Prepare First, Then Do

We have to do after we are sure it is God's plan.

Nehemiah 1:4  When I heard this, I sat down and wept. In fact, for days I mourned, fasted, and prayed to the God of heaven.

5 Then I said, "O LORD, God of heaven, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant of unfailing love with those who love him and obey his commands, 6 listen to my prayer! Look down and see me praying night and day for your people Israel. I confess that we have sinned against you. Yes, even my own family and I have sinned!

11 O Lord, please hear my prayer! Listen to the prayers of those of us who delight in honoring you. Please grant me success today by making the king favorable to me. Put it into his heart to be kind to me."

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Nehemiah was the Persian king's cup-bearer, he lived at ease, and in honor, but does not forget that he is an Israelite, and that his homeland is in distress. As a result of their disobedience, Jerusalem is in ruins, the city walls and the gates are just a pile of debris and the first people that have moved back into Jerusalem are unprotected from attack.

Nehemiah wants to accomplish great things for God's people, he needs the help of others but first things first, he knows that he needs to have God on his side. He knows that he needs to be prepared for the opposition and that he cannot do any of this great work successfully without God's grace.

Nehemiah had some serious time with the Lord, there are few Christ followers that attempt to do great things for the Lord and even fewer that know that they have to have an open relationship with God to accomplish anything great.

Before I begin doing the Lord's work I need to be sure that my relationship with him is good and that the work that I desire to do is a burden on my heart that has come from God.

I want to do great things for you Lord, not for my own glory, I want you to find me useful for you.

Where Is That Bible?

Maybe I should use it more often.

2 Peter 2:1  But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves.

2  Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. 3  In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed.

13  Their destruction is their reward for the harm they have done. They love to indulge in evil pleasures in broad daylight. They are a disgrace and a stain among you. They delight in deception even as they eat with you in your fellowship meals. 14  They commit adultery with their eyes, and their desire for sin is never satisfied. They lure unstable people into sin, and they are well trained in greed. They live under God's curse. 15  They have wandered off the right road and followed the footsteps of Balaam son of Beor, who loved to earn money by doing wrong.

2 Peter 3:3  Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. 4  They will say, "What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created."

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Two good reasons to be in God's word everyday:

So that you won't be deceived by the false prophets and teachers that are all around.

Chapters two and three of Second Peter tell us all about how to spot a false prophet and it spells out exactly how they behave, it also gives us plenty of warning to steer clear of this group so that you won't share in the judgment that is waiting for them.

So that you won't deceive yourself and become a scoffer or a mocker.

What a danger to become one that ridicules the things of God, this may be a person that is led astray on their own without the help of the false teachers. The best way to be wise about the things that are important to God is to study his word every day. He has revealed as much about him as we need to know, for now, through what he has revealed of himself in scripture.

I will stay in God's word everyday so that I will be pleasing to him.

Thank you Lord for showing us how to be pleasing to you and warning us of the destruction of following after false teachings and ideas that we dream up about you.

Thank God

His love is never going to stop.

Psalms 100:1  Shout with joy to the LORD, all the earth! 2 Worship the LORD with gladness. Come before him, singing with joy. 3 Acknowledge that the LORD is God! He made us, and we are his. We are his people, the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving; go into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him and praise his name. 5 For the LORD is good. His unfailing love continues forever, and his faithfulness continues to each generation.

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We are the wealthiest Christ followers that there has ever been in history and yet many of us yearn for more. We have it so good, don't kid yourself into thinking that you don't:

How much money is in your bank account? 80% of the people that share this planet with you exist on less than ten dollars a day.

How many cars does your family have? 93% of the world's population does not have a car.

We have a great God (verse 5) and he has blessed us tremendously but sometimes I think that we think that he isn't so great when we aren't as prosperous as we would like to be. Don't make the mistake that his greatness is defined by how easy your life is, his greatness has nothing to do with how well off I am, even when things don't seem so good to me he is still great and I shouldn't forget it.

Some of his greatness shows in his decision to make us his chosen people (verse 3), we didn't do a thing to get a relationship with him, and we are his only because he reached out to us.

His greatness shows forth in his everlasting love and faithfulness (verse 5), no matter who I turn out to be or what I do, he couldn't love me any less. His love and faithfulness are not dependent on anything that I do.

Thank you Lord for your great love and care for us, we should come to you in praise (verse 2,4) constantly, help us to remember how much we have been blessed and to always be thankful.

Fully Equipped

God has given us the tools.

2 Peter 1:3  By his divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence.

4  And because of his glory and excellence, he has given us great and precious promises. These are the promises that enable you to share his divine nature and escape the world's corruption caused by human desires.

5  In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God's promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, 6  and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness, 7  and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love for everyone.

8  The more you grow like this, the more productive and useful you will be in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9  But those who fail to develop in this way are shortsighted or blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their old sins.

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Do you ever feel like this world is too much to live in and that there is no way to stay away from temptation? Is it even possible to live a Godly life?

According to Peter we have been fully equipped to live a Godly life, a life of moral excellence, knowledge, self-control, patience, Godliness, brotherly affection and love. A lot of the time I don't feel like I am that well equipped, but I have to realize that God wouldn't tell me to do something that is impossible for me to do.

If I am going to be "productive and useful" for the kingdom then there is no other way to live, I cannot look like the rest of the world and expect to be useful to God. What a tragic waste of my life if I live to please myself and refuse to live to please God and become useful for much greater things than this world has to offer.

Help me to look more like you God and less like the world, it's not always easy but I know that you are not asking for more than I can do with your help.

Suffering Has Benefits

It is one of God's favorite tools.

1 Peter 1:6-7  So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while.

7  These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold.

So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

1 Peter 2:21  For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.

1 Peter 3:14, 17  But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don't worry or be afraid of their threats. 17  Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong!

1 Peter 5:10  In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.

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The first letter that Peter wrote to the early church told them a great deal about the fact that they would suffer and how they were to view suffering. Suffering was a fact of life for the early church and it still is for the church in many parts of the world today, it seems that if we are not suffering then perhaps there is something wrong, maybe the average American Christian is too comfortable for his own good.

From our perspective, suffering = bad, uncomfortable, stressful, worry, fear, dread

From God’s perspective, suffering = good, purifying, rewarding, prove your faith, partner with Christ, God’s glory revealed, praise, glory and honor to you, an opportunity to restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation, part of being Christ-like.

In the middle of your trials and suffering, don’t forget that God is good and that he loves you no matter how uncomfortable that he has allowed you to be.

Thank you Lord for reminding us that you are good and that you love us even if we don't get to be comfy and cozy.

Watch Out!

The devil is on the prowl.

1 Peter 5:8-11  Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith. Remember that your Christian brothers and sisters all over the world are going through the same kind of suffering you are.

In his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation.

All power to him forever! Amen.

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Nobody looks forward to being thrown to the lions, it's not a fun place to vacation, the family is never going to ask to go there but we need to realize that we are already there. There is a lion out there and he is hungry and he likes to prey on Christ followers. That is why we are supposed to stay alert and have our spiritual armor on (Ephesians 6:11).

If you are going to do battle the first thing that you have to do is to know your enemy so that you won't be out there shadow boxing, Jesus told us about him:

John 8:44  For you are the children of your father the devil, and you love to do the evil things he does. He was a murderer from the beginning. He has always hated the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, it is consistent with his character; for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Don't even begin to trust the father of lies, there isn't anything that you can hold on to that is for real, God is the only source of absolute truth that we can live by

When Satan is attacking, don't think that you are suffering alone in a personal attack that is focused on you, the whole body of Christ is suffering attacks from him at all times.

If he isn't working on you right now, watch out! The Bible says that when the Devil finished working on Jesus for a while, he didn't stay gone:

Luke 4:13  When the devil had finished tempting Jesus, he left him until the next opportunity came.

I will need to keep my spiritual armor on at all times so that i will be ready for a sneak attack.

Thank you Lord for providing a warning and exposing our enemy for what he really is.

Serving The Ugly Bride

The bride of Christ doesn't always look too pretty.

1 Peter 5:1  And now, a word to you who are elders in the churches. I, too, am an elder and a witness to the sufferings of Christ. And I, too, will share in his glory when he is revealed to the whole world. As a fellow elder, I appeal to you:

2  Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you. Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God.

3  Don't lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example. 4  And when the Great Shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of never-ending glory and honor.

5  In the same way, you younger men must accept the authority of the elders. And all of you, serve each other in humility, for "God opposes the proud but favors the humble." 6  So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor.

7  Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.

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If you think it is difficult as an ordinary everyday Christ follower to keep yourself on the straight and narrow, try being a leader of the church with everybody watching you.

They have been entrusted with the care of the bride of Christ, a bride that is supposed to be beautiful but at times this bride is downright ugly. All the bickering over petty junk and all the quarrels about what the music should sound like and how the sermon should be preached cause the bride to get far from being beautiful.

Still they must lead by example and they must lead cheerfully, eager to serve God, so that the bride of Christ will learn by example to serve with humility. If our leaders are not joyful in their walk with Christ how can they ask other people to join them in serving?

I will encourage my pastor and other church leaders so that they will be eager to continue serving God.

Help your bride Lord to see how ugly she can be, help us to serve humbly as we seek to make you famous one person at a time.

Where Is The Cake?

So you thought life was going to be a piece of cake, I could use some of that cake.

1 Peter 4:12 Dear friends, don't be surprised at the fiery trials you are going through, as if something strange were happening to you. 13 Instead, be very glad—for these trials make you partners with Christ in his suffering, so that you will have the wonderful joy of seeing his glory when it is revealed to all the world.

14 So be happy when you are insulted for being a Christian, for then the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you. 15 If you suffer, however, it must not be for murder, stealing, making trouble, or prying into other people's affairs. 16 But it is no shame to suffer for being a Christian. Praise God for the privilege of being called by his name! 17 For the time has come for judgment, and it must begin with God's household. And if judgment begins with us, what terrible fate awaits those who have never obeyed God's Good News? 18 And also, "If the righteous are barely saved, what will happen to godless sinners?"

19 So if you are suffering in a manner that pleases God, keep on doing what is right, and trust your lives to the God who created you, for he will never fail you.

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Did the "fiery" trials take you by surprise, probably not. You probably went through them before, and just like the last time you probably were not happy about it. Too bad life isn't a cake walk, we all like cake but trials is a different story.

What an unusual response to hardship, to be glad is totally opposite from what our human nature tells us to do. It is just natural to seek the easy and the comfortable but God never told us to seek after those two things.

We do need to be careful that we don't make our own trouble, God tells us that if the trials came upon us because of our sin then it is your suffering to bear, he isn't going to reach down and do away with the consequences of the mess we made.

But it is a privilege if you suffer for being a Christ follower. Don't worry about what the score is down here because after the Lord returns you will saved, you can trust your life to the one who created you and loves you. It is difficult to view suffering as a blessing but if I continue to do what is right my blessing will come it could be now or in the life to come.

I must remember that despite the trouble I endure down here, I can be sure that he will never fail me.

I Am A Minister

There is work that each of us needs to do.

1 Peter 4:10-11  God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another.

Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you.

Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies.

Then everything you do will bring glory to God through Jesus Christ. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.

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Nine times out of ten God chooses to use his children to accomplish his will. He could just speak and it would be done but instead he wants us to use the gifts that he has given to us so that we can contribute to the welfare of others.

That guy down at the church that only works two days a week, as some may think, he is a minister but guess what so are you. God wants us all to minister, whether by a good deed, by wise counsel, by advice, by giving to the poor, or by preaching. We are all ministers when we use our spiritual gifts to benefit others.

Sometimes we don't want to minister and we can resent that God gave us a gift to use, it makes us go out of our way or it makes us adjust our focus on somebody else, but we are told to use our gift "with all the strength and energy that God supplies." I need to put my gifts into practice with enthusiasm.

Lord help your people to see that they are your hands and feet, help us to see that we are to use our abilities to help those in need.

Dust In The Wind

All we are is dust in the wind.

1 Peter 4:1  So then, since Christ suffered physical pain, you must arm yourselves with the same attitude he had, and be ready to suffer, too. For if you have suffered physically for Christ, you have finished with sin. 2  You won't spend the rest of your lives chasing your own desires, but you will be anxious to do the will of God.

3  You have had enough in the past of the evil things that godless people enjoy—their immorality and lust, their feasting and drunkenness and wild parties, and their terrible worship of idols.

4  Of course, your former friends are surprised when you no longer plunge into the flood of wild and destructive things they do. So they slander you. 5  But remember that they will have to face God, who will judge everyone, both the living and the dead. 6  That is why the Good News was preached to those who are now dead—so although they were destined to die like all people, they now live forever with God in the Spirit.

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Dust in the wind, that was the title of the hit song by the group Kansas, and the year was 1977. The title of the song describes the way our earthly desires should look to the Christ follower.

Everybody is born with the desire to satisfy themselves, chasing after our own desires has a price tag, when I are so busy worrying about me then I tend to forget about what God wants me to do.

It is easy to say you are a Christ follower but if you look just like the rest of the world, throwing wild parties with drug and alcohol use, giving in to lust and immorality as a part of our everyday lives, then how will the world know that you are a Christ follower? Your old friends will not be able to understand what in the world happened to you but you can be sure that they will ask and then you will have an opportunity to share with them why you are different.

1 Peter 3:15  You must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it.

Christ died to give me peace, hope and joy. All of these things can be found in him so why do we spend so much time looking for it in other places?

Jesus help me to always be satisfied in you, help me to rest in your peace, hope and joy instead of looking for it in the world.

What’s The Difference?

Do you look like God's kid?

1 Peter 3:8-17  Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude. 9  Don't repay evil for evil. Don't retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it.

10,11  For the Scriptures say:

"If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, Keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies. Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it.

12  The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil."

13  Now, who will want to harm you if you are eager to do good?

14  But even if you suffer for doing what is right, God will reward you for it. So don't worry or be afraid of their threats. 15  Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. 16  But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ.

17  Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong!

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Sometimes when I miss an opportunity to say something that will open up a conversation about Jesus, it is easy to say that my live is a testimony and that the way that I live is showing people the gospel, but is it really doing that? Do they seem amazed or say "Wow!"

This scripture gives us a great list of qualities that we are supposed to have incorporated into our lives, but I am wondering just how well we are doing, are we really looking much different than the rest of the world?

Verses one and fifteen talk about the way that I live should be so different that unbelievers should be aware that something is different in my lifestyle, my way of life should speak up for me, and they should be curious enough to ask me why I live this way. The fact that nobody is asking me why I am different makes me wonder if I am really living for God in the world in a way that causes me to stand out or am I just another nice guy.

I need to live so that people will see my good life and they will be able to tell it is because I belong to Jesus (verse 16).

Help us to be serious about living for you Lord. Help us to realize that we can talk the gospel all we want but if we don't look different from the rest of the world then they won't see any value in having a relationship with you.

Everything You Do, Do For Him

I need to stay on God's path.

1 Peter 2:21  For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps.

22  He never sinned, nor ever deceived anyone. 23  He did not retaliate when he was insulted, nor threaten revenge when he suffered. He left his case in the hands of God, who always judges fairly. 24 He personally carried our sins in his body on the cross so that we can be dead to sin and live for what is right. By his wounds you are healed.

25  Once you were like sheep who wandered away. But now you have turned to your Shepherd, the Guardian of your souls.

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What a big challenge in today's lesson, it's not a news flash, everybody knows that sometimes doing good really hurts, and sometimes following Christ example isn't easy, but that is how we are supposed to live.

What an example, he didn't sin, retaliate or seek revenge even when he was faced with trials far beyond what I will ever see. How many times have I acted out when I was wronged or told a lie to try to make things turn in my favor?

Instead of getting ugly, he put his faith in God, Jesus kept on going on the mission that he was sent here to accomplish. We committed everything that he had to that mission and trusted God to help him get the job done.

Psalms 37:5-6  Commit everything you do to the LORD. Trust him, and he will help you. He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn, and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.

To keep from wasting my life away I need to commit everything that I do to the Lord. How productive would my life be for things that really matter if I committed everything I do to the Lord? Most of us are living for self and are not doing much that really matters for the kingdom, we are following after our own desires and not accomplishing a fraction of what God wants to do through us if we could get to the point of committing everything that we do to him.

Isaiah 53:6  All of us, like sheep, have strayed away. We have left God's paths to follow our own. Yet the LORD laid on him the sins of us all.

Thank you Lord for being my Shepherd and Guardian of my soul, I pray that I will follow the paths that the Shepherd is leading me on and that I won't waste a moment of my life but that I will commit everything that I do to you.

Keep It Simple

Just the basics to help you get started.

1 Peter 2:15-17  It is God's will that your honorable lives should silence those ignorant people who make foolish accusations against you. For you are free, yet you are God's slaves, so don't use your freedom as an excuse to do evil. Respect everyone, and love your Christian brothers and sisters. Fear God, and respect the king.

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Sometimes it is easy to think that the Bible is so big and so difficult, how can I possibly know how to live, but that is so far from the truth.

There are a lot of difficult passages but there are some basics that as a Christian I can know these precepts on how to live and I will be able to know how to live a life that is pleasing to God.

• live a life of honor or high esteem
  
• keep from evil
  
• respect everyone
  
• love your Christian brothers and sisters
  
• fear God
  
• respect the king
  

That sums up the way that a Christian should live. Maybe we make it more complex than this because we want to rationalize something that we want to get away with. Or maybe we make up more rules so that we can control others so they will please us.

I should live each day with these verses in my thoughts so that I will be able to please God in my everyday life.

Help us to keep it simple Lord. I pray that in my life and in my church that we will adhere to the basics and not get caught up in complex rules about how to live or how to do church.