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Matt. 8:5-10 - And when Jesus entered Capernaum, a centurion came to Him, and saying, "Lord, my servant is lying paralyzed at home, fearfully tormented." Jesus said to him, "I will come and heal him." But the centurion said, "Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof, but just say the word, and my servant will be healed.
"For I also am a man under authority, with soldiers under me; and I say to this one, 'Go!' and he goes, and to another, 'Come!' and he comes, and to my slave, 'Do this!' and he does it." Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those who were following, "Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel."
A centurion worked for the hated Roman Empire. He was in charge of or had authority over 100 men and this is where his name "centurion" or "100" derives. He was one who had sworn allegiance to the Roman Empire and he would do exactly as he was commanded. He was given the authority to put down any type of uprising by any means necessary. If you have read anything about the Jewish people in Jesus' day they always had a plot in action to overthrow the hated Roman Government. One famous Jewish insurrectionist was Barabbas. Mark 15:7 - The man named Barabbas had been imprisoned with the insurrectionists who had committed murder in the insurrection. NASU He was the one who was released by Pilate and then they crucified Jesus.
But if you really want to talk about him may I suggest you talk about his GREAT faith. Jesus said, "Truly I say to you, I have not found such great faith with anyone in Israel." He didn't have faith, he had GREAT faith.
Second, he understood "his sinfulness". He said to Jesus, "Lord, I am not worthy for You to come under my roof,…" I am pretty sure some of the most horrific sins this man had committed came rushing into his guilty conscience. He was so moved with guilt he tells the Lord that he was not worthy to have him come to his house.
He does have all authority and it says this about Him in Matt.28:18 - And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth..." He doesn't possess some authority. He possesses all authority and not just here on earth but in Heaven as well. Secondly, we must comprehend our own sinfulness. The Israelites who stood there and couldn't understand how Jesus could heal a leper and help a centurion's servant didn't understand their own sins. They were focused on the sins of others. You will never have amazing faith until you understand what Jesus did for you in regard to your sinfulness. You will never have a great faith when all you do is look at others and how sinful they are. If we really want to look at a sinner all we have to do is look into a mirror. How will we arrive at having great faith? This will happen when we truly understand Jesus' authority and our sinfulness. Think About These: Faith doesn't demand miracles, but it often accomplishes them. Doubt makes mountains. Faith moves mountains. Faith helps us walk fearlessly, run confidently, and live victoriously. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word
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Rom. 12:2 - And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. NASB
2 Corin. 3:18 - But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. NASB
According to the Apostle Paul, you need to know you are going to have to make some changes in your mind which will bring about changes in your behavior. Why do we need to go through this transformation? So we can prove what the will of God is. For years I have had people say to me, "I just wish I knew what the will of God was for me." I can tell you this much if you are not reading His Word and praying to Him, you will never find out what God's Will is for your life. Notice what Paul says, "…the will of God is, that which is GOOD, and ACCEPTABLE and PERFECT."
In the Old Testament after Moses had received the 10 commandments from God and descended from Mt. Sinai, he had to put on a veil and cover his face. This covering was to hide the Glory of God from the Israelites. It is just the opposite in the New Testament. We don't hide from the Glory of God. We are to reflect the Glory of God so that others can see this glory and desire to have the Glory of God in their lives. The issue here is if we are not going through a metamorphosis (aka- transformation) personally, we are missing out on reflecting Christ to those around us. We should become more and more like Jesus and Paul tells us why. The reason is, we don't have a veiled face and we are looking directly into the Glory of the Lord. Looking into God's glory will bring about the result that we will be a reflection of Jesus? How cool is that?
Paul said, "be transformed by the renewing of your mind,…" It is our mind that must be renewed and it is our mind that must go through a transformation. It is not enough to know a Christian we have to be one. Seriously, let's ask ourselves this question: "How much do I resemble Jesus?" Think About These: We can change the world by changing ourselves. Where we go and what we do advertise what we are. Stay Pumped Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word 1 Corinthians 15:53-57 - For this perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, "DEATH IS SWALLOWED UP in victory.
"O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?" The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. NASU
I am sure you won't get any argument from anyone 40 years old or older about the effects of aging. We are decaying, or in other words, we are not able to do what we did when we were 18 or 21 years of age and that is a fact. But we have a body that is coming that will allow us to never decay, age or lose our vitality. Second, we are going to become immortal. This means we will never die again. The Greek word for immortal is "athanasia" which means "no death or deathlessness." You may recognize the word "euthanasia" which means "a good death." The word "eu" in Greek means "good or well" and is used as a prefix in many English words. Another word is "eulogy" or good words spoken about a person at a funeral. Paul is able to mock death because he views death as a defeated enemy. You and I can mock death if we will have the faith in Jesus Christ.
We can receive this "victory" by being "in Christ." The Greek word for "victory" is a very popular word and one I am sure you'll recognize. It is the word "Nike." The shoe manufacturer's name means "victory or victorious." When Nike started their company they saw themselves as being "victorious" in business. My question for you is this, "How do you see yourself when you will meet death face to face?" Do you see yourself getting the "Nike" or "Victory"? If you have faith in Jesus Christ you can be as assured as the Apostle Paul that when you meet death "face to face" the "Nike" will be yours.
Have you been "born of God" or "born again"? John 3:3-7 - Jesus answered and said to him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to Him, "How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born, can he?" Jesus answered, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. "That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. "Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' NASU I was born again March 2, 1975 when I went down into a watery grave (aka- baptism) and was resurrected to walk in newness of life. Baptism is a transliterated word from the Greek. The translation of this Greek word is "immerse". I hope you will be "victorious" in this life by being able to defeat death when you meet it face to face. You can be "Nike". Think About This: The only thing worse than growing old is to be denied the privilege. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Matt. 26:41 - "... the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." NASU
Then it would happen. I would wake up the next day and my motivation was gone. I mean it had vanished over night. Where in the world did all of my positive thoughts go? I was now thinking that was the dumbest idea I had ever had. There was no way I could have completed that goal. In my BC (Before Christ) days I would have asked myself "What have you been smoking?" Who was I trying to kid by thinking that way. Then it was like another Gary Serago would appear and start telling me it was a great goal and I should refocus and begin to bring that goal to fruition. If you have ever had days like that I believe I have discovered the answer. In Matt. 26:41 Jesus says, "…the spirit is willing, BUT (emphasis mine) the flesh is weak."
When I started sharing my goal with others they thought I had lost my mind. Some said, "I thought you quit doing drugs when you became a Christian." Others asked me "You aren't serious are you?" Some reminded me I didn't do that great in high school and how was I ever going to get through college. Then it happened. I started to let what others were saying to have an affect on me. My flesh started to take over and doubts were coming at me in every direction. It was like Jesus said, "… the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." Some of the things people said were correct. I did have a great job as a Union Boilermaker and many guys would have loved to have been in that union. They were also correct I didn't do that great in high school. They proposed a good question to me when they said, "How was my family going to survive if I weren't working?" "I didn't know." was my answer. I was going to step out in faith and believe God would provide. "Wow! You are an idiot!" seemed to be the common answer.
How did it all come to fruition? I allowed my spirit to be lead by the Holy Spirit because my spirit was willing and I just needed to keep the flesh out of the equation. If you have lost your motivation about some goal you have set for yourself my advice is let your spirit be in control and not your flesh. Remember to step out in faith and believe that GOD will provide. God provided for me. Think About This: Failure is not the opposite of success. It is a part of success. Changing your mindset from negative to positive will be a game changer. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Eph. 5: 15-16 - "Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, 16 making the most of your time,…" NASU
Successful people know they must control or make the most of their time. They cannot allow distractions to come into their lives because this will take them away from accomplishing their goals. There are a lot of great authors in the world about how to manage your time but I believe Steve Pavlina said it best when he asks a question and then answers it.
So let me ask you a question. How is your time management? If you haven't decided what to do then it isn't going anywhere. The first challenge for us to successfully manage our time is to decide what it is that we want to accomplish. You will notice that this will work for a person who is 7 to 97 years old.
Once you have decided what it is that you want to accomplish that is where your focus needs to be.
John 6:15 - So Jesus, perceiving that they were intending to come and take Him by force to make Him king, withdrew again to the mountain by Himself alone. Anytime I think of distractions I think of how the people want to make Jesus king. Now when you look at this it appears harmless and even helpful to the people, BUT this would have been the biggest distraction of all time if Jesus gave up on His goal to become an earthly king. Jesus' goal was not to become an earthly king. He was going to become the spiritual king and all He had to do was continue to live the sinless life and give His blood to atone for the sins of mankind, which He did.
Is a relationship going to come in and distract you from accomplishing your goals? There are a lot of athletes out there that could have been champions but they innocently got into a relationship that wrecked their careers. If you don't believe me ask any high school or college coach if they can name you one athlete who would not listen to them and ended their athletic careers to soon. What about the temptation of more money if you will do something else? What about a goal that appears more challenging? Could pride enter into your life and bring you down or could it be a physical injury that sidelines you? And we all know there have been way too many people become distracted with alcohol and drugs. There are a lot of other situations that could become distractions you just have to be ready to overcome them like any other opponent. Think About These: There are more trap doors to failure than there are short cuts to success. The average man doesn't usually increase his average. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word |
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