To Know Christ (Know first, Do second)

"I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection...." - Phil 3:10

If I asked you why God made you, what would you say? Is it that you might serve others, or is it that you might give your life in working for God? As I study God's Word I have come to the conclusion that God made us primarily for close, intimate fellowship! Knowing and loving comes first. Action and doing come second and are meaningless without the first.

The apostle Paul wanted to know Christ, and by knowing Christ, he could experience the power of His resurrection. I find this to be the hardest thing for many believers to do. So often it is much easier to be busy with the urgent, or even Christian activity than spending quiet moments before the Lord. Before we realize it, days have passed since our last quiet time with Jesus.

Jesus knew how important quiet moments were with the Father. "After He had dismissed them, He went up on a mountainside by Himself to pray. When evening came, He was there alone" (Matt 13:23). The older I get, the more precious this time becomes to me. It is a time I look forward to almost daily. It offers me a time to reflect, to share my concerns with my Lord, and to hear Him speak. Many have regular prayer walks, which can accomplish three things: fellowship, prayer, and exercise. Many have witnessed that it can change a person's prayer life. Have you come to understand that Jesus views us as His friends and He wants to spend time with us? Are we depriving God of His time when we put Him aside for what we deem as more urgent? An interesting thing happens when we make prayer a priority: Urgent things seem to fade away as we focus on Him. Then, He makes all these other things fall into place after Him.

Are you taking the time to get to know Him each day? When you read His Word, ask God to reveal Himself to you. Lovingly worship Him, thank Him, and tell Him your innermost longings. Over time, the most powerful thing that happens in your day will be the time you spend with Him.

Lord, we want to know and love You -first! We long for Your power -second! And we desire to serve You -third! We make You our priority! Strengthen the ties that bind us to You! Amen.

Come into His presence to worship! Stay plugged in for power! Then and only then, go our and serve your Maker and your fellow-man!

God grant it to be so,

Pastor Ken

The Boomerang Blessing

Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Matthew 5:7

Happiness is like a boomerang. Whatever you throw out will come back to you. This especially applies to showing mercy.

What is mercy?

Mercy goes beyond sympathy to empathy and wipes out debts, I mean completely forgets about them, then goes on to help the one who hurt you. Mercy is love in action; it is the story of Jesus life.

How do I show mercy?

a. By being patient. Into every life a few weirdo's must fall. Your nature tells you to leave them alone. Jesus says, “Accept into your life the depressed, the lonely, the obnoxious." If I give you an illustration of a particular weirdo, you would probably write back and ask me how I knew that relative of yours so well. So, just imagine being patient with that "irregular" person in your life.

b. By seeing mistakes and not rubbing it in, but, rubbing it out. It means going out of your way to be loving to those who hurt you. Don’t point a finger, lend a hand.

c. By helping the hurting. Mercy is practical assistance. It’s love in action. Feeling sorry is not enough. Praying is not enough. 1 John 3:17-18: "Now, suppose a person had enough to live on and notices another in need. How can God’s love be in that person if he doesn’t bother to help? Dear children, we must show love through actions, not through empty words." In other words, happy are those who get involved.

d. By doing good to my enemies. Jesus says this: "If you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even ‘sinners’ do that. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the most high, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your heavenly Father is merciful." (Luke 6:33 & 35 ) Do you know the best way to destroy an enemy? Make him your friend. You can do that by doing good to him in spite of what he does to you.

So, how do we apply this beatitude? We must be patient with the peculiar, forgiving of the fallen, helpful to the hurting and help those who hurt us. That’s mercy. That’s a tall order! So, the question becomes....

How can someone become merciful?

When people are jerking you around and you are having a hard time dealing with them, remember the times you've been a jerk with God... all the dumb stunts you’ve pulled, all the ways you’ve sinned; and yet God still loves you. Mercy is not getting what we deserve, but what we need. And we ought to be motivated to give it because we will need it. First we must ask God for mercy, then receive that mercy... which should humble us enough to show mercy in return to others.

What is mercy's reward?

Jesus said, "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy," ... but it works the other way too. If your not merciful you won’t receive mercy. Jesus puts simply says the unforgiving are unforgiven. Matthew 6:15: "If you refuse to forgive others, your Father in heaven will not forgive your sins."

Resentment is when you allow what is eating you to eat you up. Resentment is the deliberate decision to nurse the offense until it becomes a growling grudge.

But mercy can set you free. If you are resentful today, you have heart trouble! I beg you to allow the hole in your heart to heal. Forgiving others allows you to forgive yourself and remember how much mercy God has shown you.

Bernice Schug, a lovely woman, was hired as a housekeeper, but no one knew of her hidden hurt. Her son had been killed by a Kamikaze pilot from Japan. She learned that a Kamikaze pilot from Japan was to speak at a service she was attending and it brought out all her angry feelings from the past. However, when the pilot shared his story. His love and gratitude for Jesus shone from his eyes. You could feel the love and release he had found. At the end of the message Bernice looked him squarely in the eye and said, "My son was killed by a Kamikaze! I have seen how God has forgiven you your sins, and tonight, for the first time in 40 years, I’ve allowed Him to forgive mine. Will you forgive my hatred for your people?" With tears in his eyes the pilot said, "Will you forgive me for what my people did to you?" She threw her arms around this little Japanese man and they stood there holding each other, both of them weeping with peace and release and tears of joy....

because: "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy.”

Lord, may we give mercy, not for hope of reward, but, to give glory to you. May others see Christ in us as we pour ourselves into them and lovingly serve them. Bring us close to people who need you today! For His kingdom's sake. Amen!

Learning to show mercy,

Pastor Ken

March 1st service schedule at Faith Fellowship in Luck, WI:

9:00 Sunday School

10 AM Worship service / Dealing with Self Image

Communion Sunday

I couldn't remember how to throw a boomerang, but, in a short time it came back to me.