Matthew 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.
Do we ever consider that every time we let sin in our hearts we are allowing our love for the Lord Jesus to grow colder. We are not careful about what we watch on TV. We are not careful about our jokes. We are not careful about our entertainment.
Each time we allow junk into our lives it causes sin to abound. As there gets to be more and more sin then we love Jesus less.
I think that today there is a call to turn from sin to Him. To decide that He is better than anything else to us.
Many of these sins may not be anything super big but they might be distractions. We get so busy and our life gets so loud that we can no longer hear the still small voice.
God blessed us with a wonderful new family today. Warren and Judy Frick became members of Vision. They are very godly people with many years in the ministry. Brother Warren has pastored for 22 years. I am sure that they are going to be greatly used in our church.
This week the couples of Vision are looking to magnify God’s attribute of being “eternally forgiving” in their marriage. You might say that marriage is a snow globe for God’s love towards the church. We believe that many of the issues our country is facing could be remedied by more people seeing the love of God in the marriages of Christian people. This week we are going to live out some challenges that are going to help us in the area of forgiveness.
Choose a topic that has been the cause of bitterness, resentment, or unforgiveness and write your thoughts on the matter on a small piece of paper. After discussing it and praying over the matter burn the paper over a candle.
Write down 1 thing to go on your list for the last week. (The last week has 3 blank spots where you can fill this in.)
Read Ephesians 6:2 at the beginning of the day together. Resolve to not say anything negative about your spouse today.
Talk with your spouse about establishing healthy rules of engagement. If your mate is not ready for this, then write out your own personal rules to “fight” by. Resolve to abide by them when the next disagreement occurs.
Eliminate the poison of unrealistic expectations in your home. Think of one area where your spouse has told you you’re expecting too much, and tell them you’re sorry for being so hard on them about it. Promise them you’ll seek to understand, and assure them of your unconditional love.
Act out Luke 7:37-50. Then discuss what the story teaches.
Matthew 19:22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful: for he had great possessions.
Amazing that a man would let money keep him from God. This young man comes to Jesus. He wants to know and please God. He answers all the questions right. He is sure that Jesus is going to be pleased. But then Jesus touches the part of him that is most precious.
He lets him know that he will have to love God more than he does his money. The young man so “desperately” wants to know God but not at that price.
He goes away sad. He would have loved to meet God on his own terms but not if it cost him money.
How many of us are in the same position? We want to have God but not if it touches our money.
Each week Vision has the big three during the announcements. These are to remind us to pray for missionaries and that the Lord would send forth laborers to His harvest. Today the big three are the following. Please be praying for each of them!
Matthew 18:33 Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?
Jesus is finishing a story with this question. He has told of how a man has been forgiven a very large debt yet is unwilling to forgive another person a small debt.
He is making the point that the forgiven forgive!
We have been forgiven a horrible debt as sinners that deserved Hell. We ought to forgive others like we were forgiven.
Do you have any un-forgiveness in your heart? Are you holding bitterness against someone? Do you want forgiveness from God but delight in holding it over the head of others?
Could today be the day that you decide to empty your heart of all that bitterness? Could you decide to love others and have the same heart that God has had towards you?
Matthew 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.
What an indictment! People who supposedly loved God, worshipping people, church people were only trying to talk a good game. They talked about God. They said that they loved Him. They even honored Him with their lips. They could talk a good game but they didn’t love Him in their hearts.
As I read this verse I ask myself how guilty I am of not loving the Lord from my heart? How much does He consume my hearts and thoughts? How much does He really matter to me?
Do I take the time to spend with Him in prayer and Bible time?
Do I obey what He tells me to do? After all if we really love Him then we do what He tells us to do. We become doers and not hearers only. If we love Him we keep His commandments.
Our time in the Bible each day is not an academic exercise but a desire to find out what He wants and to obey Him.
Do you talk a good relationship or do you have one?
We have three days left in the “Take Initiative” week of the Unfailing Love Campaign! This week was intentionally placed at the beginning of this series. Unless we die to ourselves in marriage we have no way of drawing closer to our spouse. “Taking the Initiative” is a attribute of God we clearly see from the Word of God that should be clearly seen in our marriages. Because He cares God took the initiative by the way He made the world. (Romans 1:19,20) Because He cares God takes the initiative by showing us His love through Jesus Christ. (John 3:16) Because He cares God takes the initiative by showing us how to reach Him. (John 14:6)
Take Initiative
February 1st – 6th
Discuss your Bible reading plan with your spouse. Commit to daily Bible reading during these 4 weeks.
Write out your date night two nights before you go on it.
Go on your date night and follow the plans you wrote out 2 days earlier.
Take initiative and do something your spouse has been asking you to do for a long time.
Learn each other’s love language. Online at www.5lovelanguages.com
Write down 1 thing to go on your list for the last week.
Matthew 12:43-45 Then goeth he, and taketh with himself seven other spirits more wicked than himself, and they enter in and dwell there: and the last state of that man is worse than the first. Even so shall it be also unto this wicked generation.
In the story when the evil spirit is kicked out he simply goes around looking for a place to rest. When he doesn’t find one he returns. He finds the old heart where he was, cleaned, swept out, and ready for habitation. He goes and finds 7 other spirits even more wicked than him. He brings them and they all take possession of the man’s heart.
We often think that if we can just quit sinning or break the habit we will have victory. But quitting is just a recipe for more disaster. Instead of quitting we must replace.
If you were to get the devil and sin out of your life you would still not have victory. It would only be a matter of time before the old sin comes back stronger than ever. Maybe that sin will not be what captivates you but another will.
So the answer is that the Holy Spirit take up residence where the old spirits were. The answer is that you replace your sinful habits with spiritual practices. This is taught clearly in Ephesians 4:25-30. We are to put off and replace.
As Christians that seek victory don’t try to stop rather replace. Put off the old and put on the new.
If you have a recurring sin problem I challenge you to replace it with something greater. Change places you go. Change the way you think.
Get busy in something superior and you will not want to return to the inferior.
I thought you might like to know what was happening with our Faith Promise offering. We promised $81,000. That works out to $1,557.69 a week.
Since our World Vision Celebration in September of last year we have given $30,048.00 through January 31, 2010. We are running just a little behind right now. Our offering should be $32,711.54.
That means that we are $2663.54 short of our commitment. We are doing great but I am asking God to move us on up to our promise and beyond.
Betty and I are upping our mission’s offering another $50 a month starting this month. That is not much but will get us up another $600 in a year.
Pray with me that we will see God give over $81,000 through us to missions this year!
