Helping Others In Need

“Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken.” – Psalm 55:22.

Regardless if church doors are open —or if your church is even still standing after Hurricane Michael — God’s people still have work to do. Everywhere in our communities are people who have lost everything. They need help putting their lives back together.

We need to be the hands and feet of Jesus even though in many cases we are putting our lives together at the same time. Not just to one another, but also to the overall community. “All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it.” (1 Corinthians 12:27)  The Bible beckons us to use our time, talents, and treasure to help the vulnerable (Acts 10:4), and Scripture is rich with examples of people who God used to bring about redemption and recovery in times of disaster. In the midst of the horror of Hurricane Michael, we can demonstrate the real presence of Jesus Christ.

We don’t have all “the” answers. What we have is the ability to humbly serve. Right after the storm, we first asked questions, seeking first to understand, and trying to get a sense of needs of the people, the basic needs, water, food, etc.  But we also want to connect with people and do more. The worst thing that can happen is people finding themselves isolated and withdrawn from others during the rebuilding process. Helping others in the community by loving them and supplying their basic needs is a powerful source of social support and healing.

Hurricane Michael has been a nightmare for so many people, and I would not try to convince you otherwise. But this is also an opportunity. It is an opportunity for all of us who attend Northstar to proclaim the love of Christ in ways we wouldn’t have thought possible,

Discussion Questions:

1. If practically possible, how can you be the hands and feet of Jesus Christ this week?

Some Thoughts on Hurricane Michael

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts. “The rain and snow come down from the heavens and stay on the ground to water the earth. They cause the grain to grow, producing seed for the farmer and bread for the hungry.” – Isaiah 55:8-1o.

Hurricane Michael, a “monstrous” storm churning with 155 mph winds, came ashore on the Florida Panhandle Wednesday afternoon as the most powerful storm on record. The storm, described by forecasters as “unprecedented,” shattered people’s lives up and down the Emerald Coast of Florida. 

It is easy to look at the carnage of this hurricane, glance skyward and ask God “why?”  Why would God allow this to happen? It is hard to grasp that the God of love would be involved in all these natural disasters. We believers try to protect God’s reputation by putting distance between Him and the terrible suffering that occurred on Wednesday October 10. After all, God is good and would not cause such devastation to happen.

But a moment’s reflection will soon make us realize that of course, God is the ultimate cause of all natural disasters. During the time of the plagues in Egypt, clearly God sent those plagues. Then you have the time of Noah; the flood obviously was sent by God. It says regarding Jonah, God hurled a storm into the sea.

The hurricane happened because God chose to let it happen. The question is why?  I can’t begin to answer that question, but I will say this. Our challenge is to somehow continue to believe God and to trust Him in the midst of tragedy. We need to realize that God can be trusted, even when it seems as if He is not on our side. We have to point people to the fact that God has intervened on our planet by sending Jesus Christ. There we see the love of God most clearly. The other thing you need to realize is that time is short and eternity is long. Sometimes we reverse that. The values that we have here on this earth, although life is precious, the fact is that hurricanes do not increase death. Everybody is going to die someday. But we also need to remember that God has already dealt with evil through the cross and the resurrection. God has acted and evil has been given a death sentence. It’s not as if God allows bad things to happen and that’s His final word. 

Discussion Questions:

  1. During our “very bad days” we wrestle with the question of “why does God allow this?”  Why do you think God allows bad things to happen to you?
  2. Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” The “all things” in that verse means exactly what it says. All things. Do you believe that means bad things as well as good things.
  3. Pray and ask God for the strength to trust Him in times of tragedy and trials.

Forgiving Others

“Then his brothers came and threw themselves down before Joseph. “Look, we are your slaves!” they said. But Joseph replied, “Don’t be afraid of me. Am I God, that I can punish you? 20 You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people. 21 No, don’t be afraid. I will continue to take care of you and your children.” So he reassured them by speaking kindly to them.” – Genesis 50:18-21.

Do you remember white out correction fluid? It is the magical liquid that covers over your errors, your typos, your unfortunate slip-ups. You brush on the liquid and start all over again–hopefully this time with no unfortunate slip-ups. It was used when typewriters were used so you can correct a mistake without typing the whole document over again. Forgiveness is much like that. It does not eliminate the hurts or pain, but it does cover them over in a way that they never really happened.

People often think that forgiving others is letting them off the hook. Forgiving others benefits others not me. The opposite is true. We are the ones who receive the most benefit from forgiveness, not the person we need to forgive. Forgiving others does not require a lot of research or thought. We do not need to weigh the severity of what we need to forgive as the determining factor on whether we should forgive or not. God has not qualified or quantified one sin over another as being worthy of forgiveness. What this means is God is not saying, “If a person lies to you or steals from you, you should forgive him, but if they harm your family you should not forgive them.”  There is no wiggle room. God is telling us to forgive everyone, always, and do it immediately.

True forgiveness is an act of love because forgiveness is the most Christ-like act a Christian can do. Never are you more Christ-like than when you forgive, because that is what Christ does. The personification of forgiveness is when Jesus looked at His crucifiers and said, “…Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing..” (Luke 23:34)

A prime example of forgiveness is the story of Joseph. When presented with an opportunity to exact vengeance on his brothers, Joseph chose, instead, to point them to the overarching plan that God has for His glory: “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Genesis 60:20)  Joseph served a God that enabled Him to love those who had sinned against Him.

We serve the same God. We serve a God who enables us to love and forgive others, not of our own power, but from God’s forgiveness that has radically changed our view of the world. Because Jesus loves, we love. Because He forgave, we forgive. 

Discussion Questions: 

  1. What do you dislike about the idea of forgiving? What do you like about it?
  2. Why do you think forgiveness takes courage?

The Value of Others

“Let all that I am praise the Lord; may I never forget the good things he does for me. He forgives all my sins and heals all my diseases. He redeems me from death and crowns me with love and tender mercies. He fills my life with good things. My youth is renewed like the eagle’s!” –  Psalm 103: 2-5.

How do you measure the worth of something? The general rule is that something is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it.  The Antique Roadshow on PBS is an interesting show. People bring in things that were passed down from one generation or was purchased in a garage sale, to learn about the item and to see what the item is worth. Inevitably, a person will bring in an item that their great great grandfather bought what they thought was a piece of junk at a flea market for a dollar. The expert looks at the item and always asks the question, “Do you know how much it’s worth?”  Usually the person has no idea so when the expert tells them the item would bring $25,000, the owner sits there dumb-founded. The item has not changed over time, but the value has and now the owner knows the true value.

How do we measure the value of a person? How do we determine your value and how do we determine the value of others? Most people determine the value of others in terms of their value to us. We can determine our value based on our skills, success, talents and importance. So we determine our value by comparing ourselves with others.  In this scenario, we have more value than someone who doesn’t have as much success as we do and we have less value than those who have more success than we do. But our true value is not based on these temporary standards. In the eyes of God we have so much more value. 

Remember that a thing is worth what someone will pay for it. And God paid a great price for us because we have great value to our heavenly Father.  If you have doubts you are valuable to God, read 1 Peter 1:18-19 (MSG): “Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately—at the end of the ages—become public knowledge, God always knew he was going to do this for you. It’s because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God.”

You may be feeling pretty worthless right now, beaten down. Life may have thrown more at you than you can handle. You may not feel worth much. Isaiah 43:4 says, “Others were given in exchange for you. I traded their lives for yours because you are precious to me. You are honored, and I love you.” God loves and values us and He loves and values others.   

Discussion Questions:

  1. Read Psalm 103: What does this Psalm tell us about how God thinks about us? 
  2. What can we do this week to value others as God values us?

Acceptance Versus Rejection

“Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.” — Romans 15:7.

We have only two choices, accept people, or reject them. When you realize this, it may change the way you treat people. Too often we try to change people in order to accept them because we expect them to fit our mold for them. It is not our job to change people. Only God can really change people. Our job is to love, serve and help them as a reflection of Christ in our lives.   

Jesus is the perfect example and He does not reject people, “However, those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them.” (John 6:37)  God accepts people as they are. Acceptance means to welcome and to extend grace to the people close to us and those on the periphery. But then there is the whole question of real-life application when it comes to accepting others. 

A good first step is realizing that as a follower of Jesus that you begin each day with the full assurance of God’s acceptance. God knows everything there is possibly to know about us and yet we are fully and eternally accepted by the God of the universe. Accepted, not endured; welcomed, not tolerated; wanted, not “just put up with.”  God knows our failures, foolishness, weaknesses, lack of faith and sinful nature and yet He totally accepts us. It is absolutely overwhelming to be be seen for what we truly are and still be wanted and loved by Him.  We are the one out of the 99 He brought home. We are the woman at the well that nobody wanted to talk to.We are the rich man who had an abundant harvest and wanted to build even bigger barns.

If we experience this type of acceptance, how do we transfer the acceptance we experience to others. We need God’s acceptance of others because there will always be people that we disagree with on any number of issues. To accept others as Jesus accepts us, we need to ask God to free us from a lack of faith. We need to pray and ask God to accept people without prejudice or being judgmental. It should not matter if they are rich or poor, highly educated or uneducated; It shouldn’t matter what the color of their skin is, or the country or culture they come from. We need to see people as Jesus sees people and accept them as He accepts us.

Discussion Questions:

  1. Which is harder for you, accepting others or accepting yourself? Why?
  2. What are some ways that we can accept others as Jesus accepts us? 

Pizza And Love

“So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.  Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” ― John 13:34-35

Out of all the responses to the question, “what can we do to show people we love them,” one of my favorite responses was from a 10 year old boy. The youngster listened intently to the question, thought for a second and said, “we should buy them a pizza.” After I reflected for a few seconds, I chuckled thinking how many pizzas we would have to order each night. But I responded by reminding the young man that there are some very difficult people out there. He was not concerned: “Well, we can get the difficult people some extra toppings.”

Whether they require more or less toppings, we are commanded to love others as Jesus loved us. Our spiritual life must grow as we grow in the Lord. You don’t start with a finished pizza. You start with a foundation, and add each layer until you put it in the oven. 

To love as Jesus loves, we must understand how Jesus loves. And why He love us. He loved us enough to do the will of the Father. He loved us enough to come into this world. He loved us enough to serve. He loved us enough to lay down His life for us. I’m sure we all have thought about this question at one time or another.  It is not easy to comprehend God’s love for us, as the song goes “Amazing love how can it be that Thou my God shouldest die for me”. The Bible doesn’t say a whole lot about why God loves us, but it tells us that “God is love.” (1 John 4:8)  The fact that the God of this universe loves and cares for the sinful and rebellious human race is probably the greatest mystery of all time. Not only did He create us, “but God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.” (Romans 5:8)

His love was selfless. His love was serving. His love was sacrificial. His love was simply amazing, and His love is how we are to love others. No matter how you slice it, that is a tall order.

Here is a little secret to remember. It is a whole lot easier to love pizza than to love others. If you don’t have enough love for others, get more of God. Get more of Jesus. Get more of His Spirit. That is the only way to love others with love that is beyond you.

That is even better than a pizza.   

Discussion Questions:

  1. What ingredients do we need to love others as God loves us?
  2. Dr. David Jeremiah said, “ Love is worthless unless it acts out, unless it’s expressed in deed and behavior.” How do we act it out on a practical level.

Make God First

“He must become greater and greater, and I must become less and less.” ― John 3:30. 

It makes sense to pause and reflect occasionally on why we always seem to be putting out fires that flash up everyday in our busy lives. The question is how much can I control the urgent? Is it a reflection of my schedule or what I allow on that schedule? We also need to pause and reflect on our relationship with God.

If a group of Christians were asked to list their priorities, that list would include God, spouse, children, others, job and ministry, in some order. All of these things are important. All of them matter to God so they should matter to us. But the list begins and ends with God. God should be the number one priority and the foundation in our life.  But that requires more than symbolically placing God on the top of the list. If we make God another line in a list, we are suggesting that God is simply another component in our life. God is more than a role player, or another component in our lives. God is our life. If we are a follower of Jesus, then God owns our life. It means desiring God’s will above all else.

We all have to be weary of compartmentalizing God. We don’t want to think of Him as relevant in some aspects but needed in others. Instead, as I think through what is important versus what is urgent, I need to look at it through the prism of my relationship with Him. What is really important is established by Him and outlined in scripture. The reality is that urgent fires will always pop up in this life. But we do have the ability to differentiate between the urgent and the important and make decisions accordingly if Jesus is at the center of our lives. 

Psalm 62:5-8 says, “Let all that I am wait quietly before God,  for my hope is in him. He alone is my rock and my salvation, my fortress where I will not be shaken. My victory and honor come from God alone. He is my refuge, a rock where no enemy can reach me. O my people, trust in him at all times. Pour out your heart to him, for God is our refuge.”

Life places before us hundreds of choices. Some are bad. Some are good. But each of us must decide, “do I focus my attention and energies on what is urgent or what is important?”

Discussion Questions:

  1. Often what we are doing with our time isn’t bad or wrong, but it can be distracting to us because we let the urgent things crowd out the important things. How do you differentiate between the important and the urgent? 
  2. Name three urgent things you need to do and three important things you need to do. Which are getting more of your time?

First And Foremost

“As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.” But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.” – Luke 10:38-42.

Martha, Martha, Martha. We can all put ourselves in Martha’s shoes. Company has come at the last minute so all the last minute details need to be worked out: the table must be set, food prepared. Martha set about taking care of all that and frankly, she needed Mary’s help. Most people would side with Martha in this scenario because we’ve all had those moments when there was too much to do, too little time, and not enough help. The urgent often keeps us from putting first things first.

What was Mary doing? We can only conclude that Mary gave her attention to Jesus. We can imagine that Jesus talked to her about His travels and His teaching. Jesus may have talked with her about real-life issues or the matters of the heart. Mary must have hung on every word that Jesus offered. Mary’s life was ordinary enough, but when Jesus came to town something extraordinary was taking place. Mary just wouldn’t miss the opportunity. We have all been in situations where we had, but missed an opportunity because we were too busy with something else. Not Mary.  Mary wouldn’t pass up the most important thing: spending time with Jesus.

What would happen if we all had a little Mary in us? What would happen if we put first things first? What would happen if we placed as much importance on spending time with Jesus as Mary did?  I wonder what would happen if we spent as much time in prayer and hearing the words of Christ as we do in taking care of the urgent tasks of the day? Putting Jesus first. It’s the easiest thing to do and the hardest thing to do.

Putting Jesus first means that we want Him so much that the other stuff becomes secondary. And it become secondary every day. It’s not passive. It is just Jesus, first and foremost because we love Him and we want to follow Him. In the presence of Jesus the “tyranny of the urgent” fades, and we discover the power of putting first things first.

Discussion Questions:

  1. If you saw yourself first and foremost as a child of God, what would change in your life? 
  2. What daily habits can you develop to better ensure you put first things first?   

Yes Or No

“For all of God’s promises have been fulfilled in Christ with a resounding “Yes!” And through Christ, our “Amen” (which means “Yes”) ascends to God for his glory. ” –  2 Corinthians 1:20

“Yes” and “no” are often one of the first words that we learn when we are small children. And once we learn them, we use these two words probably more often than any other word during the day. That is because during the course of the day, we make countless decisions resulting from a simple “yes” or “no.” Yes, I will get up and get ready for work, or no, I want to sleep a while longer. Yes, let’s go get a salad for lunch or no, I prefer a burger. We make a lot of choices in a day.

To invest our time and resources on the important over the urgent, we either have to learn to say no or to be ruthlessly selective in our yeses. For most people, the barrier to a fulfilling driven life is not a lack of commitment but over commitment. In other words, we need to be incredibly careful and prayerful about what we say yes to. The best and most effective followers of Jesus don’t do just to do more, they do more of what brings glory to God. If you want to have a more meaningful life, I would encourage you say no to more and yes to more of what matters most.

As Christians we also find ourselves saying “yes” and “no” to God many times every day. “No” is often the more prevalent response. We often find it quite difficult to say yes to God, especially when there is much at risk. Saying yes, however, is a real key to a meaningful relationship with our Heavenly Father. God knows that we aren’t perfect. He knows that it will be hard to say yes. Because saying yes to God usually means saying no to ourselves and to the things we want. If you say yes to God, you are saying to Him, “You are the most important part of my life. I trust you. I love you, and I believe that you have so many wonderful things in store for me.”

When you say yes, prepare to be uncomfortable – being a disciple isn’t easy. These days, it’s unpopular and difficult to be a follower of Christ. Know that whatever God wants you to do, no matter how uncomfortable you might be, He will grant you His grace to help you along the way.

Be honest and open and talk to God. Tell Him that you’re open and willing to do His work. As it says in 1 Thessalonians 5:17, we must “never stop praying.” This helps you stay connected and on the right track with God and His plans.   

Discussion Questions:

  1. What are some of the obstacles to saying yes to God?
  2. What can we do this week to be more selective to what we say yes to? 

Warning: Deadlines Are Closer Than They Appear

“So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.  Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do..” — Ephesians 5:15-17.

Many Christians today find themselves juggling deadlines at work and at home. Deadlines are often challenging, sometimes unrealistic and usually stressful – which is why so many people tend to push back on them. In many instances, deadlines are generally not of our doing and non-negotiable while others are self-imposed. We create deadlines when we overcommit and find our backs against the wall.

On Sunday, we talked about the strategic tool of artificial deadlines.  An artificial deadline is a fake deadline. Here is an example: your boss wants a report on Thursday, so technically the report is due on that day. But in your mind it is due on Wednesday. That report is an important job responsibility so you want to ensure it is not only done but done early. Put more simply, it is building in a cushion.

When facing deadlines, seek God as you would in anything else. Start by praying. Going before the Lord to get your marching orders from Him and then going out in dependence to fulfill them can be both a worrisome and exhilarating experience. Psalm 127:1 teaches us. “Unless the Lord builds a house, the work of the builders is wasted. Unless the Lord protects a city, guarding it with sentries will do no good.” When we, by faith, set and pursue a deadline, it drives us to God. He is the One who accomplishes this task, but in His divine sovereignty, He somehow uses us to do it.

Secondly, a deadline can give glory to God. If people know we are a Jesus follower we should have a reputation for hard work and follow through. What if we make our deadlines and fulfill our commitments to the watching world? I know to set seemingly unreasonable goals seems foolish to some, but my Bible says “For nothing will be impossible with God.” (Luke 1:37 ESV)  We may win some accolades in the process, but our true motivation should be to exalt the name of Christ, and bringing Him honor and glory through this process. And when the job is complete, the deadline has been made, we can pause, stand back, and simply say, “Look what God has done!”

Discussion Questions:

  1. How do we feel about creating artificial deadlines? Where is a good place to start?
  2. How can deadlines help unlock God’s power in your life?