~ Approval

You can’t please everybody all the time & it’s a big mistake to try! Our constant need for approval can end up costing you God’s best. When your doing anything worth while, expect opposition from those who aren’t privy to God’s planb for your life. That goes with the territory. Notice Jesus made Himself of no reputation in Philimon 2:7 – He was not always well thought of by others, but He knew He had God’s approval & that’s what mattered to Him! God will call, equip, and enable you to fulfill His plan for your life. Let’s stop trying so hard to make things happen on our terms. Instead let’s begin praying for God’s favor!

 

~ Pastor Turner

Be Intentional with Loss

This weeks word is from our Youth Website

Whenever we are desiring to gain at anything, we must be intentional at loss. Consider some of the avenues of life where people attempt to gain. When we attempt to gain financially, we have to lose bad spending habits, and lose time to developing our trade. When wanting to gain more knowledge of a person, we lose time with other people to know them more intimately. If we want to gain more knowledge of Jesus, we must be intentional at losing more of ourselves.

Matthew 16:24-25 Jesus said to His disciples; “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. Whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it.” So, how do we become intentional at loss so we may gain? Here are four practical ways to be intentional with gain, through intentional loss:

Steps for Gain

1. The battle begins in the mind. Romans 12:3 For by the grace given me I say to everyone of you, do not think of yourselves more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgment, according to the measure of faith God is giving you. Some outer sources that affect the way you think: substance abuse, music, visual stimulation, social media, just to name a few. Two inner sources that can impact the way you think: A) Chronic stress is one top way to prematurely age your brain. B) Prayer is the most powerful inner source that impacts how you think. It rewires your thought process and keeps you focused on an external source that can impact the internal compass that directs your steps. Jude 1:20 directs us to…build yourselves up in the most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.

2. When we make it too hard on ourselves, discouragement is an inevitable obstacle. Being determined makes us disciplined, when trying to achieve or accomplish anything, when we are challenged or are met by obstacles. We can see how flawed we are by seeing how weak and discouraged we can become. Therefore, because we view ourselves as being flawed we want to “perfect” an image we see as being flawless. The beginning of any successful pursuit, (in this instance, how losing more of ourselves gains more of Jesus) stubborn determination can become obnoxious to some, but it’s necessary in order to be teachable in discipline. Rather than placing too much weight and hardship on ourselves, it begins simply by taking the instruction in Colossians 3:2 “Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.”

3. Intentional loss takes time and effort. If you identify a desire to know someone intimately, or to know how to play an instrument masterfully, what would you be willing to lose in order to gain that knowledge? When a husband is in pursuit of a bride, in order to be counted as faithful, to experience the fullness of what that love has to offer, and to truly understand the blessings that come, he must rid himself of all other romantic pursuits. Philippians 3:7-9 “but whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him…”

4. Finding and maintaining motivation to begin and complete the task. One site tells us some reasons we are kept from being motivated. From procrastination (delaying), to being around friends that care less about being successful, there are many things that can interfere with us being able to complete the task. One simple way to gauge this: are you a person who is distracted, or are you one that can be interrupted? Do you view God as a distraction, or can the Holy Spirit interrupt your routine? Centering on Jesus and the voice of the Holy Spirit in your routine encourages intentionality. When we are distracted we lose focus, then motivation to complete a task becomes secondary, as we begin to see the task as the distraction.
Read Hebrews 12:1-3, and take the encouragement of fixing your eyes on Jesus as motivation to begin, stay focused, and complete the assignment given to you.

~ For more from our Vibrant Youth Ministry visit their website ~
www.vibrantym.com

Pitfalls of Rejection

In some form or fashion we have all experienced rejection and felt its effects. Some have been able to bounce back and carry on their lives as if nothing happened. Others have encountered deep emotional damage, and life changing experiences resulting in personal battles within. Becoming emotionally scarred and devoloping devastating feelings from being degraded. As a result, our way of thinking has been affected, we begin to operate in the results of rejection. We often build walls around us trying to protect ourselveds from feeling such pain again. However, while we build theses walls we find ourselves in pitfalls associated with rejection. Such as anger, rebellion, complaining, discouragement, doubt and the list goes on. We can’t continue to live under this wrong thinking and fear of people’s opinions.

Here’s some things we can do to recognize the nature of the problem and call it by name, rejection. Take a look at Isaiah 53:3 with Jesus as our example, He was rejected by men but He chose to forgive them. However, this is easier said than done, but with the help of the Holy Spirit it can be accomplished! First, we need to make a consious decision to get rid of the bad fruit rejection has produced in our lives ie; bitterness, anger, resentment, etc which all are poisonious to our souls. Secondly, lay them down before the Lord who can rid these problems and bad fruit from you.

Let’s simply believe what the Lord has already done. He has made us accepted in the Beloved (eph. 1:6). When you come to God through Jesus, You’ll discover He already accepted you. The Lord has not been just tolerating you, but loving you as a son or daughter. God has no second class citizens, He’s deeply interested in you and cares about every aspect of your life.

~ Pastor Turner

Spiritual Power

~ Scripture 1 Thessalonians 5:19

The bible says, if we live in the Spirit, let us walk in the Spirit – Galatians 5:25. Also it says in Ephesians 5:18 “Be filled with the Spirit.”  While we are told to be led by the Spirit in Rom. 8:14. It’s the Holy Spirit who lives the life of Christ through us and achieves the work of Christ in us. For this reason, the Spirit of God has been given to us to empower us in our walk.

Guard against anything that hinders the work of the Holy Spirit in your life. To be filled with the Spirit means that through surrender and in response to faith, the human personality is filled, masterd, controlled by the Holy Spirit. As well as empowered to witness and lead people to Christ. It’s by His Spirit we see the workings of the gifts of the Spirit. Wow, in conclusion, He does the work as we voluntarily surrender to Him.

Ask God daily to fill you with Himself through His Spirit, and to have mastery over your actions and reactions. Lastly, to control and empower you in your life of service.

~ Pastor Turner

Week of August 7

The words of a wise mouth are gracious Ecc. 10:12 ~

Sometimes gifted people and busy people can be harsh or unkind without meaning to be. They live by a schedule and get upset when others fail to respect it. But not Jesus. He had the most important job in the world and yet He stopped for children and spent time with them. Sometimes the only people who seem to matter to us are those who can contribute to out goals; that is selfishness.

Jesus had opportunities with the rich & famous and had friends among them, but He mostly gave Himself to the common folk. He spent time lifting people like Mary Magdalene up, out of whom Jesus cast out seven devils. The law of kindness governed His words and Jesus taught that law to His disciples. Listen; “Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to them that hate you.”

Before you go anywhere today take a few moments and ask God to help you stay cool under pressure & be gracious to those you meet!

~ Pastor Turner