The Presbyter's Page
Electronic Edition – September 2002
Original articles published August 2002
Section 12 - LA
District UPCI
Donald Bryan - Presbyter
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Sermon Thought: "When The Thief Tries To Steal Your
Promise"
An Exit
Strategy - Preparing For The Final 20 Years Of Your Life
Ten
Commandments For Showing Respect
Sermon Thought:
“When
The Thief Tries To Steal Your Promise”
John 10:10
"The thief cometh not, but for to steal,
and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they
might have it more abundantly."
-- John 10:10 (KJV)
Satan will come and he comes with only one objective – to kill, steal and destroy. Satan comes to everyone in order to steal the promise. His strategy is to put you through times of internal wrenching, make you doubt yourself because you aren’t perfect, and try to erode your confidence in God’s promises to you. Satan wants your promise.
What do you do to fight him? First, you need the power to detect the thief. Proverbs 6:30-31 declares that if a thief is found, he must restore sevenfold! God wants to restore sevenfold back to you. A thief gains his power from being undetected. Once he is exposed, he loses his power and must restore.
Satan uses your imagination against you. He creates intimidation, lies and fear in order for you to doubt God. However, once you receive the Word of God, you can be released. Satan says no, but God says yes.
The thief detector you need is a revelation of the love of God. That revelation is that God is committed to saving you.
God is committed and will never let you down. Furthermore, God will use you and work in your life. Satan can be bruised by your own feet. In fighting spiritual warfare with the thief, remember that hell has no kind thoughts about you. Your existence is a redemptive presence. Hell also hears what heaven says about you and will challenge every word of God’s promise to you. Even Jesus was challenged by Satan concerning His deity immediately after the Lord had just received the confirmation of His deity.
Lastly, heaven has no second thoughts about choosing you. You belong here in the church because of God’s selection. If you have received a promise, it must begin with a sacrifice. Notice in Genesis 15:8 that Abraham had received a promise from God. But before God visited him to insure the promise, Abraham is asked to offer a sacrifice.
The New Testament refers to five kinds of sacrifices. Jesus is the sacrifice for sins. Nothing can steal your forgiveness. He bought it. Our bodies are a living sacrifice. Don’t let Satan steal your holiness. Faith is the sacrifice of our service. We offer sacrifices in giving and finances. Finally, we offer the sacrifice of praise. Don’t ever stop praising the Lord.
Notice how Satan tries to take the promise. He strikes first at the point of last dedication. You make a commitment to God and that is where Satan strikes. His second strike attempts to change your opinion of God’s Word. He will get you to doubt God’s Word. Satan’s last strike will be to steal your faith. If Satan can’t steal your service, he’ll try to steal your worship. If he can steal your worship, he will decimate your faith.
When Jesus was attacked in this manner, he quoted the Word of God. The Living Word spoke the written word! It is written! But it works. Satan was defeated when he was exposed and the word used against him. And Jesus left that wilderness full of power in the Spirit.
Most every child of God has been wounded in this battle. But God uses wounded people to bring His plans to pass. Don’t let your bruised heel keep you from bruising the head of the serpent. Satan now feeds on the dust of the earth. Since we were fashioned from dust and that represents carnality, Satan feeds on the carnality of man. Satan can wound you according to the amount of carnality you feed him. The less carnal you are, the less you can be wounded!
What do you do? Hold on until you see what the Lord will do. Speak the Word! Get rid of carnality. Worship the Lord! Keep that up and Satan can never steal your promise.
An Exit Strategy – Preparing For The Final 20 Years Of Your Life
There is a great irony in pastoral life. You commit yourself to a life shaped by the call of God and congregations bid you come to a particular place and to stay for an indeterminate period of time. Then, when the ministry reaches its conclusion, you are expected to leave. Leave! Leave the area, friends, the sense of human security we all seek. This works if preparations are made. In other circumstances, it can be disastrous.
A pastor is wise if he, like a pilot, is always aware of secondary landing fields if something goes wrong. The older you get, the more important it becomes to develop a plan for your life, attitude, and service when your organizational role ends. You cannot afford to enter the last third of your life without it. Those who fail here end in anger and bitterness, feeling betrayed by their calling.
Is there a place for older pastors to serve? Here are 9 questions for forming a healthy strategy:
· Have my spouse and I developed friends unrelated to my formal pastoral role?
· Have we thought through the dynamics of our marriage when it’s no longer affected by pastoral life?
· Have I considered the conduct of my spiritual life when the demands of formal ministry no longer drive it?
· Have I a financial plan that will enable me to continue some form of ministry even when there is no longer a paycheck from the church?
· Have I identified long-term themes and learning experiences that will keep my mind and heart supple?
· Have I recognized forms of service where I can encourage and support younger leaders and their visions?
· Have I thought through the emotional implications of a life no longer at the center of the church, when I have resumed the life of a common Christ-follower?
· Have I begun to discipline myself to not slip into an attitude of reaction and criticism against those who take my place and do things differently? Will I be an “old guy” that people love to have around?
· Have I studied the lives of those who transitioned gently and nobly into their latter years and sought a life of wisdom, encouragement, and prayer?
Ø To lead yourself, use your
head; to lead others, use your heart.
Ø Who you get is not
determined by what you want. It’s
determined by who you are.
Ø The people’s capacity to
achieve is determined by their leader’s ability to empower.
Ten Commandments For Showing Respect
Psalms 119:6 admonishes us to respect our Lord and all of His commandments.
James 3:9-10 tells us that we cannot bless
God and curse man. Out of the same mouth
should not proceed blessings and cursings. A person can have no more respect for his God than he has for you.
Then how can a person respect himself if
he is not conscientiously respecting his God and fellow man? Paul reiterated that truth in Romans 12:10: “Be
kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one
another.”
1.
Respect
yourself. Respect for the personality,
rights and differences of others grows out of self-respect and appreciation for
your own individuality.
2.
Emphatically
listen and really hear what your family, friends, and associates are saying and
feeling. Encourage others, especially
your subordinates and children, to speak freely, openly, frequently, and with
impunity.
3.
Actively
accept others, regardless of peculiarities, by giving adequate consideration to
their ideas, suggestions, opinions, and feelings. Strive to be descriptive and non-judgmental. Confirm that you are
hearing by giving positive feedback.
4.
Demonstrate
a belief in the dignity of all labor however menial. Treat all your members with honor, deference, esteem,
appreciation, and equality. Show the
same basic respect for the custodian who cleans your church restrooms as you
would for a member of your advisory board.
If both were absent for a week whom would you miss more?
5.
Invest
some times in the activities and interest of your closest relationships.
6.
Refuse
to manipulate anyone. Refuse to use
people as objects and dispensable pawns.
7.
Refuse
to control or smother others close to you.
Provide room for freedom, learning, growth, and interdependence even
with your spouse. Although you are
close to each other, even as one body, you each have your own lives and
individual goals. You are always together
in your hearts, but not necessarily in all activities. A healthy relationship is based on mutual
development, discovery, and freedom within the spirit of Christ.
8.
When
criticism is necessary, address only the act or problem and never the
personality.
9.
Refuse
to put others down. Refuse to put
people in their place or give them their comeuppance. If negative reinforcement is necessary, make it a logical
consequence of inappropriate action.
Design all consequences to be rehabilitative and ameliorative rather
than punitive and vindictive.
10.
Give
positive strokes whenever possible.
Make others feel important.
Recognize birthdays, anniversaries, and the smallest task well
done. Stroking is simply a unit of
recognition.
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