HillThread ~ Supporting Missions

Matthew 5:14-16

“Here’s another way to put it: You’re here to be light, bringing out God to the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We’re going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don’t think I’m going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I’m putting you on a light stand. Now that I’ve put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.” (MSG)

Jesus said, “Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who is in Heaven.” What kind of good works? Patience and courtesy in stressful situations, gracious attitudes in the midst of difficulty, stopping and saying thank you, apologizing when wrong, taking time to help someone in need? Those are the kind of simple acts that make our Father look glorious.

Chuck Swindoll writes, “I don’t see life divided into public and private, secular and sacred. It’s all an open place of service before God.

Recently I had a delightful talk with a keen-thinking young man at our church. As we visited, I asked him about his future plans. ‘Well, I’ve just graduates from Law School,’ he said. When I asked how he hoped to use his training, he replied, ‘I want to be a man of integrity who practices law.’”

Whether you’re a judge or a janitor, the same God who used David’s sling, Moses’ rod and the widow’s mite will use you for His glory if only you will give yourself to Him fully, and determine to make Our Father look glorious in all you do. Whatever your position in life, live for God! Shine brightly for Jesus, always.

Related Text:

James 2:14-26

Proverbs 20:7

“God-loyal people, living honest lives,

make it much easier for their children.”

In 1927, a Georgia real estate and insurance company folded, short-changing 500 stockholders. The owner, a man called Mercer, was a person of integrity who vowed if possible to repay everyone every single penny. But despite his best efforts, his company never did make a comeback. After he died, his son remembered his father’s vow and 28 years later deposited a check in a Savannah bank to reimburse every last stockholder.

That young man was the successful singer/songwriter Johnny Mercer. One of the songs he wrote from which he earned the royalties to pay the stockholders back was “Accentuate the Positive.”

When you go, leave your children – both biological and spiritual – something more important than money to remember you by; leave them a legacy of integrity: “God-loyal people, living honest lives, make itmuch easier fr their children.”

The person who can’t be trusted on all counts can’t truly be trusted on any. Ethical principles are not flexible. A little white lie is still a lie, no matter what kind of excuses we make; theft is always theft, whether it’s one dollar or a million. Character is made in the small moments of our lives when no one is there to check up on us.

Sociologists suggest that people of poor character might have been different if they’d grown up in a better environment. Character is a choice. Our circumstances are no more responsible for our character than the mirror is for our looks. What we see only reflects what we are – and what we are is what we’ve spent our lives building.

And the choice of making Jesus Christ your Lord and Savior is the foundation on which to build character!

Related Text:

Matthew 7:24-27

Judges 7:17
“Watch me,” he told them. “Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do.”

Effective leaders understand that caring about workers is even more important than caring about work. They understand that happy people who feel cared about by the person leading them are more productive. Three things set effective leaders apart:

1. They are facilitators. They realize that nobody is ever what they ought to be until they are first doing what they ought to be doing ant that they way to accomplish their own goals is to help others reach theirs.

2. They are courteous. They never look down or talk down. They don’t have one set of manners for the important people and another set for the less important. To them, everyone is important because everyone has God-given potential. Servant-hearted leaders work hard to bring it out in the people they are leading.

3. Effective leaders are decisive. Joshua’s challenge cut to the chase: “Choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve. But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15) No waffling allowed! People need direction; therefore the good leader has to be decisive. Leaders are generally remembered for one of two thing: the problems they caused through indecision, or the problems they solved through clear direction. The effective leader sometimes has to go out on a limb, because that’s where the fruit is.

Think about this prayer:

“Lord, it is not easy being in the spotlight. It is lonely and scary and often the last place I want to be. This task is so far beyond me that there is nothing I can do but throw myself on You, asking for your strength and wisdom. Help me to exercise my authority with grace. Keep me strong. Give me courage and confidence. My desire is to lead with Your heart: give me the love it takes to lead well. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Related Text:
John 15

Psalm 106:15
“So he gave them what they asked for,
but sent a wasting disease upon them.”

Frank Sinatra sang, “The record shows, I took the blows and did it my way.”  Sometimes God will let us do things our way, and then let us deal with the consequences.  When we insist on having or getting or doing something that He in His wisdom has withheld from us, it’s like God says “Okay, I warned you, but have it your way.”

The Bible says that because the Children of Israel:
1.  ”forgot His works,
2.  did not wait for His counsel,
3.  lusted exceedingly,
4.  tested God . . .

He gave them their request, but sent leanness into their soul” (Psalm 106:13-15).

That is the formula for spiritual barrenness.

When God called Moses to deliver the children of Israel, Moses tried to do it his way at first.  He saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave, but instead of consulting God, he took matters into his own hands by killing the Egyptian abuser.  Before he did, the Bible tells us that he “looked this way and then that . . . ” (Exodus 2:12) – but he never looked to God.  He was more concerned about audience response than God response.

God had to teach Moses that his orders came from God.  After Moses dug a hole and tried to hide his deed, God allowed it to be exposed.  Why?  To show Moses that by doing things his own way, he couldn’t even keep a single soldier buried in the sand.

The subject of following God’s will and plans for your life is a slippery slope.  How do you know, and how can you be certain.  This is not something I (or anyone else besides God) can tell you.  This information must come from God, and it becomes known when you are abiding in God’s word and maintaining a close relationship with the One who loves you so much.  Make up your mind to live your life God’s way.  We an’t just pretend to be Christians.  We must be obedient to God, we must read the Bible and actually live out what it says.

Related Text:
James 1:19-25

1 Peter 2:21
“This is the kind of life you’ve been invited into, the kind of life Christ lived. He suffered everything that came his way so you would know that it could be done, and also know how to do it, step-by-step.”

What does it mean to be invited into the kind of life that Christ lived?  Before your answer, read this story by Tony Campollo:

“Joe was a drunk, miraculously converted in a street outreach mission.  Before his conversion he’d gained a reputation as a derelict and dirty wino for whom there was no hope.  But following his conversion to Christ, everything changed.  Joe became the most caring person at the mission.  He spent his days there, doing whatever needed to be done.  There was never anything he was asked to do that he thought was beneath him.  Whether it was vomit left by some hungover alcoholic, of scrubbing filthy toilets, Joe did it all with a heart of gratitude.  He could be counted on to feed anyone who wandered in off the streets and help them get settled in even when they couldn’t take care of themselves.

One evening, after the mission director delivered his evangelistic message to the usual crowd of sullen men with dropped heads, one of them looked up, came down to the altar and kneeled to pray, crying out to God to help him change.  The repentant drunk kept shouting, ‘Oh God, make me like Joe!  Make me like Joe!  Make me like Joe!’  The director leaned over and said, ‘Son, wouldn’t it be better if you prayed to be made more like Jesus?’

After thinking about it for a few moments, the man looked up with an inquisitive expression and asked, ‘Is He like Joe?’

What does it mean to be invited into the kind of life that JEsus lived?

It means to love like Jesus loved.

Related Text:
John 13:34-35
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Exodus 33:14
“God said, “My presence will go with you. I’ll see the journey to the end.”

Knowing when to say “when” can save your life. Self-deceit is the hallmark of a person experiencing “The Martyr Syndrome.” This is a person who believes beyond a shadow of a doubt that they have to be involved in everything at their church and serve in every capacity. This just cannot be done, eventually you will succumb to stress and resentment.

If you’re going to survive, you’ve got to discover your own pace – not be driven by what people may or may not expect of you. Look out! Fatigue is dangerous; when it walks in, faith walks out. Furthermore, when we’ve burned out, we’re attacked by old enemies we’ve already conquered.

The person who is experiencing “The Martyr Syndrome” more often than not begins to forget why they are serving in the first place. They forget that Jesus is their focal point, and they get wrapped up in the “job” instead of being wrapped up in the one who died for them.

Step back, take a look at why you do what you do, and ask God to help you decide how to make the best impact for Him. Sometimes, doing more doesn’t do any good.

Nurtured and rested people are much more effective in every area. Their relationships with God are stronger; their families are happier; their health is better; they live longer than the martyrs. Why? Because they’ve truly found the place of rest.

Related Text:
Matthew 11:28-30
“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Romans 1:11
“The longer this waiting goes on, the deeper the ache. I so want to be there to deliver God’s gift in person and watch you grow stronger right before my eyes!”

Tamar, a gentile, married Judah’s son, Hur.  When he died leaving her childless, custom dictated that his brother, Onan, marry her to give her a child and make her part of their family.  That way, Hur’s inheritance could be passed on to her son.

However, Onan refused to do his part, and God killed him.  Onan, it seems, wanted another wife, but just for show.  He wasn’t worried about ensuring the inheritance for Judah’s son.  Onan wouldn’t carry out the duty that God had instructed to him.  (Genesis 38)

Why do you attend Christian gatherings (like church, church events, youth camps, women’s and men’s ministry weekends)?  Is it just for the fellowship and simulation of being around people you like, or is it because of what you will learn and how you will grow closer to God?  what good is it if the praise band brings you to your feet in praise to God and the pastor brings you to your knees in conviction and self-realization, yet you continue to go home every time unchanged??

At some point, the Word we hear has got to be conceived in our hearts and bring forth fruit.  At some point, we have to become so saturated with divine purpose that we begin to change how we live, how we think, and how we surrender to God instead of ourselves.  Then, not only will we be living for the Spirit, but we will also be a witness to others, imparting God’s greatness on all who take notice.

After Moses had met God at the burning bush, he sent Moses back into Egypt and brought the people back to see what he saw and to touch what he touched.  That is what we have been called to do; to be changed by God and to show others how we have been saved so that God may save them as well.  There are places that God will take us that we can go back and bring others to show and reveal his greatness!

Related Text:
Romans 12:1-2

Ecclesiastes 3:11
“Yet God has made everything beautiful for its own time. He has planted eternity in the human heart, but even so, people cannot see the whole scope of God’s work from beginning to end.”

We can see further than we can go because we are finite person working with an infinite God. Because His Spirit resides in each of us that belong to Him, there is more potential inside us that we have the life-span to realize. When we lay down our heads for the last time, we will still be dreaming dreams that we have never personally fulfilled.

So, does that mean we are failures? No!! There are things that we were meant to only begin or continue. Like an athlete handing the baton to the next runner, we can tell our successors to continue in the work of Jesus.

Like Moses, we stand atop the mountain we see the land we may never personally enter, for our vision will always show us more road than we can travel in a lifetime. Because of this, it is so important for us to communicate and be in relationships with other Christians. We cannot live this life alone, we need help. We are supposed to be a community of believers.

Psalm 119:18
“Open my eyes that I may see
wonderful things in your law.”

Here are four ways to come to God’s Word with open eyes.

1.  Come Humbly:  ”Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation.” (1 Peter 2:2)  What’s more helpless than a baby?  What’s more needy, or dependent?  That’s how we should approach the Bible, like babies going after a bottle.  Forget asking if you’ve read your Bible today . .  ask how much you’ve been in it?  How many times have you turned to God’s words to sustain you today?  To give you answers you needed?  To give you hope and joy?  How many times have you recalled memorized scripture from days gone by?  Crave God’s word as a baby craves life-giving milk.

2.  Come Hungry:  ”For He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.”  (Psalm 107:9)  What we hunger for determines what satisfies our hunger.  Accept no substitutions!  Refused to be satisfied with the junk food of television, movies, music, and consuming when you can sit at God’s table with the One who loves you so much.

3.  Come Persistently:  Ask more from each verse.  Paul speaks of the manifold wisdom of God” in Ephesians 3:10.  The word manifold means that each verse is like a diamond – every angle brings us another beam of light.  Martin Luther said, “Study your bible like you pick apples.  First, shake the tree, then shake the limbs, then shake the branches, then shake the twigs, then look under every leaf.  Don’t just read passages that are familiar and comfortable to you.  Dive into God’s word and soak it all up.

4.  Come Openly:  Don’t read the Bible to try and pinpoint what’s wrong with your neighbor.  Personalize what you read.  Ask God to help you understand and apply His truths to your life.  Don’t just read it and change nothing, allow God to change whatever needs it.

Come with open eyes and an open heart and experience God’s living Word!

Related Text:
Deuteronomy 6:5-9

James 1:12
“God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love Him.”

Testing is a part of life.  We are tested by major changes, delayed promises, impossible situations, unanswered prayers, undeserved criticism, and seemingly senseless tragedies.

When we understand that there are things we go through in our lives which God uses to mold us and strengthen us and teach us, then we must realize that nothing is insignificant.  Every day is an important day, and every second can be a growth opportunity that deepens our character, demonstrates our love, and makes us depend more on God.

Do you feel like you’re in a time of testing?  Do you feel like your being stretched way to far beyond what you think you can handle?  If so, take strength from the promise that God never allows the tests we face to be greater than the grace He provides.  ”He will not allow you to be tested beyond your power to remain firm; at the time you are put to the test, He will give you strength to endure it.”  (1 Corinthians 10:13)

Every time we pass a test, every time we endure under harsh circumstances, God takes notice and blesses us.  (James 1:12 – top of this study)  When I was little, I always thought of God’s blessings as presents.  And as a little boy, I always wanted toys (the fun, instant gratification blessings) instead of clothes (the practical blessings that I need, even if I’m too immature to know it) .  As I grew physically and spiritually, I still found myself thinking of (and sometimes expecting) blessings to be “toys”.  As we grow in Christ, and as  God transforms our lives and our minds, we come to understand that God’s blessings take all forms.

As painful as it may be, we must persevere with strength from God, and we will be blessed.

Related Text:
Romans 5:1-5
Hebrews 12:1-3