Not A Fan. - knowledge about him or intimacy with him?

Fan:
      \ˈfan\
noun
      an enthusiastic admirer

      Follower:
      \ˈfälō(ə)r\
noun
      an adherent or devotee of a particular person, cause, or activity.

Are you a Follower of Jesus?

And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me.
Luke 9:23

These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.
Matthew 15:8

When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table.
Luke 7:36

A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume.
Luke 7:37

As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.
Luke 7:38

When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner.”
Luke 7:39

Do you do what you do for God out of duty?
or
Do you do what you do out of a desire to honor Him?

Do not confuse Knowledge about Jesus for intimacy with Jesus.

A Biblical word for intimacy is “Know”

And Adam knew Eve his wife
Genesis 4:1 (KJV)

Now the man was intimate with his wife Eve
Genesis 4:1 (ESV)

YADA (Hebrew Word for Knew)
To Know completely and to be completely Known

O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit down or stand up. You know my thoughts even when I’m far away. You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do. You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord.
Psalm 139:1-4

Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair.
Luke 7:44

You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet.
Luke 7:45

You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet.
Luke 7:46

Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
Luke 7:47

Who are you most like in this Story?

Do you know about Jesus, or do you Know Jesus?

Not A Fan. - Do you believe or are you committed?

Fan:
      \ˈfan\
noun
      an enthusiastic admirer

      Follower:
      \ˈfälō(ə)r\
noun
      an adherent or devotee of a particular person, cause, or activity.

And He was saying to them all, “If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me.
Luke 9:23

• So how do you start determining if you really are a follower of Jesus?
• How do you decide if this is even something you would want to consider?

We must define the relationship.

Have you made a DECISION for Jesus, or Have you COMMITTED to Jesus?

Now there was a Pharisee, a man named Nicodemus who was a member of the Jewish ruling council. He came to Jesus at night and said, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher who has come from God. For no one could perform the signs you are doing if God were not with him.”
John 3:1-2

Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again.”
John 3:3

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
John 14:6

“How can someone be born when they are old?” Nicodemus asked. “Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother’s womb to be born!”
John 3:4

Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.
John 3:5-6

You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.
John 3:7

The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.” “How can this be?” Nicodemus asked.
John 3:8-9

“You are Israel’s teacher,” said Jesus, “and do you not understand these things? Very truly I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, but still you people do not accept our testimony.
John 3:10-11

I have spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe; how then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things? No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.
John 3:12-13

Just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that everyone who believes may have eternal life in him.”
John 3:14-15

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
John 3:16-17

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.
John 3:18

Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.
John 5:19

For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.
John 5:20-21

Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
John 5:22-23

“Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.
John 5:24

Not A Fan. - The Cross

Fan:
\ˈfan\
noun
an enthusiastic admirer

“Jesus never asked us to sit on the sidelines and cheer for His cause…”
~ Craig Groeschel ~

“If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”
Luke 9:23

“No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord…”
John 10:18

What have we sacrificed in return???

“When Christ calls a man, He bids him-Come and Die…”
~ Dietrich Bonhoeffer ~

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”
1 Corinthians 1:18

Why would God use a symbol of torture, of death, of weakness to save the world?

Does the cross represent WEAKNESS or does it represent STRENGTH …?

“Jews demand miraculous signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles… for the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.”
1 Corinthians 1:22

Who else but God…
• …could take a cross that represented defeat-And turn it into a symbol of victory?
• …could take a cross that represented guilt-And turn it into a symbol for grace?
• …could take a cross that represented condemnation-And turn it into a symbol of freedom ?
• …could take a cross that represented pain and suffering-And turn it into a symbol of healing and hope?
• …could take a cross that represented death-And turn it into a symbol of life?

When you are at your weakest - you are exactly where you need to be for God to be the strongest!

“But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.”
1 Corinthians 1:27

“I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why for Christ’s sake, I delight in…” (and Paul gives us this list of “not so comfortable” things) weakness, insults, hardships, persecution and difficulties) and he concludes–“For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
2 Corinthians 12:9-10

Strength comes when we realize our weakness.

Will you, like Christ did before us, trust God enough to let your weakness be His strength, will you trust Him to make all things new for you???

“When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the charge of our legal indebtedness, which stood against us and condemned us; He has taken it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”
Colossians 2:13-15

There’s no comfortable way to carry a cross…

“For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for Him…”
Philippians 1:29

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.”
James 1:2-4

Christ says, “Give me all. I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want you. I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it. No half-measures are any good. I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there. I want to have the whole tree down. I don’t want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out.”
~ C. S. Lewis ~

“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.”
Matthew 16:25

A call to stand against opposition

A call to Action

A Call for Encouragement

A Call FOR BOLDNESS

A Call To Prayer

The words of Nehemiah son of Hakaliah:
In the month of Kislev in the twentieth year, while I was in the citadel of Susa, Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that had survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.
Nehemiah 1:1-2

They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”
Nehemiah 1:3

When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
Nehemiah 1:4

      Prayer:
      /prer/
noun
      A solemn request for help or expression of thanks addressed to God or an object of worship.

“God Never Allows Pain without a purpose”
~ Jerry Bridges ~

“Your Greatest Ministry will most likely come out of your greatest hurt.”
~ Rick Warren ~

When we are burdened, what should we do?

Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.
Psalm 55:22

Accept IT
Cast IT
Leave IT

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Then I said: “Lord, the God of heaven, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with those who love him and keep his commandments, let your ear be attentive and your eyes open to hear the prayer your servant is praying before you day and night for your servants, the people of Israel. I confess the sins we Israelites, including myself and my father’s family, have committed against you. We have acted very wickedly toward you. We have not obeyed the commands, decrees and laws you gave your servant Moses.
Nehemiah 1:5-7

God initiates Prayer in Us

“Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, ‘If you are unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my Name.’
Nehemiah 1:8-9

“They are your servants and your people, whom you redeemed by your great strength and your mighty hand. Lord, let your ear be attentive to the prayer of this your servant and to the prayer of your servants who delight in revering your name. Give your servant success today by granting him favor in the presence of this man.”
Nehemiah 1:10-11

When Is the last time you were so burdened that all you could do was pray?

When was the last time you were burdened for the church?
When was the last time you were burdened for your Neighbors?
When was the last time you were burdened for our nation?
When was the last time you were burdened for the lost?

step up - answer the call

God doesn’t call the PREPARED. God PREPARES the called.

Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God.
Ephesians 4:1

3 things we are called to:
• God calls us to salvation.
• God calls us to sanctification
• God calls us to service.

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.
Colossians 3:17

Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.
1 Corinthians 1:26

God doesn’t call the prepared. God prepares the called.

Sometimes the criticism from people confirms Calling of God!

TWO QUALITIES OF CALLING

1) CALLING COSTS
But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
Acts 9:15-16

The moment you step into your calling, you step out of your comfort zone.

God often uses our deepest pain to launch our greatest calling!

PRIVATE PAIN is a big part of PUBLIC CALLING

Serving Jesus is a GIFT—GRIND!
Living your call is a THRILL—BURDEN!
Ministry is EXHILARATING—EXHAUSTING!

2) CALLING SUSTAINS

…Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:13-14

…We constantly pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling, and that by his power he may bring to fruition your every desire for goodness and your every deed prompted by faith. We pray this so that the name of our Lord Jesus may be glorified in you!
2 Thessalonians 1:11-12

GOOD QUESTIONS - WHY DO YOU DOUBT?

With Spiritual Doubts - Why Do You Doubt?

What is doubt?

      Doubt:
      /dout/
noun
      a feeling of uncertainty or a lack of conviction*
On an emotional level, doubt is indecision between belief and disbelief

What is faith?
      Faith:
      /fāTH/
noun
      complete trust or confidence in someone or something

Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.”
John 20:24-25 (NIV)

Doubt can CRIPPLE you!
Doubt can ROB you of joy!
Doubt can SHACKLE you!
Doubt can HINDER your future!

Faith can HEAL you!
Faith Can GIVE YOU Joy!
Faith can FREE you!
Faith makes YOUR FUTURE certain!

So the Lord said to him, “Bring me a heifer, a goat and a ram, each three years old, along with a dove and a young pigeon.” Abram brought all these to him, cut them in two and arranged the halves opposite each other; the birds, however, he did not cut in half. Then birds of prey came down on the carcasses, but Abram drove them away. As the sun was setting, Abram fell into a deep sleep, and a thick and dreadful darkness came over him.
Genesis 15:9-12 (NIV)

When the sun had set and darkness had fallen, a smoking firepot with a blazing torch appeared and passed between the pieces.
Genesis 15:17 (NIV)

Doubt makes us believe in the negatives of “What If” living

How Can we have faith that God can save us from our sins but can’t do anything else?

In a World Full of Doubt, We must be a people Full of Faith!

A week later his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” Thomas said to him, “My Lord and my God!” Then Jesus told him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
John 20:26-29 (NIV)

We have to choose one or the other:
It’s Faith vs. Doubt

People Make Choices… and Choices make People

Will you choose today, to keep doubting?
Or
Will you choose today, to live by Faith?

Good Questions - Do you Want to be well?

In a storm—Why Are You So Afraid?
Need a miracle—Do You Believe I Can Do This?
Ongoing challenge—Do You Want to Be Well?
With spiritual doubts—Why Do You Doubt?

Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades.
John 5:1-2

Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.
John 5:3

One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
John 9:5-6

“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
John 5:7-9a

THE LONGER A PROBLEM PERSISTS:

• THE MORE DISCOURAGED WE BECOME

• THE MORE EXCUSES WE MAKE

• THE MORE YOU LEARN TO 

REVEAL ANSWER

You cannot change what you are willing to tolerate.

• You can’t help someone who 

REVEAL ANSWER

 help, you can only help someone that 

REVEAL ANSWER

 help.

“DO YOU WANT TO BE MADE WELL?”

What is the biggest hindrance of faith?

Until our desire becomes bigger than our disability, we will not be able to start to find healing.

Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
John 5:8-9a

• I DON’T WANT TO HEAR YOUR EXCUSE. I WANT TO SEE YOUR FAITH.

Good Questions - Do you believe I can do this?

Storm - Why Are You So Afraid?
Need A Miracle - Do You Believe I Can Do This?
Ongoing problem — Do You Want to Be Well?
Spiritual doubts—Why Do You Doubt?

As Jesus went on from there, two blind men followed him, calling out, “Have mercy on us, Son of David!” When (Jesus) had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied. Then he touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be done to you”; and their sight was restored.
Matthew 9:27-30

WHAT KIND OF FAITH HONORS GOD?

1) FAITH THAT BELIEVES WHEN IT DOESN’T SEE.

Faith is the confidence that what we hope for will actually happen; it gives us assurance about things we cannot see.
Hebrews 11:1

When (Jesus) had gone indoors, the blind men came to him, and he asked them, “Do you believe that I am able to do this?” “Yes, Lord,” they replied.
Matthew 9:28

The size of our request reveals the strength of our faith.

2) FAITH THAT PERSISTS WHEN NOTHING CHANGES

 Be persistent in prayer, and keep alert as you pray, giving thanks to God.
Colossians 4:2

3) FAITH THAT WORKS WHEN IT DOESN’T MAKE SENSE

You see that (Abraham’s) faith and his actions were working together, and his faith was made complete by what he did.
James 2:22

I’d rather be blind with faith that God can heal…
Than see and have no faith!

It takes faith to step away from the familiar.

Good Questions - Why Are You So Afraid?

The best way to find truth is on the other side of a good question.

• In a storm — Why Are You So Afraid?
• Need a miracle — Do You Believe I Can Do This?
• Ongoing challenge — Do You Want to Be Well?
• With spiritual doubts — Why Do You Doubt?

That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, Why are you so afraid?“ Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
Mark 4:35-41

2 THINGS TO REMEMBER WHEN YOU’RE IN THE STORM

1) YOU’RE IN THE STORM WITH HIS PRESENCE.

A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped.

     BUT…

Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion.
Mark 4:37-38

THE PROMISE OF THE GOSPEL IS NOT THIS:
Having Jesus in the boat doesn’t mean storm is not going to rock you.

THE PROMISE IS:
It’s not going to sink you.

Never let the presence of a storm cause you to doubt presence of God.

God is my refuge & strength, my ever-present help in trouble.
Psalm 46:1

Never leave me — never forsake me…
Hebrews 13:5

2) YOU’RE IN THE STORM FOR HIS PURPOSES.

Can’t tell you if God caused it or allowed it — but he always uses it.

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.
James 1:2-4

He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” They were terrified and asked each other, “Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!”
Mark 4:39-41

#Nofilter - Elijah

FALSE GODS PROMISE WHAT ONLY THE TRUE GOD PROVIDES.

When (Ahab) saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?” “I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals.
1 Kings 18:17-18

Monotheism — belief there is one God.
Polytheism — belief there is multiple gods.

What are the false gods we serve?

IT IS TIME TO QUIT WAVERING.

Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.” So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing.
1 Kings 18:19-21

Then you call on the name of your god, and I will call on the name of the Lord. The god who answers by fire — he is God.” Then all the people said, “What you say is good.”
1 Kings 18:24

So they took the bull given them and prepared it. Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “O Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.
1 Kings 18:26

At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.”
1 Kings 18:27

At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. Answer me, O Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, O Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”
1 Kings 18:36-37

Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench. When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord - he is God! The Lord - he is God!”
1 Kings 18:38-39

ELIJAH WOULD SAY:
“Stop wavering Rob”

May we remove the filters from the false gods in our lives, so that we can enjoy our life and have peace with the one true God.

FALSE GODS PROMISE WHAT ONLY THE TRUE GOD PROVIDES.

#Nofilter - Joseph

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33

Will people hurt us?

What do we do when people hurt us?

• Do to others what they did to you
• Do to others what worse than they did to you
• Do to others before they do it to you

JOSEPH GENESIS 37, 39-45

THE BROTHERS REACTION:

NOW JOSEPH IS IN THE BACK OF A CART HEADING TOWARD EGYPT TO BE SOLD:

NOW YOU’RE FALSLY PUT IN JAIL:

THE KING HAS A NEED:

THE FAMINE HAS COME:

IF YOUR JOSEPH, NOW WHAT ARE YOU THINKING?

DON’T OVER SPRITUALIZE BIBLE PEOPLE:

THIS IS THE “Oh Crap Moment” RIGHT NOW

But Joseph said to them, “Don’t be afraid. Am I in the place of God? You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives. So then, don’t be afraid. I will provide for you and your children.” And he reassured them and spoke kindly to them.
Genesis 50:19-21

• If we allow bitterness to define us, it will define everything that we touch

• If we allow what happen to us, and let that defines us, it will fall on everyone else around us

Forgiveness has a close cousin… Forget

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Ephesians 4:32

All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
2 Corinthians 5:18-19

Celebrate Recovery 8 Recovery Principles
Evaluate all my relationships. Offer forgiveness to those who have hurt me and make amends for harm I’ve done to others when possible, except when to do so would harm them or others.

Prayer for Serenity
God, grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time,
enjoying one moment at a time;
accepting hardship as a pathway to peace;
taking, as Jesus did,
this sinful world as it is,
not as I would have it;
trusting that You will make all things right
if I surrender to Your will;
so that I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with You forever in the next.
Amen.

#Nofilter - Samson

Samson went down to Timnah and saw there a young Philistine woman. When he returned, he said to his father and mother, “I have seen a Philistine woman in Timnah; now get her for me as my wife.” His father and mother replied, “Isn’t there an acceptable woman among your relatives or among all our people? Must you go to the uncircumcised Philistines to get a wife?” But Samson said to his father, “Get her for me. She’s the right one for me.” (His parents did not know that this was from the Lord, who was seeking an occasion to confront the Philistines; for at that time they were ruling over Israel.) Samson went down to Timnah together with his father and mother. As they approached the vineyards of Timnah, suddenly a young lion came roaring toward him. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him so that he tore the lion apart with his bare hands as he might have torn a young goat. But he told neither his father nor his mother what he had done. Then he went down and talked with the woman, and he liked her. Some time later, when he went back to marry her, he turned aside to look at the lion’s carcass, and in it he saw a swarm of bees and some honey. He scooped out the honey with his hands and ate as he went along. When he rejoined his parents, he gave them some, and they too ate it. But he did not tell them that he had taken the honey from the lion’s carcass.
JUDGES 14:1-9

Now his father went down to see the woman. And there Samson held a feast, as was customary for young men. When the people saw him, they chose thirty men to be his companions. “Let me tell you a riddle,” Samson said to them. “If you can give me the answer within the seven days of the feast, I will give you thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes. If you can’t tell me the answer, you must give me thirty linen garments and thirty sets of clothes.” “Tell us your riddle,” they said. “Let’s hear it.” He replied, “Out of the eater, something to eat; out of the strong, something sweet.” For three days they could not give the answer. On the fourth[a] day, they said to Samson’s wife, “Coax your husband into explaining the riddle for us, or we will burn you and your father’s household to death. Did you invite us here to steal our property?” Then Samson’s wife threw herself on him, sobbing, “You hate me! You don’t really love me. You’ve given my people a riddle, but you haven’t told me the answer.” “I haven’t even explained it to my father or mother,” he replied, “so why should I explain it to you?” She cried the whole seven days of the feast. So on the seventh day he finally told her, because she continued to press him. She in turn explained the riddle to her people. Before sunset on the seventh day the men of the town said to him, “What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?” Samson said to them, “If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have solved my riddle.” Then the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. He went down to Ashkelon, struck down thirty of their men, stripped them of everything and gave their clothes to those who had explained the riddle. Burning with anger, he returned to his father’s home. And Samson’s wife was given to one of his companions who had attended him at the feast.
JUDGES 14:10-20

Later on, at the time of wheat harvest, Samson took a young goat and went to visit his wife. He said, “I’m going to my wife’s room.” But her father would not let him go in. “I was so sure you hated her,” he said, “that I gave her to your companion. Isn’t her younger sister more attractive? Take her instead.” Samson said to them, “This time I have a right to get even with the Philistines; I will really harm them.” So he went out and caught three hundred foxes and tied them tail to tail in pairs. He then fastened a torch to every pair of tails, lit the torches and let the foxes loose in the standing grain of the Philistines. He burned up the shocks and standing grain, together with the vineyards and olive groves. When the Philistines asked, “Who did this?” they were told, “Samson, the Timnite’s son-in-law, because his wife was given to his companion.” So the Philistines went up and burned her and her father to death. Samson said to them, “Since you’ve acted like this, I swear that I won’t stop until I get my revenge on you.” He attacked them viciously and slaughtered many of them. Then he went down and stayed in a cave in the rock of Etam. The Philistines went up and camped in Judah, spreading out near Lehi. The people of Judah asked, “Why have you come to fight us?” “We have come to take Samson prisoner,” they answered, “to do to him as he did to us.” Then three thousand men from Judah went down to the cave in the rock of Etam and said to Samson, “Don’t you realize that the Philistines are rulers over us? What have you done to us?” He answered, “I merely did to them what they did to me.” They said to him, “We’ve come to tie you up and hand you over to the Philistines. ”Samson said, “Swear to me that you won’t kill me yourselves.” “Agreed,” they answered. “We will only tie you up and hand you over to them. We will not kill you.” So they bound him with two new ropes and led him up from the rock. As he approached Lehi, the Philistines came toward him shouting. The Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon him. The ropes on his arms became like charred flax, and the bindings dropped from his hands. Finding a fresh jawbone of a donkey, he grabbed it and struck down a thousand men. Then Samson said, “With a donkey’s jawbone I have made donkeys of them. With a donkey’s jawbone I have killed a thousand men.” When he finished speaking, he threw away the jawbone; and the place was called Ramath Lehi. Because he was very thirsty, he cried out to the Lord, “You have given your servant this great victory. Must I now die of thirst and fall into the hands of the uncircumcised?” Then God opened up the hollow place in Lehi, and water came out of it. When Samson drank, his strength returned and he revived. So the spring was called En Hakkore and it is still there in Lehi. Samson led Israel for twenty years in the days of the Philistines.
JUDGES 15:1-20

One day Samson went to Gaza, where he saw a prostitute. He went in to spend the night with her. The people of Gaza were told, “Samson is here!” So they surrounded the place and lay in wait for him all night at the city gate. They made no move during the night, saying, “At dawn we’ll kill him.” But Samson lay there only until the middle of the night. Then he got up and took hold of the doors of the city gate, together with the two posts, and tore them loose, bar and all. He lifted them to his shoulders and carried them to the top of the hill that faces Hebron. Some time later, he fell in love with a woman in the Valley of Sorek whose name was Delilah. The rulers of the Philistines went to her and said, “See if you can lure him into showing you the secret of his great strength and how we can overpower him so we may tie him up and subdue him. Each one of us will give you eleven hundred shekels of silver. So Delilah said to Samson, “Tell me the secret of your great strength and how you can be tied up and subdued.”
JUDGES 16:1-6

Then she said to him, “How can you say, ‘I love you,’ when you won’t confide in me? This is the third time you have made a fool of me and haven’t told me the secret of your great strength.” With such nagging she prodded him day after day until he was sick to death of it. So he told her everything. “No razor has ever been used on my head,” he said, “because I have been a Nazirite dedicated to God from my mother’s womb. If my head were shaved, my strength would leave me, and I would become as weak as any other man.” When Delilah saw that he had told her everything, she sent word to the rulers of the Philistines, “Come back once more; he has told me everything.” So the rulers of the Philistines returned with the silver in their hands. After putting him to sleep on her lap, she called for someone to shave off the seven braids of his hair, and so began to subdue him. And his strength left him. Then she called, “Samson, the Philistines are upon you!” He awoke from his sleep and thought, “I’ll go out as before and shake myself free.” But he did not know that the Lord had left him. Then the Philistines seized him, gouged out his eyes and took him down to Gaza. Binding him with bronze shackles, they set him to grinding grain in the prison. But the hair on his head began to grow again after it had been shaved. Now the rulers of the Philistines assembled to offer a great sacrifice to Dagon their god and to celebrate, saying, “Our god has delivered Samson, our enemy, into our hands.” When the people saw him, they praised their god, saying, “Our god has delivered our enemy into our hands, the one who laid waste our land and multiplied our slain.” While they were in high spirits, they shouted, “Bring out Samson to entertain us.” So they called Samson out of the prison, and he performed for them. When they stood him among the pillars, Samson said to the servant who held his hand, “Put me where I can feel the pillars that support the temple, so that I may lean against them.” Now the temple was crowded with men and women; all the rulers of the Philistines were there, and on the roof were about three thousand men and women watching Samson perform. Then Samson prayed to the Lord, “Sovereign Lord, remember me. Please, God, strengthen me just once more, and let me with one blow get revenge on the Philistines for my two eyes.” Then Samson reached toward the two central pillars on which the temple stood. Bracing himself against them, his right hand on the one and his left hand on the other, Samson said, “Let me die with the Philistines!” Then he pushed with all his might, and down came the temple on the rulers and all the people in it. Thus he killed many more when he died than while he lived. Then his brothers and his father’s whole family went down to get him. They brought him back and buried him between Zorah and Eshtaol in the tomb of Manoah his father. He had led[d] Israel twenty years.
JUDGES 16:15-31

A wise man is full of strength, and a man of knowledge enhances his might.
PROVEBS 24:5

#Nofilter - Gideon

EXTRAORDINARY
• Employee     • Son
• Boss              • Daughter
• Husband       • Friend
• Wife               • Person

What would an extraordinary person do?
God created Israel to be extraordinary, and they started looking around and acting ordinary.

Disobedience à Disaster à Deliverance

Gideon

The Israelites did evil in the eyes of the Lord, and for seven years he gave them into the hands of the Midianites. Because the power of Midian was so oppressive, the Israelites prepared shelters for themselves in mountain clefts, caves and strongholds. Whenever the Israelites planted their crops, the Midianites, Amalekites and other eastern peoples invaded the country. They camped on the land and ruined the crops all the way to Gaza and did not spare a living thing for Israel, neither sheep nor cattle nor donkeys. Midian so impoverished the Israelites that they cried out to the Lord for help.
Judges 6:1–4, 6

The angel of the Lord came and sat down under the oak in Ophrah that belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, where his son Gideon was threshing wheat in a winepress to keep it from the Midianites. [He’s in a hole or a shelter.] When the angel of the Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, “The Lord is with you, mighty warrior.” “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but if the Lord is with us, why has all this happened to us? Where are all his wonders that our ancestors told us about when they said, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up out of Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian.” The Lord turned to him and said, “Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?” “Pardon me, my lord,” Gideon replied, “but how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh and I am the least in my family.”

The Lord answered, “Oh, then never mind. I must be at the wrong house.

The Lord answered, “I will be with you, and you will strike down all the Midianites, leaving none alive.”
Judges 6:11–16

“Will you be with me?”

If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all…
Romans 8:31–32

The value of a thing is the price it will bring.

It’s dangerous to think more highly of yourself than you ought.
It’s equally as dangerous to think less of yourself than God does.
~ Steven Furtick ~

What would we do if we were confident God was with us? In us? For us?

#Nofilter - David

Have you ever stumbled trying to run after Jesus?

In the spring, at the time when kings go off to war, David sent Joab out with the king’s men and the whole Israelite army. They destroyed the Ammonites and besieged Rabbah. But David remained in Jerusalem.
2 Samuel 11:1

Sometimes we stumble when we are not where God wants us to be.

So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.
Galatians 5:16

One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful,
2 Samuel 11:2

Our eyes must turn from alluring objects that come into sight.

One evening David got up from his bed and walked around on the roof of the palace. From the roof he saw a woman bathing. The woman was very beautiful, and David sent someone to find out about her. The man said, “She is Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite.” Then David sent messengers to get her. She came to him, and he slept with her. (Now she was purifying herself from her monthly uncleanness.) Then she went back home.
2 Samuel 11:2-4

Sin cost us more than we ever budgeted for.

So David sent this word to Joab: “Send me Uriah the Hittite.” And Joab sent him to David. When Uriah came to him, David asked him how Joab was, how the soldiers were and how the war was going. Then David said to Uriah, “Go down to your house and wash your feet.” So Uriah left the palace, and a gift from the king was sent after him. But Uriah slept at the entrance to the palace with all his master’s servants and did not go down to his house. David was told, “Uriah did not go home.” So he asked Uriah, “Haven’t you just come from a military campaign? Why didn’t you go home?” Uriah said to David, “The ark and Israel and Judah are staying in tents, and my commander Joab and my lord’s men are camped in the open country. How could I go to my house to eat and drink and make love to my wife? As surely as you live, I will not do such a thing!”
2 Samuel 11: 6-11

Stumbling is a gradual process.

You have two options when you fall.
Option 1: Stay Down
Option 2: Get Back Up

Why?

Why should you get up?

It doesn’t matter what you have been through or what has happened. What matters now is what you do after you have fallen.

Hold on to the father’s hand as he picks you, dusts you off and restores you.

When God restores you, he doesn’t restore you to the way you were before you fell. God’s restoration process makes you better than before.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
2 Corinthians 5:17

#Nofilter - Esther

Chapter 1
XERXES IS HAVING A MASSIVE PARTY:

Then Memukan replied in the presence of the king and the nobles, “Queen Vashti has done wrong, not only against the king but also against all the nobles and the peoples of all the provinces of King Xerxes. For the queen’s conduct will become known to all the women, and so they will despise their husbands and say, ‘King Xerxes commanded Queen Vashti to be brought before him, but she would not come.’ This very day the Persian and Median women of the nobility who have heard about the queen’s conduct will respond to all the king’s nobles in the same way. There will be no end of disrespect and discord.
Esther 1:16-18

Chapter #2
NOW WE HAVE A BACHELOR KING LONELY:

Then let the young woman who pleases the king be queen instead of Vashti.” This advice appealed to the king, and he followed it.
Esther 2:4

Chapter #3
AND THE PLOT THICKENS:

Chapter #4
ESTHER GETS WORD FROM MORDECAI ABOUT WHAT IS HAPPENING:
For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father’s family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to your royal position for such a time as this?”
Esther 4:14

Chapter #5
ESTHER HAS A PLAN:

Chapter #6
CRAZY IRONY:
His attendants answered, “Haman is standing in the court.” “Bring him in,” the king ordered. When Haman entered, the king asked him, “What should be done for the man the king delights to honor?” Now Haman thought to himself, “Who is there that the king would rather honor than me?”
Esther 6:5-6

So he answered the king, “For the man the king delights to honor, have them bring a royal robe the king has worn and a horse the king has ridden, one with a royal crest placed on its head. Then let the robe and horse be entrusted to one of the king’s most noble princes. Let them robe the man the king delights to honor, and lead him on the horse through the city streets, proclaiming before him, ‘This is what is done for the man the king delights to honor!’”
Esther 6:7-9

“Go at once,” the king commanded Haman. “Get the robe and the horse and do just as you have suggested for Mordecai the Jew, who sits at the king’s gate. Do not neglect anything you have recommended.”
Esther 6:10

Chapter #7
ESTHER’S REQUEST:

Then Queen Esther answered, “If I have found favor with you, Your Majesty, and if it pleases you, grant me my life—this is my petition. And spare my people—this is my request. For I and my people have been sold to be destroyed, killed and annihilated. If we had merely been sold as male and female slaves, I would have kept quiet, because no such distress would justify disturbing the king.
Esther 7:3-4

King Xerxes asked Queen Esther, “Who is he? Where is he—the man who has dared to do such a thing?”
Esther 7:5

Esther said, “An adversary and enemy! This vile Haman!” Then Haman was terrified before the king and queen. The king got up in a rage, left his wine and went out into the palace garden. But Haman, realizing that the king had already decided his fate, stayed behind to beg Queen Esther for his life. Just as the king returned from the palace garden to the banquet hall, Haman was falling on the couch where Esther was reclining. The king exclaimed, “Will he even molest the queen while she is with me in the house?” As soon as the word left the king’s mouth, they covered Haman’s face.
Esther 7:6-8

Then Harbona, one of the eunuchs attending the king, said, “A gallows reaching to a height of 75 feet stands by Haman’s house. He had it set up for Mordecai, who spoke up to help the king.” The king said, “Impale him on it!” So they impaled Haman on the pole he had set up for Mordecai. Then the king’s fury subsided.
Esther 7:9-10

THE QUESTION FOR US:
How can we leverage our current circumstances for God’s purpose?

Opportunity and Influence

“… Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky 16 as you hold firmly to the word of life.”
Philippians 2:14-16

No Ragrets - Personal Guardrails

• Remember

• Recall

• Repent

“Godly grief produces a repentance…
2 Corinthians 7:10

• Refocus

“Forget about what’s happened; don’t keep going over old history. Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new.”
Isaiah 43:18-19

“Great is His faithfulness; His mercies are new each morning.”
Lamentations 3:23

“We all sin and we all fall short of the Glory of God.”
Romans 3:23

“The prudent see danger and take refuge. But the simple keep going and suffer for it.”
Proverbs 27:12

The simple keep going and drive off the cliff.

Where do you need guardrails?

Career?
Marriage?
Finances?
Personal Integrity?

Many of our greatest regrets in life probably could have been avoided IF we had put personal guardrails in place…!

• Personal guardrails are standards of behavior that HAVE TO become matters of conscience!

• You can wreck your finances without spending unethically.

• You can ruin a relationship without doing anything sinful.

• Guardrails aren’t just meant to keep you on the safe side of right vs. wrong.

• In light of my past experiences, my current circumstances, and my future hopes and dreams, what’s the wise thing to do?

What’s the wise thing to do?

If you’re living too close to the edge, it may be time to set a guardrail.

Eventually our behavior (on the outside) will mirror what’s going on-on the inside.

• Guilt
• Anger
• Greed
• Jealousy

Guilt says, “I owe you.”

“Then I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.’’ And you forgave the guilt of my sin.”
Psalm 32:5

“I am about to die, and I cannot forget my pain. I confess my guilt; I am troubled by my sin.
Psalm 38:17-18

Anger says, “You owe me.”

“For a man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires.”
James 1:20

“In your anger, do not sin; Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry and do not give the devil a foothold.”
Ephesians 4:26-27

“Fools give vent to their rage, but the wise bring calm in the end.”
Proverbs 29:11

Greed says, “I owe me.”

“A greedy man stirs up strife, but the one who trusts in the Lord will be enriched.”
Proverbs 28:25

“Whoever is greedy for unjust gain troubles his own household, but he who hates bribes will live.”
Proverbs 15:27

Jealousy says, “Life owes me.”

“But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual and demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.”
James 3:14-16

“So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy and unkind speech.”
1 Peter 2:1

Ignore the warning and regret will be waiting on the other side.

“Though the righteous fall seven times, they rise again.”
Proverbs 24:16