Why do you call me Lord, Lord and do not do the things that I say? Luke 6:46

What does our Lord say to do?

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The Proverb writer records, “Blessed is the one who fears the LORD always, but whoever hardens his heart will fall into calamity,” Proverbs 28:14. Why is the one who fears the Lord blessed and calamity the property of the one with a hard heart? In life it doesn’t seem to be universally true that those who faithfully follow God are always blessed nor does it seem to happen that hard hearted people are always in trouble. Sometimes, it appears to be just the opposite. Job excruciates over this seeming disparity. What is the Proverb writer telling us?

The understanding of this proverb is based on knowing that Proverbs are not universal truths. They are generalizations of life, observations, not statements of absolute truth. It is also necessary to understand what God means for us to be blessed or to endure calamity.

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Why do you call me Lord, Lord and do not do the things that I say? Luke 6:46

So... What does our Lord say to do?

#christjesus #love #pray #prayer #gaintheworld #jesus #church #christ #newepisode #churchofchrist #TheOneTrueGod #willard #chroniclesofwillard

Holiness is not something we think of much. And when we do, we usually apply that to God alone. So, what is holiness? What does it mean to be holy?

The Hebrew word is qadosh meaning “sacred” or “set apart.” The Greek word is hagios with the same meaning. Holiness is the quality of being holy, the quality of being sacred, set apart, or blameless.

The idea of set apart or blameless fits very well in passages such as Isaiah 6, Revelation 4 and 22, or Ephesians 1 where being holy is a description of God and his followers. They each are set apart and blameless, unique in every way.

As we are to emulate God, we are commanded to be holy as He is holy. The best passage in Scripture which describes how we are to practice holiness is 1 Peter 1:13-19. Let’s break this down into action steps.

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I’ve been wrestling with this one.

It’s begun to seem to me that there are times when I begin to put limits on God, and then suppose I know what God is going to do.  For instance, I pray to have a good game at soccer and then I’ll say to God “you probably don’t even care about the outcome” because it’s a silly game.  I mean… that makes sense to me, there is seemingly no direct connection between God’s will and my request for a good game.

However, I don’t know if that's a doubt, but there are times when I begin to wonder if maybe that is actually me doubting that my request will be addressed.  But seriously, who am I to suppose that I am confident enough to know that something either matters or doesn’t matter to God.

Why do I do that?

How arrogant?!

My pride infiltrates my prayer or my reason to pray.  My ignorance poses as knowledge.  My immaturity on display and me too blind to even realize it.

James 1:7 if I doubt, then I shouldn’t expect to receive anything from the Lord.

Proverbs 16:5 arrogance is hated by God, it’s an abomination

Claiming you know what God will or won’t do, why even pray?!

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No Law

I have said this for many years; where there is no enforcement, there is no law.  Every year that passes, the more obvious this becomes.

Examples of this are everywhere, especially from the consequences of health and social events of the past few years.  Have you been sitting at a red light, it turns green, and someone flies through the intersection in front of you?  There is a stop sign and many just do not stop.  The sign on the door of the business says “EXIT” and people walk into the store through that door.  No one stops them, no one corrects.  Where there is no enforcement, there is no law.

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WHAT DOES LOYALTY LOOK LIKE?

• CONSISTENT
• DEPENDABLE
• TRUSTWORTHY
• COMMITMENT SHOWN THROUGH ACTION
• INVOLVES:
• HONESTY
• PROMISE KEEPING or KEEPING YOU WORD
• SHOWING UP REGARDLESS IF IT’S TOUGH
• PRIORITIZING
• DEFENDING THEM (WHOMEVER YOU’RE LOYAL TO)
• WORKING THROUGH STRUGGLE RATHER THAN ABANDONING AMIDST THE STRUGGLE

THINGS TO THINK ABOUT THAT CREATE OR GIVE US PLEASURE… THINGS THAT COULD REPLACE OUR LOYALTY TO GOD

WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO PURSUE PLEASURE?

WHEN DOES OUR PURSUIT OF PLEASURE TURN INTO IDOLATRY?

HAVE YOU EVER CONSIDERED WHETHER OR NOT YOU’RE AN IDOLATOR TODAY?

What effect could a pursuit of pleasure have on our work for the Lord?

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“For the joy set before him…”

In chapter 2 of Paul’s letter to the Philippians, he explains joy’s source. Joy is not found in happiness, pleasure or fun. Joy comes from a forward focus upon tasks that produce long term blessings, both for self and others. We see this all around us. We make our kids do certain things (even when they do not want to) knowing the results for them will be beneficial. We do this with employees or fellow workers. We instruct or ask to have things done a certain way knowing the best results. Many times, in all these circumstances, we do not explain our reasoning, only that the work is done in the manner instructed.

As Paul explains in Philippians 2, Jesus becomes the supreme example of joy due to that forward focus. In Hebrews 12:2 this same idea is expressed, “…who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

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When things are easy, things come naturally or you’re not challenged then support, desire, effort, and all kinds of things just… appear.  

What makes things easy?

I’ll start from a coaching perspective:

• Talented, hard-working kids that are determined to win.
• Support given from parents or community members (especially for school teams)
• Opponents that are not as talented or hard-working
• Players that do everything right on and off the field
• There’s probably more



What about starting a business...

What makes things easy when trying to live a christian life...

However…I want to look at when things are not easy or don’t come naturally.

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“I’m Fine!”

Has someone ever said that to you? Have you ever said that to someone? You probably have. I know I have. Perhaps you were using the acronym F.I.N.E.

F-reaked out

I-nsecure

N-eurotic

E-motional

If you were stating, “I’M FINE!!!!” to convince yourself you are, then perhaps you were correct. But I suspect not.

It’s so easy to just spit out those words without thinking. We really do not like telling others our problems and withhold expressing fatigue, frustration, and other such things. Perhaps we are just trying to spare the questioner a long story about our day. Perhaps we are sparing ourselves from confronting those in ourselves. But responding FINE is not really answering, it’s avoidance. We know that’s true. Well, not all the time, but most! How should we respond when we are asked, “How are you?” I have a few suggestions.

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