Be All That You Can Be

Pray

• Text

Dictionary.com def. - ARMY

1,	the military forces of a nation, exclusive of the navy and in some countries the air force.

2.	(in large military land forces) a unit consisting typically of two or more corps and a headquarters.

3.	a large body of persons trained and armed for war.

4.	any body of persons organized for any purpose: an army of census takers.

5.	a very large number or group of something; a great multitude; a host: the army of the unemployed.

Hebrew

H1416 gĕduwd ghed·üd' band, troop, army, company, men H2426 cheyl khāl wall, rampart, host, trench, poor, bulwark,  H2428 chayil khah'·yil army, man of valour (Gidion Judges 6), host, forces, valiant, strength, riches, wealth, power, substance, might, strong, misc H2429 chayil (Aramaic) khah'·yil aloud, army, power, most H2502 chalats khä·lats' deliver, Arm, loose, armed men, prepared, take, army, make fat, put off, delivered out, draw out, armed soldiers, withdrawn H4634 ma`arakah mah·ar·ä·kä' army, fight, order, place, rank, rows H4675 matstsabah mats·tsä·bä' garrison, army H6635 tsaba' tsä·bä' host, war, army, battle, service, appointed time, warfare, soldiers, company, misc New Testament (Greek) G3925 parembolē pä-rem-bo-lā' castle, camp, army G4753 strateuma strä'-tyü-mä army, man of war (Eph 6), soldier G4760 stratopedon strä-to'-pe-don army

Most kings have some sort of kingdom and with that some form of government is established

• God has a Kingdom (Matt 6:33… seek ye first,  Mark 1:14 …Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God)

• Kingdom on earth lost by Adam through disobedience… (Rom 5: 19  For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.

• Kingdom re-established by Christ –start when born and deal sealed at cross  (Isa 9:6… For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.) (the word government is also translated “responsibility” in some versions)

• Kingdom lost temp (God had plan…  ) – re-established by Jesus, Jesus’ ministry on earth – fully man and fully God (teaching) -then at cross

• Until Jesus comes back The Kingdom Of God re-established in our hearts by being born again  John 3:3 … Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

 

If believers are a “band” or have “something in common” we are, by definition, an army

As soldiers in that army we have a commander, His name is Jesus

·         He is The Name above all Names  (Rev 22:13, Isa 44:6)

·         Alpha and Omega (Rev 21:6)

·         The list goes on and on – all boils down to how God first described Himself and told Moses when asked His Name – He said I Am

He sets Himself apart, distinguishes self as The Head, Ruler, The COMMANDER OF THE ARMY!

If you and I are born again, we are in that army – like it or not

·         Our Commander has given us a mission – expand The Kingdom

1.      Mark 16:15
He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation

2.      go to church or Bible Study – stay connected with other believers   

Ecclesiastes 4:12  Though one may be overpowered,
       two can defend themselves, A cord of three strands is not quickly broke

 Find out who God is from The Word

Find out who The Word says you are

meditate on The Word – daily – making that a priority is the only way you can   do it –

teach children the word–

set example

teach others (introduce them to Christ, about personal relationship)

if you fall back – go back at it

living for Christ is a process it has to be on purpose and because you want to (free will)

The Word Became Flesh

• Pray
• Text –  John 1:1-14

The Word Became Flesh

 

1)   In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

2)   He was with God in the beginning.

3)   Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

4)   In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

5)   The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood^[a] it.

6)   There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John.

7)   He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe.

8)   He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light.

9)   The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.^[b]

10)   He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.

11)   He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.

12)   Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—

13)   Children born not of natural descent,^[c] nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.  

14)   The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only,^[d] who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

 This time of year, we celebrate the coming of Jesus in the flesh, fully God and at the time of His coming and fully man. We celebrate Emmanuel - God with us. We should celebrate. Jesus is with us not only in the spirit world we can't see, but also in the physical, the touch and feel world you and I call reality. He's with us now as surely as He was that night in Bethlehem or that day at Golgotha or when He walked out of that tomb three days later!

John vs.1-14 tells us Jesus is God and the next verses tell us that He came to earth. Think about that...GOD CAME TO EARTH. God came to earth to fix a broken relationship with man. To re-establish His Kingdom on earth. To conquer sin and death - so that you and I, by trusting Emmanuel - God With Us as our Lord and Savior could have right standing with God.

When we consider that Jesus IS God and IS the Word, we know that we have access, through His Word  - the Bible, -  to The God Of The Universe. Through reading the Bible, thinking about what we read and prayer, Jesus will literally speak life changing wisdom into your life.

Takes more faith to believe than not to believe when you consider:

1.    Word of God 66 books written by 40 people. 2 Timothy 3:16 tells us all Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness – The Bible agrees with itself – from cover to cover

·        In this day and age with fax and email I doubt if we could get 20 of our friends to totally agree on any one point let alone hundreds.

2.    The odds of the prophesy in The Bible that have been fulfilled the are about 17,000,000 to 1.The odds of unfulfilled prophesy in The Bible coming true are exponentially higher.

3.    History has proven – Hittite Empire - (mentioned only in Bible) A Hittite city has been uncovered by archeologist.

4.    Countless ruins and archeological discoveries confirm places and events mentioned in Bible. With these discoveries we confirm much of what is contained in the Bible. We have enough solid evidence that it becomes easy to accept by faith things we don't understand yet.

 Jhn 1:8,9; Jhn 8:12; Jhn 9:5; Jhn 12:35,46; Psa 84:11; Isa 35:4,5; Isa 42:6,7,16; Psa 49:6; Psa 60:1-3; Mal 4:2; Mat 4:16; Luk 1:78,79; Luk 2:32; Act 26:23; Eph 5:14; 1Jo 1:5-7; Rev 22:16

In The World But Not Of The World

As I look at the news today I can’t help but think the world has gone wacky.  Society calls the things that are wrong right and right things wrong.  Down is up and up is down.

Without Jesus, we should be surprised, with Him as our Lord and Savior we shouldn’t. I must confess that even though I am a blood-bought child of The Living God, I have a hard time (at times) with what’s going on in the world. When I think of the guy on a cruise after perhaps saving for the cruise for years, to be met by a guy in a haz-mat suit because of a Ebola virus quarantine on board, I wonder what is going on. I wonder at what point do I say “wow…that’s as good as it gets”. Or just laugh to keep from crying.

We live in a broken world and have for thousands of years.  Why, as followers of Christ, would or should we be surprised that the world seems to be off the rails now? (Glad you asked) I think it is partially that even though we intellectually know parts of the big-picture God has for the future, we can’t see it that readily. We then get focused on our situation – on ourselves and we have a tendency to focus on the negative aspects of all we can see.

The other part of the answer to that question is the FACT that the Kingdom Of God is EXACTLY the opposite of the kingdom of the world. God’s Kingdom serves, changes hearts from the inside out and thus manifest in changed behavior rooted in love. The broken kingdom of the world can only control behavior by force or threat of force from the outside in. The world’s only concern is if our behavior lines up. The world does not and cannot care about the motivation of hearts. The two will always be at odds – it can be no other way.

Even for Christians it seems the expectation is for conditions in their world, town, state, city or neighborhood to always get better. The fact is though - The world is degenerating. I don't mean that we shouldn't or can't change our individual situations.  We think positively and take control (we think) of our situations to make them have the best possible outcome for us. We plan for the future, careers, family, vacations, college, retirement etc.  We should plan for these things.  It would very be foolish not to.

 We can and should do this. We should do everything we can to have a Kingdom influence – pray, have faith for (after prayer and study to find and know Christ’s mind and example) and act within the confines of the governing laws - remember Christ never once railed against the oppressive Romans or broke their laws. He never once criticizes or bad mouthed the Roman government.  In fact he forgave them and prayed for them.  He instructs His disciples (and us) to go the extra mile for them. 

 I’m convinced that Jesus doesn’t care about your political affiliations.  He doesn’t care if you’re a democrat, a republican, a socialist or whatever.  What He cares about, is whether you follow Him or not.  

We take our example from God.  God is a God of organization and planning, He does nothing haphazardly, He never acts rashly or shoots from the hip.  He has a set of values and standards He has passed on to us.  Those standards are called the Word.

Many places in The Word, God tells us to meditate on it (His Word). When we do this regularly, we start to see things as He sees them. We start to know His mind. We see different problems. Thank God – we see different solutions!

The more we hold to His Word and stick to His thinking, the more we recognize just how upside down the world really is.  John tells us that we are in the world but not of the world.

In Joshua 5:13, the Commander of the Lord’s army (whom we know as Jesus), tells Joshua that He is on no one’s side.  This tells me that Joshua’s commander was God and it also tells me The Lord is with those that are with Him (in context).

It follows then, if Jesus is the Word (John 1:1.and 14), and The Word is God, and He is with those who are for Him and He has provided His Word to us so we can know Him, then it also follows that we know Him and follow Him by utilizing and meditating on His Word as made available to us. Namely The Bible.

To meditate means to mull over, kick around in your mind, to ponder and to think about deeply. You can go to the internet and read up on methods to meditate on The Word. While there is nothing wrong with employing or learning a new method for anything. We should always be learning God’s Word and ways to study it. In fact, I am going to re-post a study on a method of meditation on The Word that changed my life as only God’s Word can.

Remember though, the children of Israel, as they received this instruction had no internet. Bible study instruction was nonexistent because there was no Bible. They had God’s Word to think about and mull over in their minds and most importantly to act on and employ in their lives – in everything they did. It is obviously impossible for them or us to employ anything in their or our lives without thinking about it.

 The focus here is on God’s Word – it can, does and will change lives. Meditating, thinking about,  focusing on, His words and thoughts changes our point of view to His. We then know Him more and more. The more we know Him, the easier it is to have faith in and act on what He is telling us to do.

The fact is we MUST do this on PURPOSE. Meditating on The Word won’t happen otherwise. We can’t know Him otherwise. We can’t expect God’s Word to work in our lives if He has nothing to work with. We can’t see things from His perspective if we don’t know it because we haven’t thought it over, kicked it around in our minds, thought about, thought deeply or pondered it. It's on us!

He is telling us what to do Joshua 1:8 (meditate on The Word) and then leaving it up to us Deut. 30:19 (choose life).

The Sacrifice Of God And Man

This study was presented at the Polk County Jail in 2007.  We just touch on some principals and I think, the main concept of the Bible. 

 If we treat others half as good as He treats us, the world would be different place.  We would have no need for jails or police. We would have no need for courts. We wouldn't sue each other. There would be no need.

We can't out-give God. His very nature to give.  Our nature is to be selfish. That is why we must think like Him. So we can mirror his actions - follow His example. 

It becomes apparent that our actions are to mirror God's actions toward us. That may be overly simplistic.

 We readily see, That He expects us to sacrifice or give gifts to others the way He treats us and sacrifices for us.

Rom 12:1-2  21^st Century  KJV

 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

 2 And be not conformed to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God

Beseech – Call near , invite, ask, call you to, intreat, call for, pray, beg, implore urgently

            Rom 15:30,

                       

·        Paul invites us to think about, by begging (he must think what he is saying is important) us in an urgent manner and tells us to listen to his message.

Therefore – so, hence, then

Bretheren –

 1) a brother, whether born of the same two parents or only of the same father or mother

2) having the same national ancestor, belonging to the same people, or countryman

3) any fellow or man

4) a fellow believer, united to another by the bond of affection

5) an associate in employment or office

6) brethren in Christ

a) his brothers by blood

b) all men  - don’t forget “God would that all men be saved”   1Ti 2:4  - Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

c) apostles

d) Christians, as those who are exalted to the same heavenly place

Mercies  –  God’s mercy / save sinners by re-establishing His Kingdom. Gal 2:8-9

1.	compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power; compassion, pity, or benevolence: Have mercy on the poor sinner.

2.	the disposition to be compassionate or forbearing: an adversary wholly without mercy.

3.	the discretionary power of a judge to pardon someone or to mitigate punishment, esp. to send to prison rather than invoke the death penalty.

4.	an act of kindness, compassion, or favor: She has performed countless small mercies for her friends and neighbors.

5.	something that gives evidence of divine favor; blessing: It was just a mercy we had our seat belts on when it happened.

6.	at the mercy of, entirely in the power of; subject to: They were at the mercy of their captors.   Also, at one's mercy.

Present -  

1.	to furnish or endow with a gift or the like, esp. by formal act
3.	afford or furnish
11.	to represent, impersonate, or act,
16.	a thing presented as a gift
4.	to hand over or submit

Lets take a look at an old testament sacrifice: - it will become clear that a sacrifice is a gift. 

Leviticus 16:7New International Version (NIV)    ⁷ Then he is to take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the entrance to the tent of meeting

The idea here is to make a gift of something, to give something, a gift is always free – or at least it is supposed to be. In this case a sacrifice to the Living God, a gift from a man.

The creation is never greater than creator. We know man could never give anything to God. However, in the case of worship (as is the case with all giving) the act of giving is the true gift. 

·         Gift always free next slide next slide.

·         A gift is always given in love. 

·          What do we call gifts (Christmas, birthday presents – spelled the same way). Remember God’s free Gift in salvation (undeserved) He – presented or gave to us?

·         We can never out give God, in the old test. He put in place a series of animal sacrifices because He had not sent His Son yet to be a perm. Sac for us. Think of that he sent His Son not only to re-establish His Kingdom here on earth but through His Son, a permanent sacrifice or gift was given to each on of us.

your body -  a temple -  1 Cor. 6:19 – A temple is where sacs were made

a living sacrifice – your reasonable service  - acceptable to God

Rom 15:16                  Gal 2:20 – after what He has done for us it’s the least we can do for Him.

                                                We are Crucified with Him – if we are joint heirs with Him Rom 8:17

Like any father all God wants for us is the best.  (His Children)

1.   He thru Paul, tells us to give ourselves over to Him and His way of thinking, His service (by working for Him, in our church, by helping and building each other up, etc. what ever He wants you to do specifically) He speaks to us most of time thru His Word, Pray – listen/spend time being quiet specifically to listen to God. 

2.   He tells us not to be like the unbelieving world but transform or change your thinking to the way He thinks. (He says that the least we can do) – when we do that (the more we think like Him. Or our thoughts line up with His, then it’s easier to discern His voice)

3.   We learn what is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God the more we meditate on His Word. It’s a circle of Gods Love toward us: The more we meditate on His Word the more He reveals to us and the more He reveals to us, the more we meditate on His Word.

Consider this in-light of understanding through daily meditation of               God’s Word:

Luke 8:18New International Version (NIV)   ¹⁸ Therefore consider carefully how you listen. Whoever has will be given more; whoever does not have, even what they think they have will be taken from them.”

4.   . The more we learn about Him the more we will want to learn - for who can resist then The God of the universe?

(read)  Isaiah 28: 9&10 “line upon line, precept upon precept”

5.   Paul telling us to meditate (think about, mull over, kick around) The Word

6.   When we do this, our view of situations – good or bad, begins to change to the way God see them. This is what He wants for us and tells us to meditate on His Word in many places in the Bible.