Monday, September 27, 2010

Problem Solving with Christ: Un-forgiveness

Hello Everyone,

We are continuing with our problem solving series with something that will help us get on the right path with Christ. Getting rid of any un-forgiveness we are carrying.

Jesus teaches us in the Lord's Prayer that in order for us to receive forgiveness we must also forgive those that have sinned against us. He uses the terms debt and debtors which is so symbolic as he paid all our debts when he died on the cross.
This is probably one of the hardest things to do today. So many people think it is ok to hate those that do wrong to us. You can't turn on the TV without hearing how this politician hates this one, or people in one country hate the people in the other country, or I can't believe you would talk to him after what he did. We have grown to be a hateful society.

That is not the way we should live our lives. It is hard to forgive people that have wronged you. But in order to truly free ourselves from the feelings of guilt we must let go of all of the of our old ways and let Christ live through us.

This week as you pray, pray for those who have wronged you, you will truly start to see life through Christ eyes.

Have a blessed week!

Billy


The Lord's Prayer:
Our Father in heaven
Hallowed be Your name
Your kingdom come
Your will be done
On earth as it is heaven
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors
And do not lead us into temptation but deliver us from the evil one
For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen

Matthew 18:21-35
21Then Peter came to Him and said, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Until seven times?"
22And Jesus said unto him, "I say not unto thee, until seven times, but until seventy times seven.
23"Therefore is the Kingdom of Heaven likened unto a certain king who would settle accounts with his servants.

24And when he had begun to reckon, one was brought unto him who owed him ten thousand talents.

25But inasmuch as he could not pay, his lord commanded him to be sold, and his wife and children and all that he had, and payment to be made.

26The servant therefore fell down and did homage to him, saying,`Lord, have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.'

27Then the lord of that servant was moved with compassion, and loosed him and forgave him the debt.

28But the same servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred pence. And he laid hands on him, and took him by the throat, saying, `Pay me what thou owest.'

29And his fellow servant fell down at his feet, and besought him, saying, `Have patience with me, and I will pay thee all.'

30And he would not, but went and cast him into prison till he should pay the debt.

31So when his fellow servants saw what was done, they were very sorry and came and told unto their lord all that was done.

32Then his lord, after he had called him, said unto him, `O thou wicked servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou desiredst me.

33Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellow servant, even as I had pity on thee?'

34And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors till he should pay all that was due unto him.

35So likewise shall My heavenly Father do also unto you, if ye from your hearts forgive not every one his brother's trespasses."

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Problem Solving with Christ

Hello Everyone,

We are continuing in our series of problem-solving thru Christ. He is our true problem solver. I know there are many selp-help books and more than enough television shows "helping us with our problems both physical and emotional". There is a whole industry that has grown up from the self-help movement. That is not the way God intended for us to succeed in our life. When we rely solely on ourselves we leave out the One who wants to help us the most.

We are taught in the Bible not to be selfish, but in society we are taught to "look out for number one". This is just one of the several ways that the devil tries to alter the true word. I know we have all heard the saying " the Lord helps those who help themselves". Many people actually think that is in the Bible. We should seek the truth that is in his word and stop relying on ourselves to solve all of our problems. I have always found peace and strength in Jesus teachings in Matthew when he asked what will we eat.

Matthew 6:25-26
25 “Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

We are not to be self seeking or self reliant God wants us to lean on him for all that we need. It is so hard not to be selfish or self-reliant but it is something we must work on everyday.

Have a blessed week!

Billy

Job 20:22
22 In his self-sufficiency he will be in distress;
Every hand of misery will come against him.

Proverbs 14:16
16 A wise man fears and departs from evil,
But a fool rages and is self-confident.

Matthew 23:24-26
24 Blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!
25 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. 26 Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also.

Monday, September 6, 2010

Servant Leadership

Hello Everyone,

This week as we celebrate Labor Day I am going to dive into the biblical principles of servant leadership.

In Exodus 18:17-26 Moses' father-in-law Jethro teaches Moses about servant leadership. This is the first place where I can find any written examples of servant leadership. He has Moses pick leaders to oversee smaller things. They bring the harder things to Moses but make decisions on the lesser ones. This is a principle I am familiar with as this is the principle used by the leadership of the company I am employed by.

Christ in John 15: 13-15 takes this principle further. He no longer thinks of his disciples as servants but calls them friends. Do you think of your coworkers as friends? The person that works just below you, have you asked him or her recently how his family is doing? Do you know his wife's name? Do you no how many children he has and what there names are?

This week we need to take the "servant out of servant leadership" and to realize we are all serving someone higher than us, our lord and Savior Jesus Christ!

Have a blessed week!
Billy

Exodus 18: 17-26
17 Moses' father-in-law replied, "What you are doing is not good. 18 You and these people who come to you will only wear yourselves out. The work is too heavy for you; you cannot handle it alone. 19 Listen now to me and I will give you some advice, and may God be with you. You must be the people's representative before God and bring their disputes to him. 20 Teach them the decrees and laws, and show them the way to live and the duties they are to perform. 21 But select capable men from all the people—men who fear God, trustworthy men who hate dishonest gain—and appoint them as officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 22 Have them serve as judges for the people at all times, but have them bring every difficult case to you; the simple cases they can decide themselves. That will make your load lighter, because they will share it with you. 23 If you do this and God so commands, you will be able to stand the strain, and all these people will go home satisfied."
24 Moses listened to his father-in-law and did everything he said. 25 He chose capable men from all Israel and made them leaders of the people, officials over thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 26 They served as judges for the people at all times. The difficult cases they brought to Moses, but the simple ones they decided themselves.

John 15:13-15
15I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master's business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. 16You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit—fruit that will last. Then the Father will give you whatever you ask in my name. 17This is my command: Love each other.

Colossians 3:22-24
22Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. 23Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, 24since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward.