Three men sat silently on a park bench. They had worked together for 9 years. The first man looked at the others, and said “I can’t believe that they did that. No warning. How am I supposed to support my family now?” The second said, “I hear you… I don’t get it. I thought that we’d be there for another 10 years at least. I’ve poured my sweat and sacrificed time so that our company would succeed. Looking back, I don’t know why I did it. Clearly it wasn’t valued.” The third said nothing. Instead, he leaned back, stretched his arms across the back of the bench, crossed his left leg over his right, allowed his head to fall backwards, and took in a long relaxing breath. After a few more moments of silence, he spoke. “I’ve got a God who loves me unconditionally*, I’ve been learning to see this world the way that He sees it*, I’ve got a wife who I am fully committed to*, I’ve got good friends who speak the truth*, I’ve been learning to make wise choices*, I genuinely care about other people*, and the same God who loves me unconditionally is in control*. So I guess what I’m saying is that I’ve got a good life despite this.
Good morning. My name is John Barnett. I want to thank you for allowing me to come and be with you for the next 4 weeks to talk to you about the good life. This 4 part series will touch on 7 different principles for living the good life. These principles are called, The Seven Checkpoints, as titled by the book written by Andy Stanley and Stuart Hall. As a youth pastor, these principles have been invaluable to me while working with both teens and their parents. As a believer in Christ, understanding and applying these principles to my own life has significantly challenged the way that I think and even act. Romans 12:1 instructs us to not be conformed to the patterns of this world, but to be transformed through the renewing of our minds. Often times, God’s perspective on life is in direct contradiction to the logic and philosophy of this world’s system. God says, “Change your mind”. Our minds need to be transformed from the patterns or thinking of this world, and transformed to His perspective. When I see the world the way that God, the Maker, sees the world, then I will do what He says to do. It will impact my life, and the lives of those around me.
Jesus words are recorded in John 10:10: I have come that you might have life, and that you might have it abundantly. My paraphrase is simple – “I have come that you might have a good life.”
I want to be careful to not be misunderstood. Jesus is not talking about a life of health, wealth and stability. Typically, our definition of the good life would naturally include those things. However, God is not natural. He’s supernatural. His definition of the good life is a bit different. When we look at people who have what we would consider ‘the good life’ they have comfortable living situations and disposable income. Perhaps there’s more to their story than what you see. Perhaps while they have what appears to be a good life, their hearts are wandering from one baseless hope to the next looking for the answer that will complete them.
The good life is far more meaningful and rewarding than any amount of money or security could offer. The good life is a life lived the way that it was intended to be lived. God, the Maker, created us with purpose. When we live our lives the way that we were made to live, the way that it was intended; we experience the good life. (4 ½ minutes)
The first message in this series is titled, The Good Life: Keepin’ it Real. Today we will examine the first principle, Authentic Faith.
*Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight.
Little Jimmy was laying about on a hill in the middle of a meadow on a warm spring day. Puffy white clouds rolled by and he pondered their shape. Soon, he began to think about God.
"God? Are you really there?" Jimmy said out loud.
To his astonishment a voice came from the clouds. "Yes, Jimmy. What can I do for you?"
Seizing the opportunity, Jimmy asked, "God? What is a million years like to you?"
Knowing that Jimmy could not understand the concept of infinity, God responded in a manner to which Jimmy could relate. "A million years to me, Jimmy, is like a minute."
"Oh," said Jimmy. "Well, then, what's a million dollars like to you?"
"A million dollars to me, Jimmy, is like a penny."
"Wow!" remarked Jimmy, getting an idea. "You're so generous...can I have one of your pennies?"
God replied, "Sure thing, Jimmy! Just a minute."
A little boy wanted $100 badly and prayed for two weeks but nothing happened. Then he decided to write God a letter requesting the $100. When the Post Office received the letter addressed to God, they decided to send it to the president. The President was so impressed, touched, and amused that he instructed his secretary to send the little boy a $5.00 bill. The President thought this would appear to be a lot of money to a little boy.
The little boy was delighted with the $5.00 and sat down to write a thank you note to God, which read:
Dear God,
Thank you very much for sending the money, however, I noticed that for some reason you had to send it through Washington D.C. and, as usual, those crooks deducted $95.00.
I like these jokes, because they give a glimpse into what the faith of a child might look like. God just is. He doesn’t need any detailed theological discertation to prove His existence or His intentions. The word that seems to best describe a child’s faith is trust.
I don’t know that there is such a thing as different levels of trust. Either you trust or you don’t.
An authentic Faith knows that God can be trusted. He will do all He has promised to do. That’s the principle. God can be trusted; He will do all He has promised to do.
The critical question is Am I trusting God with the critical areas of my life?
Faith Abandoned
The 2 primary reasons that people abandon their faith or experience the shattering of their faith are poor choices and unexplained tragedy. Let me explain poor choices. A person who has placed their faith in Christ is not immune to sin. Sin is still very much a reality. Let’s talk about slander. That Bible says very clearly that it is wrong to slander another person. If I slander someone; I am making a conscious choice to sin. Because I believe that the Bible is truly God’s word, and that God is the ultimate authority, and that as the ultimate authority, God says it’s wrong. There will be a point of conviction that will no doubt be accompanied by some amount of guilt. I will make a decision at that point of conviction. I will either admit that I was wrong or I will alter my worldview to accommodate my sin, and remove my guilt. If I don’t believe that what the Bible says is accurate anymore, then I will cease to feel guilty in that area.
The second situation is unexplained tragedy. Please watch this video with me…
I don’t show that video to emotionally coerce you into acceptance, but rather to get your heart’s attention. The Mooney family had an authentic faith in God. This video is presented as a testimony to the reality of a humble and submissive heart that has jumped into a trusting relationship with God and has experienced the mercy and grace required at a moment of unbelievable suffering.
When we experience unexplained tragedy in our personal lives or are exposed to the tragedy of those around us, a fragile faith will find us at a critical crossroad. Is God really who He says He is, and will He really do all that He has promised to do?
In both situations, we are saying “What’s happening now. What I’m feeling now. Determines what I believe for now.” It may be described as a bandwagon faith.
‘As long as my faith is grounded in what I see and experience, my faith will always be fragile. It will never be more than circumstantial faith – totally dependent upon my ability (or inability) to interpret the events and circumstances around me.’
That doesn’t sound like the direction in Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.
Faith Understood (Authentic faith is not a force, power, or wishful thinking)
The difficulty with authentic faith is that it takes me out of the driver’s seat of my own life. I’m not comfortable with that. I want (no I need) to be in control of my life. Unfortunately, it is impossible for me to control everything in my life. I can’t control tragedy. I cannot control whether or not I’m going to get a raise. I can’t control how much the raise will be. I won’t be able to stop my children from making foolish choices as they grow. There are elements of my life that I will never be in control of. I can significantly influence them, but I cannot control them. I want to have as much control of the outcome as I possibly can, because I think I know what is best for my life. So now, I want to control God. I have a connection to a very powerful force, and maybe I can get Him to do my bidding. So I try to find a gimmick in a time of desperation (God if you do this, then I’ll do that). We try and cut a deal. Authentic faith is not a force or a power. It is not a tool that we use to get something from God. Authentic faith is not just wishful thinking either. Wishful thinking describes our wants and desires, but there are no guarantees.
Hebrews 11:1 says that Faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.
It is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we don’t see. There is a difference between wishful thinking and authentic faith. Wishful thinking is absent a promise. Faith is rooted in a promise. Authentic Faith is rooted in the absolute promises and unchanging character of God.
Read from the book: pg 35:
In Hebrews 11, the author gives dozens of illustrations of people who showed authentic biblical faith. In every case that faith was grounded in a promise or a revelation from God. Noah spent 140 years building an ark because God promised that it was going to rain. Abraham left his home and set out without a destination in mind because God promised to lead him to a new home. Gideon charged in an enemy camp totally outnumbered because God promised victory. Moses went back to Egypt and confronted Pharaoh because God promised to deliver Israel through him. Joshua marched around Jericho until the walls fell down because God promised success.
While we consciously relinquish control, biblical faith puts God firmly in control of our lives. It leaves God with the option to say no. Only when we come to terms with the true nature of faith will we be able to surrender our will to God’s will. As long as we are trying to get something FROM God, we will have a difficult time surrendering our lives TO God.
The true nature of faith is trusting God with all of my heart, with all of me. I can do that because I know that God is safe. God is a safe place for me. I can completely trust Him to take care of me. I can trust that when tragedy strikes, He is still in control. In Matthew 7:11 Gods says, look at this way – If you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, then how much more will your Father in Heaven give good gifts to those who ask Him. God can be trusted. He will do all that He has promised.
Authentic Faith requires the active surrender of our lives and wills to the care and commitment of a holy, just and deserving God.
Faith Promises (Authentic Faith holds to God’s mercy and grace)
If we live our lives with the expectation that no ill will befall us, then we will be disappointed. That is a faulty expectation. There is a difference between God’s promises and our expectations. While God doesn’t promise us a hurt free life, He does promise us that we will receive mercy and grace from Him.
Hebrews 4:14-16
Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. 15For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet was without sin. 16Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.
You and I can have full confidence that God will always give us the 2 things that are most critical in our time of need: Mercy and Grace.
While God has not promised to deliver us from our circumstances; He has promised to deliver us through them.
The necessity of Authentic Faith is primarily focused on your and my ability to successfully navigate life. The grounding of our faith plays a significant role in our determining whether or not we will be obedient to God’s direction. Will we follow or say no. If I authentically trust God, then I will follow. If my thinking is faulty, then I will allow it to be corrected. An authentic faith in Jesus Christ will result in our willingness to obey. An authentic faith will also get us through those difficult times (whether they are explainable or not). An authentic faith in the all-powerful, ever-present, all-knowing creator who describes Himself as and proves Himself to be the perfect Father who knows how to give good gifts to His children will weather the storm. An Authentic Faith is a faith that wholly trusts, and is grounded in truth. It does not put false expectations on God. An Authentic Faith is the foundation of these seven checkpoints. Without it, the others will never be.
If I trust in the Lord with all of my heart (complete trust = complete obedience), and don’t lean on my own understanding, but in all of my ways acknowledge Him, then He WILL make my paths straight.
Am I trusting God with the critical areas in my life?
In response to my trust, God will make my paths, my direction, clear and obvious. I can count on it.
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Armageddon Thru To You
If you've been wondering why it seems like the world around us is unraveling, it's because the last days as foretold in the bible are now upon us. Just as it was 2000 years ago, many were unable to discern the signs of Jesus Christ's first coming (Mat 16:3), as will many concerning his second coming, which will occur very soon. Yes many have proclaimed a similar sentiment many times in the past, but their errors have no bearing on today other than to lull you into spiritual apathy, and that too was prophesied to occur in the last days.
If you're not a believer in Jesus Christ because you're an atheist, consider that the underlying impetus for your disbelief is most likely borne of pride and here's why:
When we die, if you as an atheist were right, then there is no upside or downside for anyone regarding the afterlife. We will all simply cease to exist
However if we Christians were right about our belief in the afterlife, then we will be given eternal life and you as an atheist will receive eternal damnation
Given the choices, the position held by an atheist is a fools bet any way you look at it because the atheist has everything to lose and nothing to gain. It is tantamount to accepting a “heads I win, tails you lose” coin toss proposition from someone. And that someone by the way is Satan (see Ephesians 6:12).
The only way to explain the attitude held by an atheist is pride, pure and simple. The intellectually dishonest and/or tortured reasoning used by atheists to try and disprove the existence of God is nothing more than attempts to posture themselves as superior (a symptom of pride). And as anyone who has read their bible knows, this is precisely the character flaw that befell Lucifer, God's formerly most high angel. (Isaiah 14:12-15). Is it any wonder then why the bible is so replete with references to pride as the cause of mankind's downfall?
Pride permeates our lives and burdens us in ways that most of us seldom recognize. Ironically, pride is the one thing that can blind someone to things even the unsighted can see. And sadly pride will blind many with an otherwise good heart, to accepting the offer of eternal salvation that Christ bought and paid for with his life.
In any event, if you're an atheist, I wish you only the best for every day of the rest of your life because for you, this life is as close to heaven as you'll ever get, but for believers in Christ, this life is as close to hell as we'll ever get.
If you're not a believer and follower of Jesus Christ because you are of another faith, please take the time to very carefully compare your faith to Christianity and ask yourself, why is the bible the only religious book with both hundreds of proven prophecies already fulfilled as well as those being fulfilled today? No other religion can claim anything remotely close to this fact. Many Christians who are serious students of bible prophecy are already aware of the role and significance of bible prophecy in foretelling end time events. God gave us prophecy as evidence of his divine holiness to know the begining from the end (Isa 46:10). God also believed prophecy to be so important that to those willing to read the most prophetic book in the bible, the Book of Revelation, he promised a special blessing (see Rev 1:3), and this is the only book in the bible that God gives its reader a special blessing for reading. Something to think about.
Don't risk losing Christ's offer of eternal life by not accepting him as your savior and by thinking that the bible is nothing more than a compilation of unrelated and scattered stories about people who lived 2,000 plus years ago. If you take the time to study (not just read) the bible, you will literally be shocked to learn things you would have never imagined would be revealed in it. Did you know that like parables, God also uses particular months and days in the Jewish calendar, Jewish Feasts and customs, solar and lunar phases, celestial alignments, gematria (Hebrew numerology) early bible events and more as patterns and models to foretell future events?
Consider the following interesting facts about the bible that testify to its God-inspired authorship:
Did you know that in Gen 12:2, God said he would bless Israel?. How else can you explain the grossly disproportionate level of success achieved by Jewish people as a tiny minority in the world, especially after all they have gone through? And how can you explain the success achieved by the tiny nation of Israel, surrounded by enemies outnumbering them 100 to 1 and yet still they remain victorious in all their wars?
Did you know that as evidence to indicate that Israel is the epicenter of the world from God's point of view is the fact that languages to the west of Israel are written and read from left to right as if pointing to Israel, and languages from countries to the east of Israel are written and read from right to left, again as though pointing to Israel. Just a coincidence, you say? I think not.
Did you know that the six days of creation and seventh day of rest in Genesis is a model for the six thousand years of this age (ending very soon), that is to be followed by a 1,000 year millennial reign by Christ (see 2 Peter 3:8)? Adam was born sometime prior to 4000 B.C., therefore our 6000 years are almost up.
Did you kow that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is hidden in the meaning of the Hebrew names listed in the genealogy of the book of Genesis (Research it online)? To deny this was God-inspired, one has to instead believe that a group of Jewish rabbis conspired to hide the Christian Gospel right inside a genealogy of their venerated Torah, which is not a very plausible explanation.
Did you know that solar eclipses, which the bible describes as the sun being black as sackcloth, and lunar eclipses, which the bible refers to as blood red moons, have prophetic meaning? Research it online. God showed Adam (and us) his plan for man's redemption through the use of celestial alignments. (research Mazzaroth online)
Did you know that much of the symbolism in the book of revelation refers to planetary alignments that will occur when certain events occur as prophesied? These planetary alignments also explained the birth of Christ, just search out The Bethlehem Star movie on the Internet.
Did you know that the references in Eze 39:4-17 and Rev 19:17-21 in the battle of Gog/Magog and Armageddon respectively, in which birds of prey will eat the flesh of the dead in battle from two enormous wars is based on fact? The largest bird migration in the world consisting of bilions of birds (34 species of raptors and various carrion birds) from several continents converge and fly over Israel every spring and fall. Coincidence? I think not.
Did you know that Hebrew numerology, also known as Gematria, and the numbers with biblical and prophetic significance are hidden in the Star of David? Google the video called "Seal of Jesus Christ"
Did you know that the seven Churches mentioned at the beginning of the Book of Revelation describe the seven stages the Church will go through?
There are literally hundreds of hidden messages in the bible like these that testify to the fact that the bible was God inspired, and statistically speaking, are all exponentially beyond the likelihood of any coincidence. You can find them yourselves if you only take the time to look into it. Remember Proverbs 25:2 "It is the glory of God to conceal a matter; to search out a matter is the glory of kings".
And finally, if you are Catholic, or one who subscribes to the emergent Church or seeker-friendly Church movement, please compare the doctrine taught, advocated or accepted by your Church, with the actual bible, notwithstanding some new-age version of the bible. And remember that although the bible is often referred to as the living bible, the word "living" was never intended to imply in any way that the bible "evolves" over time to meet, or be consistent with, the standards of man. It's just the opposite.
Well, am I getting through to you? If not, the answer might be explained in the response given by Jesus Christ in his Olivet discourse when he was asked by his disciples why he spoke the way he did (in parables, etc.) in the book of Matthew 13:10-16. What Jesus said could have easily been paraphrased more clearly as "so that the damned won't get it". Why did Christ respond the way he did when asked why he spoke this way? Is there something about pride (the bible says there is) that closes one's heart to seeing or hearing the messages supernaturally hidden in bible parables, models, typologies, and similes, etc.? That should give you something to think about, but don't take too long. Time is now very short.
If it sometimes seems like there are powers at work behind the powers we know, remember what it says in Ephesians 6:12 "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." If you study the bible, it will become clearer.
And by the way, if you are a scoffer, this too was prophesied to occur in the last days. See 2 Peter 3:3.
Thank you and God Bless you!
Armageddon.thru.to.you (at) gmail.com
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