Work It Out pt. 2

----See Previous Post If You Don't Understand This One----

Paul calls us in Phil. 2:12 to work out our salvation.

To work out (i interpret) means to stay active. If we are to stay active in our physical bodies and stay fit in our physical bodies then that means we have to exercise and work out often, maybe even everyday. They same is true for our spiritual lives. If we are to be growing towards Jesus Christ everyday, then there are certain things I need to do everyday to stay active and in good spiritual shape. Paul is challenging us to move from child/adolescent spirituality into adult spirituality. In the next 6 verses we find ways to grow in our christian faith...

Philippians 2:12-13

-Obedience

-God works in you so that you can work out your salvation. God gives us the ability to know, understand, and obey His Word.

Philippians 2:14-15a

-No complaining

-It doesn't matter how mean someone is or how bad your day is going, that does not give you a reason to complain, argue, and fight with the people around you. It does however give you the right to forgive, love, and move on.

-We have selective grace sometime...we only show grace on the people that we want to but not everyone. Grace knows no boundaries.

Philippians 2:15b-16

-Being A Light

-We are to shine like stars in the universe. Jesus said that we are the Light Of The World. Our lives should direct people towards Jesus Christ.

-Light is a source of life. John 10:10, Jesus came to give abundant life.

-Light is a source of safety. Psalm 23:4, I will fear no evil because you are with me.

-Light is a source of direction. Jeremiah 29:11, God has a purpose for our lives.

Philippians 2:17

-Being Poured Out

-We are put on earth to serve and to bless other people

-Jesus first, Others second, Yourself third

Philippians 2:18

-Rejoice in ALL Things

-Make a decision everyday to rejoice no matter what life throws at you that day.

We wants to change our lives from the inside out. God works in you so that you can work out.

Work It Out

This Sunday morning I will be preaching at the 8:45 (goodnight nurse that's early) service at Foster St. Wesleyan (we also have a 10 and 11:30 service in case you were interested). The staff has been going through the book of Philippians for our sermon series the past few weeks. This week I will be speaking from Phil. 2:12-18. Interesting section of Philippians. My main focus for this sunday is how to "work out" our salvation.

1-What does that mean?

2-How do I do it?

(for the sake of not giving everything away for sunday morning, just in case someone actually reads this... here is a hint of our message)

I love playing basketball, working out, running, and being active. I used to like it much more than i do today. After a back injury it makes doing these things a little more of a task than pure enjoyment. But i remember someone saying years ago that if you dont use your muscles you lose them. So I try as much as possible to use'em so i wont lose'em.

The same is true for our spiritual lives. To workout our salvation is the same as working out your body. If you don't obey God and use the gifts and talents and blessings that God has given you, then you are in danger of losing them. We are called to grow in our faith, trust God more, let God change us more. We are not made to be stagnate believers. We are made to grow closer and closer to Christ until our final breath on earth. In this passage I believe there are 5 ways to "work out" your salvation.

BE HERE SUNDAY MORNING TO HEAR THE REST

(or i may post it monday morning.)

stay HUMBLED

stay FOCUSED

love GOD

love PEOPLE

I Hear The Lord Passing By

I heard this song the other day and I am totally in love with it. My hope and prayer is that neither your nor I will miss our day of visitation from the Lord. There is no doubt an urgency for us to meet with God. There is no tomorrow, there is no next week. I often wonder how my life and the world would be different if we all followed God's call and not wait until a tomorrow that may never come?

I hope you enjoy this song as much as I do. Here are the lyrics and the youtube video

CHORUS
I hear the Lord passing by
This could be my day of visitation
Have mercy on me, Lord
Hear my cry of desperation
I hear the Lord passing by

BRIDGE
My heart, my flesh
Yearn to be with You
Open my eyes to see Your glory
All the days of my life

BRIDGE 2
This is my one chance
This is my moment
Lord, I throw everything aside
Just to run blindly after You
This is my one chance
This is my moment
I wanna see You
I wanna touch You
I wanna hold You
I wanna know You
I wanna follow You
I wanna follow You
All my hope is in You
All I need is in You
My miracle is You

CHORUS 2
I hear the Lord passing by
This could be my day of visitation
Have mercy on me, Lord
Hear my cry of desperation
Have mercy on me, Lord
From the depth of my affliction
I hear the Lord
I hear the Lord
I hear the Lord passing by

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gmvr4Zvsu7w&feature=related

Don't Hate

Everybody loves to be loved. Everybody loves to be cared for and cared about. I believe that everyone alive today has a longing to be apart of a group, accepted, and loved. I had a teenager tell me 2 weeks ago that she could go all day at school without any interaction with another student. I quickly replied (by the way, with this particular teen, there is no way she could do this) I would love to see you make it 20 min. without talking to someone.

One of the things I find strange about the Christian life, is that for me to be 100% sold out to Jesus Christ, the Bible says, I will be persecuted. One type of persecution is when people that were friends are no longer because of my choice to live a faith filled life. That leads to the question that people have asked over and over, 'If you're not being persecuted for Jesus Christ, are you really following Him?'

I find sometime in my life there is no friction or tension between my world view and close friends of my mine with a different world view. I hope that my life hasn't blurred the line betweens believers and nonbelievers. I pray, for myself and for all Christ followers, that we all will be set apart and that we will be in the world but not of the world.

Greg Laurie in his book "Let God Change Your Life" puts it this way,

"We will either find harmony with God and friction with the people in our lives, or we will have harmony with people and friction with God. If we live the way that God wants us to live, then it's going to seriously bother some people....

If you are truly a follower of Jesus Christ and living in His way, certain people won't like you for that reason alone. Don't be hurt by that rejection. We must understand that this is par for the course. As Jesus said, 'A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you' (John 15:20)."

A TRUE DISCIPLE LOVES GOD MORE THAN ANYONE OR ANYTHING ELSE

stay HUMBLED

stay FOCUSED

love GOD

love PEOPLE

Hide and Seek With All Your Heart

I remember as a kid playing hide and seek. I never was a big fan of this game, however I do remember playing hide and seek with my friends. The main reason I didnt like the game was because I never could find the absolute best hiding place. I would be hidden in a corner of a closet and sure enough the "seeker" would always find me. I guess my mind isn't creative enough to find the right hiding place so that I would never be found.

There is something about trying to hide and not wanting to be found. Everyday all across the world, there are people that are leaving their families and loved ones to be by themselves. Either by choice or consequence they will never been found by their families again.

It's a great and comforting thought, to me, to know that God is not like that. The God of the universe, the creator of all things, the first and the last, wants us to find Him. Chris Tomlin has an excellent song titled "I Will Follow" (http://christomlin.com/ ). One of the lines of this song says, "You're the one I seek, Knowing I will find, All I need in you alone". Most of the time a King or a well known public figure wants their privacy. They don't want to be seen or heard from or found. Not King Jesus.

"Then you will call my name. You will come to me and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will search for me. And when you search for me with all your heart, you will find me!"

-Jeremiah 29:12-13

WHEN YOU SEARCH FOR ME WITH ALL YOUR HEART YOU WILL FIND ME.

What a great promise we have in Jesus Christ. He's not hiding in a dark closet behind a bunch of old clothes. He's waiting for us to search for him with all our heart, and he has promised that we will find him.

stay HUMBLED

stay FOCUSED

love GOD

love PEOPLE

Dislocated Heart

There is a classic scene in the movie "Joe Dirt", where an older man tried to communicate to Joe that, "home is where you make it." However, his communication skills are not the best and Joe Dirt left thinking the guy said something totally different than he really said.

One lyric in a song by Mercy Me says, "If home is where my heart is, then I'm out of place." The song goes on to say, "I've never been more homesick than now."

There's been a number of times when my heart has seemed like it has been out of place. Meaning, that I'm in one place in life but my heart is in another. Chip Ingrim (http://www.livingontheedge.org/home/) calls this feeling having a "dislocated heart". He describes a dislocated heart as a "God-given concern that propels us beyond our comfortable routine. It is a passionate concern for God's people and God's agenda that supersedes our own personal comfort and prosperity." Every so often we hear about people like this. People that are so passionate about a situation or a group of people that they will do whatever it take to impact their life. It could be someone or something close to your home or it could be something in another country. Whatever the case maybe, if your heart is not being moved to action by a situation or by a person around you (teen pregnancy, broken homes, murder, people separated from God, etc...) you are missing our impacting people for the kingdom of God.

I don't believe this is a call from God for everybody to get on a plane and move to a for off country to help people. I do believe that God is calling us to step outside what is comfortable for us, so that we can make an impact on people around us. The challenge before me and you is, will we be to scared or afraid to make an impact for God. Don't miss your opportunity today to impact someone else's life for God's kingdom.

Chip conclude with this thought, "Stepping outside what is comfortable often begins with something very, very small. It's not about doing something great for God; it's about letting God do something great in your heart! God never does something great through us until He does something significant in us!"

stay HUMBLED

stay FOCUSED

love GOD

love PEOPLE