The Other Person

Instead of being motivated by selfish ambition or vanity, each of you should, in humility, be moved to treat one another as more important than yourself.

Philippians 2:3 (NET)

Today's culture sure has changed over the very recent years. Some might say this change has been taking place for a few decades, but we are really just seeing the manifestation of what has been happening over the years. We are living in a culture that is focused on ME, what is good for ME, how are you going to make ME happy, what can you do for ME, how is this going to affect ME...ME, ME, ME! God showed Joyce Meyers that we look like little robots going around saying "what about me, what about me, what about me." Even the commercials we see on television support the "what about me" society. This whole way of thinking is contrary to the way God wants us to think. He does not want us to think about ourselves, but of the other person. Yes, we have needs and wants, but He already said He would take care of them (Philippians 4:19), so why do I have to go around and be concerned about me when God already said He would take care of me? He wants us to be concerned for the other person, our friends, our colleagues at work, the person behind the counter processing your order, the person on the other end of the phone when a telemarketer calls (I know I just struck a nerve there), the policeman who is placing his life on the line for you...we are to be concern with them and in addition treat them as more important than yourself. I'll say it again, we are to treat others as more important than ourself! Yep, this is a total contradiction to our current culture, but if we want to see changes in our lives, we have got to get rid of our selfishness and focus on what God wants, and He wants us to treat others as more important than ourself. 

Take Away: when you encounter someone, anyone, the person behind the cash register at Walmart, the driver in front of you, your best friend, your spouse, your pastor...make a change and start thinking of them as more important than yourself. 

Worship Song of the Week...

Here Now by Hillsong

Decisions with Many Options

Direct my steps by your word!
Do not let any sin dominate me!

Psalm 119:133 (NET)

Several times over my life I've had to make some major decisions, which I'm sure all of you have had to do the same thing. Sometimes the decisions are easy, but others, well, not so easy. It seems that I have more of those type of decisions to make than the easy ones. When I have to make a difficult decision, I hear in my mind about every option possible as to what to decision to make. I will think about it during the day, and man, what a distraction, eh? Then just when I'm laying down to go to bed, my head hits the pillow and then every possible scenario plays in my mind over and over and over...and the next thing I know, 3 hours have passed by and I now have only 3 hours before I have to wake up. One thing I have learned is that God is always there, wanting to direct me in the right path. King David even told God to direct his steps by His word. That is what we need to do in those situations. We need to stop what we are doing, tell God "God, I am driving myself crazy trying to figure out what to do, I need You to guide me!" Then you stop thinking! Yes, you stop thinking and start letting God guide you, and you know how He does this? By guiding you by His word, which says "the peace of God will guard your heart "(Philippians 4:7). When I have to make a decision and there are many options to choose from, I ask God to guide me down the right path. Then I wait for the proverbial "dust to settle" and for me, that can be anywhere from a couple of days to a couple of weeks. The decision that brings peace over me is the decision that God is wanting me to make. We can't make decisions when our emotions are all over the place. We've got to settle down and allow God's peace to direct us.

Take Away: don't make rash decisions, allow the dust to settle and follow the peace of God. 

Worship Song of the Week

Take a Moment by Will Reagan

Its All About Him

But above all pursue his kingdom and righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

Matthew 6:33

When Jesus said "above all," He didn't mean only when it is convenient. He also didn't mean above most or a few things. He said above ALL things. All things is everything, all things is ALL things. We all have wants and desires. We all have what we think are needs and stuff that we think we have to have. But Jesus negated all of those wants and needs by saying pursue Him. "But Kent, you don't know whats going on in my life, I have things that have to get done, I have to pay my mortgage, put food on the table, take the kids to soccer practice. I have this and that." You know, we must think God is stupid. We must think that God doesn't now whats going on in our lives. You say, "How dare He say seek Him first, doesn't He know all the things I have to deal with." In the verses preceding verse 33, Jesus is telling us that He knows all our needs, He is fully aware of whats going on in our lives. That's why in verse 33 He says if you pursue Jesus (His kingdom), all those things, the needs and etc will be given to you...but you MUST pursue Him first! When you do that, the way He fulfills your needs is so much better than if you do it yourself...AND there is no worry and stress involved in it. To pursue Jesus and His kingdom is to pursue everything that Jesus is. That means you pursue joy, peace, patience, kindness, and you put down your selfish desires. It means that when someone wrongs you, you don't turn around and wrong them. It means that when someone is rude to you, you show them love. It means that when you see someone who is in need of something, you go over and help them and not turn and look the other way. This is pursuing Him and His kingdom!

Take Away...if you will seek Jesus first in your life and put down your wants and needs, He will take care of everything! Start pursuing Him today, let it be a day that is all about Jesus and not about you!

Worship Song of the Week...

Take A Moment by Will Reagon

What Do You Really Believe?

For she kept saying to herself, “If only I touch his cloak, I will be healed.”

Matthew 9:21

What do you really believe about Jesus? If your back was against the wall, what would you believe that God could do to help you? If you were facing a giant of a problem, what would be your response to God? I think we would all like to think that we would say "God, You're awesome! God, You're almighty! God, You can do anything!" But what would our actions be right after we said that? The woman who had been bleeding for years believed that Jesus could heal her. She had absolutely no doubt about this, and she believed that Jesus could heal her so much that she thought that if only she'd touch His clothes, that would be enough for Him to heal her. I have faced many giants in my life, many brick walls, obstacles if you will, that seemed to just swallow me up if I let them. I have to admit there were times I would look at a situation in front of me and say, God I know You are almighty, but I just can't do this! Then, when I would find myself right back at that situation (and that will always happen), I would call out to God again and say "God, I know this situation is bigger than I am. I know this situation goes well beyond what I can do, but I know You are bigger than anything. You are the One Who parted the Red Sea, You are the One Who brought down the walls of Jericho, You are the One Who raised Jesus from the dead, and if you can do all of those things and more, then you can bring down this wall thats in front of me." Sometimes it took many times saying that, but I did not give up, I kept at it and in the end, God WAS and IS almighty! We think that if we don't get the result we want right away, that God wasn't there helping us. In reality He was, it is just that He knew where our faith was, it was us who just didn't know...but we found out!

Take Away: what you do, your actions, will reveal where your faith is. If you find you are lacking in faith, ask God to strengthen your faith, ask Him to reveal more of Himself to you. If you ask, He will respond!

Worship Song of the Week...

Take a Moment by Will Reagan

God is Holy, really?

but, like the Holy One who called you, become holy yourselves in all of your conduct

1 Peter 1:15

We sing it, we repeat, we read it, but in all the singing, repeating and reading, do we really understand what it means when we say God is Holy? I think if we really knew what "God is Holy" means, our whole behavior would change. Each day we go about our business, making decisions, thinking thoughts, acting a certain way, responding to situations without giving one thought to God being Holy. What does "God being Holy" mean? It means that He can not stand sin in His presence, it means that He is pure, it means He is perfect in every way. In essence, it means that He demands respect for who He is. Now remember that you are the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19), so the Holy One is living inside of you. Knowing this, how are you going to start thinking about what you are thinking about? How are you going to start conducting your life and the way you respond to situations? You're probably saying "Kent, this is a real downer?" Sometimes we need a wake up call because we get complacent about who God is in our lives. We've got to remember we have the Holy One living in us, and that He is Holy. When we really understand this, we will start conducting ourselves in a manner that is in line with the word of God. For example, knowing that the Holy One is living in you and that He is Holy, how are you going to respond the next time someone cuts you off in traffic, or the next time someone is rude to you on the phone, or one of your children has been screaming for the past hour? When we respect God for who He is in our lives, we can start living the life He wants us to live.

Take Away: Knowing that God IS Holy and that He is living in you, you can conduct yourselves in a manner that is in line with the Word of God and living the life that God has for you.

Worship Song of the Week...

Take A Moment by Will Regan

People Can Change

But Ananias replied, “Lord, I have heard from many people about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem

Acts 9:13 (NET)

The Apostle Paul, before he was Apostle Paul, was Saul who had a loathing for people that followed Jesus. However on the road to Damascus, Saul had an encounter with Jesus that changed his life forever. In fact after this encounter, he was called Paul and went on to write nearly two thirds of the New Testament. Why am I writing this? Look at what Ananias said to God. Ananias heard about Saul's reputation, but fortunately for Ananias, Ananias believed God could change people. Ananias believed people can change. I hear a lot of people commenting about others that "oh, they'll never change" or "people don't change." Well, if I believed that, then I wouldn't believe in what Jesus could and did do in my own life. Jesus changed me, and if you are reading this, Jesus has changed you as well. So if Jesus can change me and if He can change you, don't you think He can change others? Jesus is STILL changing me, He is renewing my mind, and He is changing my behavior. I am not the same person I was 20 years ago, 10 years ago, even 1 year ago because the changing continues. The same goes for others. Just because someone acted a certain way 10 years ago, 5 years ago, even yesterday, doesn't mean they can't change. Now you can't change that person, no more than I or anyone else can change a person, but God can! Give people the benefit of change and give them a second, third, forth chance. God has given you and I many chances, we need to extend that grace to others.

Take Away: just because someone acted a certain way years ago, believe the God can change them, and then give them another chance!

Worship Song of the Week...

Take a Moment - Will Reagan

The Right Reason

It is dangerous to be concerned with what others think of you, but if you trust the Lord, you are safe.

Proverbs 29:25 (GNT)

It seems I go around this mountain way too many times. I am one of those who had (and sometimes still do have) a performance based behavior. I will get into that mode where I feel that if I do something good or if I look a certain way or I dress a certain way, then people will like me. I've been going to the gym for over 10 years and when I first started I was going for health reasons. Then I started seeing results, I.E. muscle, and I started to like what I was seeing. But somehow, over the course of the 10 years my reasons for going to the gym changed to where I was going because I wanted to grow more muscle BECAUSE I wanted people to be impressed with me. The more muscle I would see, the more I would want to build more muscle, and yes, some people were impressed. But you know, that is not the reason I should go to the gym. In fact if you or I do anything with the purpose to gain the approval or acceptance or respect of others, then we have crossed over into a performance based behavior and into a dangerous area. Why? Because if we do gain their approval and acceptance, then we have to continue whatever we are doing forever in order to maintain their approval and acceptance...and over time that will wear us out. The writer of Proverbs 29:25 knew where we should look for acceptance and approval, and that is the Lord. It doesn't matter what we do, His approval and acceptance is always there and it will never end. I'm not saying to stop doing things, but you should do those things because you want to do them, not because you are trying to impress someone. God is already impressed with you, you don't have to perform for Him to accept you...He already has!

Take Away: Stop trying to gain people's respect and approval. Look to God for your acceptance and approval and Him alone. Ask Him to help you get out of that performance based behavior.

Worship Song of the Week...

End of Days by Hillsong Young and Free