I can do it MYSELF!

I think there are a lot of times that we believe, although I'm not sure how we logic it out in our brains, that we can control sin.  Maybe we don't call it sin in our heads, which is another blog and issue all together, but I'm talking about whatever that temptation we face that we believe is easily controlled if "only we have enough self-control." But whatever we call it, let's be honest and call it sin.  We get this idea that we can control sin and that we don't need God to resist it. 

I've been reading out of the book of Judges right now for my quiet time and noticed that this has been the take on sin for quite sometime.  When God gave the promise land to the Israelites He commanded them to drive the people living there out of the land (many were to be destroyed), to not make covenants with them and to destroy their alters.  However, we see (starting in Judges 1:19-36) the people Israel fail to drive the Canaanites out of the land and instead take them as slaves.  

Judges 1:28 says, "When the Israelites grew stronger, they forced the Canaanites to work as slaves, but they never did drive them completely out of the land." (emphasis added)

The truth of the matter is, when the Israelites grew strong enough that they felt they could run things themselves (pride), they made the decision to take the Canaanites as slaves (because they believed they could control them) and ignored the command of God.

So what then were the consequences of this disobedience?  Judges 2:1-3 say, "¹ The angel of the Lord went up from Gilgal to Bokim and said to the Israelites, “I brought you out of Egypt into this land that I swore to give your ancestors, and I said I would never break my covenant with you. ² For your part, you were not to make any covenants with the people living in this land; instead, you were to destroy their altars. But you disobeyed my command. Why did you do this? ³ So now I declare that I will no longer drive out the people living in your land. They will be thorns in your sides, and their gods will be a constant temptation to you.”

Verse 3 tells us that the Canaanites would be a thorn in the Israelite's sides and their gods a constant temptation to them.  Essentially, the Canaanites would be a constant problem for the Isrealites and their way of life would be a continuous temptation, ever drawing them away from God.  

They chose to disobey God because they believed they were capable of controlling the source of temptation, without God.  Eventually this decision will lead to Israels downfall (on more than one occasion).

They were so pompous, so prideful, so disobedient and we think (somehow) we're different.  We've been making that same decision ever since.  How many times do we know (with certainty) that God is trying to remove a source of sin from our lives and we either completely resist him on it, until it consumes us or so ruins things that we have no choice to surrender it to Him.  Or we achieve some victory (whether it be large or small, many or few) in it and we assume that it was our own doing and we allow bits of it to stay, because "we have the self-control" to resist it.  Truth be told, we don't have the power (apart from God) to resist temptation or beat sin by ourselves.

When God wants to take something completely out of your life, the only option is COMPLETELY.

Tuesday Talks (CALLED Session 3 & 4)

Last week was kind of a rough/full week.  I started writing the Tuesday Talk for Called Session 3, but before I knew it... it was Tuesday again.  So last week we talked about Submission.  The lesson was 100% based on a blog I wrote on the same subject as part of the series "The 40 Year Old."  HERE is the link to that blog.  (Consider this last Tuesday's Talk).

Before I get into this weeks Tuesday Talk, I need to confess.  I didn't write this.  I tweaked it a little, but it's mainly the same lesson that Sean Brink (Leads theSHIFT) taught during Every Guy's Orders (EGO).  As I tried to figure out what we would talk about in Called, I couldn't escape the fact that we're getting ready to start a new series at Element Church directed towards men, aptly named The Man Series, and this was the perfect time to talk about the way we talk.  Because, let's face it, we can sit in church on Sunday and listen to a sermon about being salt and light, Jesus' ambassador and acting like God's Children, but that sermon is proven in the way we act the rest of the week, around others that don't know Jesus.  So here's this week's Tuesday Talk...

THE POWER OF THE TONGUE

One of the most important things we need to know that what we say has the power to tear people down and has the power to build them up.  The way we talk to, about, and around others is fully determined by how active our relationship is with Jesus and whether or not we are submitted to Him.

James 3:9-11 says, "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. 11Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring?"

Basically, some of us sit in church on Sunday and belt out every lyric of the worship song, then come Monday hurl every obscenity we can think of at "our" team for not completing a pass during the game.  A lot of guys need to not open our mouths until we learn how to use them. We often fail to realize or ignore that what we say effects people because our tongue is a mighty thing.

James 3:3-8 explains that strength.  It says, "When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships, as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man, but no man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison."

With our mouth, we tell crude jokes, sexual innuendos, cursing, and swearing.  It's not okay and shouldn't be a part of us. As I mentioned, we (Element Church) are getting ready to start a series where potentially lots of guys will be coming. THIS IS WHERE WE BECOME THE EXAMPLE! This is where we shine as lights, flavor as salt, be Jesus’ ambassadors and act as God’s own Children.

Here's what the bible says about what not to say:

Ephesians 5:4
Nor should there be obscenity, foolish talk or coarse joking, which are out of place, but rather thanksgiving.

James 5:12
Above all, my brothers, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your "Yes" be yes, and your "No," no, or you will be condemned.

Psalms 34:13
Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking lies. 

Most of us know what not to say, so what then should we say?  Here's what should pour from our mouths.

1. Words of encouragement
Hebrews 3:13
But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.
Titus 2:6
Similarly, encourage the young men to be self-controlled.

2.Words of truth
1 Peter 4: 11
If anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God.

3.Words of praise
Psalm 35:28
My tongue will speak of your righteousness and of your praises all day long.
Psalm 66:17
I cried out to him with my mouth; his praise was on my tongue.

I can't close this without speaking to husbands.  If you're married or have kids, this is where leadership starts for you.  What you say to your family matters.


To your wife - She needs to hear that she is lovely.  That she is brilliant and desirable and that your eyes are for her and her alone.  Affirm her and reassure her. I heard a pastor say once that it is your job to prepare her to hand her to Jesus one day.
To your sons - He needs to know that they are good enough.  You need to tell them they can do all things through Christ.
To your daughters - She needs to know that she is a jewel in her King's crown. That she is worthy of pursuit.

Read:
James 3:1-12

Prayer:
- Pray for The Man Series and Element's 4th Service starting on October 2nd

Put into Practice:
Pay attention to what you say.  Make it a point, at least once a day, to speak a word of encouragement, a word of truth and a word of praise.

Tuesday Talks (CALLED Session 2)

This will be the first of three posts on Spiritual disciplines. Of course I won’t cover all of them in three posts, but I will cover as many as possible.

The first one will be prayer, mainly because it’s hugely important in our Christian walk. I would say that after the consumption of God’s word (reading the bible), prayer is THE most important aspect of our relationship with God.

What I’ve noticed is we get so caught up in our “everything right now” culture that we approach our relationship with God that way. As long as we accept Christ as our Savior, the rest of our relationship will work out. We act like just because we did the “hard work” of accepting God’s FREE gift of salvation that we’re good. As if the work is done, and now it’s up to God. But that’s not the case. We have work to do. There are things that help build our relationship with God that we need to discipline ourselves to do. Prayer is one of those things.

It is so important to not only understand, but believe that prayer is our life line. It is our connection to the Divine. Sadly most Christians look at prayer as either a duty or reserved for moments of desperation. But, it’s neither of those. It’s a benefit of our relationship with God. We get to talk to Him. We get to commune with our God without going through a priest. In order to grow deeper, EVERY relationship requires communication and that’s what prayer is. The bible is God’s means for talking to us and prayer is our way of talking to Him.

I think another problem that a lot of Christians have with prayer has to do with the fact that there are past prayers that they prayed that weren’t answered they way THEY wanted. When that happens they begin to question whether God even hear their prayers. 1 John 5:14 & 15 reassures us that God hears us when we pray. It says:

14 And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. 15And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.

Andrew Murray said it this way, “Faith in a prayer-hearing God will make a prayer-loving Christian.”

I tried really hard to figure out what to say about prayer, but then I thought who better to teach on prayer than Jesus. Jesus tells us how to pray in Matthew 6:6-13.

6 But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private. Then your Father, who sees everything, will reward you.

Jesus is telling us that we need time alone with our Father. There are numerous times in the NT that Jesus went off by Himself to pray. It is in those moments of silence and solitude that we can focus on God and experience Him.

7 “When you pray, don’t babble on and on as people of other religions do. They think their prayers are answered merely by repeating their words again and again. 8 Don’t be like them, for your Father knows exactly what you need even before you ask him!

So many guys are afraid to pray because they think they don’t have the right words. They think they sound funny or odd. But Jesus is telling us that it doesn’t matter what you say. He says not to babble on just for the sake of talking, because God knows what you want before you even ask for it. Billy Graham said that “Prayer is simply a two-way conversation between you and God.” So talk to Him like it is. This is how Jesus instructed us to pray.

9 Pray like this:

Our Father in heaven,

may your name be kept holy.

10 May your Kingdom come soon.

May your will be done on earth,

as it is in heaven.

11 Give us today the food we need,

12 and forgive us our sins,

as we have forgiven those who sin against us.

13 And don’t let us yield to temptation,

but rescue us from the evil one.

This is a fairly well known prayer model that I learned early on and it covers all the stuff that Jesus prayed. It’s called ACTS.

A – Adoration is to adore God, to worship him and to fulfil the commandment to love him with all of our heart, mind and soul.

C – Confession allows you to clear up the things in the relationship between you and God which are displeasing to Him. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and purify us.

T – Thanksgiving. God is always blessing u and so we need to be constantly thanking God for his blessings.

S – Supplication is to ask God for our needs and the needs of others.

Bottom line is that prayer is a discipline. We have to dedicate ourselves to it. If we are to be men that lead, we first have to seek Him who leads us.

Read:
Matthew 6:6-13

Prayer:
Pray through the ACTS model of prayer.

Put into Practice:
During your prayer time, spend some time being quiet. Don’t focus on the way you talk to God, just talk to Him and let Him talk to you.

In Him,

Bruce