|
Romans 8:15-17 - For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!"
The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him. NASU
We scream like our team just won the championship or maybe a better analogy we scream like we just won the Power Ball or Mega Millions lottery. We have become heirs of God and heirs with Jesus Christ. Stop and think for a moment what that means! Webster's definition of "heir" is one who is entitled to inherit property from an ancestor. We are going to inherit Heaven or Eternal Life because God has adopted us. Let that sink in for a while. I like how Paul says our citizenship is really not here on earth in Philippians 3:20-21 - For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory,…" We are not only adopted into the family of God. Jesus Christ is going to transform our bodies into a body like He now has in Glory.
The simple truth is because He Loves us. Another truth would be on account of His nature. He is Gracious. This is a part of His Character. He wants to give us what we don't deserve. We don't deserve to be adopted into His family, but He made a way for us to be adopted into His family anyway.
Colossians 3:9-10 - "…since you have put off the old man with his deeds, and have put on the new man who is renewed in knowledge according to the image of Him who created him,…" NKJV We can show our thankfulness to God by putting off the old man/woman and putting on the new man/woman. Paul will further explain this in the following verses (12-14): put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another,… But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. When we put on those characteristics we are becoming more like our Heavenly Father and it is our way of saying, "Thanks for adopting us into His family."
If you would like to be adopted into God's family please contact me and I will be glad to help you become an adopted child of God like I am and many more. Think About These: A good example has twice the value of good advice. Advice is least heeded when most needed. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word
0 Comments
I wrote this Pump Up 10 yrs ago. I have a friend who is having a major surgery tomorrow. I am resending this Pump Up to hopefully give him some spiritual strength before his surgery. Please pray for my friend, his name is Gary.
Josh. 2:11 - “When we heard it, our hearts melted and no courage remained…” In the text above, Rahab is confessing to the two spies sent into Jericho by Joshua exactly how they felt upon hearing the news that the Israelites were coming. She informs them that their "hearts melted and no courage remained" in any of them.
Maybe you walked into a doctor’s office and while sitting there he informed you that you had a disease or a loved one you had accompanied into his office had a disease and upon hearing the news your heart melted within you. Maybe you received a visit from a police officer and informed you, a loved one died in an accident and your heart melted within and all your courage departed. Or maybe it was the time one of your children was lost at the amusement park and for over an hour you know your heart stopped.
We were talking after the ceremony and he asked if he could come into my office and talk to me. I agreed and he came in the next week and shared with me what was going on in his life. David told me that his doctor informed him he had a very aggressive type of cancer and that he didn’t have long to live. Then he went on with his story. He came home and told his wife what the doctor said. Within days he came home and found a note from his wife that she was leaving him. He said he checked their bedroom closet and all her clothes were gone. He said, “My heart sank.” In Rahab’s day they said, “Hearts melted.” The meaning is the same and that is: what you are about to experience is going to be extremely painful. WOW! What a punch in the gut and a knee to the face. You talk about your heart melting and all courage departing from within you.
The same thing Rahab did and that is he put his faith in the God of Heaven and Earth. Here is what Rahab said, “for the Lord your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath.” She confessed that the Israelites' God was the true God. David confessed Jesus to be his Lord and Savior and I baptized him into Christ. When you get knocked off your feet, and you are laying flat on your back, you are in the perfect position to look up and see where your help will come. Your help will come from the One who created the ‘heavens and earth." David’s wife never came back and he lost his battle with cancer but I never met a more courageous man. I truly met one of God’s Special Warriors.
What we have to do is follow in the footsteps of Rahab and David and that is put your faith in God. Here is what the Hebrew writer says about Rahab, “By faith Rahab the harlot did not perish along with those who were disobedient, after she had welcomed the spies in peace.” By Faith in Jesus Christ you and I will not perish along with those who are disobedient.
The trouble with some people is that during trying times, they stop trying. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word 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 walked by faith? They are the ones that will try things 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 it". You are probably on the right path. You need to know your faith 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." Where Has Your Faith Led You? His faith led him to being threatened and ridiculed. The blind man was ordered to "shut up" but that didn't stop him. In 1978 I wanted to go to Bible College and as I shared my idea with other people I received a lot of negative feedback. I was informed (as if I didn't know) that I had a family. How were we going to survive? I was reminded I had been out of high school for years and I wasn't that great of a student while I was in high school. Faith Is Always Rewarded My faith led me to Eastern Christian College in August 1979 and I graduated in 1983. My family and I survived and pretty much every negative thing that was said to me about going to college NEVER HAPPENED. 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. Think About 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 Judges 6:12-13 – ”The angel of the Lord appeared to him and said to him, “The Lord is with you, O valiant warrior.” 13 Then Gideon said to him, “O my lord, if the Lord is with us, why then has all this happened to us? And where are all His miracles which our fathers told us about, saying, ‘Did not the Lord bring us up from Egypt?’ But now the Lord has abandoned us and given us into the hand of Midian."
Gideon was anything but valiant at this time. In fact, he was just the opposite. He is hiding from the Midianites as he is threshing the wheat. You wouldn't expect a valiant person to be hiding. The Lord tells him to tear down his father's idols and because he was afraid he does it at night so that he can't be seen. Tearing down these idols under the shadow of darkness so you can't be seen doesn't sound like a valiant man.
When something has happened to you or is happening to you now that you don't understand. Be patient. Give God time to complete His plan. Gideon didn't understand why God had allowed the Midianites to conquer the Israelites and not just once but on numerous occasions. The Israelites were living in fear at this moment of the Midianites.
What is your Midianite? What keeps barging into your life and kicking down your strongholds? The angel of the Lord tells Gideon that God has allowed this to happen so that He can use Gideon in a mighty way. There it is. The answer to our question in a nutshell, "Why has all of this happened?". It has happened so that God can use Gideon in a mighty way. Whatever you're being challenged with today and you're not sure why God is allowing it to happen try thinking this way. God is using you to conquer this in a mighty way.
Excuses are the first things to come out of Gideon's mouth as to why God is wrong. What excuses do you use when telling God you are not ready for your trial? Are you too old for this? Do you lack the education? You are financially not able? Your spouse will kill you? You will get fired? Yes, too many times we are just like Gideon. God wants to use us and we want to give Him excuses. Whatever test God is allowing to happen to you right now know this: If God brings you to it, God will get you through it. Psalm 46:10 says, "Be Still and Know That I am God." In other words, He wants us to relax and trust Him no matter what situation challenges us.
Now what are you waiting for, stand up and tell God you are ready to be used by Him in a "mighty way". Let's go conquer our own modern day Midianites. Think About This: There are thousands of ways of pleasing God, but none without trusting Him. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word
Gideon was anything but valiant at this time. In fact, he was just the opposite. He is hiding from the Midianites as he is threshing the wheat. You wouldn't expect a valiant person to be hiding. Matt. 8:1-3 - When Jesus came down from the mountain, large crowds followed Him. 2 And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." 3 Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed. NASU
It is now time for Jesus not to preach anymore but to put into action what He has preached.
Below are some of the lessons that Jesus had just finished teaching His followers. They were to be the light of the world and to let their lights shine. Matt. 5:14-16 - "You are the light of the world.... Let your light shine,… and glorify your Father who is in heaven." NASU When Jesus heals this leper He will have displayed His good works and glorified His Heavenly Father exactly like He told His followers. The leper is asking, seeking and knocking on the Lord's door, and He has already said if you will do those three things, the door will be opened to you. Matt. 7:7-8 - Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 "For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened. NASU You will notice Jesus teaches a lesson on how we are to treat people. We are to treat them the same way we want to be treated. Matt. 7:12 - "In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets." NASU Can you hear the followers murmuring in the background? What murmuring? The murmuring, "It's a leper. Is He going to help a leper?" It was believed by many that you were cursed with leprosy from God because of something evil you had done. Now a leper is coming to Jesus to be healed. Jesus taught them to treat people the way you want to be treated. He didn't say unless they are Babylonians, Moabites, or lepers. Jesus is close to the end of His message when He says, in Matt. 7:17-20 - "So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. "A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit …"So then, you will know them by their fruits." NASU When Jesus heals this leper He is letting them know He is a good tree and He will bear good fruit.
Yet, the leper knew enough to come to Jesus for help. When you pray you need to be like this leper. You need to come to Jesus and inform Him that He can heal you from whatever problem you are carrying in life, if He so desires. You don't want to miss what the leper said to Jesus. "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." The leper had faith that Jesus could heal him and he wasn't afraid to say it (Heb. 11:6). If you want results in your prayer life come with faith believing that if it is the Lord's will your prayer will be answered the way you desire. Think About These: Prayer doesn't need proof, it needs practice. If you are too busy to pray, you are too busy. Stay Pumped, Gary A. Serago Minister of God's Word |
Archives
November 2024
AuthorGary A Serago. Categories
All
|
RSS Feed