What Motivates You?

We sometimes allow the sin, rebellion and the corruption of this world through lust, to dim the beauty and the blessings of God’s creation so that it does not shine brightly and remove to joy and peace we can have from God. The world is beautiful, but alone is empty.  We need something more: In Matthew 11:28-30 our Lord says, “Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” Those who hear that call and follow it begin a great journey through a narrow door to a difficult way. Matthew writes, “Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it” Mt 7:13-14. In II Pet 1:3-4 the Spirit of God reveals to us that God has given us some “precious and exceeding great promises” to motivate and help us every step of the way.  There is enough motivation in these things to keep us happy and contented all the days of our life.  Do you know what they are?

I believe one of the places that we often overlook is in the character of God. His love is a solid foundation we can stand on to motivate us to serve Him. Romans 8:38-39 says, “For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Not only His love but His faithfulness can also be considered. 1 Pet 4:19 says, “Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator.” His truthfulness as stated by the Hebrew writer can also be of comfort. He writes, “Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us” Heb 6:17-18, and of course, His grace.  Eph 2:1-8 says, “And you He made alive, who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.”

The precious and exceeding great promises are based upon our faith in the character and truthfulness of these things.  Some of us need to begin right here. When once we have concluded that God truly feels the way the Bible tells us he feels, then we are prepared to accept the rest of His promises.

Every Spiritual Blessing In The Heavenly Places

In Eph 1:3 it says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ.” In Christ we find, redemption, liberty, we find that we are alive to God, the blessings of Abraham, eternal life, no condemnation, love, grace and kindness, sanctification, and perfection. God will lead us to triumph as 1 Cor 2:14 says, “Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ, and through us diffuses the fragrance of His knowledge in every place.” We are a new creation, we are raised up together with Christ, we are reconciled, on an on and blessings of God flow to His children.

What will motivate you? The list is endless, the blessings innumerable, the love limitless. Won’t you trust God? Consider Psa 32:6-7 in closing, “For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You in a time when You may be found; surely in a flood of great waters they shall not come near him. You are my hiding place; you shall preserve me from trouble; you shall surround me with songs of deliverance. Selah” Oh, what a blessing to trust and believe in God!                

Carlos Aguilar

Sowing The Seed Of The Kingdom
Fourth in a series on personal evangelism

Our work in the Lord is the work of sowing the seed of the kingdom. Problems arise in any endeavor when we forget what our work is. In the Lord, our work is presenting the gospel to as many people as possible. Even more accurately, our work is attempting to present the gospel to as many as possible. All the Lord has ever asked us to do is "plant" and "water." It is His part of the work to "give the increase." "I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase" 1 Cor 3:6,7.

The Lord can be counted on to do His work!

When we assume responsibility for the Lord's part of the work -- a thing that we have no control over -- we are bound to become discouraged. Our work would remain the same even if God told us before we started that no one would listen to us. In fact, there have been times when God did send His servants to preach and told them in advance that the message would be rejected. To Moses, God said, "But I am sure that the king of Egypt will not let you go, no, not even by a mighty hand" Ex 3:19. To Jeremiah, God said, "Therefore you shall speak all these words to them, but they will not obey you. You shall also call to them, but they will not answer you" Jer 7:27. Cf. Ezek. 2:1-7; 3:4-9; 33:30-33. Our work is like that of the "watchman." Cf. Ezek. 33:1-9. We are expected to keep on telling others of the Lord until there is no one left to tell. Cf. "Then I said, 'Lord, how long?' And He answered: 'Until the cities are laid waste and without inhabitant, the houses are without a man, the land is utterly desolate, the Lord has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land'" Isa 6:11,12.

We are to be those who cannot do otherwise than tell others about Christ.

"Then I said, 'I will not make mention of Him, nor speak anymore in His name.' But His word was in my heart like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I was weary of holding it back, and I could not" Jer 20:9. "For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard" Ac. 4:20. Our work is to present the gospel to as many people as possible -- regardless of the response -- and to keep on doing it until the Lord comes back. The effectiveness of our work is to be measured not in terms of positive response to the gospel, but in terms of how much seed has been sown. If we care to set goals in our personal evangelism, we need to be sure these goals relate to the work that is ours to do and are worded in terms of the amount of seed sown. For example, an appropriate goal might be to ask, before the year is over, at least ten persons if they will study the Bible. We would not measure the effectiveness of the Post Office by how many people respond favorably to their mail. The mailman is merely a messenger!

It would be good for a congregation to determine that every person in the community is going to hear from it in some way at least once every year or two. Of the church in Thessalonica Paul could say: "For from you the word of the Lord has sounded forth, not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place. Your faith toward God has gone out, so that we do not need to say anything" 1 Thess. 1:8. We can at least confront those around us with the gospel often enough that they know we are in the neighborhood!

God will bless our efforts.

If we keep focused on what it is the Lord wants us to do, He will bless what we do. After all, our "sufficiency" is from God: "And we have such trust through Christ toward God. Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God" 2 Cor 3:4,5. If we are willing to sow "bountifully," God is able to make us have an "abundance" for every good work. Cf. 2 Cor 9:6-11.

We need to be conscious that we are participating in the Lord's work.

"Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord" 1 Cor 15:58. "For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure" Phil 2:13. We need to be praying that God will open doors of opportunity for us to do His work. "For a great and effective door has opened to me, and there are many adversaries" 1 Cor 16:9. "Continue earnestly in prayer, being vigilant in it with thanksgiving; meanwhile praying also for us, that God would open to us a door for the word, to speak the mystery of Christ, for which I am also in chains" Col 4:2-4. "Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course and be glorified, just as it is with you, and that we may be delivered from unreasonable and wicked men; for not all have faith" 2 Thess 3:1,2.

Much of our discouragement in evangelism is simply unnecessary.

Admittedly, it is hard not to be discouraged by our own seeming inability to teach the gospel effectively. It is hard not to be defeated by the apparent rejection of the gospel by almost everyone we meet. But some, if not most, of this discouragement is unnecessary.

Once we recognize the work the Lord has given us to do, we will see that He has never asked us to do anything that we cannot do. We cannot determine what others will do with the gospel, but we can see that they are presented with the choice. God would say to us the same kind of thing He said to Jeremiah: "Prepare yourself and arise, and speak to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed before their faces, lest I dismay you before them" Jer 1:17.

Why people choose to attend a particular church

According to a recent survey, people were asked why they chose the church they attended.

Here are the results:

                  9% because of the beauty of the building.

                18% because it was close to their home.

                14% because of prior affiliation with that church.

                  3% because of the preacher of the church.

                22% because they respected the members.

34% because a friend or relative invited them

There are over 2,000 different denominations in the world which lay claim to being the Lord's church. How many churches does Jesus have? The church is spoken of as the bride of Christ (Revelation 21:9) How many wives does Jesus have? The expression in Revelation is singular. Does Jesus have over 2,000 brides? The church is referred to as the body of Christ (Colossians 1:18). How many bodies does Jesus have? Ephesians 4:5 speaks of one. The expression body is singular. Where did these 2,000 or more denominations originate? They aren't found in the Bible. They were founded by men long after Jesus established his bride, body, or church. How many churches does Jesus have? One. But, it is large enough to house every person on earth who wants to become a member. Why not be a Christian, a member of the body of Christ?

Ray Hawk 

Sentence Sermons

Follow the three R's: 
Respect for self,
Respect for others
and ,
Responsibility for all your actions