Prov. 14:21 - He who despises his neighbor sins;
But he who has mercy on the poor, happy is he.

• What Not To Do        

You do not want to "despise" your neighbor. The Hebrew word here for "despise" means to believe your neighbor is insignificant and show contempt for this person. I am blessed as I am surrounded by great neighbors now, but it was not always this way. 

When I was young living in Lisbon, Ohio playing baseball in my back yard was challenging. If you hit the ball in my neighbor’s yard, Mrs. R would take our ball and not give it back to us. The moment we started playing baseball she would exit her house and sit on her porch and wait for a ball to come in her yard.

We asked her to return our baseballs on numerous occasions, my parents asked her to return the baseballs, and the answer was always the same “NO!”. When she died her husband called me over and gave me 15 like new baseballs.

I am not sure why she despised us, but it sure made her a very miserable and unhappy person.

• What To Do

The person who has “mercy” towards the poor is going to be happy.
Do you want to be happy?

Then help the poor. Be the best neighbor you can be and in so doing you will allow the light of Jesus Christ to shine through you.

This Hebrew word is translated mercy 16 times and gracious 13 times. The definition for “grace” is receiving something you totally don’t deserve and the definition for “mercy” is not receiving what you totally deserve.

I believe we are to be gracious to our neighbors. God gives grace to us in many ways but the most important way is He gives us salvation from our sins. Something we totally don’t deserve. He also shows us “mercy” by not giving us an eternity in hell, which is what we deserve for sinning against Him.

• Be Like Jesus

Acts 10:38 - how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.

Jesus went about “doing good” and He is our example. We are to pattern our life after Him.
What good can you do for others today?

Do you want to be happy? Show grace and mercy to the poor and according to Solomon you will be happy.

It was said that Jesus said it this way: “…remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Think About These:
 
Be a giver and you will be the receiver.
 
The smallest act of kindness is worth more than the grandest intention.

Stay Pumped,

Gary A. Serago      
    
Minister of God’s Word

Do You Possess These Signs Of Maturity?

Acts 15:37-39 - Barnabas wanted to take John, called Mark, along with them also. 38 But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work. 39 And there occurred such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.       NASU
 
2 Tim. 4:11 - "…Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service."   
      

• Giving People A Second Chance  

The apostle Paul and Barnabas were the best of friends. It was Barnabas who introduced Saul to the other Apostles when none of them trusted Saul or wanted anything to do with him. Barnabas befriended him.
 
It is Saul and Barnabas who are going to get into such a heated argument that they will separate from one another. Their friendship is going to be severed. Why?
 
Barnabas didn't give up on people. He gave them second chances. Are you known for giving people second chances?
 
Or are you like I use to be and that was one and done. I remember meeting with a man on my team telling him he needed to fire a guy. I have never forgotten his answer. He said, "Gary, let me work with him. Let me "Fire Him Up" rather than fire him."
 
He did work with him and he did "Fire Him Up" and I learned a valuable lesson. He was more interested in people and I was more interested in the finished project. I can't even remember the project today but I remember that person.
 
All I'm saying is invest your time in people and you will not go wrong. Even if you don't turn all of them around at least you know you tried. 
​

• Admitting When You Are Wrong 

In the book of Acts Paul wanted nothing to do with Mark. But years later we see that the apostle Paul tells Timothy to bring Mark with him.
                             
Paul's views about Mark have changed and he is admitting he was wrong about him. He says, "…Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service."        
 
Being able to admit when you are wrong is a sure sign of maturity. So who comes to your mind right now as you read this that you need to contact them and "admit that you were wrong."
 
If the apostle Paul made mistakes then I am sure you will agree with me that we all can make mistakes. Now if can you admit that you were wrong like Paul then follow his example and do what it takes to make peace.
 
I believe that a true sign of maturity is admitting when you are wrong.     

Think About These:

Carve your name on hearts - not on marble.
 
A single rose for the living is better than a costly wreath at the grave.           

Stay Pumped,

Gary A. Serago      
    
Minister of God’s Word

Matt. 10:1-4 “And he called to him his twelve disciples and gave them authority over unclean spirits, to cast them out, and to heal every disease and every affliction. 2 The names of the twelve apostles are these: first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James…, and John his brother; … and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

• He Associated With The Right People

Judas had the same authority the other 11 disciples had, but it wasn’t enough. Jesus gave him power over unclean spirits, and he was able to heal all diseases and afflictions.

So what happened to him?

It is not enough to associate with the right people. You can associate with Christians and not be converted. Judas had the greatest teacher on the earth for over three years, but he failed Discipleship 101.

What a sad commentary to have attached to your life, Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus.

The first test of a disciple is LOYALTY. Judas was not loyal to Jesus. The lesson for us is to allow the association with the right people to lead to a conversion.

• He Appeared To Say The Right Words

John 12:4-5 - But Judas Iscariot, one of His disciples, who was intending to betray Him, said, "Why was this perfume not sold for three hundred denarii and given to poor people?"

You have to admit that really sounds spiritual. Sell the perfume and give the money to the poor that really sounds great. The only problem is Judas was the treasure and the next verse says, “Now he said this, not because he was concerned about the poor, but because he was a thief, and as he had the money box, he used to pilfer what was put into it.”

Don’t make a judgment about someone by the things they say, but rather judge them by what they do. Now some of you may be thinking I thought the Bible taught we weren’t supposed to judge at all. That is not what the Bible teaches.

What it teaches is don’t judge someone if you are doing exactly what you are condemning the person for. In fact, the Bible teaches us “by their fruits you will know them.” (Matt.7:16).

How are you going to know the fruit is good or bad without making a judgment? Jesus allowed Judas to be the treasure. He placed him in situations where he was able to grow spiritually, but he failed the tests.

Jesus may also allow you to be placed in situations where you will have to exercise your faith, and go to Him in prayer to be able to pass the test. Always remember God has said, “He will never leave us nor forsake us.” (Hebrews 13:5).

We can learn from bad examples. There is no harm in learning from another person’s mistakes.

There is no reason to think that good is going to come from doing evil, and there is no way being greedy is going to be beneficial. We are 2,000 years removed from Judas but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn from his mistakes.

Think About This:

An expert is a man who has made all the mistakes which can be made in a very narrow field.
 
Stay Pumped,

Gary A. Serago      
    
Minister of God’s Word

Nehemiah 4:17 – “…for the people had a mind to work.” NASU

• When Your Team Works Together

Nehemiah had received special permission to return to Jerusalem and rebuild the wall. When he arrives he surveys the broken-down wall. Then he brings everyone together and lays out the plan on how they are going to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem.

It is one thing to lay out your plan and a totally different thing to execute it. The Israelites under the leadership of Nehemiah worked together and they were totally focused to accomplish Nehemiah’s plan.

You know your team is going to be successful when they are focused, not allowing anything to distract them. They had “a mind to work” is the comment recorded in the book of Nehemiah about the Israelites.

What a great compliment!

Can you imagine how you would feel if the Bible were being written today and in its pages were the words “the people had a mind to work” and you were the people that being referred to?

• Two Florida Churches

As I serve the Lord in Florida, I have been honored by God to serve along some great Christians from two different congregations. The first one is New Life Christian Church of Wildwood, whose minister is Matt Malott, and the other is Fairway Christian Church, whose minister is William “Butch” Gastfield.

One of my roles at Fairway is the Mission’s Minister. New Life and Fairway joined together this past week and on Friday (1st) and Saturday (2nd) to pack 90,000 packets of food for IDES (International Disaster Emergency Services).

As I served with over 200 Christians in packing these packets this scripture in Nehemiah came to my mind “for the people had a mind to work”.

We packed 90,000 packets. What we thought was going to take us 8 hours of time took us 6 hours and 50 minutes.  How was that possible? The Christians had a mind to work.

In Nehemiah's day they rebuilt the wall in 52 days because they had a mind to work (Neh. 6:15). 

• Successful In Life

Do you want to be successful in life? Then have a mind to work. Stay focus. Don’t be lazy.

One other thing you need to know about the Israelites while they were rebuilding the wall, they were being harassed the whole time by Sanballat, Tobiah and Geshem. Three men who flat out lied about Nehemiah and the Israelite’s intention for rebuilding the wall. Nehemiah would not allow these distractions to take him away from his purpose.

If you have a purpose don’t allow distractions to deter you. Have a mind to work and “getter done”.

Read Nehemiah and you will see a man who was interested in pleasing God and that was all that mattered to him. I say let’s be like Nehemiah, and the way to do that is to stay focused and have a mind to work in the LORD’s vineyard.

This About These:

Perseverance is the hard work you do after you get tired of doing the hard work you already did. – Newt Gingrich

Courage is not having the strength to go on; it is going on when you don't have the strength. - Theodore Roosevelt 

Stay Pumped,

Gary A. Serago      
    
Minister of God’s Word