aSacredRebel

Change of heart

When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came to him as he was teaching, and said, “By what authority are you doing these things, and who gave you this authority?” Jesus said to them, “I will also ask you one question; if you tell me the answer, then I will also tell you by what authority I do these things. Did the baptism of John come from heaven, or was it of human origin?” And they argued with one another, “If we say, ‘From heaven,’ he will say to us, ‘Why then did you not believe him?’ But if we say, ‘Of human origin,’ we are afraid of the crowd; for all regard John as a prophet.” So they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I am doing these things. “What do you think? A man had two sons; he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ He answered, ‘I will not’; but later he changed his mind and went. The father went to the second and said the same; and he answered, ‘I go, sir’; but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are going into the kingdom of God ahead of you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe him, but the tax collectors and the prostitutes believed him; and even after you saw it, you did not change your minds and believe him. (Matthew 21:23-32, NRSV)

Have you ever made sure you say the right thing?

Have you ever made sure you do the right thing?

Is it about saying the right thing?

You see the second son told the father what he wanted to hear. The father wanted to hear that the son was going to do what he was asking him to do. And when the second son said the right thing, was that what was needed?

Well no, because he only told his father he was going and then didn’t do it…

Is it about doing the right thing?

Well the first son told the father that he wasn’t going to go, but later he changed his mind and did what he said he wouldn’t. Is that what was needed? It’s not about doing what we think is right either…

It is not about saying the right thing or doing the right thing…

Because the right thing for the situation maybe the thing we think is wrong, and the right thing to say maybe the furthest thing from our mind…

It is about the place of your heart, and where your heart lies.

You see it is about changing our hearts to follow after God and do what He is leading us to. Not doing something because we think it is the right thing to do, or will get us points, but doing it because it is what God is leading us to do and that is truly what our heart wants to do.

So allow God to change you heart, so where he leads you, you will follow!

You provide!

You visit the earth and water it, you greatly enrich it; the river of God is full of water; you provide the people with grain, for so you have prepared it. You water its furrows abundantly, settling its ridges, softening it with showers, and blessing its growth. You crown the year with your bounty; your wagon tracks overflow with richness. The pastures of the wilderness overflow, the hills gird themselves with joy, the meadows clothe themselves with flocks, the valleys deck themselves with grain, they shout and sing together for joy. (Psalm 65:9-13, NRSV)

Have you ever really stopped to think and list out all of the blessings you have in your life?

We complain about the heat and the snow and the rain… But without them, would anything really grow?

We have so many things in our lives to be thankful for, that we sometimes forget that they are blessings…

When the rain changes our plans of a picnic, we look down upon it, but without it, the garden would not grow and the food we are eating would not be there…

God so loves us that His blessings flow onto us daily…

He prepared this place for you, and you for this place. So see your life as God sees it, a blessing to you and to others!

grace upon grace

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. John testified to him and cried out, “This was he of whom I said, ‘He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.’” From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart, who has made him known. (John 1:14-18, NRSV)

The Word of God became flesh and dwelt among us…

And from His fullness we have all received grace upon grace!

Because He came we have all received grace from Him.

Not those who deserve it….

Not those who earn it…

But all have received beacuse of His fullness. We all have access to the greatest gift anyone could possibly receive, and to receive it over and over again, because of His fullness and His love for us!

counsel who

O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been his counselor?” “Or who has given a gift to him, to receive a gift in return?” For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever. Amen. (Romans 11:33-36, NRSV)

Everything that we have has come from one place…

Everything that is around us came from that same place…

Everything that is now or ever was or ever will be came from that same place also…

Who are we to seek to counsel God in anything?

He wants us to follow Him, not offer Him advice. He has created all things, and has given us every good thing we have, and has walked with us through every dark valley we have trodden, so trust Him, and expect nothing from Him, but know that you will always be richly blessed by Him!

destined for adoption

Destined for Adoption Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, just as he chose us in Christ before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless before him in love. He destined us for adoption as his children through Jesus Christ, according to the good pleasure of his will, to the praise of his glorious grace that he freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace that he lavished on us. (Ephesians 1:3-8, NRSV)

How many of us have ever felt like we don’t belong?

We have been picked last, or made to feel like an outsider…

Most of us if we are honest with ourselves have been there.

We have been left out and not a part of the in crowd…

But here God has destined us for adoption!

God wants you. When no one else does God still wants you to be His child.

Not because of who you are or aren’t or because of anything you have done, didn’t do, or will do, but simply because it his His good pleasure!

He loves you and wants to bless you.

And because of that we have redemption through Jesus Christ and get to be children of God!

rich in good works

As for those who in the present age are rich, command them not to be haughty, or to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but rather on God who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. They are to do good, to be rich in good works, generous, and ready to share, thus storing up for themselves the treasure of a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of the life that really is life. (1 Timothy 6:17-19, NRSV)

Being rich is not a bad thing.

Money is not the enemy.

The Bible does not say Money is the root of all evil, but the LOVE of money is the root of all evil. It is what we love.

If we have a lot of wealth in this world, do we love it and thinkit will be our saving?

If so we have set our hopes on something that will not produce for us!

But if we use what we have for the betterment of all society, then we will see what God has done and is doing for us.

We are to do good works and be rich in doing them, because our faith leads us to this!

generosity

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit. This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:3-7, NRSV)

We were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, despicable, hating one another.

But then the generosity through the goodness and kindness of God flowed into our lives and we were saved, not because of what we had done. Not because of anything we did, or could have done, but because of His generosity, through the cleansing waters and the fire of the Holy Spirit, we were reborn by His grace!

We were made heirs to the kingdom by His generosity! We need to pur the love, mercy and grace that He has poured into us into the world, so they might see Him as an important part of their world!

entitlement

“For the kingdom of heaven is like a landowner who went out early in the morning to hire laborers for his vineyard. After agreeing with the laborers for the usual daily wage, he sent them into his vineyard. When he went out about nine o’clock, he saw others standing idle in the marketplace; and he said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard, and I will pay you whatever is right.’ So they went. When he went out again about noon and about three o’clock, he did the same. And about five o’clock he went out and found others standing around; and he said to them, ‘Why are you standing here idle all day?’ They said to him, ‘Because no one has hired us.’ He said to them, ‘You also go into the vineyard.’ When evening came, the owner of the vineyard said to his manager, ‘Call the laborers and give them their pay, beginning with the last and then going to the first.’ When those hired about five o’clock came, each of them received the usual daily wage. Now when the first came, they thought they would receive more; but each of them also received the usual daily wage. And when they received it, they grumbled against the landowner, saying, ‘These last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the day and the scorching heat.’ But he replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong; did you not agree with me for the usual daily wage? Take what belongs to you and go; I choose to give to this last the same as I give to you. Am I not allowed to do what I choose with what belongs to me? Or are you envious because I am generous?’ So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” (Matthew 20:1-16, NRSV)

Have you ever felt entitled to something?

We can all probably name a time we thought we should have gotten something and we didn’t…

Maybe now a days it is a 4g signal from our phones…

Or WiFi on an airplane, or in a car. We need to have that signal everywhere we go and when we don’t we start laying into the provider for shoty service…

It wasn’t that long ago we couldn’t even access the internet, let alone get it on our phone!

We think because something is available we should have it. And when someone offers a service we expect it will work all the time with out a problem. But we know tis is not how it works.

In the parable today, those who had worked all day felt slighted when the land owner paid those who had only worked an hour the regular days wage, the same as them. They thought since those who did only an hours work got the day’s wage, they should get more. But did they not agree to the day’s wage? So why should they now get more?

And why were the others not chosen earlier? We really do not know, they could have not been there any of the other times the land owner went, or maybe they just were not seen…

How many of us have ever been invisible?

Ok none of us have ever really been invisible, but we might have felt that way. Like no one saw us, or wanted us, or would pick us.

Maybe them getting the normal day’s wage for the time they spent is what they need. And maybe us settling for what we actually get is better than thinking we should have gotten more.

Because if we start getting what we deserve, then we will really be in trouble! (Thank God for grace!!!)

groans of the prisoners

Do not remember against us the iniquities of our ancestors; let your compassion come speedily to meet us, for we are brought very low. Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of your name; deliver us, and forgive our sins, for your name’s sake. Why should the nations say, “Where is their God?” Let the avenging of the outpoured blood of your servants be known among the nations before our eyes. Let the groans of the prisoners come before you; according to your great power preserve those doomed to die. (Psalm 79:8-11, NRSV)

Are we all not doomed to die?

Are we all not prisoners?

We are like those whom Jesus said were set free, and the Pharisees replied they had never been slaves to anyone! Had they forgotten that the Passover came from the time of slavery?

We are all slaves to whatever master holds our attention: money, possessions, God…

We are all in prison to our fleshly desires. But God hears our groaning and will forgive our iniquities and bring us back to where we belong!

He will have compassion on us and come speedily to our help!

Lord, do not hold this sin against them.

When they heard these things, they became enraged and ground their teeth at Stephen. But filled with the Holy Spirit, he gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. “Look,” he said, “I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!” But they covered their ears, and with a loud shout all rushed together against him. Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him; and the witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young man named Saul. While they were stoning Stephen, he prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.” Then he knelt down and cried out in a loud voice, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them.” When he had said this, he died. (Acts 7:54-60, NRSV)

Have you ever heard you should pray for your enemies?

Have you ever done it?

Could you do it while they were stoning you?

Stephen was the first martyr of the church. He was stoned to death as Saul (later Paul) looked on and watched the stoners coats.

Stephen prays that the Lord will receive his spirit and that the sins of those who are killing him would not be held against them. He was praying for those who persecuted him!

We can’t seem to do this when they are not stoning us or even in our lives any more, but the model we get from Stephen is to be praying for those who are actively coming against us.

Pray for those who are your enemies and seek not vengeance or revenge, as God will deal with all of us. But pray for all that God maybe merciful and gracefilled!