it more about Him, and less about us in our lives!
Its easy to get caught up in everything else in life and all it has to offer.
But the only thing that matters, that really matters in this life,
The only thing that’s going to matter when we stand before Him,
is what we do for the Lord and the building up of His Kingdom, while were here on this earth.
We’ve all heard the saying I just wish I could have done more,
But when someone says that, you have to wonder, is it really true?
What else has to happen to get Christians to stand up and get busy, and start to do more for the Kingdom of God!
Another 9-11, another hurricane, another devastating earthquake, another fatal shooting incident?
I don’t know if you’ve noticed lately, but this world around us, is going to hell in a hand basket it seems like more and more on a daily basis.
We have never been closer than we are right now, to Christ return for His Church!
There has never been a time in history more ready than now,
for the world stage to be set, for the anti-christ to walk on the scene and into the political arena,
And don’t kid yourself, the devil has him ready and waiting in the stands,
You see, as far as Christ return, he doesn’t know when its going to happen,
But believe me, he’s read the Bible over and over,
and even though, he doesn’t know when, he knows its going to happen and he’s going to be ready when it does
If we don’t do more for the Lord now, (while were able to) it makes you wonder, will we ever do more for Him?
Isaiah 6:8 NKJ
8. Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: Whom shall I send,
And who will go for Us?
Then I said, Here am I! Send me.
Its time the church took the Great Commission seriously, its time we got busy spreading the Gospel.
Matt.28:16-20 MSG.
16-17. Meanwhile, the eleven disciples were on their way to Galilee, headed for the mountain Jesus had set for their reunion. The moment they saw him they worshiped him. Some, though, held back, not sure about worship, about risking themselves totally.
18-20. Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: "God authorized and commanded me to commission you: Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age."
TBS. Some, though, held back, not sure about worship, about risking themselves totally.
Not much has changed in some 2,000 plus years, there are still Christians today that are the same way!
Standing on the sidelines, Still holding something back, whatever that it might be,
Still unsure if they want to risk themselves all the way and be totally committed and sold out for the cause of Christ!!
TBS.(the bible says) though, Jesus was undeterred by the way they felt, the charge that He gave them, still rings true today,
We Can Make a Difference, but are we?
And if not, why not?
We cant make people come to Christ, but at least we can tell them about Him and let them decide for their selves cant we?
Well I just cant do that, what would people think?
Who cares what they think, What does God think, that’s what matters!
Maybe you haven’t shared the Gospel all that much, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start today, before its to late!
Phil. 4:13 NKJ says;
13. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
We need to tell everyone what we know, about who we know, so that they can come to know, what we know, about who we know!
Matt. 10:32-33NKJ
32. Therefore whoever confesses Me before men, him I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.
33. But whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.
TBS. To whom has been given much, much is required, wouldn’t you agree?
Don’t you think that our knowledge of and our relationship that we have with Jesus, is of great worth?
You know it is!….Then why is it, we have a hard time sharing and telling others about something of such great worth?
It seems like we can talk about everything else under the sun, and we certainly have no problem talking about ourselves and everyone else!
but when it comes to what we know about the Lord,
(pause) that’s exactly what we do, we say nothing!
We need to get beyond ourselves, because as much as we try to make it about ourselves,
Its not about us, its about Him, its always about Him and it will always be about Him. Jesus, the name above all names!
He chose us, We have been chosen by Him;
*to be forgiven
*to have His gift of salvation
*to live free from guilt and condemnation
*to have His grace and favor in and over our lives
*to walk in health and prosperity
*and to re-gift the Gift of the life, we have been given
The most important thing we could ever do with our life (and I say we, as in every single one of us) is tell the world about the Life Changing, Grace relationship,
That’s available with God, to all who will accept it, through His Son Jesus!
Ill. Billy Graham, once said; it takes about 28 encounters from believers for a person to come to know the Lord as their personal Savior,
The first one thinks they did nothing at all, and the last one, that actually leads them to Christ, thinks that they did it all!
Whether you were #7, or #11, every encounter was important in the end result,
And all who participated will receive a reward one day, that they will be able to lay as a trophy at the feet of Jesus!
I don’t know able you, but wouldn’t it be wonderful to lay a mountain of trophies at His feet!
And to hear those words, well done, thou good and faithful servant.
Friends, I don’t think sometimes we really realize all of the awesome opportunities in the Kingdom of God,
that are waiting for someone, someone like us, to bring to fruition!
You might feel unqualified, good news is He’s not looking for qualified people, He’s looking for willing people, Are you Willing?
Very few hero’s in the Bible were Qualified, David wasn’t, Moses wasn’t,
but they had one thing in common though, they were willing to do what God asked of them!
Luke 10:2 NKJ
2. Then He said to them, The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.
Luke 15:10 NKJ
10. Likewise, I say to you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.
Helping someone to find their way to Jesus, is without a doubt, one of the most exciting things you can ever do, for your fellow man!
I have witnessed it many times and every time, it is a breathe taking experience!
All of Heaven thinks so, and its an awesome benefit besides to think, we can have a part in all of Heaven rejoicing!
Praise God!
We have been told time and time again, through one prophetic word after another, straight from the Lord Himself,
How He is going to bring about Great Things in His Church, to just keep on praising His Name and Lifting Up His Name.
Church, now is not the time to grow weary in our walk, we are about to reap a bountiful harvest of souls for the Kingdom, if we faint not!
Jesus is coming back for a Glorious Church!
We need to be found faithful now more than ever before, the blessings God has Promised are closer now than we can even imagine.
Blessings that are far beyond what we can even imagine or comprehend
Let us be found faithful in doing our part and continue to trust God for what He is about to do in our midst!
I’ll close with this;
The message of the angels to the shepherds was that there was Good News!
We like good news and we certainly don’t like bad news.
A father came home from a very rugged day at work and said to his wife, "I’ve had a bad day.
Please! If you have any bad news tonight, keep it to yourself."
To which she replied, "O.K. NO bad news.
Now for the Good News. Remember our four children? Well, three of them didn’t break an arm today."
There’s enough bad news in the world to go around for a lifetime,
Tell someone about the Good News this week, tell someone about the story of Jesus and how He can change their life completely.
Amen? Amen! Lets Pray
