I’m not OK, you’re not OK
1 John 1:4; Matt 23:31-46
4 We write this to make our joy complete.
Happiness comes and goes, but JOY lasts a lifetime. Jesus Over You. Every one of us has experienced happiness. The world has Happy Hour, it is from 5-7 everyday and I am sure there are people go in there and get happy for a little while. The church should have a sign out saying “Happy Hour All Week Long” Happiness comes and goes, but Joy lasts a lifetime. We get joy when we get saved. Yet we come to church and we see people who look like they have been eating dill pickles or baptized in vinegar. We ought to give the world a reason to come here; we should show them the JOY of the Lord. I love hanging with people who have just been saved, they are bubbling over. Yet some of us just don’t look like we have that JOY. Why? David prayed, “Restore unto me the JOY of thy salvation. We need to come alive with that JOY; we have JOY and Peace that surpasses understanding. The church needs to have a revival of this JOY or we will have Judgments. (2 Chronicles 7:14ff). 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. Do we look like we are carrying the burdens of the world on our shoulders? Do we look like Atlas who according to mythology has to carry the weight of the world on his back for eternity? Maybe we are acting like we won’t move from this, we are only happy when we are miserable. Maybe we need to be broken.
We are either going to be broken by God, or we are going to be broken by the Devil. When God breaks us, he heals us; he picks up the broken pieces and makes something of them. When Satan breaks us, he leaves us broken, used up, wasted and hopeless.
We need to be humbled and we need to pray. We should pray for revival in our land. We fill the church for specials, for Sunday morning, but Wednesday night when we gather for prayer and Bible Study we get only a handful. Hmmm, maybe we think we don’t need to gather for that, you know we put in our time on Sunday morning and that is enough. Who says so? We criticize the denominational world for being religious, well so do the non-denominational people become religious. We need people who are not seeking religion but seeking a relationship. The church needs people who are not into religiosity but into a deep personal relationship with GOD. The Church needs an old fashion revival where people are broken and humbled by GOD to have HIM pick up the pieces and make something beautiful of us. Someone ought to write a song about that.
We need to seek God’s face, which is the focus of our prayer time. WE need to find out what God thinks about our lives, we need to find out what God thinks about our situation, and we need to find out what God wants us to do. Romans 12:1-2 is not just for Sunday but also for everyday. RO 12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God--this is your spiritual act of worship. 2 Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is--his good, pleasing and perfect will.
In the desert they sought God everyday, we are called to seek His FACE. We need to seek God everyday. WE need to seek His face and His Will everyday.
I have been told that I preach like there is no tomorrow, I say thank you. I have been told that I preach like I am trying to reach that one right here and right now, and I say thank you. I have been told that I step on toes, one of the deacons in a church I was in said he was going to wear steel-toed shoes to church from now on. I say, I’m sorry, I am not aiming for your toes, I am aiming for your heart.
We sin retail but we ask for forgiveness wholesale. We say Forgive me for our sins and God says Which one? If we don’t confess one by one, God won’t forgive one by one. If we confess one by one God will forgive us one by one. And then God will bless our lives, wipe the slate clean, and we will have wonderful joy. Don’t just confess, repent of our sins. Not just the sins of commission, acts of the flesh and mind, but sins of omission, things we know what we should of done but did not. A bad attitude can keep us from the Glory of God.
Read Matthew 25:31-46
The goats were religious, they looked good, they talked good, they were Sunday go to church type people. Yet what is their reward.
How many of you think I look good? Am I dressed ok? But what if you knew what was underneath?
Hole in sock
Ripped shirt
Stained Tie
Now what do I look like?
We see the outside, God sees the inside, Jesus said clean up the inside and the outside will take care of itself. Let us seek God to clean up the inside. So who cares what the world thinks, we should be more concerned with what God thinks. God will cover up our sins, cleanse us from all unrighteousness, if we will come and seek His Face. We can never have revival until we come clean. We need to approach God saying, it is not my brother or my sister, not my father or my mother, but it is me Lord.
