Teen Tuesday: Insecurities - Part 2

Written by Dave McCroskey

 

PART TWO: A FEELING OF FAILURE

I have a fairly extensive medical history. 30 surgeries, an innumerable number of

hospital visits, multiple medications, and an endless list of medical procedures have

combined to make me fairly resilient while facing anything unknown. I do have one

fairly significant fear though failure. I’ll admit that it’s my weakness. I hate the

thought of not being good enough...letting myself or other down...failing.

So many young people live trapped by a feeling of failure. “I’m not good enough.”

“You don’t know what I’ve done.” “I’ve already blown it.” Too many people can’t move

forward because they’re stuck in the past.

In the first six verses of Psalms 139, we discover a potentially life-changing truth: God

knows everything about us. He knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows us

better than anyone ever has or ever could. God is the expert on your life. God is the

Authority on your life.

God’s opinion of you trumps even your opinion of you! “O Lord, thou hast searched me,

and known me...and art acquainted with all my ways...” (Psalms 139) God knows

everything about you and whatever He says about you matters much more than the way

you may feel about yourself.

Many people feel like they are a failure. They feel like they have messed up their life

beyond restoration. From God’s perspective, however, nothing could be further from

the truth. In I Peter 2:9 the Bible says, “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal

priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises

of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:” God says, “You

are a redeemed, reclaimed, chosen, child of God! You are a saint!”

God knows everything about you and yet He thought you were important enough to die

for, and that is nothing to be insecure about!

Monday's Message: A New Creature

II Corinthian 5:14-17

14For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:

15And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

16Wherefore henceforth know we no man after the flesh: yea, though we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now henceforth know we him no more.

17Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

We were dead. That is what II Corinthians tells us here in chapter 5, verse 14. Dead, how? We know because of the fall of Adam we are all dead spiritually, Romans 5:12 says, Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned: All of us are born dead spiritually, we have inherited our father Adam’s sin nature. And given enough time, we all willfully sin against God. Ephesians 2:1-3 says And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins; Wherein in time past ye walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.The Bible says because of our sin we deserve the wrath of God.

But that is just the beginning of God’s plan of redemption. I love the beginning of this passage in II Corinthians 5:14, the love of Christ. Because of Christ’s love for us, His death on the cross for us, and His resurrection from the dead, our sins and trespasses have been paid for, our dead spirits, as Ephesians 2:1 tells us, have been quickened, or brought to life, if we are saved. Look at Ephesians 2:4-5 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) Because of God’s love and through His grace and mercy we can be saved. Christ died for our sins, and not just ours, the sins of the whole world, as we learn in II Corinthians 5:14 it says one[Christ] died for all, if they would only believe!

Which brings us to verses 15-16. What do we do after we are saved? Verse 15 is clear: We are to live for God. In verse 16 it says we may have known Christ in the flesh, meaning we may have gotten saved when we were lost sinners on our way to Hell; but that it not how we are to continue to live. We have a clear command from Scripture that the Christian, that has been saved from sin and Hell, and brought to back to life spiritually, is not to live as he did before he was saved.

We find out how and why in II Corinthians 5:17. Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. Verse 17 tells us that if we are in Christ, we are a new creature. Jesus describes this process to Nicodemus in John chapter 3 when He said, ye must be born again. That is why you sometimes hear salvation called the “New Birth” When we get saved it like a new child is born, a child of God is born into the Family of God. This child has all the attributes of His Father, the Spirit of God living inside of him, the righteousness of Christ imputed into him, and the fruit of the Spirit coming out of him.

That is why Paul says we are a new creature. Our old sin nature does not control us anymore, if we do not let it, we can be controlled by the Holy Spirit. As the Bible says in Ephesians 4:20-24, But ye have not so learned Christ; If so be that ye have heard him, and have been taught by him, as the truth is in Jesus: That ye put off concerning the former conversation the old man, which is corrupt according to the deceitful lusts; And be renewed in the spirit of your mind; And that ye put on the new man, which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness. There are countless passages in the New Testament that instruct believers to put away sin from our lives. Romans 6, Ephesians 4 and 5, Romans 12, Hebrews 12 and many others. The good news is, we are not alone. This body of flesh may sin, but we are a new creature, with Holy Spirit living inside of us we do not have to be slaves to sin any longer, but we can serve Christ! He gave his life for ours so that we could live for Him! Live for Him today!

Thoughtful Thursday: He had to go...for her!

John 4:4 “And he must needs go through Samaria”

Not a verse an ordinary Christian would pick for their life’s verse but then, hey, I’ve never claimed to be ordinary, or extraordinary.  I’m just me.

But that’s the point, no one is better than another.  Doesn’t the Bible say, Romans 3:23 “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”?  Jesus came to seek and save the lost but listen to this:  He knew she was going to be there. 

Thus John 4:4 “And he must needs go through Samaria”

Now the Jews had quite a bit of apathy (to put it mildly) against the Samaritans.  Actually they hated the very ground they walked on.  No self-loving Jew would ever go through Samaria to get to where they were going.  They would rather go clean around the town 50 or 60 miles than to go through it.  That’s like cutting off your nose to spite your face.

He had to go through Samaria.  Who is HE?  Jesus.  Jesus had to go through Samaria.  He had to because she was waiting for him and he knew she would be there.

Who is SHE?  The Samaritan woman…the woman at the well….the prostitute who had 5 marriages and the man she was living with was not her husband.  This is why Jesus “must needs go through Samaria.”

She was waiting and He knew it.  He went against everything the Jews believed because she was waiting for him.  She had to hear the Gospel.  She had to meet Jesus and this was the day.  It couldn’t wait until tomorrow, no, today He must needs go through Samaria. 

That day you were saved, Jesus knew exactly where you would be…who you were with…and orchestrated the entire thing.  He knew what day you would be there for Him to save you.

John 4:4 “And he must needs go through Samaria”

How far would you go to tell someone about Jesus?  Someone is waiting to hear it.  God has someone ready for you to talk to. 

Just ask!  Trust me He will let you know.

We Pray Wednesday: How to Pray for your Pastor (Part 2)

One of the people that need our prayers more than any other person that you may know would be a pastor.  Pastors bear their own burdens and the burdens of the many members of their church.  They wear many different hats and sometimes several at the same time.  These men of God need our prayers daily and sometimes several times daily.  This list is not a complete list nor is this thought original with me by any means.  Here are several things we need to pray daily for our pastor.  It may take time to pray through the entire list every day, but praying for some of them over a period of time will be beneficial to your pastor and to you.

11.  Pray that God will bring godly friends and encouragers to your pastor and his family to strengthen them for the ministry and provide meaningful fellowship and times of rest.

12.  Pray that your pastor will be humble and authentic in his faith, not given to pride or hypocrisy.   Pray that he will have pure motives and give God glory for every gain or victory.

13.  Pray that your pastor will make wise lifestyle choices in order to protect his health, especially in the areas of exercise, eating moderately, and getting sufficient rest.  Pray for times of relaxation and renewal to balance the stress of ministry.

14.  Pray that your pastor will focus on the Word of God and walk in the fear of the Lord—rather than fear of man—as he prepares his messages.  Pray that he will seek to please God rather than men and pursue holiness rather than the praise of men.

15.  Praise God for your pastor’s leadership and pray that he will make godly decisions. Pray that he will lead with a shepherd’s heart and that he will always speak the truth in love.

16.  Pray that your pastor will be courageous in the pulpit in proclaiming Christ and confident in his use of the Word of God.  Pray for God to help him preach with insight, transparency, and humility.

17.  Pray that your pastor will be a man committed to personal evangelism and the equipping of the saints to seek the lost.  Pray that he will have a heart to develop a thriving missions program in his church.

18.  Pray that your pastor will be a man of prayer and worship and that he will lead by example—teaching the congregation how to walk in a close relationship with the Father.

19.  Pray that your pastor will use wise time management and that he will seek God’s perspective for his schedule, guarding his time against unnecessary interruptions.

20.  Pray for a fresh divine anointing on your pastor’s ministry.  Pray that God’s working will be powerfully evident both in his personal life and the spiritual life of the congregation.

Monday's Message: Who do you live for?

II Corinthians 5:14-15
¹⁴ For the love of Christ constraineth us; because we thus judge, that if one died for all, then were all dead:¹⁵ And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

What motivates you in the Christian Life? Here in the letter to the Corinthian church Paul is giving his reason for ministry.The church of Corinth had been told by worldly and false teachers in the church that Paul served only for his benefit or gain but Paul had just told them that his motivation for ministry was the love of Christ. “For the love of Christ constraineth us;” See, Paul realized that it was the love of God that sent Jesus to the cross. The Bible says in John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”  It was that same love that motivated and drove Paul to serve in the ministry. Paul knew that because Christ died for him, he must now live for Christ.

“And that he died for al” lChrist died for the sins of the whole world and Paul made it his mission to share the gospel, the good news, with the whole world. From Jerusalem to Rome, Paul traveled the entire known world preaching the gospel and starting churches.

“that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.” Here is the Christian calling: to live for God and not ourselves. Living for self is the ultimate sin for a Christian because it breaks both of the greatest commandments given by Jesus.

Matthew 22:36-40

³⁶ Master, which is the great commandment in the law?

³⁷ Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.

³⁸ This is the first and great commandment.

³⁹ And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.

⁴⁰ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.

Love God and love others, these are the commandments of God. Paul took that message to heart and it showed in his ministry. Paul lost his standing among the lost Jews. He was shipwrecked, imprisoned, beaten, and finally, martyred for his faith. But he never lost faith, he never quit going, never quit telling, never quit serving. Why? Because the love of Christ constrained him. It pushed him, motivated him, to serve God and to serve others.

Paul knew that God had saved him to serve, to serve God and not self. What about you Christian? Are you living for others or are you living for self?  Does the love of God towards you, towards others, drive you to be a witness in your community, at your place of employment? Jesus died for you.  He died for the whole world, isn’t it time to tell the whole world? Isn’t it time to stop serving yourself and start serving others?