“Living Water” – You Need To Need It

“Living Water”
Delivered at The Blue Sky Cathedral Outreach – Sunday, May 24, 2009

Sometimes in the Church you hear words that they don’t use anywhere else.
Call them Church Words.
Some of them need more explaining to understand.

 

Iniquity – injustice; unfairness; wickedness; sin.
The acts or actions that lead to sin and to bringing it about.

Luke 18:11 (NIV)
The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector.

I DIDN’T GET IT

The water from the lake comes up on the beach.

The birds chirp in the trees.

The wind blows through the air.

The horns and the tires of traffic make noise on the street.

All these sounds are always there but I don’t listen to them.
I here them but they have become all too common in my life.

I don’t get it.

Why should I pay attention to them?
They’re just sounds and they don’t concern me.

That’s how iniquity is… and I didn’t get it.

My focus was on what affected me personally and I give no concern to anything else.
As long as it wasn’t me it was O.K. I didn’t care, it didn’t matter.
I give no mind to it and I didn’t take it to heart.

I just didn’t get it.

 

Big Sin vs. Little Sin

The thing is I went to Church, I believed in God, and I wasn’t that bad.
I could point out a whole bunch of “them” that were a whole lot worse than me.

I didn’t get it.

Just like the Pharisee, I was not one of Them.
I saw myself as not doing what They did.

Sure I told a few lies, but that was O.K.

Later I told bigger lies and that – became O.K.

When I started drinking and drugging it was O.K. because – my guy’s did it.

Money was short and I started cuffing stuff; it was O.K. because – I had a habit.

It was O.K. to grab my thumper and start taking stuff because – I wasn’t scared.

If they wouldn’t give it up it was O.K. to use the thumper because – they were my Vic’s.

Finally when I got locked up it was O.K. because – it’s all part of the game.

It was about ME.
I listened to MYSELF.
I did what I wanted to do. 

Me – Myself  – and I

I just didn’t get it

Proverbs 14:12 (NIV)
There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

There is no “Big” sin or “Little” sin; there is only SIN…period!
Every big sinner started as a little sinner and all sin leads to DEATH. 

James 4:1-3 (NIV) 
What causes fights and quarrels among you?
Don’t they come from your desires that battle within you?
You desire but do not have, so you kill.
You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight.
You do not have because you do not ask God.
When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives,
that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.

 

Drive by’s, bulling, sufferings, and injustice of any kind; All unrighteousness is wrong.
It’s not just wrong when it happens to ME or the people I care about.
If I say it’s O.K. when it happens to somebody else then I’m also saying it’s O.K. if it happens to me.
Jesus said to love your brother as you love yourself.
Any time that WE say anything other than what Jesus said, then… in iniquity… We’ve stopped listening.

Proverbs 12:15 (NIV)
The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice. 

Why is one little sin O.K. and why do we keep telling ourselves that it is?
The reality is that all sin is the same.
It’s all bad.
It’s never good and that’s the TRUTH.

The effects of Hitler in World War II were very bad, but so are the effects of an average liar on society.
Which do you think is worst?
If you’re trying to choose an answer to the question… STOP.
Both start when we choose to start believing a little wrong is alright, that it doesn’t hurt.
The little stuff just gets bigger.
We don’t understand what wrong is, and… when we do understand – we somehow think its O.K. to still do wrong under certain conditions.

When I get thirsty… I need a drink.
I don’t just want one… I need one.

It’s the same way with the Living Water that flows from Jesus Christ;
I needed to understand that I need to need Him.

That’s what I didn’t get.

The law, the Ten Commandments didn’t change or stop sin at all.
Even when I know what sin is… I still won’t stop sinning.
My sinful nature keeps me in it’s grip; I’m powerless.

I needed to understand my NEED for needing Jesus.

Not just a need for Jesus, but…
A NEED FOR NEEDING HIM!

 

It wasn’t until I knew that I needed to need Him, that I started wanting Him.
Only then did it start to matter to me personally.
That’s when I became concerned, and finally it was not O.K. to go a day without Him.

Psalm 27:4 (NIV)
One thing I ask from the Lord,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple.

 

When you need that water you drink it in and nothing else will satisfy your desire.

The LIVING WATER is the HOLY SPIRIT of Christ.
I had to get to know my need for needing to take it in.

That day came and I thank God it did. 

 

That’s the day that I was born again, born of the Spirit, taking Christ to heart. 

1 John 2:29 (NIV)
If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him. 

Blessings, 
Matt.

Joy Made Full

Titus 3:9-11 (NIV)
But avoid foolish controversies and genealogies and arguments and quarrels about the law, because these are unprofitable and useless.  Warn a divisive person once, and then warn them a second time. After that, have nothing to do with them.  You may be sure that such people are warped and sinful; they are self-condemned.

Is it just me or does this cartoon draw attention to a very real but sad point,
taking place in the Church? 

All too often I’ve witnessed debates, arguments, and out and out quarrels take place among the brothers and sisters of faith. I’m talking about those belonging to the same congregation. I don’t even want to go outside the home doors. There’s enough of this activity inside without crossing denominational territory. I’ll admit, there are those occasions where valid points are made by both parties. Each providing scripture to back their position. The thing is, a lot of time is spent in a effort for one to be the winner of the debate… but to what end. Is ministry meant to be a contest to show whose more knowledgeable, whose right and whose wrong? Where is the joy in that?

Romans 12:16 (NIV)
Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. 

We are charged with spreading the love of God and the joy of Jesus through “The Gospel”, not disorder. Yes there are differences of opinion, there will always be differences among us… get over it. None of us are perfect, not a single one. I think we would do much better if we agree to disagree. If we don’t, how do we appear to the rest of the world? More importantly, how would we appear if Christ were standing before us?

(BIG HINT)
He “IS” Before Us…
ALWAYS. 

2 Corinthians 12:20 (NIV)
For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder. 

Every member of the Church, from leadership to the little guy that just walked in the door… every member, is present to serve “The Master.” Our agendas and personal preferences are of no importance. The Church, which we are given the task of strengthening, is better built with truth and love. It makes little justification where one appears on the congregational structure, political, social, or otherwise. We lead others to Christ by following after Him ourselves. Let these words marinade in your understanding.

Ephesians 4:15 (NIV)
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.

If I remember correctly, just before Jesus was taken captive, He spent time praying. His prayers were for the Disciples who would be left to carry on, and… for those who would come to faith because of their message. Seems to me we fall somewhere in that lineup and I don’t think Jesus would have prayed on it  – if it wasn’t of great importance. Sometimes our loudest message is not sent with words. We must be ever vigilant to guard our actions and behavior, as well as our words.

John 17:20-23 (NIV)
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one – I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. 

Our enemy is adversarial, it’s a quality of his nature. His tactics are deceiving, designed to rob us of our joy. Satan wants nothing less than to steal our hope and kill our spirit.

Keep Your Spirit… 

All that happens around you, both the good and the bad, are attached to this fallen world. Even the things that sometimes take place inside the Church. It’s all temporary, passing from moment to moment. We must focus on the eternal… not the temporary. Our joy comes not from the outside. Its source is ever fed by the eternal Spirit of Christ within us. When we understand – that because He is with us and will never leave, – our joy really can be made full. Don’t allow the circumstances, the people, or the situations that come along with them to take that away.

John 15:11 (KJV)
These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.

Always Remember… Always Know… and… Always Say…
“Jesus You’re the Center of My Joy.”

Blessings,
Matt.  

The Jesus Command

My book 

FREE PREVIEW

(Watch Trailer)

Dear Friends,
I appeal to any and all who like their thoughts stimulated through the written word.

My book is a Non-Fiction Christian Work. However it is not your dry, overly preachy, run of the mill – shove my doctrine down your throat type of offering. Yes it does use scripture and Biblical principles but they’re presented in a common sense manner, with inspiration and motivation being the thrust. The subject is love… a topic that seems difficult to define – as well as understand. It’s also a topic that we can all say was important to Jesus… Very Important. 

(Get the latest buzz from the “Press Page”.) 

“The Jesus Command”
Takes a serious look at Jesus’ statement to the eleven disciples, the night he was taken into captivity. It’s an attempt to capture the importance of His reasoning. Christ spent a lot of time speaking matter of factually about love, and on that last night He rapped the term in imperial clothing, making it a command. The implication was that it would be the determining factor of discipleship.

Makes A Great Gift 
or use
For Personal Development and Growth 

John 13:34-35
“Love one another; as I have loved you…
By this shall all men know that you are my disciples…”

There is a difference between believing in Christ and following Him, and the latter has love stamped all over it. This discussion attempts to develop the aspects of love through the eyes of Jesus and the understanding of those initially charged with continuing the pattern that He put forth… His Disciples. No matter what we think we know about love, we must ask this simple question…

“How did Jesus use the term and what did He intend for us to understand about it?”

I invite your honest opinion and feedback. Although I’m a minister, this work is not expressly for Christians alone. Non-Christians may find some reasons to question their pattern of behavior in matters of love as well.

“Well done, thou good and faithful servant:
thou hast been faithful over a few things,…”
(Matt. 25)

I’ve heard many, who, when quoting this passage, all seem to stop at the “Well done” part, without making mention of the fact that the servant has faithfully carried out a task to the Masters delight. Just how much of our Christian walk is in line, faithfully, with the Masters liking? Are we doing all we can to live out the command of Jesus, or are we busy making excuses as we push our service further on the back burner.

“The Jesus Command”

Is a close examination of Christ’s charge to love one another as He has loved us. It takes into account His point of view and what would be expected of anyone who would be called His Disciple. A word of caution… there may be a few hard bits to swallow.

John 6:60, 66 (KJV)
Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an hard saying; who can hear it? From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. 

The New Testament is full of instruction of how we are to regard one another. This study is a discussion of those instructions and how they can be used as a guide. They form the pattern of our attempt to better understand this “The Jesus Command” and the qualities necessary for Christ following.

(Bloggers and other Reviewers for a screening copy)
Contact Author  Here 

******************** 

Using Biblical Principles, Scripture, and Candid Discussion. 

“The Jesus Command”

Provides the tools necessary to transform ordinary lives into

Extraordinary Living.

Published by WestBow Press

Perfect for Bible and Small Group Study, and…

It’s an excellent way to make a “Love Gift.”
Proceeds from sales assist the Homeless and Poor.

Order Your Copy Today

Publishers Bookstore

Amazon 

Amazon UK

Barnes & Noble