Heart, Home, and Hands
Intro: As we get ready for the year 2014 to move on in, this is a good time to stop and reflect on where we’ve been, where we are, and where we might be headed. I’m not sure that you need to make a whole list of unrealistic goals for the new year, just to forget about them after a week of two. However, if we never take the time to stop and reflect and ask God to give us a thorough spiritual checkup, then we might just keep on doing what we’ve been doing, regardless of results. Some people say if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. I say, if it ain’t working, then try something else! Just because you haven’t seized up your engine yet doesn’t mean you shouldn’t put fresh oil in it. Just because your car still starts doesn’t mean you shouldn’t change filters, plugs and wires every once in a while.
-So maybe today is a day in your life that calls for some routine maintenance. Or maybe you need a complete overhaul, rebuild, or engine replacement. Whatever the case, let me remind you that God loves you and wants to see you thriving and flourishing as a follower of Jesus! He goes to great lengths to keep us growing and moving forward in our faith. We tend to settle in and coast spiritually. God wants us to be filled with His life and passionate about serving Him.
-So let’s look at some areas of our lives that will hopefully help us think about what might need to change in the coming days.
1. God cares for you!
1 Peter 5:7 Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
-No matter what you are going through, and no matter how badly you think you are failing, God invites you to cast your cares, concerns, and worries on Him because He cares for you. The visual image behind this phrase is that of rolling a heavy load off of your back onto someone else’s back. God can handle your baggage! God can handle your issues. They are not too heavy for Him to carry, but they are too heavy for you to carry alone.
-Jesus offers us rest. I believe it is a spiritual rest, but it is also an emotional rest. We can get ourselves so worked up over problems, and even over things that may never happen! God cares for us, but we need to come to Him to find the rest we need.
Matthew 11:28 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”
2. God cares about who you are
-It is true that God accepts us just the way we are. When we come to Him we don’t have to pretend that we are something more than we are. In fact, it would be an insult to be anything less than honest with the One who knows us completely and loves us completely. Being dishonest with God is the same as reducing Him to human status. We can deceive other people, but God doesn’t buy it! He sees right through us, and He loves us anyway! God cares that you are hurting and broken and incomplete. He cares that you are insecure and needy. He cares about the real you – the you that has nothing to offer an infinite almighty God! His care for you has nothing to do with how great you are! It has everything to do with how great He is!
-We might also say that God not only cares about who you are, but He cares about who you are becoming. He knows the stuff you’re made of because He made you! And here’s what He has to say about you!
2 Corinthians 5:17 …if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!
John 1:12 Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
-God knows what you were…
1 Corinthians 6:9-11 9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
-God cares about who you are, and when you call on Him in faith, He changes you into His very own son or daughter. If you’ve invited Jesus to lead your life and forgive your sins, you are no longer who you used to be! If you haven’t done that yet, God will do the same for you!
-There is a connection between who we are and what we do. However, we do not have to let our past failures define us! There is help. There is healing. There is a Savior who frees us from our past and helps us face tomorrow!
3. God cares who you follow
-Everybody follows somebody! I don’t care how much confidence or charisma a person has, or what leadership qualities they possess, we are all followers to some extent. The question is, “Who are we following?”
-Joshua brought this question to a head for the people of Israel after they had entered into the land God had promised them.
Joshua 24:15 “…choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your forefathers served beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you are living. But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD.”
-We were designed to follow the living God, our Creator! We were made in His image and will never be who we were meant to be until we are following Him! But it takes a lot to follow such a Leader!
Matthew 16:24-25 24 Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.
-Following Jesus requires sacrifice, self-denial, and commitment! It isn’t some nature hike He is taking us on. It is more like a survival journey. It’s not easy. It won’t be painless. But nothing worthwhile is.
-God cares who you follow b/c if you’re following anyone but Jesus, you are going in the wrong direction! Jesus says, “Follow Me.”
4. God cares about who you lead
-Therefore, He cares about how you lead. We all lead or influence somebody. There is a very real sense in which we are reproducing ourselves in others. How? By our words, our actions, our attitudes. By the way we handle adversity and problems. By the way we handle success and blessing. By the way we give glory to God or try to get it for ourselves. We are leading and influencing people all around us.
-Probably those we will have the greatest impact on are those we live with – our families. The Bible has a lot to say about family relationships. (Husbands love and respect your wives, wives respect your husbands, Children obey and honor your parents. Fathers, do not exasperate your children or be unreasonably harsh to them, lest they become so discouraged that they give up.
-Dads and Moms, how are you leading your family? God cares about you and them, and He cares about what your home is like. Is your home filled with anger, fighting, selfishness and dysfunction? You are the lead influencer of your home atmosphere. Don’t let the TV set the tone in your home. You set it! Pray together as a family. Sing songs together. Read the Bible together. Learn to resolve conflict in a healthy way. You are going to disagree on things, but there are healthy ways to work out those differences.
-The American home has been under constant attack, and the casualties of war are our kids, our spouses, and ourselves. We need to invite the Lord back into our homes and honor Him with our activities and attitudes.
Philippians 2:3-7 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. 4 Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus: 6 Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, 7 but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness.
-God cares about those you lead and He wants to help you step up and be the Godly leader He has called you to be. He wants to heal you and make you a whole person. Even though you may have been hurt and betrayed in the past, He can bring life where once there was darkness and disappointment. Will you let Him touch you today? His touch can transform your life and your family!
5. God cares about what you do
-We are never at our best when we are being served! It is through service that we grow and make a difference in God’s kingdom here on earth.
Mark 10:43-45 “…whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, 44 and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. 45 For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
-Do you want to be a great leader? Learn to serve. Serving God always seems to connect with helping others. Some serve through teaching, preaching, or encouraging others. Some serve by using their hands to build, fix, clean, or accomplish something physically tangible. Some serve by using their organizational and leadership skills. Some serve by giving graciously towards a need. Some serve through their hospitality, cooking, baking, and taking meals to someone in need. Some serve through showing mercy and compassion to those who are hurting. There are many other areas where people offer their knowledge, expertise, and skill sets to the Lord to benefit His work in the world we call our home.
-What are you doing? How are you serving? What is your passion? What makes you come alive? If you haven’t been actively serving others very much, ask the Lord what you can do, and what He wants you to do. Serving does not make you right with God, but again, if you’re not serving, you’re not being like Jesus, and you are not growing in your faith. Also, there’s a pretty good chance you’re not very happy or fulfilled either. Joy comes from serving, when we do it as unto the Lord.
-Colossians 3:12-24 12 Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. 14 And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. 15 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. 16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
17 And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. 18 Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. 19 Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. 20 Children, obey your parents in everything, for this pleases the Lord. 21 Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged. 22 Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24 since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.
Close: We’ve talked about the heart (who we are in Christ, and who we are following). We’ve talked about the home (who we are leading). And we’ve talked about the hands (serving the Lord with all we have).
-These are some of the most important areas of our lives. Will you pause with me for a moment and ask God to show us what actions we need to take as a result of hearing from His word today?
-Prayer
