Tag Archives: Paul

Are There Any Stars In Your Crown?

30 Wednesday Apr 2014

Posted by in Our Spiritual Process, The Lord's Return

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made for another world

 

The saints of old used to inquire, “how many stars are in your crown?” We don’t ask this question much any more. Paul thought a lot about it and so should you… if you believe in the rewards of the afterlife.

For who is our hope or joy or crown of exultation? Is it not even you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming? I Thessalonians 2:19

 

For the believer, a “soul winner’s crown” is available for those who lead others to Jesus. In return, the believer will cast his or her crown at Jesus’ feet. What an honor! This is why Paul wanted to fill his crown with jewels or stars. Each jewel represented a person he led to the Lord.

Sometimes we can get caught up in counting nickels and noses at church. In the end, these types of numbers will not be remembered… but, jewels will never be forgotten.

Think about it for a moment. Someone received a jewel for leading you to the Lord. It can never be taken away from them. You may also have received a jewel or star in your crown if you have led someone to the Lord. This can never be taken away from you.

I realize not everyone is an evangelist or even skilled at sharing the Good News. But, we all can sow in these fields and ministries. I believe God keeps accurate records of such things. He knows every seed we have planted and every dollar we have given to help the poor, support missions and evangelistic ministries. These records are not kept in order to condemn you or judge you… no … they are kept in order to reward you for a job well done. The Lord wants to say… “Well done my good and faithful servant… enter into the joy or your master!”  (Matthew 25:21)

When we get excited about such things, we will be passionate just like Paul and those traveling the road with him. There is nothing wrong with planning ahead. There is nothing wrong with winning the prize, receiving your crown, and being able to cast your rewards at the feet of Jesus. Get busy today so your crown will be full of stars!

 

Blessings – From God’s Incubator,

Pastor

 

Overcoming a Broken Road

25 Friday Apr 2014

Posted by in Times of Testing

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troubles

 

 

all the more eager with great desire to see your face. For we wanted to come to you—I, Paul, more than once—and yet Satan hindered (stopped) us. 1 Thessalonians 2:17-18

 

Paul was run out of town just three weeks into ministry at Thessolonica. The Jewish leadership had their sights on making sure his tenure was brief. But God blessed Paul’s efforts and a thriving church was born in those few short weeks.

My question is …. can Satan completely stop someone from doing God’s will? According to Paul he can. In fact Satan did it more than once and possibly on numerous occasions!  In this case Satan kept people, mainly Jews, so riled up… they physically beat believers and prevented Paul from moving certain directions.

So has Satan ever prevented you from doing something, you knew God wanted you to do?  If so… what did you do about it? How did you respond? 

I have to admit… I haven’t always detected Satan’s aggressions in my life. As I look back, there have been many times when the first signs of opposition came my way, I just folded.

The word “hindered” means Satan broke up the road and put obstacles in the path. This is Satan’s modus operandi.

Have you ever wondered why when you are about to go out the door to church or to fellowship with other believers a crisis suddenly arises? At the times when important and needful fellowship is about to take place something inevitably comes and blocks the way.

But wait there is more… have obstacles ever been placed in your path to prevent you from spending quality time with God? How about when you needed talk with someone else about the Lord?  I believe Satan knows when breakthrough is near for each of us. This is when he attempts to break up the road and place obstacles in your path.

The point is … although Paul couldn’t physically return to Thessolonica, he chose another path… he starting writing letters. What Satan meant for evil, God used for good. It was far better for us that Satan stopped Paul. The letters meant for this church and others became a large part of the New Testament.

Listen, if your path is blocked and difficulties arise… don’t stop! It could be God has a better…. more perfect path for you. Difficulties for the believer are merely miracles yet to be birthed.

 

Blessings – From God’s Incubator,

Pastor

 

Testing the Blessing (3) – To Make us Deeper and More Productive

11 Friday May 2012

Posted by in Abraham: Life of Faith

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If I were to take a survey among Christians asking, “Does your personal faith need testing and trials?”  Most would tell me their personal faith is in good shape.  Yep, most believe they are in very good shape.  James, Paul and Jesus paint a different picture for the average believer.  In James we are told…

the testing of our faith … produces endurance, and endurance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (James 1:4 )

 

Paul tells us that

suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character, and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us.” (Romans 5:3-5)

 

Jesus paints a picture so clear, it cannot be ignored.

every branch (or believer) that bears fruit “he prunes so that it may be more fruitful”.

 

In reality, most of us are like a nail in search of a hammer.  A nail would certainly question the value of a hammer. To the nail, the hammer is a cruel instrument. But what it doesn’t see is that each blow forces the nail to bite deeper and hold more effectively. Without the hammer, the nail would have no purpose in life.

If metal had feelings it probably would question being scrapped by a file and being thrown in furnace. Metal doesn’t want to be shaped and is quite comfortable remaining the same shape. The rough scraping of the file would seem tortuous, but it is necessary to fit the metal for its part. The furnace would be met with screams and dread, but the furnace is necessary to purify and strengthen the metal.

 

Chuck Swindoll has some great words concerning this illustration.

Heartaches and disappointments are like the hammer, the file, and the furnace. They come in all shapes and sizes: unfulfilled romance, a lingering illness, and untimely death, an unachieved goal in life, a broken home or marriage, a severed friendship, a wayward and rebellious child, a personal medical report that advised immediate surgery, a falling grade at school, a depression that simply won’t go away, a habit you can’t seem to break.  Sometimes heartaches come suddenly . . . other times they appear over the passing of many months, slowly as the erosion of earth.  Do I write to a “nail” that has begun to resent the blows of the hammer? Are you at the brink of despair, thinking that you cannot bear another day of heartache? Is that what’s gotten you down? As difficult as it may be for you to believe this today, the Master knows what He’s doing. Your Savior knows your breaking point. The bruising and the crushing and melting process is designed to reshape you, not ruin you. Your value is increasing the longer He lingers over you. [Encourage Me p. 36]

 

Abraham certainly wondered “why”. “Take now your son, your only son, whom you love, Isaac, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I will tell you.” (Genesis 22:2) Perhaps he felt like a nail being attacked by a hammer. But Abraham also understood that the nail and the hammer were both held by the hand of the Lord. He knew that God knew what He was doing and so he trusted him.

 

Blessings,

Pastor

Be Good to Yourself – Build Integrity

02 Monday Jan 2012

Posted by in Our Spiritual Process

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       A couple was speeding down the highway when a State Trooper pulled them over. He asked the man to step out of the car and show him his license. The trooper asked, “Did you realize you were going 85 miles an hour back there?”

       The man said, “Officer that would be impossible. I’m the most law-abiding driver you’ve ever seen. I never exceed the speed limit, no matter my circumstances.”

The policeman leaned into the window of the car and asked the wife “Is that true?”

       “No Officer, it’s not, he drives like a maniac, he speeds wherever he goes, his driving scares me to death.”

The policeman wrote out a ticket. Then he said, “I also noticed you didn’t have your seat belt on, which is against the law in this state.”

       “Officer,” the man said, “with all due respect, I value life too highly. Buckle up, that’s my motto.“

The policeman asked the wife, “Is that true? “

       “Are you kidding? I’ve never seen him wear the thing, you’d probably find cobwebs in his seat belt.”

The policeman began to write him another ticket. About that time, the man leaned in the window and screamed, “Woman, what are you trying to do to me? Keep your big fat nose out of my business!“

The officer said, “Ma’am, does he always talk to you like that?”

       She replied, “Only when he’s drunk.”

We laugh at stories like this.  Part of God’s will for you is to create authentic integrity.  Others walked this path and so will you, if you enter into His process.

   Did you know that several of the Bible’s greatest “heroes of the faith” were liars?

  • Abraham lied to the Egyptian Pharaoh saying that his wife Sarah was actually his sister….then did it again with another king.
  • Jacob lied to his father Isaac saying that he was actually his brother Esau, so he could receive the blessing meant for the eldest son.
  • Peter lied to the servants and soldiers surrounding the fire outside the trial room where Jesus-Peter’s friend, teacher and Lord-was being tried, convicted and sentenced to the cross, saying, “I tell you I never knew the man!”
  • Paul, after his own fashion, was so blinded by his own arrogance that he sought to suppress the Truth of Jesus Christ.

 

      However, the Holy Spirit can work miracles and change a liar into a person of integrity

  • Abraham came to a point and place in his life when he was able to trust God for everything, even the life of his beloved son Isaac.
  • Jacob, after a night of wrestling with God, was able to trust God with everything he had, and so he returned to face his brother Esau whom he had cheated and betrayed.
  • Peter was able to trust God before the same crowd that had called for Jesus’ crucifixion when he stood up at Pentecost to proclaim the same name he had denied a mere 50 days before.
  • Paul, who called himself “abnormally born” because he persecuted the Church, eventually wrote: “I preach Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”

Allow the Lord to so move in your life in 2012 that integrity becomes the foundational cornerstone of your life!   What He has done for others, He will do for you. 

Blessings,

Pastor