GOD Morning! October 17 / Real Talk

GOD Morning!

October 17 / Real Talk

1 Thessalonians 5

² For you yourselves know perfectly well that the day of the [return of the] Lord will come [as unexpectedly and suddenly] as a thief in the night.

³ When people are saying, All is well and secure, and, There is peace and safety, then in a moment unforeseen destruction (ruin and death) will come upon them as suddenly as labor pains come upon a woman with child; and they shall by no means escape, for there will be no escape.

⁴ But you are not in [given up to the power of] darkness, brethren, for that day to overtake you by surprise like a thief.

⁵ For you are all sons of light and sons of the day; we do not belong either to the night or to darkness.

⁶ Accordingly then, let us not sleep, as the rest do, but let us keep wide awake (alert, watchful, cautious, and on our guard) and let us be sober (calm, collected, and circumspect).

⁷ For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who are drunk, get drunk at night.

⁸ But we belong to the day; therefore, let us be sober and put on the breastplate (corslet) of faith and love and for a helmet the hope of salvation.

¹¹ Therefore encourage (admonish, exhort) one another and edify (strengthen and build up) one another, just as you are doing.

¹² Now also we beseech you, brethren, get to know those who labor among you [recognize them for what they are, acknowledge and appreciate and respect them all]—your leaders who are over you in the Lord and those who warn and kindly reprove and exhort you.

¹³ And hold them in very high and most affectionate esteem in [intelligent and sympathetic] appreciation of their work. Be at peace among yourselves.

¹⁴ And we earnestly beseech you, brethren, admonish (warn and seriously advise) those who are out of line [the loafers, the disorderly, and the unruly]; encourage the timid and fainthearted, help and give your support to the weak souls, [and] be very patient with everybody [always keeping your temper].

¹⁵ See that none of you repays another with evil for evil, but always aim to show kindness and seek to do good to one another and to everybody.

¹⁶ Be happy [in your faith] and rejoice and be glad-hearted continually (always);

¹⁷ Be unceasing in prayer [praying perseveringly];

¹⁸ Thank [God] in everything [no matter what the circumstances may be, be thankful and give thanks], for this is the will of God for you [who are] in Christ Jesus [the Revealer and Mediator of that will].

¹⁹ Do not quench (suppress or subdue) the [Holy] Spirit;

²⁰ Do not spurn the gifts and utterances of the prophets [do not depreciate prophetic revelations nor despise inspired instruction or exhortation or warning].

²¹ But test and prove all things [until you can recognize] what is good; [to that] hold fast.

²² Abstain from evil [shrink from it and keep aloof from it] in whatever form or whatever kind it may be.

²³ And may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through [separate you from profane things, make you pure and wholly consecrated to God]; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved sound and complete [and found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah).

²⁴ Faithful is He Who is calling you [to Himself] and utterly trustworthy, and He will also do it [fulfill His call by hallowing and keeping you].

Recently, I had an interesting conversation with a friend. This friend was struggling with past hurts. She was constantly questioning everything. She seemed to be in a fog of confusion about what God wanted her to do and where He wanted her to attend church.

She had actually been church shopping for awhile. She would find what she felt was the right church; but after a while, doubts would come and she would start her quest again.

I had become a human sounding board. I would listen patiently, and then encourage her.

To be honest, I was unsure if I wanted to continue mentoring her. I was feeling drained. I prayed for wisdom, and whoa! God gave me some insight!

So last week, we met up again. I shot up a quick “Are You sure about this, God?” prayer, received the thumbs up from my Creator, and I went for it.

Here’s what God impressed me to tell her:

(I realize all of you won’t relate to all of this. Hopefully some of you will receive encouragement from some of these words.)

1. There are some things you don’t have to fast, pray and travail about. (My brother in law, Bob Kurz, spoke about this a few Sundays ago.) If the church you are attending teaches the Bible Plan of salvation (repentance, baptism in Jesus’ name, receiving the Holy Spirit as evidenced by speaking in an unknown language) and preaches God’s pure scripture, emphasizing holy living, you are in the right church!

However, there are going be times you don’t feel like you “fit in.” You will have lonely times. At times, you will look around and see everyone laughing and talking except for you. That’s when satan will start whispering, “You don’t fit in here.”

We all have lonely times. Jesus, Himself, had lonely times. Did He “fit in?” NO! Did he say, “Forget it! I don’t fit in here on earth!”, and call for the angels to whisk Him back to Heaven? Of course not! So quit trying to “fit in.” You may never fit in. Instead, cling to Jesus. Focus on fitting into His beautiful plan for your life. Focus on extending a hand of compassion to the hurting, broken and lonely folks you come in contact with each day. Focus on fitting into His embrace. Focus on being wrapped in His arms. Focus on abiding in Him.

2. Realize that God has an amazing plan for you and satan is mad. He will try to bombard you every second of every day with negative thoughts. (you’re not good enough, that person doesn’t like you, if people knew the real you they wouldn’t even speak to you, what if people find out the embarrassing secrets in your past, and on and on it goes) Make the choice to reject the depressing thoughts. Even if they are true, just remind satan that your past sins are covered by Jesus’ blood, but unfortunately he is going to burn in hell forever. And give him the scripture – Rev. 20:10. And know that we ALL have embarrassing secrets in our past. Why? Because we are human.

3. Resist a critical, judgmental spirit. Stop peering around at others. Stop criticizing the leadership! Stop criticizing your brothers and sisters in Christ!

If there is sin in the church, let God deal with it! Your task is not to point out everyone’s faults and weak areas. Take the magnifying glass off of others and focus it on yourself. Focus on your own personal relationship with Jesus Christ.

4. For Heaven’s sake and for the sake of your friends and family, shut up! Never ever ever ever say a word about the negative thoughts that are sure to pop up in your mind. Stop voicing this garbage! You wonder why your friends and relatives are dragging their feet about serving God. Could it be that they have heard you voice concerns about the church or people in the church? Take the negative junk, especially junk you are unable to resolve, to God alone. Lay it at His feet. Ask Him for wisdom. Ask Him to wipe your mind clean with His giant eraser. Sometimes it takes a little time. Just keep laying it down at the foot of the Cross. As many times as it takes. And focus on your purpose on earth. God has a plan for your life! A HUGE plan! Just be the clay pot. He fills you up and you pour, pour , pour out!

Finally, I let her know that I simply am not willing to continue to meet with her unless she is willing to let go of the critical spirit and move forward. Toward Jesus. Toward a relationship with Him.

Wanna hear the rest of the story?

She smiled and said she appreciated me because I was real with her! She seemed very relieved that we didn’t have to hash and rehash all that junk anymore! Now she can move forward into total healing and intimacy with God. Hallelujah!

“Dear Jesus, cleanse my heart of a critical, judgmental spirit that would try to creep into my thinking. satan knows he can’t get me down with drinking, smoking, drugs, or wild partying. So he tries throwing negative thoughts about others in my head. Well, I refuse to listen! I simply will not accept his junk. Jesus, please purify my thoughts. Please help me to focus on what I can do for You, not what my church can do for me. You died for me, I vow to live for You! A living sacrifice is what I am. In Jesus’ name I pray, AMEN.”