More Than A Moment

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Jeremiah 1

4 Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying:

5 "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations."

God knows the end from the beginning and every person even from before they were fully formed in their mother’s womb. Life begins when life begins, at conception, and not when life is able to take care of itself. For if life only began when a person could take care of themselves, neither life nor eternal life would ever begin.

God is a Spirit and life is a spirit. As well, Every moment of life belongs to God.

Sunday, August 28, 1988, was my first Sunday as pastor of Golden Triangle Church on the Rock. Today, August 28, 2011, marks 23 years since that day. (23 Years; 8,400 days; 201,600 hours; more than 12 million minutes)

23 years ago I was 33 ½ years old, the same age as Jesus was when He went to the cross to give His life as a ransom for all mankind. Jesus’ earthly life and ministry was completed when He was 33 but in many ways, 33 was a time when my ministry life really began. Up until that time, I was on a journey of preparation.

Many times what we are going through is not punishment for the past but positioning for the future. We are born with both a destiny and a journey. At times a life purpose may be easier to identify and embrace than the process of life which will prepare us for that purpose. Nonetheless, the journey is our friend. It is the journey which prepares us to operate at destiny’s required capacity.

Those faithful church people who first welcomed me and my family to Southeast Texas gave us the opportunity of a lifetime. Since that first Sunday we, along with all those whom God has continued to join together here, have carried out heaven’s vision in our community and in communities like ours all around the world. We have kept the main thing the main thing and been a blessing to individuals and families without respect as to their situations of life. We make God smile …

Since I have been pastor of GTCOTR there has been more than 725 million ticks of the clock, each one important to God and each one bringing us closer to the ultimate plan of God. As I said, every moment belongs to God … string a few moments together and you have a lifetime.

A lifetime is made up of moments but our life is more than any mere moment.

Jesus was no fool. When He offered Himself to God’s will, He lost nothing but a few miserable moments yet, He gained everything including eternity. I’ve heard it said that:

No man is a fool who gives that which he cannot keep to get that which he cannot lose.

This week I got to spend a little time with a young man who serves as the associate pastor of a Church in the Dallas area. While we were eating sushi Friday evening he told me about the difficulty he and his wife experienced with regards to their desire to have children. He related that a few months ago, after a season of intense prayer and fasting, a miracle happened and his wife became pregnant. It was such a joyous occasion and especially so because two other couples in their church with whom they were close were also having babies due at the same time.

This young man, who is the son of my good friend, went on to tell me that during the process they were told that they were going to have a boy. Well last week, some concerns arose and after tests were completed they were told that their baby’s heart was not fully forming as it should. The doctors reported the scenarios from worst case to best case, and neither case was good news. It appears from the tests results that their son will most likely not survive birth and even if he does, a short life is to be expected.

The young man telling me his story is himself a third generation preacher and a teacher of the faith we hold so dear. I sat and listened to him bear his heart and share his pain. I knew that he and his wife trusted God and that they would continue to serve Him without regard as to what they faced in life. Both good and godly people face difficult moments. It is best to remember that life, as God designed it, is more than any one moment.

As we were finishing our meal he told me that he was not sure what God wanted from him and his ministry, and he asked me if would speak into his life.

This is what I gave him and now, I give it to you:

1. God wants to know what you want

Psalms 34:15 The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, And His ears are open to their prayers.

Don’t stop telling Him. We cannot control God but we can and we should tell Him what we want. Nothing moves the hand of God in trying times like the cry of His children on their knees before Him in prayer.

2. Every trial is a potential testimony.

Romans 8:18 For I reckon the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.

And, we must realize that every testimony began as a trial. This young man told me that he and other young men find me and my testimonies a bit intimidating. I first met his dad in 1986 and growing up as Pastor’s kid, (a PK is what we call them and what they call themselves), he periodically heard about the things I did, said, or attempted to do, and he knows that the Lord has given me so many great testimonies. In fact he laughed as he recalled to me the story of my wife not feeling like she loved me for several years during our early marriage and how God turned that around for us.

He said that he also wanted to have great testimonies but he really wanted to live a life without having to face too many difficult problems or tests. I told him that I understood what he meant and that I felt the same way. He listened as I added that even though the story of my wife not feeling like she loved me for the first 9 years of our marriage could be told in only a few moments, it took 9 years worth of moments to live through it.

Life is a choice and life changing choices should not be made based on only one difficult moment in life. It was our choice to either build a testimony of victory or a testimony of defeat. Were we perfect – no! Did we fight – yes! Was it fun – not often! But did we make it – Here we are!

How did we do it? We learned that:

3. Life is more than a moment.

2 Corinthians 4:17 For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory

God really does have a master plan and He knows the end from the beginning. We cannot always control what we go through but we can determine how we go through it.

We all face moments in life. Together we have faced more than 725 million moments since I became Pastor of this Church. Not all of them have been wonderful moments but each one was important to God and each one moved us closer to God’s ultimate plan.

You may question how you can face the difficult and trying moments of life and still keep your faith. How do we keep these moments from dominating and destroying us? We are not defeated because we believe in God’s Ultimate Plan! I cannot tell you what your journey will involve but I can tell you about your destiny and about the destiny of every soul who chooses to follow Christ, especially in moments of crisis or difficulty.

We have but one guarantee, but one thing we can know for sure and that is: All who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved!

2 Corinthians 5:1 For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

This hope will keep you in every moment of life. (Jeremiah 1:5)

Over & Over

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You know how it is when you hear a song you like – you want to hear it again and again and again. Pretty soon you have it in your head so much that it plays over and over in the background and you find yourself saying things like, “I’ve been thinking about that song all day!”

Our brains are that way. Almost like a computer or a voice recorder of some type – whatever you put in, whatever you record, is all you have.

Last Wednesday night I heard A. Breezy perform a Rap song for our Church. It had so many words that he repeated one right after the other. I really enjoyed it but how did he remember all those words? I imagine that A Breezy has rehearsed those words out loud and in his mind over and over and over again. That’s why he knows it and that’s why he feels it when he raps it. Those words are his words.

Those words are his words not just because he wrote them but because he has repeated them so much that he feels them – they have a life, they tell a story, they connect with an emotion, they are truth to him. It happens even with songs and sayings, poems and passions we believe in and repeat to ourselves and others over and over and over again.

This is a principle – “We get out of our life what we put in.” and “We control how much we get back by how much we put in.”

This works with all of life but it especially works with spiritual things. Why? Because there is an extra, added power attached to spiritual things. Words are powerful – but God’s Words are super powerful.

A Breezy could have written any words he wanted, rehearsed any words he chose … it was his choice which ones to keep and which ones to discard – he memorized and practiced the words he wanted, the words he felt, the words he believed so that he could tell the story he hoped you’d hear.

His words had a message – his words had power --- “All Words Do!”

But the ones we repeat over and over and over to ourselves and others actually release power, the power to program our lives and the lives of others.

This is why God commanded Joshua:

Joshua 1: 8 This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.

With that thought in mind, let me say something to you which you have heard before. And, I want you to repeat this to yourself and others all year.

The Apostle Paul wrote to his church friends who lived in Thessalonica and said this to them. (I paraphrase …) 1 Thessalonians 4:13a “My friends, I don’t want you to be unaware of the truth like some of the other people who live and work among you.”

So, here are the five important life lessons which I have learned in the more than 40 years since I was in school. These are my words of wisdom for this school year. Maybe I should rap them so you will remember them.

1. What you say will be said.

a. Even by your best friends

2. What you do will be found out.

a. Both good and not so good stuff

b. God will set you up to succeed – the devil … to fail

3. What you compromise to keep, you will lose.

a. You don’t get ahead by cheating!

b. It’s not who gets there first, but who stays there.

4. What you believe will be tested.

a. Don’t worry – you can pass it … it’s an open book test.

b. The questions may change, but the answers never do!

5. What you did not break may become your responsibility to fix.

a. Just because it’s not your fault does not mean it’s not your responsibility.

Maximize the Word!

Gtcotr/ws081711

Set the stage for the writing of Paul’s 1^st and 2^nd letter to the Corinthians.

· Paul made his first visit to Corinth in AD52 alone …

Acts 18: 1 After these things Paul departed from Athens and went to Corinth.

· He established a Church in this “market” city of Venus along with Aquila and Priscilla, who were believers newly come from Rome.

· He wrote 1 Corinthians in AD 58 from Ephesus as a letter to correct disorder and bring discipline to the believers at the Church in Corinth.

· About a year later, AD59, while on his way to Corinth, Paul met Titus in Macedonia and hearing things concerning the Corinthian Church wrote 2 Corinthians and sent it ahead of him with Titus to reinforce his position, encourage the Church and prepare for his coming.

· He references the issue of 1 Corinthians 5 and further instructs the church to forgive and restore the repentant fornicator …

2 Corinthians 2:11 lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.

devices = Noema - Thoughts; strategies; purposes; desires; plans – (that which is going on in his head)

The devil has a plan – but he can’t work it by himself … he needs people!

John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy: I have come that they may have Life, and may have it in abundance.

1. Diminish

2. Divide

3. Destroy

This morning we are going to take another look at this adversary, the devil, and attempt to discover the tools of his trade. In order to better understand how he hopes to accomplish his goals, let’s look back to the book of beginnings, the book of Genesis, to the very first time we meet the devil in scriptures. So, without further ado, may I present to you:

The Devil and His Devices

Genesis 3

1 ¶ Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, ’You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’ ?"

2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;

3 "but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ’You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’"

4 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die.

5 "For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

Notice here that the devil enters into the garden moment, that place God created and gave to His children so that they could experience the abundant life. This garden was the sanctuary God made for His children.

The devil desired to diminish, divide and destroy the plan of God … the resource God gave for abundant life – the sanctuary of God for His children … but how could he ever do it? He needed help …

The Garden of Eden, by the way, means the Garden of Pleasure. Pleasure in its true sense is what is pleasing to both God and man. When either one is not pleased, it is because the plan of the devil is at work … he is trying to diminish, divide and destroy. Satan hates the thought of either God or people being happy. He can’t stand the thought of them both being happy.

The devil has the same goals today in every relationship – he wants to cause displeasure. The devil enters into the place where God is pleased with His children and into the place where His children are pleased with Him … Into the garden of God’s pleasure to steal, kill and destroy. Or, as we said: to diminish, divide and destroy. He hates peace

When a husband is no longer content with his wife, or an employer is no longer pleased with his employees, or when an individual is no longer happy with their life – the devil is at work somewhere. His ultimate goal is to make God unhappy, and an unhappy you might just make that happen.

The devil knows that if he can make people unhappy with God or with something God gave them, God will then be unhappy Himself – and ultimately He will be displeased with man. It is a win, win for the devil. The devil is trying to get to God through you! He hates the thought of God being happy, he hates the thought of God being pleased.

If the devil cannot defeat you he will attempt to defeat someone whose defeat will defeat you.

This is what the devil did to God through Adam and Eve. The devil cannot defeat God but we can … only we can defeat God’s purpose and God’s plans. Yes us! At least for our lives. When we diminish the Word of God we are working with the devil to divide and destroy the plans of God.

When you see an individual no longer pleased in the place where God has put them, with the things God has given them, doing what God wants, God’s way … you can be assured that the devil is at work somewhere.

Displeasure and discontentment are the fruit of the devil’s work.

I am not saying that the person who is displeased is automatically at fault. There are many things which can make a person displeased. God was displeased with the behavior of Adam and Eve for example. However, when someone is displeased, somewhere the root can be found in something out of order – it may be our own desires or it could be the actions of others who affect us – but somewhere evil is involved.

The devil wants us out of the garden – outside of the pleasure of God – either we displeased with Him or He displeased with us and both if at all possible.

Why – remember the devil’s desires are to diminish, divide and destroy the Sanctuary God has given His people. Yet, you are not the devil’s main target, but you are a means through which he might reach his goal … he hates Jesus and he hates anyone and anything that pleases God … especially a garden, a sanctuary, a church where people are exalting the Word of God in unity, building the Kingdom on a solid foundation.

In these verses from Genesis 3 we see the devil for the first time in scriptures. The immediate picture we get from this initial glimpse is that the devil is subtle – crafty – cunning – shrewd – tricky.

In his attempt to diminish the Word of God, divide mankind from God and destroy the garden experience, the devil uses his best device to manipulate Eve. What is the devil’s device? - Deception

Only a person who is deceived will diminish the Word of God.

Only a person who is deceived will hide from God.

Only a person who is deceived will live outside of the pleasure of God.

The worst thing about being deceived is that you don’t know it.

How did the devil deceive Eve? By creating subtle displeasures in her life.

Genesis 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

Do not be deceived – Neither dissatisfaction, nor disagreement equals direction.

Don’t fall for the subtle deceptions of the devil: Exalt the Word!

· There is Only One Way to Heaven

· Sex outside of marriage is sin

· Same sex unions are prohibited in scripture

· We are admonished to love, give, and forgive even our enemies

· God will judge the living and the dead

Only the Ignorant or the Arrogant would ever:

Diminish the Word of God

Divide God and His Children from one another

Destroy the Sanctuary

Don’t Be Deceived! Don’t minimize – rather – Maximize the Word!

The Devil and His Devices

Gtcotr/ws081711

2 Corinthians 2:11 lest Satan should take advantage of us; for we are not ignorant of his devices.

Devices: Thoughts; aims; strategies; intentions; goals; purposes; desires; plans – what is going on in his head.

John 10:10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy: I have come that they may have Life, and may have it in abundance.

Satan’s goals are to:

1. Diminish

2. Divide

3. Destroy

Matthew 16:18 “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.”

The primary goal of Jesus is to build His Church upon a rock so that the gates of hell cannot prevail against it. This also reveals Satan’s primary goal which is to prevail against the Church. The devil wants to diminish, divide, and ultimately destroy the Church.

1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Seeing that we have an adversary and that we are to be sober and vigilant against that adversary, the devil, we best not be ignorant of the devices he will use in his attempts to diminish, divide, and destroy the Church. So, in order to better understand his thoughts, aims, strategies, intentions, goals, purposes, desires, and plans, let’s take a closer look this evening at:

The Devil and His Devices

Genesis 3

1 ¶ Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, "Has God indeed said, ’You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’ ?"

2 And the woman said to the serpent, "We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden;

3 "but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ’You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’"

4 Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will not surely die.

5 "For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

Notice here that the devil enters into the garden moment, that place God created and gave to His children for so that they could experience abundant life. The devil’s desire was to diminish, divide, and destroy the plan of God … the resource God gave for abundant life – the garden in Eve’s case – the Church in ours.

The Garden of Eden, by the way, means the Garden of Pleasure. Pleasure in its true sense is what is pleasing to both God and man. When either one is not pleased, the plan of the devil is at work to diminish, divide, and destroy.

The devil has the same goals today in every relationship – to cause displeasure. When a husband is no longer pleased to dwell with his wife, or an employer is no longer pleased with his employees, or when an individual is no longer pleased with their Church – the devil is at work somewhere.

Displeasure and discontentment are the results of the devil at work.

I am not saying that the one who is displeased is automatically at fault. There are many things which can make a person displeased. God was displeased with the behavior of Adam and Eve for example. However, when someone is displeased, somewhere the root can be found in something out of order – it may be our own desires or it could be the actions of others who affect us – but somewhere evil intent is involved.

The devil wants us out of the garden – outside of the pleasure of God – either we are displeased with Him or He is displeased with us and both if at all possible.

Why – remember the devil’s desires are to diminish, divide, and destroy the Church. You are not his main goal but only a means through which he might achieve his goal … he hates Jesus and he hates anything that pleases God.

In these verses from Genesis 3 we see the devil for the first time in scriptures. The immediate picture we get from this initial glimpse is that the devil is subtle – crafty – cunning – shrewd – tricky.

In his attempt to diminish the Word of God, divide mankind from God, and destroy the garden experience, the devil uses his best device to manipulate Eve – Deception!

Only a person who is deceived will diminish the Word of God.

Only a person who is deceived will hide from God.

Only a person who is deceived will live outside of the pleasure of God.

The worst thing about being deceived is that you don’t know it.

How did the devil deceive Eve? By creating subtle displeasures in her life. He tempted her in three basic areas of life – the same three areas of life in which he would later tempt Jesus in the wilderness. These three areas of life are the devil’s continual targets.

1 John 2:16 For all that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not of the Father but is of the world.

If the devil can create displeasure in our life in one of these areas, he will get an advantage. Don’t be deceived by:

· The lust of the flesh

· The lust of the eyes

· The pride of life

That’s where the devil deceived Eve and got his advantage over her.

Genesis 3:6 So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree desirable to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband with her, and he ate.

Good for food: Appealed to her flesh

Pleasant to the eyes: Appealed to her eyes

Desirable to make her wise: Appealed to her pride

She was tempted to be displeased in:

Her Body (What God gave her for her food no longer fulfilling)

Her Soul (What she saw allowed by God no longer satisfied)

Her Spirit (She wanted to be like God … be in charge)

And, if she would just apply the devil’s deceptive suggestions, the garden could be her supply and give her what she wanted for her body, her soul, and her spirit. She could use God’s stuff to get what she wanted.

The Deception: Doing what the devil suggests will get me what I want!

Only … you don’t know it is the devil who is suggesting it – you imagine it’s all your own thinking or some new revelation. By verse 6, the devil is already gone. He planted the subtle seeds of deception and left her to her own deceptive conclusions. All she had to do was keep thinking about it.

As a result – she diminished the Word of God in her own mind; divided herself from God’s will and walk; and ultimately destroyed the garden experience. We cannot allow this to happen to the Church in our generation. A fool tears down his house with his own hands.

There is only one test which God gives us and the Church:

“Is it pleasing to God?”

Since this is the only test it would stand to reason that we should know what makes God pleased with us and with the Church. And, if what pleases God does not please us … we are deceived!

The Church that pleases God is:

· A Spirit-Filled Church

Acts 2:1-4

· A Soul Winning Church

Acts 2:41 – 3000 saved

Acts 4:4 - 5000 saved

· A Discipleship Church

Acts 2:42

· A Signs & Wonders Church

Acts 2:43

· A Giving Church

Acts 2:44-45

· A Fellowshipping Church

Acts 2:46

· A Praising Church

Acts 2:47

· A Respectable Church

Acts 2:47

· A Growing Church

Acts 2:47 – The Lord added daily

· A Praying Church

Acts 3:1

· A Healing Church

Acts 3:2-9

· A Teaching Church

Acts 3:12ff

· A Committed Church

Acts 4:19-20

· A Bold Church

Acts 4:29-31

· A Need Meeting Church

Acts 4:32-35

· A Holy Church

Acts 5:1-11 – Great fear

· An Ordered Church

Acts 5:12-13

· An Expanding Church

Acts 5:14 – Believers, men and women, increasingly added

· An Outreach Church

Acts 5:15-16 Came from surrounding cities

· A Structured Church

Acts 6:1ff

· A Great Commission Church

Acts 8:4ff

These attributes of the Church were continually repeated and continually reproduced throughout the Word and throughout the world.

As the Church continued during those first years it learned to discipline the saints, forgive the repentant, and judge in matters of dispute. We learn from scriptures that the Church is not all about us and that at times it might cost us to do God’s will.

To better protect us from deception we are encouraged to follow the Spiritual leaders God ordains and submit ourselves to their leadership not straying from the principles which were first delivered to the Church. We are also to beware of those who cause division among us and of false prophets who introduce damnable heresies through deceptive practices gathering silly people to themselves laden with various desires.

Watch out for those displeasures which lead you to diminish, divide, or destroy the Church of the Living God.

In conclusion, let all things be done decently and in order so that the we may give no cause for the Church or the way of the Lord to be evil spoken of.