I Like to start with something funny…
A little girl, dressed in her Sunday best, was running as fast as she could, trying not to be late for Kid’s Church. As she ran she prayed, 'Dear Lord, please don't let me be late! Dear Lord, please don't let me be late!' While she was running and praying, she tripped on a curb and fell, getting her clothes dirty and tearing her dress. She got up, brushed herself off, and started running again! As she ran she once again began to pray, 'Dear Lord, please don't let me be late...But please don't shove me either!'
Today I’m continuing a new sermon series entitled PRACTICING THE PRESENCE OF GOD!
This little girl was definitely especially aware of God’s presence, although God isn't pushy...
Brother Lawrence, author of a classic Christian devotional, has inspired me…He shares spiritual secrets of a humble brother who enjoyed closeness with God…
1 day a week we gather together as Christians…Some of us show up 2x and week…and then there are special times when we get together even more in Jesus name…
But what about the rest of the week?
Are we Practicing the Presence of God everyday?
I don’t believe in religion…I believe in a relationship with Jesus, and that’s a 24/7 commitment… So in this sermon series I plan to give some practical advice in Living everyday with Jesus, Practicing the Presence of God…
We’ve already covered the first 6 practices
1. for the Love of God
2. Without Being Discouraged
3. To receive equally from His Hand the sweet and bitter
4. the examined life
5. the most excellent method
6. perfect resignation to God
Detailed notes are on my blog or Cd’s are available…
Practicing the Presence of God…
7. not weary of doing the little things
Ecclesiastes 3 proclaims, Everything Has Its Time
1 To everything there is a season, A time for every purpose under heaven: 2 A time to be born, And a time to die; A time to plant, And a time to pluck what is planted; 3 A time to kill, And a time to heal; A time to break down, And a time to build up; 4 A time to weep, And a time to laugh; A time to mourn, And a time to dance; 5 A time to cast away stones, And a time to gather stones; A time to embrace, And a time to refrain from embracing; 6 A time to gain, And a time to lose; A time to keep, And a time to throw away; 7 A time to tear, And a time to sew; A time to keep silence, And a time to speak; 8 A time to love, And a time to hate; A time of war, And a time of peace.
There’s a right time for everything!
Don’t despise the small things… I’m convinced it’s the little things in life that truly matter, that truly make a difference, little things can make big things happen…
I found this inspiration on my favorite website this wk…
1. Take time to Work - It is the price of success.2. Take time to Think - It is the source of power.3. Take time to Play - It is the secret of youth.4. Take time to Read your Bible- It is the foundation of knowledge and feeds the soul.5. Take time to Worship - It is the highway of reverence and washes the dust of earth from our eyes.6. Take time to Help and Enjoy Friends - It is the source of happiness.7. Take time to Love - It is the one sacrament of life.8. Take time to Dream - It hitches the soul to the stars.9. Take time to Laugh - It is the singing that helps with life's loads.10. Take time to Pray: It rids us of our excess baggage.11. Take time to Plan - It is the secret of being able to have time to take time for the first ten things.
If that isn’t Practicing the Presence of God, I don’t know what is?!
7. the little things
8. persevere in these three virtues
I shared this Brother Lawrence quote recently on facebook…All things are possible to him who believes, they are less difficult to him who hopes, they are easier to him who loves, and still more easy to him who practices and perseveres in these three virtues…AMEN
I never miss the opportunity to go back to 1 Corinthians 13,
Ya’ll probably know by now, that my favorite version is from the message, paraphrase:
1 If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don't love, I'm nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. 2If I speak God's Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, "Jump," and it jumps, but I don't love, I'm nothing. 3-7If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don't love, I've gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I'm bankrupt without love. Love never gives up. Love cares more for others than for self. Love doesn't want what it doesn't have. Love doesn't strut, Doesn't have a swelled head, Doesn't force itself on others, Isn't always "me first," Doesn't fly off the handle, Doesn't keep score of the sins of others, Doesn't revel when others grovel, Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth, Puts up with anything, Trusts God always, Always looks for the best, Never looks back, But keeps going to the end.
8-10Love never dies. Inspired speech will be over some day; praying in tongues will end; understanding will reach its limit. We know only a portion of the truth, and what we say about God is always incomplete. But when the Complete arrives, our incompletes will be canceled.
11When I was an infant at my mother's breast, I gurgled and cooed like any infant. When I grew up, I left those infant ways for good.
12We don't yet see things clearly. We're squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won't be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We'll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us!
13But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.
Oh I never get tired of it…
It’s all about LOVE!
Persevere in faith, hope and love
Examine everyday by faith, hope and love
Use every word for faith, hope and love
Don’t waste any moment without faith, hope and love
Even in those dark times, when you have trouble making sense of life’s hurts…persevere in faith, hope and love!
A Missionary was captured by cannibals. "I suppose you intend to eat me?" said the Missionary, and the chief grunted his affirmation. "Try a sample first, and see if you like me." said the Missionary as he took his knife and cut a slab from the calf of his leg and handed it to him. "Try this and see!" The chief took one bite and choked. The Missionary had a cork leg. The chief wanted no more of it and the Missionary was spared. Years before, he had thought it a "great misfortune" to lose his left leg and to wear an artificial leg, but afterwards it saved his life. It also preserved a great ministry that would have other wise been terminated immediately by the cannibals. "Those who leave everything in God's hand will eventually see God's hand in everything!"
Practicing the Presence of God
7. the little things
8. the three virtues
and our final practice for today…
9. must come naturally from purity and simplicity of heart
This practice almost does away with every other practice…
For if practicing the Presence of God is something laborious or hard than something is wrong…
It should come naturally as a result of placing your trust in Jesus…
I hope you don’t take these practices and try and try with all your might…
These pieces of advice for living everyday with Jesus are the practice of simplicity, are simple ideas for drawing you into His Presence…
The only thing that separates the Creator from His children is SIN…He created us for communion, for relationship, for worship…
Jesus took care of the sin...
Now we simply admit our NEED and try!
…ask for His help to remain pure, from the washing of His blood…
That’s why I put the purity pledge in the bulletin again…
Let’s take a look (in your bulletin)…
1 Cor. 6:19,20
Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
…With God’s help, I pledge myself to purity. I submit myself to the Holy Spirit’s leading in all of my relationships. I ask that my conscience would be awakened in the name of Jesus. By the grace of God, I will keep my mind clean. I will avoid compromising situations. I will avoid inappropriate physical contact. I will be honest with myself regarding the impact media has on my and will begin setting higher standards. Putting the past behind me, I will invest in my future, by honoring God with my heart, my mind and my body…
SIGNIFICANT…lies from the media, “oh it doesn’t affect me…”
Part of the problem is the fact that Christians and nonChristians spend alot of time trashing their souls with the TV...
This is not for you to sign and hand into someone…
This is for you to keep (maybe stick in your Bible) to remind you of your pledge to God…
Psalm 24
clean hands and a pure heart
YES LORD
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