Hill Thread

Matthew 25:25
“I was afraid I might disappoint you, so I found a good hiding place and secured your money. Here it is, safe and sound down to the last cent.”

If you weren’t afraid of failing, what would you attempt today?

In Matthew 25:14-30, a wealthy businessman entrusted his entire estate to 3 key workers. He gave the first worker 5 talents, the second worker 2 talents, and the third worker 1 talent.

A talent is believed to be worth about 1 year’s salary. Knowing that helps us understand exactly how marvelous of an opportunity this was for the workers. It was a defining moment in their lives that gave them the chance to:
1. test their skills
2. practice good judgement
3. profit from their investment

Two of the workers accomplished all three of these things, but the third was afraid of failing his master. In his fear, he decided t play it safe and bury the money he was given. Playing it safe got him called wicked and lazy. (Matthew 25:26)

Fear of failure always makes us play it safe. Without the courage to start, we are already finished. Everyone will either overcome their fears or give into them.

Refuse to let fear stop you from making God a return on His investment. His investment is YOU. How we use the gifts that Go has given us is a matter of utmost importance. We all could use a little reckless faith.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20
“You are not your own; you were bought at a price.”

1 John 3:16-20
16This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers. 17If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but has no pity on him, how can the love of God be in him? 18Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. 19This then is how we know that we belong to the truth, and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence 20whenever our hearts condemn us. For God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.

John 15:9-15
9 “I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Remain in my love. 10 When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. 11 I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow! 12 This is my commandment: Love each other in the same way I have loved you. 13 There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you slaves, because a master doesn’t confide in his slaves. Now you are my friends, since I have told you everything the Father told me.

True love requires sacrifice. It’s true. To truly give of your love, you must be willing to sacrifice for it. According to the dictionary, the word sacrifice means “destruction or surrender of something for the sake of something else”. In Other words, to give up something.

Sacrifice, that’s kind of a hard word for most of us. Really, it’s a word we don’t like to use all that often. We don’t want to sacrifice much, not money, not time, not our possessions, and not our lives. To truly understand what sacrifice is, and what it would look like in our lives, we have to consider what God sacrificed for us. Stop and think for a moment. Stop and just thank Jesus for being the ultimate sacrifice for us. Without Christ, we are nothing (John 15:6). He paid it all so we could be free. Take time right now to praise and worship Him for His most excellent sacrifice.

One of my favorite songs from Third Day is Offering. Here are a couple lyrics that penetrate my heart:

“Who am I that You should suffer
Your very life to set me free
The only thing that I can give You
Is the life You gave to me

This is my offering, dear Lord
This is my offering to You, God
And I will give You my life
For it’s all I have to give
Because You gave Your life for me”

Have you sacrificed your life and they way the world tells you to live? Have you declared to God that you will live your life in obedience to Him who died for you?

Related Text:
2 Corinthians 5:15
“And Jesus died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”

2 Chronicles 20:12
“We do not know what to do, but we are looking to you for help.”

I don’t have a twelve step program, but here’s seven steps that have often helped me when seeking God’s guidance:

1. Clear the channel. Repent and receive forgiveness. Sin hinders communication with God. Confession and repentance show our willingness to set aside our selfishness and be open to God.

2. Be patient. “Don’t be impatient. Wait for the Lord.” (Psalm 27: 14) “No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame.” (Psalm 25:3) Don’t give in to self-generated urgency. Wait for God to open doors and direct your path.

3. Be aware of and beware of external pressures. These usually result from our present circumstances, or from those who are trying to impose their agendas on us. Sift all advice through God’s Word.

4. Watch out for internal pressures. These can be triggered by fear or loss or exaggerated expectations. Don’t try to manifest God’s direction on your own.

5. Persist in prayer. “Pray all the time.” (1 Thessalonians 5:17) God’s goal is to mold us into His Son’s likeness, and prayer is one of His tools. Prayer is not for God’s benefit, it is for our benefit, development, and maturity. He already knows what we should do; and as we persevere in prayer, He will reveal it to us at just the right moment.

6. Search the scriptures. Read, study, and digest God’s Word. It is and will always be an unfailing source of guidance and wisdom. It cuts through the clutter in your life and helps you to filter out what is not of God.

7. Wait for peace. “Let the peace of Christ keep you in tune with each other, in step with each other.” (Colossians 3:15) Peace is the deciding factor after going through the other steps. Peace is the verification that we are making the right decision, don’t proceed without it and don’t lie to yourself about it. You’ll know when you have it.

Related Text:
Acts 17:11

Habakuk 2:3
“If it seems slow in coming, wait patiently,
for it will surely take place.
It will not be delayed.”

God sometimes post-dates His promises.

He takes His time getting us fully prepared for our destiny, even when we feel we’re more than ready. We may think God’s promises and plans for our lives are delayed, but they are only delayed according our time; God’s timing is perfect. This tends to be one of the hardest things for us as Christians to wrap our heads around: Completely trusting in God that His plans and His TIMING are perfect.

God finds some of His most useful people in some of the worst places. He found Gideon hiding in a cave and He found Rahab working in a brothel. But no matter where He finds us, He can always use us if we are willing to follow His direction.

Is that where you are? Have you been asking God why are you stuck where you are when your passions are somewhere else? Joshua was stuck for a time. He went to scout the Promised Land, and when he and Caleb came back to the Hebrews, they were met with opposition and unwillingness to trust God. (Numbers 13-14)

Don’t despair! As hard as it may be, trust in God. “And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” – Philippians 1:6

Related Text:
Psalm 36:7 “How precious is your unfailing love, O God!
All humanity finds shelter
in the shadow of your wings.”

1 Kings 18:41
“Elijah said to Ahab, ‘Up on your feet! Eat and drink—celebrate! Rain is on the way; I hear it coming.’”

Are you going through a dry spell?  Are you busy encouraging others, while your own life seems to be falling apart?  Maybe work or school has got you down, or maybe you’re facing some unexpected health concerns or family problems.

This is what happened to Elijah; the man who earlier called down fire from heaven suddenly found himself in the middle of a full-blown famine.  So what did he do?  He prayed. (1 Kings 18:42)

Elijah chose to:
1.  isolate himself for a while, shutting out his surroundings and distractions
2.  focus only on what God was saying
3.  keep praying

And when he did, the Bible says that he said, “I hear it coming.”  What Elijah sensed inside was completely contrary to what was happening outside.  His spirit sensed the rain before a single drop fell from the sky.

God speaks to our spirit, not our flesh. and what He says there is more real than anything around us.

When you know that God has promised you a certain thing, you must tune out all the negativity around you, reject your doubts and keep believing in God.

Related Text:
Hebrews 12:1-3

Psalm 42:1-2
“As the deer pants for streams of water,
so my soul pants for you, O God.
My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
When can I go and meet with God?”

Panting is a word that brings about images of longing, yearning, and desiring.  When we pant for something, we seek it, long for it, thirst for it, wait for it, see it, know it, love it, hear it, and respond to it!  Panting for God means desiring more of Him in our activities, thoughts, and desires.  Most of all, panting for God means that we want more of God’s company.  Too often in our rush to perform for God, we fail to simply enjoy His company.  Yet we were created to be dissatisfied and incomplete with anything else.

In ‘Secrets of the Vine’, Bruce Wilkinson writes, “I made three simple commitments to God:

1.  To get up earlier and read my Bible
2.  To write a page in my spiritual journal
3.  To seek Him until I find Him

I still remember the first line of my spiritual journal: ‘Dear God, I don’t know what to say to you.’  Each day, I read what I had written.  On every page, I saw why my busy Christian life left such a bland taste – I had become an expert in serving God, but I remained a novice at being His friend.  But I stayed with it.  By the middle of the second month, things started to shift.  His presence entered my room.  My rambling journal entries gradually began to change as I listened to God.  His passion for me, His purposes for my life, began to rise from the pages of my Bible.

That was more than 15 years ago.  The pleasures of abiding – and the extraordinary benefits – have redefined God’s work through me.  I see fruit of the Spirit everywhere I turn.  Yet none of it is a result of my working harder.”

Fill up your soul today at the fountain of God – only He can quench your thirst.

Related Text:
John 4:13-14

Galatians 1:10

“Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.”

We remain locked in a prison of our own making until we quit trying to please those who disapprove of us. To many of us have made it our life’s work to change somebody else’s opinion of us. For some reason, we get determined beyond all logical reasoning to prove to them that we are valuable.

Never allow someone else’s approval of you to become your goal. The truth is that some folks may never like you, they may never (for reasons unknown) see your good qualities.

Any time we try to please someone who rejects or abuses us, we put ourselves into bondage to them. They have the upper hand; they have the control in the relationship. By saying either in words or in actions, “You were right to hit me, to hurt me, to say that about me, to leave me,” you are tying yourself up with their opinion of you rather than resting in God’s opinion of you. Furthermore, when their opinion of you becomes your opinion, you have built a prison inside your soul with yourself as the lone captive.

Let us have such a close relationship with out Savior that everyone else’s opinion about us comes in a very distant second, or even third. May we live our lives focused on Jesus instead of focusing on winning the approval of those around us. To deal effectively with others, we must be able to work alongside them without allowing ourselves to be controlled by their moods, or governed by their opinions of us. Most of all we must not let their views of us become the basis for your self-image. We MUST believe that God’s opinion of us is all that matters.

Related Text:

Hebrews 12:2

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Galatians 3:26-29
“You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.”

Spiritual comparison has nothing to do with skin color, and everything to do with the condition of our heart. It doesn’t matter if our ancestors came to this country in the Mayflower, or in a slave ship. In Jesus’ Kingdom, social status doesn’t count.

And he doesn’t consider gender either, because “in Christ’s family, there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female . . . we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ.” Jesus is just as available to you as He is to me.

God doesn’t even discount you based on your moral background. Rahab was a harlot until the exercised faith in God’s Word. In fact, she is even mentioned alongside Sarah, Abraham’s wife, because she believed and was blessed.

Faith is the only thing that creates true equality, and true unity in Jesus. When we have faith in Jesus, we can walk with our head held high despite our past failures. Jesus healed a woman who was stooped over with severe spinal curvature for 18 years. When He saw her Jesus said, “Woman you are free . . . and immediately she was able to stand up straight.” (Luke 13:12-13)

When we place our complete faith in Jesus, we too find the power to stand up straight. Once that happens, we can look around and see that we are all the same before God. Once we accept Jesus as our Savior and Lord, we are welcomed as heirs to God’s promise, and co-heirs alongside Jesus Christ. We are welcomed into His family with a huge bear hug.

Related Text:
Ephesians 4:17-32 (teaching us to live as children of light)

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.”