Built To Last

Today’s Bible readings are 1 Kings 5:1-6:38, Acts 7:1-29, Psalm 127: 1-5, & Proverbs 16:28-30

Psalm 127:1

¹ Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain.

           

We, as people, can build a lot of things.  We can build beautiful houses.  We can build planes that can fly across the world.  We can build ships that can cross the oceans.  We can build space shuttles that can go to the moon.  We build buildings that stretch to the sky.  Yet, God’s Word says that: “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain”.

           

What I have found to be true in my life is that it is one big building project. I am building my marriage. I am building my ministry. I am building my family. I am building a home.

           

Many of you are in the same position.  You are building as well.  But let me ask you a very important question: Are you building in vain?  It is easy to forget to put God into our plans.  It is the way of this generation to exclude God from our plans.  It is easy to get busy with other things.  This is very dangerous.  It becomes a costly err in the end.  For the bible declares: “Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain”.

           

What a tragedy it is to have your dreams and all that you have been building fall to pieces. This happens all the time. We must put God into our plans.  He must have a place in our lives and in our marriage.  He is the Master Builder.  And if we build upon Him, what we build will stand.  It will not fall to pieces and it will not be in vain.

Matthew 7:24-27:

Therefore anyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on a rock.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against the house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the Rock.  But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.  The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”

Let me draw your attention to a few important truths that are found in the word’s of Jesus here.  Let us choose to learn the meaning of what our Lord is teaching to us.

1.      2 individuals building the same thing (they were building their dreams, their future, their house)

2.     2 individuals built 2 different ways; one on the Rock and one on sand (one put into practice what he heard and the other did not). The wise man heard that building on the Rock was the best way to build and he did.  The fool must have heard to build on the Rock but chose to do it the easier way.

3.     They both faced the same things

4.     2 very different results

See, if we want what we build to last and stand the test of time and trial, we must invite Jesus, the Master Builder, into our plans.  He is the Rock that we must build all things on.  This means our marriage, our ministry, our families, & our lives as well.  Without Him in the building project, the builders labor in vain.

Pastor Richard Schlotter

God Before Man

Today’s Bible readings are 1 Kings 2:1-3:2, Acts 5:1-42, Psalm 125:1-5, & Proverbs 16:25

Acts 5:29-32

²⁹ Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! ³⁰ The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. ³¹ God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. ³² We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”

Who are you more concerned about pleasing. Man or God? Have you ever heard the phrase: people-pleaser? This is what a person is called when they spend all of the energy & focus trying to please others. They are so insecure with themselves that they think they have to please everybody all the time in order to have worth of any type. The problem with this is that it is impossible to please people all the time.

Proverbs 27:20

²⁰ Just as Death and Destruction are never satisfied, so human desire is never satisfied.

I hope that you remember this one thing—the flesh is never satisfied. No matter how hard we try to please people, we will never be able to fully satisfy them at all times. We fall into a trap of satan when we think that it is our responsibility to please people. This will wear you out & strangle the life out of you. Not to mention, that it is never going to be done.

I want to take a moment to clarify a couple of things at this point. First, we still have an obligation to our spouses. It is clear through the scriptures that we are to strive to please our mates.

1 Corinthians 7:33-35

³³ But a married man has to think about his earthly responsibilities and how to please his wife. ³⁴ His interests are divided. In the same way, a woman who is no longer married or has never been married can be devoted to the Lord and holy in body and in spirit. But a married woman has to think about her earthly responsibilities and how to please her husband. ³⁵ I am saying this for your benefit, not to place restrictions on you. I want you to do whatever will help you serve the Lord best, with as few distractions as possible.

We do have an obligation to our spouses. It brings great joy to serve one another out of genuine desire. The Same can be true in other areas. We are called to serve, BUT WE ARE NOT CALLED TO BE MAN PLEASERS—WE ARE CALLED TO BE GOD PLEASERS!!!

Sometimes we can put so much focus on making people happy that we compromise our faith. We can spend so much energy on pleasing people that we forget that God must be our center. I have had times in my life in the ministry were in order to do what certain people wanted of me I would have to NOT DO what God was leading me to do. This can really become a burden if we let it.

The enemy will do whatever necessary to keep us apart from God’s will. If he sees that you have a weakness in saying no to people, he will use it to manipulate you to say no to God. If he realizes that he can get you distracted by pleasing people he will. If he can use people to discourage you, he will.

Peter gave the perfect position that we all must take. He said that his primary role was to please God. He was not in rebellion to authority. He was, rather, submitted to his Supreme Authority in heaven. Let us learn for this & make sure that we are God pleasers & not man pleasers. This is the kind of life that leads to satisfaction & peace.

Pastor Richard Schlotter

Flabbergasted

Today’s Bible readings are 1 Kings 1:1-53, Acts 4:1-37, Psalm 124:1-8, & Proverbs 16:24

Acts 4:13-15

¹³ When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. ¹⁴ But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. ¹⁵ So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together.

Flabbergasted:  to be overcome with bewilderment, astonishment, utterly amazed

That is the word to describe what the leaders felt the day that this all took place. The faith, passion, & zeal of the disciples were so intense that it left the leaders flabbergasted. They did not know how to respond to this incredible demonstration of God’s grace.

It was such a wonder for multiple reasons.

1.      The first reason it was such a flabbergasting event was that this man had been crippled his whole life. He was a man who most had seen. They all knew him as the begging cripple who sits at the gate. Now that has all changed. He is now running around praising God & giving glory to Jesus by testifying that it was in His name that he was healed. The leaders were want to kill Jesus & any memory of what He represented but now this has happened & there will be NO denying it.

2.      The second reason that it was such a mind blowing event was because of who was being used to performing this miracle. They were just normal guys. In fact, they were guys who denied Jesus just a few weeks earlier & now they are out preaching in His name. Nobody ever thought that a few ruff necks would be taken seriously. None of the leaders thought that this band of failures would be able to do anything that would sway the people toward Jesus now that He was dead. Yet, there was a cripple man standing before them healed & they could not explain it.

3.      The third, & probably most convincing, sign that flabbergasted them was the message that they heard being preached. Here was an unschooled man preaching deep truths that could not be refuted. Peter was untrained in the scripture, yet, he seemed to have a much deeper understanding of it than they did; the teachers of it. This blew their mind. Peter was opening up the Word to them. The leaders could only marvel & come to the same conclusion:  “These men have been with Jesus”.

That is such an awesome thing to have said about you. When your life becomes so noticeably different that people recognize that you have been with Jesus—you’re doing something right.  Time with Jesus will do that do us. He will make considerable changes in us. He will teach us great truths of the Word. He will use us in great & powerful ways. This is what happens to people who spend time with Him.

We may think that we are just ordinary people & we will never be used like that. I am sure that the disciples thought that at one time too. Yet, we see that the time they had spent with Jesus ended up producing in them the changes that He promised. In the end, He made them in to exactly what He said He was going to do.

I believe that God wants to do the same thing through each of us. He wants to so transform us that people marvel & say:  “They have been with Jesus”. He wants to use us to bring healing & transformation to others. He wants to teach us great truth so we can teach it to others. This is His will for us all.

Is this something that you are interested in? Would you like this to happen in your life? Are you hungry for something similar to take place with you? Then the same thing is needed in your life that was needed in the disciples—YOU MUST SPEND SOME TIME WITH JESUS.

It is those quiet times with Him that He speaks to us. It is those intimate moments with Him that He transforms us. It is those supernatural moments with Him that He shows us how to walk in His power. This is something we all can have if we all chose to spend time with Him.

I say that it is time that we leave people flabbergasted. I declare that it is time that people start making note that we have been with Jesus. Let’s make sure that our faith is real & loud! Let’s blow their minds with the love & power of Christ!!!

Pastor Richard Schlotter

All That Is Yours

Today’s Bible readings are 2 Samuel 23:24-24:25, Acts 3:1-26, Psalm 123:1-4, & Proverbs 16:21-23

Acts 3:4-8

⁴ Peter and John looked at him intently, and Peter said, “Look at us!” ⁵ The lame man looked at them eagerly, expecting some money. ⁶ But Peter said, “I don’t have any silver or gold for you. But I’ll give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, get up and walk!”

⁷ Then Peter took the lame man by the right hand and helped him up. And as he did, the man’s feet and ankles were instantly healed and strengthened. ⁸ He jumped up, stood on his feet, and began to walk! Then, walking, leaping, and praising God, he went into the Temple with them.

Expectation is a huge factor in what we receive in this life. When our expectation level is high, we can receive great miracles from the Lord. When our expectations are low, we will receive little miracles from the Lord.

This particular day there was a high level of expectation but it was not on the part of the beggar. The high level of expectation came from Peter & John. They came walking with intent. They were convinced that they were walking in the power of Christ. They fully expected that when they saw sick people that the sick would be healed. They understood their job description. They understood by what authority & power they would be doing these things. They expected it to happen.

It is awesome how their level of expectation became contagious to the beggar. That is the thing about expectation. When we have high expectations it can spur someone else to believe for more. I have seen this happen in my own life. I have seen people who have lost hope. By sharing the Word with them, testimonies about what God has done in other people’s lives, & then telling them what God wants to do in their life; I have seen hope & expectation grow.

This is our mission as believers. We are to inspire others to believe for the impossible. Sometimes the other people that we inspire are unchurched people. Other times they might be the person beside us in the pew. I know this to be a fact—EVERYBODY CAN STAND TO HAVE A LITTLE MORE HOPE.

When we run into people who have low expectation we can add our faith to their faith. That is what praying in agreement is all about. It is what Jesus talked about.

Matthew 18:19-20

¹⁹ “I also tell you this: If two of you agree here on earth concerning anything you ask, my Father in heaven will do it for you. ²⁰ For where two or three gather together as my followers, I am there among them.”

We need to do a better job at identifying who is struggling in the area of expectation. Then, we need to learn to go to them & encourage them to expect more. As expectation rises, things will start to change. They will start to believe for more so faith will produce more.

This is why it is so important for us to know what God’s Word says. When people are confused & don’t know what to believe, we speak the Word to them. This tells us what we should be expecting. Once we have realized what we should be expecting, then we can start expecting that. As we transform our expectations we will see a greater measure of the blessing of God in our lives.

What are you expecting to come to pass in your life? Is it the same that God has promised will come to pass? If not, change your mind about what you are expecting & hoping for. Get your mind in agreement with the Word of God so you can have all that is yours!

Pastor Richard Schlotter