Mar 17
Chuck Swindoll tells the story of an actual court case in Massachusetts back in the late 1920’s: It concerned a man who had been walking along a pier when suddenly he tripped over a rope & fell into the deep waters of that ocean bay. He came up sputtering screaming for help, then sank beneath the surface. For some reason he was unable to swim or stay afloat. His friends heard his faint cries in the distance, but were too far away to rescue him. But within only a few yards was a young man lounging on a deck chair, sunbathing. Not only could the sunbather hear the drowning man plead, “Help, I can’t swim” he was also an excellent swimmer. But the tragedy is that he did nothing. He only turned his head to watch indifferently as the man finally sank & drowned. The family of the victim was so upset by that display of extreme indifference, that they sued the sunbather. The result? They lost the case. With a measure of reluctance the court ruled that the man on the dock had no legal responsibility whatsoever to try to save the drowning man’s life. Swindoll goes on to say, “You & I have a legal right to mind our own business – to turn a deaf ear to anyone in need, to continue sunbathing while someone is drowning. We are not obligated to respond. Indifference may not be illegal, but it is certainly immoral!”
Matthew 9:36-38 “Jesus was moved with compassion…”
Mar 15
Jesus was a busy man. His “to-do” list was quite extensive: Heal every sickness, harass the religious crowd, split time & history in twain, and – oh yeah – SAVE THE WORLD & redeem mankind!
Jesus, in-spite of His busy calendar, never lost sight of His prime directive: to seek & save them that are lost. (Luke 19:10)
When I get busy, I tend to forget the main reason I’m here: to love & care for the people He has entrusted to me & help them discover their destiny! In fact, the busier I become the more long lines become obstacles instead of opportunities & the more I lose my compassion for lost people.
Compassion is not a common virtue today. It’s hard to imagine how we can be literally surrounded by lost & drowning souls & not care! But it happens. Maybe because we see so much violence each night on t.v. their suffering doesn’t sink in. Perhaps we justify our inaction, thinking it’s not our responsibility to care for the needs of lost people. Perhaps we leave it to people more gifted, more trained, more professional… more compassionate.
Today I’m challenging MYSELF to s-l-o-w d-o-w-n & notice people… those I work with, shop with. You do the same… those you go to school with, live next to. Drowning people are everwhere… if we will only look.
If you look you will see.
Jesus, open our eyes – today – and help us to SEE PEOPLE the way YOU see them. Amen.
Matt. 9:35-38 – Read this brief passage; it will encourage you!
Mar 11
Honesty, when many of us first accepted Christ it was because we feared hell AND we were being drawn by His love & goodness. There was the promise of forgiveness, a clean conscience, acceptance, destiny, significance, and escaping a very nasty place called Hell.
It’s the simple incentive method. 
Pain and gain! Reward or retribution.
Don’t feel bad about that. God created us this way, so He appeals to this part of our nature. He ENJOYS rewarding people… He LOVES people! What Father wouldn’t enjoy seeing His children do well?
As we grow & mature in Christ, & our love for Him develops, we become less occupied with the “principle of success” & the reaping of our sowing. We become more in LOVE & want to serve & bless. You grow in the revelation that “He is a REWARDER of those that diligently seek HIM.” He becomes our passion, our goal, our success, & our reward! Even if I still had to go to hell I would still love, obey & serve Him!
Nonetheless, it seems in scripture that God appeals to our simpler nature to gain an entrance into our lives so He can teach us the meaning of it: To give it away!
kc
Mar 10
It doesn’t matter what you have; it matters how you got it. If you received an offering for an orphanage & then went out and bought a Ferrai then you are a rascal! But if you give 20% or 50% of your income away then your harvest is going to look different from someone who is judging you that may not even tithe!
Again, have some abused this scriptural truth? Yerp. But that does not change the fact that sowing & reaping is a spiritual law.
“Seed-time” is an opportunity to step thru the doorway to breakthrough and increase. It is not a holy moment that comes “as the Spirit wills” and “you must act now before this moment passes.” That’s manipulation. But when you’ve activated an eternal law established by God Himself – that is a holy moment! Genesis 8:22 This is an immutable law that God Himself has established.
Giving is like sowing a seed. You can give your time, talent or treasure.
One of the giant redwood cedars of California is 270 feet high, and weighs 6,300 tons. It came from a seed weighing three thousandths of an ounce! That illustrates the power of a seed!
Once people start giving they are ennobled and empowered. It’s Godly.
The people who give money they don’t have to, create a culture of celebration.
The leader that gives attention they’re not paid for will exceed expectations.
Let’s be the generous generation!
Mar 09
Is it okay to “give to get?” If it wasn’t then why is there so much in scripture about it?
Galatians 6:7 “God is not mocked: whatever a man sows THAT shall he also reap.”
Genesis 26:12-14 There was a famine in the land so Isaac SOWED in THAT land & reaped 100 fold THAT YEAR!
Genesis 8:20-22 God was so pleased with Noah’s great offering, that He put a system in place to ensure we are supplied to fulfill His will. “As long as the Earth remains so also seed-time, & harvest.”
Matt. 6:33 “But seek first the Kingdom of God & His righteousness, & all these THINGS will be added to you.”
The Kingdom of God is defined in Rom. 14:17 as being “righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost.” If you are seeking first these then you won’t have to worry about “getting off” in the area of money.
The Purpose of the Seed is Harvest!
The Law of the Seed
Mar 08
There is a renewed attack on the hyper-prosperity message. Though there are apparent abuses in this area among some “name-brand” ministers, the danger is missing the truth on the matter. If there were no truth regarding wealth or prosperity then there would be no debate, abuse or attack. Jesus said that knowing the truth makes us free! Beware of throwing the proverbial baby out with the bathwater.
So allow me to highlight one simple idea: God’s original plan for man was abundance. We see this in the Garden of Eden. It was a wealthy place! In other words, there was no lack there. Needs & desires for Adam & Eve had more than what they needed at the moment and enough for future expansion of Heaven’s Culture and atmosphere! What is that? Love.
Biblical “Prosperity” is simply having more than enough to fulfill the assignment God has given you. The great dividing line of scripture, as one person called it, is John 10:10, “The thief comes to steel, kill & destroy. But I Am come that you may have life & have it more abundantly.”
Don’t allow the abuses of others to deprive you of the blessings of God. You cannot be a blessing in an area if you are not blessed in that area. You can only give what you have.
“God is not opposed to His people being prosperous; He is opposed to them being covetous.” Dad Hagin
Mar 04
Welcome to the Post-Modern world where missionaries aren’t just for Africa & India anymore. God is calling us, His Body in the earth, to be evangelists & missional to the world around us. Acts 1:8
Nowhere in the Scripture does Jesus ask us to worship Him, but He does ask us to become like Him – worship Him by obeying Him. (This is discipleship.) Matt. 28
I believe God is taking us from institution to revolution!
Our problem is we have God all figured out – His ways are NOT our ways! There is still a mystery! It takes more faith to NOT have ALL the answers sometimes…
But here’s what I do know: Jesus said, “I will build MY church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.” Gates are defensive things. So the church Jesus is building is the one that is plunging head-long into darkness & danger to get it’s hands dirty & rescue people from hell!
The Holy Spirit is calling His Bride to Action: “Who will go?” (Isaiah 6)
pkc
Mar 04
Going to hang with one of my mentors & the man that led me to Jesus 33 year ago: Brother Jim Wideman!
Be back Saturday.
See ya Sunday.
pkc
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