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Mt 25:20-21 - "The one who had received the five talents came up and brought five more talents, saying, 'Master, you entrusted five talents to me. See, I have gained five more talents.' 21 "His master said to him, 'Well done, good and faithful slave…" NASU
Jesus is trying to teach His disciples to be prudent, prepared and use the abilities that they have been given wisely. Mt 25:15 -"To one he gave five talents, to another, two, and to another, one, each according to his own ability…" NASU
Let's investigate some statements people have said to me.
Then you are the perfect person to teach others how to endure and overcome suffering. You certainly don't want to miss this great opportunity to teach others. Isn't that what we are supposed to be doing in life? We are to be learning the hard and difficult lessons and then sharing what we've learned with others. Eph 4:28 - "…rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need." NASU In Ephesians Paul is talking about why we work so that we can share with the one who has a need. This same principal is valid with what we experience in life.
We see people attend Alcoholic Anonymous meetings so that they can share some of their life stories to help the people who are in attendance. A person who has overcome cancer is better qualified to speak to someone who is presently in the battle on what they did to stay strong and keep moving forward. We have all experienced some difficulties in life and that qualifies us to share with others what we did that worked for us and didn't work for us during those difficult times.
What have you survived, overcome, struggled with, or experienced that you need to start sharing to help others? You certainly didn't think that you were going to go through this learning experience and then not share your knowledge with anyone, did you? Think on These: The best advice you'll get is from someone who made the same mistake himself. Education is what you get from reading the small print in a contract. Experience is what you get from not reading it. A wise man learns by the experiences of others. An ordinary man learns by his own experiences. A fool learns by nobody's experiences. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word
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Lk 14:2-4 - And there in front of Him was a man suffering from dropsy. 3 And Jesus answered and spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath, or not?" 4 But they kept silent. And He took hold of him and healed him, and sent him away. NASU
Jesus knew the truth about what God wanted Him to accomplish and He did it. You have to know what you are doing is the correct thing even while being criticized or persecuted. When you know in your heart you are doing the right thing it is easier to continue on with the task.
We can see that man's traditions once again were violating the Word of God. One thing we need to remember and that is "It is never wrong to do the right thing." There are some people who are very outspoken and they will try to stop you from doing the right thing. You must move forward deliberately even in the face of opposition.
He said, he was driving to one of our worship services and he saw an elderly woman standing by her disabled vehicle. He stopped to help her and became involved in the situation and by the time he had helped her fix her vehicle the worship service was finished. I told Larry that he had done exactly what Jesus had wanted him to do. The next Sunday as I was greeting people after the service an elderly lady came up to me and said a man from this congregation had stopped to help her last week and she tried to pay him. She said the only payment he would accept is for her to attend one of our worship services. She said so please tell him I said thanks and that I did attend.
I believe Larry was exactly like Jesus when he was helping that elderly lady. I am sure some modern day Pharisees would have found fault with Larry but I wasn't going to find fault with him because the way I see it "It is never wrong to do right" regardless of the day. I wonder how many times that elderly lady told the story of how her car broke down and a nice young Christian man stopped to help her?
In life you can find two types of people - there are the Givers and the Takers. Larry was a giver all the time. What makes Larry's story even more remarkable was the amount of suffering he endured on a daily basis. If I told you of his struggles you would be saying, "Where does he get his strength? or How does he find the strength to get out of bed?" When others would have quit, become cynical or walked away from their faith not Larry. He endured hardships like a true spiritual warrior. So who are we helping today? We won't help anyone if we aren't looking for people to help. It has to become a part of our mindset. Because we all know that "it is never wrong to do right". Find someone today that you can help, I am sure you will be glad that you did. After all that is why Jesus came to earth to do good and help people who had gotten themselves into a terrible fix. Think on These: What you give lives. You can give without loving, but you can't love without giving. The manner of giving is worth more than the gift. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Gen. 9:14 - "And it shall come to pass...."
The phrase "And it shall come to pass…" is used over 100 times in the King James Version of the Old Testament. I would like to encourage you to memorize this passage of scripture. It is only 6 words: "And it shall come to pass." If you will remember this Bible phrase it will definitely be a valuable asset to you during times in your life when you're being tried. · When You Are Experiencing Good Times When you are having an absolutely great time in life and you don't think it can get any better. You are probably right. So enjoy it to the max because "it shall come to pass."What will come to pass? Everything! If life has taught me anything it is the good times come and the good times go. The best thing we can do is be ready for life's up and downs. · When You Are Experiencing Rough Times If everything in your life is a mess, chaos is surrounding you and challenging you to get out of bed so that it can hit you in the mouth and knock you down again. Just remember those 6 words "and it shall come to pass." Everything has a life span. Good times and bad times all have a life span. The major key here is that you know they will have an end. Enjoy the good times in your life and endure the hard times. · How To Endure The Hard Times If you are going to get through your tough times you are going to need to be what I call "mentally tough". You have to believe that you can outlast the difficulty that you are facing. I remember a wrestling coach talking to his wrestlers and telling them that when they go into an overtime period that they really need to be "mentally tough". They can't think about being tired or that they have wrestled 6 minutes (High School) or 7 minutes (College). All they can think about is that they are NOT going to lose. The wrestler has to tell himself that he is "mentally tough" and that he is going to score first. When life hits you and knocks you down picture yourself getting back up spitting the blood from your mouth. Then you look your tough times right in the eye and you say these words, "Is that all you got?" And then you laugh. You laugh long and laugh loud but you laugh. You let the tough times know if they thought you were going to be some pushover they just made their first mistake. They underestimated their opponent. I remember talking with a man one time that told me, "Gary, What doesn't kill you will only make you stronger." You know I have come to believe that statement. The longer I live the more I can see the truth in it. · How Do You Keep Going When You Want To Quit? Seriously, I thought I was very close to death a few times or maybe I should say I wanted to die. If you are in a battle right now let me be the one to encourage you. Hang in there! This challenge will come to pass. If you have been reading my Pump Ups then you are "mentally tough". Do you hear me? You are "mentally tough". You can endure this. I know you can. All you have to do is get through this day, today. Tomorrow is when everything will begin to change.
One other passage of scripture that I have memorized to help me get through the tough times is Matt. 9:27 it says, "Have mercy on us, Son of David!" I change the "us" to "me" and I say it over and over again."Have Mercy On Me, Son of David!" I then start to believe that the Mercy of God is coming and it is never late. The Mercy of God is always on time. I can endure until the Mercy of God arrives. Now go out there and either ENJOY the good times or ENDURE the tough times because they both have a life span. You remember tough times don't last, tough people do. You are "mentally tough". Think on These: A Christian shows what he is by what he does with what he has. Don't sit back and take what comes. Go after what you want. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Acts 9:23-25 - When many days had elapsed, the Jews plotted together to do away with him, 24 but their plot became known to Saul. They were also watching the gates day and night so that they might put him to death; 25 but his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a large basket. NASU
There were some Jews who had listened to him for a few days and now they have heard enough. There is only one thing to do with Saul and that is kill him. It is quite evident that he has lost his mind according to them. They liked Saul when he was persecuting those who believed Jesus to be the Messiah, but now they see him as a traitor. Their plan was to kill this new messenger of Jesus the Messiah. Yet, on the other hand, there were some Jews who had listened to him preaching about Jesus and they were glad to hear his conversion story and accept Jesus as the Messiah.
They were bewildered and embarrassed by Saul's knowledge of the scriptures. Maybe you have gone through a conversion to Jesus and people are bewildered by it. This happens to a lot of Christians. Your goal is to grow closer to the Lord regardless of what other people think of you. Don't let this surprise you nor deflate you spiritually. Your plan needs to continue to study God's Word and help those who will listen to you.
Can you see all of these disciples working together for a common goal? We have to save the life of Saul because he definitely believes like we do that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God. They get Saul to get in the basket (how much faith did that take) and while men lift up the basket with Saul in it there are men holding the ropes as they let go of the basket. These rope holders are heroes. Can you imagine for a second if they would have dropped the basket and Saul would have died once he and the basket hit the ground? Thirteen books of New Testament that were written by Paul would be non-existent and it would be 14 books if you believe Paul is the author of the book of Hebrews, like I do. These roper holders were playing a bigger part in history of Christianity than they could ever have imagined. Are you playing a bigger part in Christianity than you are imagining today?
Do you think that any of these rope holders knew that Saul would become the Apostle Paul and write over half of the New Testament that you and I can read everyday? Whatever you are doing today see yourself as a roper holder. Vision what you are doing everyday is going to be used by God to make a huge difference in Christianity. Think on These: People may doubt what you say, but they'll believe what you do. Some people entertain ideas; others put them to work. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word |
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