The "WHY?"

Paul writes in 1 Tim. 1:5-6

The purpose of my instructions is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith. 6. But some people have missed this whole point......and spend their time in meaningless discussions.

Why do we do what we do as believers? Why do we lead small groups? Why do we teach children or adults? So that everybody is filled with love.

Love is in such short supply in the world today and the church should have the largest reservoir of love in every community.

Wal-Mart sells everything, hardware stores have building supplies, dealerships sell cars, and the church should be full of love.  Love for the lost, love for the Lord, love for each other.  Not just any kind of love, but the kind that results from these 3 things:

1. A pure heart produces a pure love.  Pure means that it's "unmixed" with anything else.  Too often the love the world sees has a profit motive behind it or some other kind of agenda.  As we live for God with a pure heart then we'll demonstrate a pure love.  Love for the good of the one being loved, no ulterior motive and no agenda.  

2. Love produced by a clear conscience.  A guilty conscience loves in order to feel better about self.  That's not really acting in love at all.  When our conscience is clear before the Lord, then we can love and not really care how it's seen or perceived by others.  We know our hearts and can obey His leading without being overly concerned about what people think.

3. Love that results from a genuine faith.  Genuine faith is our response to the voice of the Master in our hearts.  Love that steps out at His Word, not based on convenient circumstances.  It's a love based on believing what God said rather than what is seen. 

This is the Why?

What you can boldly expect from God!

I was S.O.A.P.ing the other day and had a renewed view of a scripture that continues to encourage and inspire me.


Hebrews 4:16 (NLT)


16 So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.

2 Things we are promised when we go to God boldly:

1. Mercy will be received.

• When I think of mercy, I think of the past because most of us need mercy because of something in our past.  We've sinned, blown it, or messed up and realize that only because of the mercy of God can we be forgiven.
• Mercy is received, which means He gives it to us, it's not something that we earn or deserve.
• Sunday, I talked about the fact that we were once a people who hadn't received mercy but now our identity is that we are a people who have received God's mercy.

2. Grace will be found to help.

• If all we ever did was to fall and get mercy, we are not taking advantage of all the God has promised us from His throne.
• We will find grace to help us when we need it. 
• This helps us not to make the same mistakes over and over again.  You don't have to wander around the same mountain in the wilderness for 40 years.
• Grace is God's gift that helps us out in a supernatural way.  
• There can be a grace to endure, or a grace to change or a grace to believe. 
• What do you need to not fall into the same rut?  Ask for that grace today, and you'll find it.

These 2 things are inseparable and you need one as much as the other.  Together they hold the key to your future in Christ.  The best is yet to come.

Regret #5: I wish I had chosen to be happier

I've been going through the 5 Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware and today we get to #5.

5) I wish that I had let myself be happier.

"This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content. When deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again. "

Do you want to be happy? I don't know anyone who would answer "no" to that question. However, many don't know that happiness is a choice we make and not an emotion that we feel.  Happiness is not dependent on your circumstances and you can choose to be happy right in the middle of unpleasant things.  I thought she mentioned a few key things:

• Fear of change
• Inability to laugh at self
• Stuck in old patterns

Life is an ever changing, always shifting proposition and if we are unwilling to go with the flow then we'll find it hard to find happiness.

Psalms 86:4

Give me happiness, O Lord, for I give myself to You.

• Happiness is the result of giving: giving yourself to the Lord, giving yourself to friendships, giving yourself to fun, giving yourself to serving, giving your life for a purpose and a cause.

Are you happy today?  If not, maybe you should do what the psalmist did and give yourself to the Lord and let Him give you happiness.

Recap of 5 Regrets and then #4

I'm going to give you a short recap of something that I think will help you to live better and that's the Top 5 Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Wade.  I know it sounds a little morbid, but people who are dying have no agenda and so they just tell it like it REALLY is supposed to be.

1. I wish I would have had the courage to pursue my dreams.
2. I wish I didn't work so much.
3. I wish I would have had the courage to express my feelings.


It's amazing that God will deal with everyone of these things in our lives as we allow Him to speak to us. Let's go to #4.


4.  I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends. 


"Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved.  Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.  It is common for anyone in a busy lifestyle to let friendships slip.  But when you are faced with your approaching death, the physical details of life fall away. People do want to get their financial affairs in order if possible. But it is not money or status that holds the true importance for them. They want to get things in order more for the benefit of those they love. Usually though, they are too ill and weary to ever manage this task. It is all comes down to love and relationships in the end. That is all that remains in the final weeks, love and relationships."

The seeds of good deeds become a tree of life, a wise person wins friends. Pro. 11:30

I have been blessed to always have good friends in my life, and the quality of my friendships has increased over time.  I think it's because I was raised in church and the scripture places such emphasis on friendships.  David and Jonathan, Paul and Silas, Job and his friends,  and the list goes on and on.  So while I thought I was learning about God and how to live right, in reality I was being taught how to be a friend and how to keep a friend.  It's been said that the only people we ever win to Jesus will be our friends because no one wins a enemy to Christ.  That's our mandate for friendships.  C.S. Lewis said "Friendship is unnecessary, like philosophy, like art... It has no survival value; rather it is one of those things that give value to survival."

Friendship gives value to our lives, and I'm richest when I'm enjoying my friends.  Tomorrow, I'll get to have lunch with a new friend from Birmingham and my life will get richer.  Don't give up friendships for careers or allow technology to isolate you.  Social networks are useful but don't they don't take the place of face to face friendships.  Here are a few truths I've learned:

• To have friends you have to be a friend.  Focus on what friends do and do that.
• Nice people have more friends so BE NICE, to everyone, all the time.
• Not everyone will agree with my opinions even my friends. Get over it.
• As will all relationships, grace and forgiveness keep them going. Do unto others...
  

#3 of the Top 5 Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings. 

"Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.  We cannot control the reactions of others. However, although people may initially react when you change the way you are by speaking honestly, in the end it raises the relationship to a whole new and healthier level. Either that or it releases the unhealthy relationship from your life. Either way, you win. "

Paul writing said, 

"Oh, dear Corinthian friends!  We have spoken honestly with you, and our hearts are open to you.  There is no lack of love on our part, but you have withheld your love from us.

2 Cor. 6:11-12

• We all need to be able to speak from our hearts those things that we feel,  especially in relationship to others like our spouse or friends.
• Honesty doesn't have to be and shouldn't be mean, but it does have to be honest.
• It's this freedom to share our hearts that deepens and makes relationships much richer.
• There is great value and healing in being apart of a relationship like this and you can find them in small groups at HOF.
• Small groups are such a powerful tool that we all participate in already. Let's use what we already do and make a place for Jesus in it.
• Are you in a place where you can share how you really feel?
• Small groups for the summer are coming, get ready.

#2 of the 5 regrets of the Dying

Yesterday, I started a series of posts entitled "5 Regrets of the Dying"  by Bronnie Ware.  Here's my thoughts behind it.  I think there would be alot to learn from those who have had to face their worst fears, mistakes and eternity.  I think it will help put our lives into perspective and gives us a chance to live our lives without as many regrets.  So here's #2:

2. I wish I didn’t work so hard. 

"This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children’s youth and

their partner’s companionship. Women also spoke of this regret. But as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.  By simplifying your lifestyle and making conscious choices along the way, it is possible to not need the income that you think you do. And by creating more space in your life, you become happier and more open to new opportunities, ones more suited to

your new lifestyle. "

• I think every man should understand this about life.  Giving the best of your life to some company instead of to Christ and your family will leave you empty later in life.
• Understand, you have to work, I get that.  But who gets your best? Who gets the leftovers?

Mark 8:36-37(NLT)

36 And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?t 37 Is anything worth more than your soul? 

Ask the Lord to help you redefine what is needed for a happy, fulfilled, joyful life.  I think you will find that it's not what is portrayed to us in the media.  You can have your best life now, with His help and by His grace.  At the end of the day it will be the relationships in your life that will make you a wealthy person.  

5 Most Common Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware

Kaladze Five Regrets of the Dying By Bronnie Ware.  For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives.People grow a lot when they are faced with their own morta... more

Five Regrets of the Dying by Bronnie Ware

For many years I worked in palliative care. My patients were those

who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared. I

was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives.

People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality. I

learned never to underestimate someone’s capacity for growth. Some

changes were phenomenal. Each experienced a variety of emotions, such as

denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventually acceptance.

Every single patient found their peace before they departed though,

every one of them.

When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. Here are the most common five: 

1. I wish I would have had the courage to pursue some of my dreams.

"This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their

life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how

many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people have had not honoured

even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to

choices they had made, or not made.  It is very important to try and honour at least some of your dreams along the way. From the moment that you lose your health, it is too late. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it. "

Pro. 13:12  

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.

• What are God's dreams for you?  Do you know? Have you ever asked Him?
• Today you can be working towards God's dream for you and the best life possible.
• Your most important journey will be the journey to discover why God placed you where you are, gifted you how you are, and wired you the way you are.  He did it by design.
• You must believe that God made you by design, discover why. How? Get in the growth track on Sunday, May 29 @ 9:00am at HOF