Clanging Cymbal or Love?

1 Corinthians 13:1

NIV: 1 If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.

MSG: 1 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate.

We all want to be loved.  We all want just a little respect.  Okay so those are song lyrics but it really is true.  We all want to experience love.  Why?  Because love forgives.  Love endures, Love is a very powerful thing.  In this verse it is pointing out that we can do many things which may seem spiritual or important.  We can go serve at a homeless shelter.  We can speak in tongues, We can sing beautiful songs but if we don’t have Love then all the things that we do are pointless.

If we do the things that God calls us to do, such as care for the widows and the orphans, then we have to do those things in love.  We can’t just go grab some old lady and drag her across the street without being hit by her cane a few times but if we approach her in love and with a desire to serve her then we have truly demonstrated what is being pointed out in this verse.  We must approach every situation in love and by our love one to another they will know that we are christians and Christ will be exalted.

Strength, not superpowers

Philippians 4:13

NIV: 13 I can do all this through him who gives me strength.

MSG: 13 Whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything in the One who makes me who I am.

When I was a small boy I would stand on the edge of my bed and quote this scripture and then try to jump off the edge of the bed to see if I could fly.  For some reason I thought that this verse was saying that I can have super powers through him who gives me strength.  The truth is that God is promising us that he is going to give us strength to make it through whatever issues we may be facing.

I really like the way the Message puts it when it says “whatever I have, wherever I am, I can make it through anything…”  This is beautiful as it is a promise from God that is not going to let us just fall away into some unending pit.  He is promising us that he is going to give us the strength to make it through whatever challenges we may be facing.

Give thanks in all circumstances

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

NIV: 16 Rejoice always,17 pray continually,18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

MSG: 16 Be cheerful no matter what; pray all the time; thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.17 pray all the time;18 thank God no matter what happens. This is the way God wants you who belong to Christ Jesus to live.

I generally read this passage and think.  Rejoice always?  Okay I think I can do that.  Pray continually?  Okay I’ve got that too.  And give thanks in all circumstances?  Why?  The truth is there are many times that we do not give thanks to God.  I don’t see very many people on the side of the road with a flat tire worshipping Jesus; however, this verse tells us that we are to give thanks in all circumstances.  When we are faced with a tough situation there are still plenty of things for which we can be thankful.  Simply being alive is the one thing that I can think of to be thankful for in any situation.

We can also be thankful that the situation will soon pass. We can be thankful that when we are facing hard times that this is just a season.  The bible tells us that to everything there is a season.  So when we are in our times of trouble we can give thanks because we know that when this season passes there will be a new season.  We can also be thankful that God is always with us and that he will never forsake us during any time in our lives.

Jesus was tempted too

Hebrews 4:15-16

NIV: 15 For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.16 Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

MSG: 15 We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all-all but the sin.16 So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.

I have heard many people say that they could never be like Jesus because he was perfect and never had to go through the things that we go through.  This verse says exactly the opposite and when I read the story of the life of Jesus I see exactly the opposite.  I see a man who went through every temptation that we face today.  The only difference is that because of his relationship with his father and his identity that came from being the son of God he was able to overcome that temptation.

Now here is the good news.  The bible says that we are sons and daughters of God.  This means that, with the help of the Holy Spirit that lives inside of us, we have the exact same power to overcome these temptations.  When Jesus was faced by a temptation he would recall the word of God that had been spoken previously and stand on that word to overcome the temptation.  We have to do the exact same thing.  We need to be studying the word of God so that we can stand on the what God has spoken.  We are overcomers.  We are sons and daughters of God.  Let’s stand on that authority and overcome the powers of darkness in this world.

Pleasing to God

Hebrews 11:6

NIV: 6 And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him

MSG: 6 It’s impossible to please God apart from faith. And why? Because anyone who wants to approach God must believe both that he exists and that he cares enough to respond to those who seek him.

This is such a powerful statement.  Without faith it is impossible to please God.  Well I know that I want to please God so lets take a look at what this means.  Dictionary.com identifies faith as “confidence or trust”.  So to please God we must trust God.  That makes sense.   Lets look at it this way.  If I don’t trust my wife then I am for sure not going to be able to please her.  What kind of relationship would we have I didn’t trust her?  It is the same way with God.  What kind of relationship do you think you are going to have with God if youd don’t trust him?

The sad part about this is that all too often we really don’t trust God.  We may pray a prayer saying “God I give you control” of a certain thing but then we continue to worry about it.  If my wife asked me to help her with something and then continually worried about it or kept checking to see if it was done then how would that impact our relationship?  We must believe that God cares enough to respond to those who seek him.

No Other Gods Before Me.

Hebrews 13:5

NIV: 5 Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said,
“Never will I leave you;
never will I forsake you.”

MSG: 5 Don’t be obsessed with getting more material things. Be relaxed with what you have. Since God assured us, “I’ll never let you down, never walk off and leave you,” we can boldly quote,
God is there, ready to help; I’m fearless no matter what. Who or what can get to me?

So many times we hear pastors and others preach on this verse and many seem to think that this a verse calling christians into poverty; however, that is not what was being said here.  If you look at this verse I find it interesting that this is the very same verse that states that God will never leave us or forsake us.”

So what is this really telling us?  Well to put it simply it is this.  It is saying that we should not put our desire for money or material things above our desires for God.  If we are pursuing a career more than we are pursuing God then that is not a good thing and that is exactly the point that was being made in this verse.  Don’t strive to make a lot of weath so that you can rely on your wealth to fulfill your life.  God wants us to rely on him!  He doesn’t want us to rely on our material belongings, or possessions, or money. It’s all about seeking him more than we are seeking anything else!

I don’t need to be something that I am not.

When we look at a piece of paper with a black dot in the middle of it we often times focus on that black dot and ignore the rest of the piece of paper even though that black dot only makes up about 1% of the paper.

What if we are the paper and the black dots are the negative things about us or our short comings.

We always seem to focus on the black dots in people’s lives. It is our human nature to do so.

Because others continually point out our black dots we focus on those in our own lives and they become our identity.

It is important that we not accept this identity because that is not the identity God has given us.  Those are not the labels that he has put on us and if we accept an identity that God has not given us then we cannot operate in our full potential of what God has called us to be.

Because we have issues with our own identities we begin to look at others who are called to do the same things that we are and we begin to compare ourselves with them. 

We may be called to do the same thing but we are not equipped the same way.  God has equipped them differently that he has equipped us.

Often times the black dots in people’s lives are not problems that they have but instead they are just things that make them different.  They are unique tools that God has placed in that person to carry out a specific purpose.

Lets look at the word.

1 Samual 17: 1-50

There are so many points in this story where people began to point out the black dots that David had.

Saul even pointed them out to him but his approach was different

Instead of saying there is no way that you can do this he said you can do it but you need some armor if you want to go into battle.

Basically he was saying.  If you want to be able to defeat this giant then you have to do what we always do when we go to battle.  You need to put on this armor.  You need to take on the identity of a soldier.

So david tried on the armor that saul gave him but he said this is not me.  These are not the tools that God equiped me to use.  This is not my true identity.  I can’t go out and face this giant if I am trying to be someone that I am not.

So david stood up and went out to face this giant in the identity that God gave him instead of taking on the identity that Saul had.  In that moment they were both called to be warriors but God equiped David differently

So how did David know that he was equiped differently?

David Knew that God had equiped him to use the slingshot and the stones because of the many trials that he faced while he was a sheppard boy.  He spent many nights and days in the fields as a sheppard and would fight off wolves and bears and lions.  Because he knew that God had delivered him from those situations he Knew that God would deliver him from this as well.

He only knew this because of the time that he had spent in the field being trained by God and allowing God to deliver him from the circumstances.

What does this mean for us?

We have to find our true identity by spending time with God for ourselves.  The armor worked for Saul and so he believed that it was the only way to go into battle and so he tried to place that identity onto David; however, because David spent time with God and knew God, he knew his true identity and knew that the identity Saul was placing on him was not his own.

We each have our own talents that God has given us and we each use those talents in a unique way.  Just because one person does things differently than we do that does not mean that they are wrong.  This is a huge issue in the church.

I can’t walk in my full potential if someone is trying to make me look like something else other than what God has called me and equiped me to be.

Find out what God thinks about you and learn the identity that he has given you so that you can live in your full potential and then you can face any giant or any situation in life.

John 16:33

KJV: 33 These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.

MSG: 33 I’ve told you all this so that trusting me, you will be unshakable and assured, deeply at peace. In this godless world you will continue to experience difficulties. But take heart! I’ve conquered the world.”

Jesus tells us in this verse that we are going to face tribulation in this life.  He tells us that we are going to have problems.  I have seen many people who just recently gave their lives to Christ confused because they had an idea, which was probably put in their head by the preacher who had them pray a prayer that once they gave their lives to Jesus then they wouldn’t have anymore problems.

Jesus makes it quite clear in his word that we are going to go through things.  In fact he tells us in Luke 9:23 that if we are going to be his disciples then we must deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow him.  This doesn’t sound like someone saying that once we come to Christ we won’t have any problems.  But he does give us a hope.  He tells us that by trusting in him we will be assured.  We will be at peace.  We will be of good cheer.  Christ has conquered the world and everything in it.

No matter what you are facing today know that God wants to move in your situation.  Even though there is suffering in this life; God wants to give you peace through your trials.  Ask him to fill you with his peace.

We All Want To Le Loved

John 13:35-35

KJV: 34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

MSG: 34 ”Let me give you a new command: Love one another. In the same way I loved you, you love one another.35 This is how everyone will recognize that you are my disciples-when they see the love you have for each other.”

Here in John 13 Jesus gives us a direct command.  He commands us to love one another as he has loved us and by this everyone will know that we are his disciples.  What do you think about when you think about Love?  Do we think about that feeling between two people who are attracted to each other?  Do we think about that thing that we enjoy so much?  What does the Bible say about love and what does it say that love is?  Because if we are called to love one another just as Christ loved us then we need to look at what the bible identifies as love.

We see in 1 Corinthians that love is:

We see all of these things and suddenly it becomes much harder to truly love those around you.  It’s even hard to love those people who you like and we won’t even get into the command right now that says to love your enemies.  When you look at those around can you honestly say to yourself that you are loving them the way God loves us?  If we are keeping records of wrongs and dishonest to those around us then we are not loving them the way God calls us to love them.

This culture encourages us to look out for number one.  Protect your own assets and it doesn’t matter what happens to everyone else.  But here is the thing.  If we look to Jesus for the example of love then we see this.  We see someone who came to lay down his life for you and me.  In John 3:16 is says that God so LOVED the world that he GAVE his only begotten son.  So how do we show the kind of love that God is calling us to show?  We can start by following the example that Christ has laid out for us.  We can start by giving.  We can give our time to person at work or school who is eating alone because no one wants to be around them.  We can give our money to the person who is out of work for several months and striving to provide for his family.

But it’s not just about giving.  It’s about so much more.  It is about caring for the other person more than you are caring for yourself.  When we love others the way God loves us we care about others more than we care about ourselves.  But this doesn’t happen overnight.  We have to slowly begin to teach ourselves to love others more than we love ourselves.

This thing takes time

Matthew 28:18-20

MSG: 18 Jesus, undeterred, went right ahead and gave his charge: “God authorized and commanded me to commission you:19 Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.20 Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I’ll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.”

NIV: 18 Then Jesus came to them and said, ”All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

There is so much that we can capture from these few verses and these have been the foundation to almost all ministries in existence today.  The command to go and declare the good news and to train others in the ways of Jesus is nothing to take lightly.  We often look at verses like these and because we have heard them so much we tend to not pay very much attention to them but let’s take a moment and look at what God really wants us to do here.

He tells us to go out and make disciples of all nations.  The thing that stands out to me most here is “disciples”.  This is not just telling us to go around talking about Jesus and hoping that someone will pray a prayer after us to accept Jesus into their heart.  This tells us to go make disciples and that happens by investing time into those that you are discipling and training them by your example.  You can’t train someone to be a disciple if you only see them once and then never see them again.  Discipleship is continual training and mentoring.  Then those whom you are mentoring go and mentor/disciple others and the whole thing gets huge.

He tells us to baptize.  When going through baptism we are dying to our old sinful lives so that we can be made new in Christ.  So when we are to baptize others we are to lead them to a point where they turn from their old lives and run hard after Christ.

He tells us to teach them to obey his commandments.  This is about developing the character of those whom we are discipling.  You don’t just hand them a list of the 10 commandments and say do this and don’t do that.  We are to train them to follow the commandments.  That means we are to lovingly correct those whom we are mentoring and allow them the grace to mess up but be there to help them get right back up and continue to run this race.