Hebrews 11:24-27 - By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, 25 choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, 26 considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward. NASU
Can you imagine all of the benefits he turned down by not allowing himself to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter? Just look at all the benefits the kids of the Presidents of the United States get compared to ordinary Americans. The second thing his faith did was choose for him to endure ill-treatment. In other words, he chose to suffer with the people of God rather that enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. Who does that? A person who has faith in God and is willing to suffer and suffer Moses did. Moses was not suffering without hope. Look at the last seven words: "for he was looking to the reward." What reward? The promises of God were Moses' reward. The third thing his faith did was "considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt…" Can we say, our faith says; bring on the reproach of Christ for it is greater by far than the treasures of the USA? One thing we will notice when we read about the life of Moses is here is a man who suffered. He suffered at the hands of his enemies. His enemies were those who had no faith (The Egyptians) and his enemies were from those who were supposed to be people of faith (The Israelites). His faith at the end of his life was stronger than the faith at the beginning of his life, but what is so unusual about that? I would say my faith is stronger today than it was in 1975. The last thing I want to say about Moses' faith is this it took him on a journey. When he left Egypt at 40 years of age until he left earth at 120 years of age during those 80 years his faith led him on a journey. He was constantly learning lessons that drew him ever closer to the LORD. At first he didn't believe he was the man to lead the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage, but later on he was the man that lifted his staff and parted the Red Sea, and a little later he climb Mt. Sinai and received the 10 commandments from God. As you journey in this life with the LORD your faith will grow and if you are like Moses it will be on account of you look to the reward that lies ahead.
If your faith is like Moses' faith then you know this is a journey and for Moses his journey last 80 years. Let your faith be like Moses and in so doing you will be able to say that you are: "considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt (USA); for he was looking to the reward." Keep your eyes on the reward and the reward is eternal life in Heaven with the Lord Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. Always remember what the apostle Paul said, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us." (Rom. 8:18) All of God's servants seem to have this one thing in common and that is we all suffer, but once we arrive in Heaven and God's glory is revealed to us. We will not remember the sufferings that we had to endure here on earth. Think About This: We learn some things from prosperity, but we learn many more from adversity. FYI - January 30th - I will be preaching at the Severn Christian Church at 10:30 am in Severn, MD. I hope to see some of you there. They do livestream their services. Their website address is: https://www.severnchristian.org/ Look for the icon that says "Watch Live". Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God’s Word
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Luke 18:38-42 - And he called out, saying, "Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!" 39 Those who led the way were sternly telling him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more, "Son of David, have mercy on me!" 40 And Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him; and when he came near, He questioned him, 41 "What do you want Me to do for you?" And he said, "Lord, I want to regain my sight!" 42 And Jesus said to him, "Receive your sight; your faith has made you well." NASU
His Faith Led Him To Try Something This blind man was led by his faith to yell out for Jesus to have mercy on him. Where has your faith been leading you? No, seriously, where has your faith been leading you? Have you ever met a person who was really alive? One guy says, "They have passion for something they want to accomplish." I say, "They have faith and are living accordingly. They aren't afraid to try something others would consider crazy." His Faith Was Opposed This man was crying out to Jesus and those who were leading him were sternly telling him to be quiet. Do you understand the ramifications of their advice? If he had listened he would have remained blind. You cannot expect people who don't have the faith you do to support you or even understand what you are trying to accomplish. If your faith is leading you to try something out of the ordinary and others are telling you to "forget about your crazy idea." You are probably on the right path. You need to know your faith in something will many times be opposed by others just like this blind man's faith was opposed. All great plans are opposed and many times from the ones you went to for support. The blind man was "STERNLY" told to be quiet by those who were leading him. The ones who were supposed to know what they were doing and where they were going were 100% wrong. We have probably all read the saying, "The Ark was built by amateurs and the Titanic by professionals." Has Your Faith Led You To Being Threatened Or Ridiculed? The blind man was threatened to "shut up" but that didn't stop him. In 1979 I wanted to go to Bible College and as I shared my idea with other people I was told this was the craziest idea that I have ever had and that I had a lot of crazy ones, but this was right up at the top. I was informed (as if I didn't know) that I had a family and who was going to support my family if I were in college? I was reminded of my past that I had been out of high school 9 years and if you will remember you weren't that great of a student in high school. Last but not least you have a great job as a union Boilermaker. You are going to throw away a job that some people would love to have to chase after this crazy dream? Faith Is Always Rewarded Well, my faith led me to Eastern Christian College in August 1979, I graduated in 1983, my family survived the experience, and pretty much every negative thing that was said to me about going to college NEVER HAPPENED. I do want you to know that my faith was tested while in college, but I kept believing and stuck to my plan. His Faith Was Rewarded The blind man and Jesus have an encounter and Jesus asks him, "What do you want Me to do for you?" He says, "Lord, I want to receive my sight!" In other words, his faith has led him here to ask Jesus for help. Have you ever wondered why those who were leading the way wanted him to be quiet? What were they thinking? It really doesn't matter what they were thinking because whatever it was they were wrong. Did you see what Jesus said? "Receive your sight; YOUR FAITH has made you well." His faith was rewarded because he would not listen to the naysayers. His faith was rewarded. Has your faith led you to your reward? What Reward Is Your Faith Going To Bring You? No, I am serious where is your faith going to lead you? We don't just read the Bible and say, "Oh that was nice, good for him or her." The Word of God is for us and it is to challenge us to Step Up and Step Out on Faith. So get your faith in gear and Get Going With God. Think on These: Mankind needs a faith that will not shrink when washed in the waters of adversity and affliction. Feed your faith and doubt will starve to death. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word When You Have Faith You Don't Need This.
Mk 16:2-4 - Very early on the first day of the week, they came to the tomb when the sun had risen. They were saying to one another, "Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?" Looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled away, although it was extremely large. NASU
These three women, Mary, Mary, and Salome, did not know how they were going to move the extremely large stone, but they didn't let that stop them from walking to the tomb. I have been in way too many meetings where the people were frozen with fear to do anything because according to them they didn't have all the answers. They couldn't possibly be expected to make a rational decision without first investigating this issue. Mary, Mary, and Salome had no idea how they were going to move the extremely large stone but that was not going to stop them from going to the tomb to anoint the body of Jesus.
Let me say it this way, "They had faith and God rewarded their faith by sending an angel to remove the stone."
Or are you like these three ladies? They had a partial plan. They waited until the Sabbath was over and then they bought the spices they would need to anoint Jesus' body. They then travel to the tomb with the spices and were going to anoint His body except there was one problem. He wasn't there. He had resurrected. They met an angel but didn't even know it. I wonder how many times we humans have met angels and didn't recognize them (Hebrews 13:2 - Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by this some have entertained angels without knowing it.)? So what about your faith? Do you have a desire, a passion, and a partial plan and as far as you are concerned that is enough. Have you launched out on your journey? When you meet obstacles do you believe God will help you move them out of your way? If so, that my friends is faith. You don't have all the answers but you trust in God. You believe you will succeed and so you launch out from shore. May you enjoy your journey and may every obstacle you encounter only strengthen your faith. Think On These: Faith is the daring of the soul to go farther than it can see. Faith with works is a Force. Faith without works is a farce. In all relationships of life, faith is worthless unless it leads to action. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word 1 Peter 1:8-9 -"…though you have not seen Him, you love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, obtaining as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls. NASU
Peter states they have not seen Jesus Christ, but they love Him. They have heard about Jesus being crucified and resurrected from the dead. When I read those words the other day it was like they jumped off the page and said, "Serago, this verse is describing you and your Pump Up readers". I have not nor have you ever seen Jesus Christ, but we love Him. Think about how the knowledge of Jesus Christ has changed our lives. Peter continues with not only do we love Him but we believe in Him. We believe in Him so much Peter exclaims, "we greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory." We believe in Jesus tremendously and in our belief, we greatly rejoice.
We suffer or are persecuted today in the United States for Jesus, but it is in a much different way. I believe the overabundance of material items that causes lust and greed to form in our hearts, which if left alone to take control of our lives will bring about our spiritual death. In order for lust and greed to take control of our hearts then our faith in Jesus Christ must be pushed out of our lives. Paul says this in 2 Timothy 3:12- Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. What he doesn't say is how the persecution will come. As Peter encouraged those 1st Century Christians he let them know that by keeping their faith the final outcome would result in the salvation of their souls.
I know you have never seen Jesus Christ, but I know you love Him. Not only do I know you love Him, I know you believe in Him. You believe Jesus was crucified on the cross of Calvary, buried in a tomb, and resurrected on the 3rd day from the dead. You believe this truth so much you greatly rejoice with joy to the point it is inexpressible. All you have to do is keep believing this about Jesus and it will bring the final outcome of salvation to your souls. My gift to you is I believe in you. I believe this about you all. I believe with all my heart you can endure any persecution or suffering and remain faithful to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Keep CHRIST in Christmas. Think About This: Truth is not always popular, but it is always right. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word Judges 7:2 - The LORD said to Gideon, "The people who are with you are too many for Me to give Midian into their hands, for Israel would become boastful, saying, 'My own power has delivered me.' …" NASU
God wanted Israel to trust Him then. God wants us to trust Him today.
Are we facing prideful enemies today? Has the job promotion helped us or hurt us? Has leading a Bible study helped or hurt us? We have an enemy who is constantly trying to get us to believe we can get through this life without God's help. There is one who wants us to believe what we have accomplished we have done it on our own.
The devil has been very successful in getting God's children to sin. Sin has conquered all people except Jesus Christ. Adam and Eve's sin in the garden, David's numbering Israel and Samson's sin of using his strength incorrectly were all three sins which fall under the category of Pride of Life. You and I need to know the devil will use the Pride of Life to conquer us. We must stay alert for we have an enemy who seeks to hurt us by getting us to be prideful. One of my mentors told me this on numerous occasions: "Don't believe everything people say about you, good or bad."
The way to defeat temptations is to know God has provided for you a way to escape. While visiting with some friends in Florida we all decided to go to an Escape Room. They go over some rules with you and then place you in a room and give you 45 minutes or an hour to escape. If you escape you can have the feelings of accomplishment. If you don't they show you how you could have escaped by using the clues that were in the room. God has given us all the clues we need to escape every temptation the devil throws at us. You have not been left alone. God has not only provided the way to escape He has given us a map (The Bible) how to get out of the temptations we are facing.
First, he said to Jesus, "If you are the Son of God turn these stones into bread." The devil tried to get Jesus to doubt Himself. Jesus had been fasting so the devil tries tempting Him with a Lust of the Flesh temptation. Jesus quotes scripture to the devil, the same road map we have in our possession and we have the example of Jesus defeating the devil. Therefore, we can defeat him as well if we will follow the course Jesus used. The devil will try and get you to doubt yourself. Secondly, he said to Jesus, "If you are the Son of God, throw Yourself down; for it is written, He will command His angels concerning You;…" With this temptation, the devil uses the Pride of Life against Jesus. It fails also. Jesus quotes scripture to him. Thirdly, he said to Jesus, "I will give you all these kingdoms if You will worship me." Jesus once again will quote scripture and the devil's Lust of the Eyes temptation is defeated. God had provided a way to escape and each time it was using the Holy Scriptures. The more of the Word of God you know the better equipped you will be to overcome all temptations. Think About These: Pride hides a man's faults to himself and magnifies them to everyone else. When success turns a man's head, it leaves him looking in the wrong direction. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word |
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