Teachable

Matthew 18: 2 Except you become as little children, you shall not enter the kingdom of Heaven.

Have you ever wondered what Jesus meant when He said become as little children? He meant you must be teachable. If you are teachable, you are reachable. If you’re hungry for God’s word you have a future. A child is dependant! Jesus said without me you can do nothing. All we do of lasting value is because we are dependant on Him. Notice also that a child is trusting: It never occurs to them to wonder if their needs will be met – they’ve learned to trust.

It’s been said, if we use God as a first resort, we wouldn’t have to use Him as a last resort!

~ Pastor Turner

God Knows Your Name

When we see a flock of sheep, we see exactly that… a flock, all alike. Not so with a shepherd; to him every sheep has a story, every face has a name. When we see a crowd we see exactly that, a crowd filling a stadium or a church. Not so with Jesus; to Him each one of us has a story and each one has a name!

This means what matters to you, matters to Him. You might think that’s true when it comes to the big stuff like death, sickness, and disasters. On the contrary, He also cares about the small things in life like your concerns, emotional pain, & the heavy burdens you carry day to day. Please understand this, we are God’s children through Jesus Christ, we really are! Take your concerns & give them to Jesus, put them on the cross. Receive His peace and allow Him to lead you because he really does care about everything that encompasses you!

John 10:3 He calls His own sheep by name, and leads them….

~ Pastor Turner

Amnesia

Deut. 8:11 Beware that in your plenty you do not forget the Lord ~

I remember reading this story and it made great sense to me, I hope you’ll enjoy it. A spider dropped a single strand down from the barn rafter and began to weave his web. Months went by and the web grew. His elaborate maze caught flies, mosquitoes and other small insects, providing the spider with a rich diet. Eventually it became the envy of all the other spiders. Then one day the spider noticed a single stand stretching up into the rafters. I wonder why it’s up there, It doesn’t catch any dinner? Concluding it was unnecessary, he climbed as high as he could and severed it. In a moment, the entire web began to fall in upon itself tumbling to the floor, taking the spider with it.

Could we as people make the same mistake? Can a country, a family, or even a church spin a web and then sever it? Can we grow so successful & strong, so self sufficient that we forget the strong strand that supports us. A bold portion of our population stares at the strand of faith upon which our country, family, and church hangs on and asks; why is that there? We’re not the first country to suffer from amnesia. Israel did it too, and Moses warned them: “Beware in your plenty you don’t forget the Lord your God and disobey his commands.” Keep Him first in all you do, in the good times & the bad, & you’ll be Blessed!

~ Pastor Turner

~ 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