Back to the Grind?
Various Scriptures
(April 7, 2002)
Introduction
Last week I mentioned that because of the resurrection of Jesus, we can avoid the despair of defeat, approach the potential of the present, and anticipate the hope of heaven.
And today I want to expand that second point a bit, by looking at just how we can go about living a life that pleases God and opens the door to the full and abundant life that Jesus wants for us to experience.
I don¡¦t know about you, but after a holiday, I find it easy to get into a mindset that says, ¡§Okay, back to the grind ¡V time to move on and get back to real life.¡¨
Any of you like that? I think it¡¦s most obvious just after Christmas. The New Year is past, and now we just hunker down until the next major break in the calendar.
The problem is that holidays, especially such holidays as Christmas and Easter, are meant to draw our hearts and minds back to God, with the hoped-for result that it will stick this time.
I hope this last Easter was one of those times for you. And I want to offer you some very practical help in helping it stick in your life, not just be another episode of ¡§here today, gone tomorrow.¡¨
I hope you will take this message and apply it, and enjoy the life God has for you. Because the Christian life is to be enjoyed, not just endured.
So if you¡¦re tired of the same ol¡¦ same ol¡¦ when it comes to your walk with God, listen up!
Let¡¦s jump in, shall we? The first thing we need to do to enjoy the full and abundant life in Christ is to¡K
I. Look in - Walk in the power of the Spirit.
When you gave your life to Christ, the Holy Spirit entered you to live and work.
Every believer in Christ has this promise. But to get the maximum out His working, you¡¦ve got to let Him have His way in you, helping you live for Christ, and enjoying the life God has for those who live for Him.
Romans 8:1- 4 says this:
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, 2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death. 3 For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in sinful man, 4 in order that the righteous requirements of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the sinful nature but according to the Spirit.
How do we walk in the power of the Spirit?
It all begins with the Word of God. First, you need to¡K
A. Read the Word.
No surprise here, I¡¦m sure.
The Bible has everything we need to know about living for God.
Peter tells us in his first letter that..
His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
So if we want to know what God expects and how to appropriate the power He gives us through the Holy Spirit, we need to spend time in His Word.
If you¡¦re not doing this already, why not start today? Take 5 minutes and read a chapter from the gospel of John.
You¡¦ve got to read the Word if you hope to get any long-term benefit from it.
I¡¦d love to tell you that all you have to do is listen to me read you the Word or tell you what it says, but I¡¦m not that good, folks!
Let me give you a hint about reading the Word. Don¡¦t try to find time to do it. You have to make time to do it. Make the time, okay?
While you are reading the Word, you next need to¡K
B. Pray the Word.
When we come to God in prayer, we tend to come to Him with our prayer list of things we need God to work in.
There¡¦s nothing wrong to praying to God for needs, and I hope you do. Often. On a regular basis. Lots.
But our first order of business in prayer should be in response to what we are reading in the Bible.
If you are reading the Bible, you will have questions ¡V pause for a moment ask God about those. You will come across things in the Bible that the Holy Spirit uses to convict you about something. Take some time and pray about that before going on.
Other times you will find a wonderful promise from God that you need to claim for yourself, ask God how to apply that in your life.
And then sometimes God will open His Word to you and you will see something you¡¦ve never seen before, no matter how many times you¡¦ve read the passage.
Take time to thank God for that.
And while you¡¦re reading and praying, ask God to show you how to make the Word applicable to your life, because the next step is to¡K
C. Do the Word.
James 1:22 says,
Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.
That¡¦s pretty straightforward, wouldn¡¦t you say? It doesn¡¦t get much plainer. But let me get a little more frank.
If you claim to love God, and don¡¦t do what the Bible says, you are a hypocrite.
Don¡¦t let yourself become one of the millions of people who call themselves Christians, yet don¡¦t obey the Word of God.
Jesus gets into this a little bit, when He talks about how at the judgement many people will be turned away from the gates. He says,¡K
MT 7:21 "Not everyone who says to me, `Lord, Lord,¡¦ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 Many will say to me on that day, `Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?¡¦ 23 Then I will tell them plainly, `I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!¡¦
Get the picture? You need to be a doer of the Word, not just a reader or hearer.
Jesus says that the test of your love for Him is to obey His Words.
That great saint and missionary pioneer, Hudson Taylor said, "The real secret of an unsatisfied life lies too often in an unsurrendered will." Halfhearted obedience satisfies neither God, nor us.
To be a doer of the Word, you need to study it, memorize it, and most of all, meditate on it, chewing on it to see how you should apply it.
Being in the Word helps you to live in the power of the Spirit.
So look in ¡V live in the power of the Spirit. Next,¡K
II. Look out - See the needs of others.
Philippians 2:4 says this:
Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
I¡¦ve mentioned before that the Bible is God-centered and others-focused. In other words, the Bible is about God, and how we¡¦re to love Him and show His love to others.
One of the best ways we can show that love to people is to look to meet their needs. Even Jesus said that He had come not to be served, but to serve.
Here are some types of needs to look for. We don¡¦t have time to talk about how to meet all these needs, but if you are interested, there are resources available to help you in assisting with them.
Types of needs:
„h Emotional ¡V people struggling with broken relationships, the loss of a loved one, etc.
Emotional needs are very real, and need the attention of loving individuals like you and me.
„h Physical ¡V These can be more obvious than the rest of the needs we will look at, and also the hardest to ignore.
I include financial needs here, because without money, it is very hard to meet the rest of the physical needs.
„h Social ¡V you may not be aware of this, but there are some very lonely people around here. Look to visit with people outside of church.
„h Spiritual ¡V This is pretty obvious, but there are people with many spiritual needs.
Many need to know the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior. Others need prayer for whatever reason, maybe dealing with struggles in other areas of need.
Serving not only helps people, but it also reflects the love of Christ to a needy world. If they don¡¦t see Christians looking to alleviate the hurts and needs of people, they can only turn to the world with its empty promises, devoid of any hope.
Service is needed, and it is valuable.
The great violinist, Niccolo Paganini willed his marvelous violin to city of Genoa on condition that it must never be played.
The wood of such an instrument, while used and handled, wears only slightly, but set aside, it begins to decay. Paganini¡¦s lovely violin has today become worm-eaten and useless except as a relic.
A Christian¡¦s unwillingness to serve may soon destroy his capacity for usefulness.
The point here is that people have needs ¡V the Body of Christ is called to meet those needs.
And there¡¦s a great satisfaction when you can be used by God to meet needs, ministering in the name of Jesus.
Look out ¡V and see the needs of others.
Then,¡K
III. Look up - Watch for His return.
We just celebrated the fact that Jesus was raised from the dead. Forty days later He ascended to the Father. But the story doesn¡¦t end there. He¡¦s coming back!
Jesus mentioned that fact a number of times in the gospels, and the apostle Paul picks up the theme in 1 Thessalonians. Listen to what he says in 4:16-18:
For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. 18 Therefore encourage each other with these words.
But there¡¦s more to it than just watching. Some people are so caught up in trying to figure out when Jesus is coming back they forget what He said to be doing until He returns.
And what is that?
We are to be doing the work of the Master.
In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells us to be ready, because not only do we not know when He¡¦s gonna return, but because He expects His servants to be doing the work He has assigned to them.
And here¡¦s something else to keep in mind: don¡¦t get into the mindset that He¡¦s not coming back soon.
He could come back today. He could wait another thousand years. That¡¦s not for us to decide. We need to be ready for Him to come at any time.
One last thing about this. His return will be a wonderful thing ¡V we¡¦ll be caught up with Jesus in the air, and we¡¦ll leave this ol¡¦ world behind, with all its cares, worries, and sin. I can¡¦t wait.
G. Campbell Morgan, a preacher from the last century said ¡§To me the second coming is the perpetual light in the path which makes the present bearable. I never lay my head on my pillow without thinking that: maybe before the morning breaks the final morning may have dawned. I never begin my work without thinking perhaps he may interrupt my work and begin his own.¡¨
Are you tired of what this world has to offer? Then look up ¡V and watch for His return!
Conclusion
Well? Ready to bust out of the grind, and get into the full and abundant life God has for you?
Now you know what to do: Look in, look out, and look up.
I hope you¡¦ve found something you can use today.
Maybe just one small thing to start with ¡V like reading the Bible, or maybe praying the Bible. All with the goal of doing the Bible.
If you want the life promised by Christ, we need to be obedient, then watch Him bless. That¡¦s His promise, not mine, and you can take it to the bank.
Let me encourage you to take the bull by the horns and choose to make God not just your heavenly good buddy, not just ¡§the man upstairs,¡¨ and not just the co-pilot. I read about a bumper sticker that said, ¡§if God is your co-pilot, change seats.¡¨
God is much more than that. He¡¦s the Creator of the universe and He wants to be actively involved in your life.
Let me ask you a question: do you really think that allowing God to run the show would be a bad move?
Think about that. And if you really think it would be a bad thing, then let me tell you you¡¦re making a mistake, big-time.
God wants your success more than you do. Let Him work in you so you can see the awesome power of God influence you and your work, so that you can influence others for Him.
Let¡¦s pray.
