Apr 24 2011 dcfc english Worship [The Master & The Disciple] Luke 24: 28-36

Adjust your conscience – Joke

Date: 3/2007.101

A story from Philadelphia Inquirer illustrates this problem. A 12-year old boy was caught stealing a watch. he told police that previously he had shoplifted a gift for his mother and he felt he had to do the same doe his dad. Although troubled about slighting his father, he had qualms about stealing.

Because of sin, conscience is unreliable and needs a continual adjustment. This begins with a right relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ. He paid sin's penalty and now our hearts are "sprinkled from an evil conscience," (Hebrews 10:22). But this does not make conscience obsolete. As we study the Scriptures, the Hoy Spirit puts our inner monitor on a frequency that brings us in tune with the words, deeds and attitudes of the Lord Jesus.

"Let your conscience be your guide" is valid only if God's word is guiding your conscience.

Conscience is like a sundial: when the truth of God shines on it, it points in the right direction.

Acts 24:10-16

CONTENTMENT

Beatitudes

Date: 1/2010.101

If I wanted the kingdom, I would have to know persecution - subtraction.

If I longed to be comforted, I would have to mourn - subtraction.

Inherit the earth? Be meek subtraction again.

The Beatitudes especially linked to contentment in v. 3 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
CONTENTMENT

Fishing for more fishes

Date: 10/2007.101

"Why aren't you out there fishing?" he asked. "because I've caught enough fish for today," said the fisherman.

"Why don't you catch more fish than you need?" asked the rich man.

"You could earn more money," came the impatient reply, "and buy a better boat so you could go deeper and catch more fish. You could purchase nylon nets, catch even more fish and make more money. Soon you'd have a fleet of boats and be rich like me."

The fisherman asked, "Then what would I do?"

"You could sit down and enjoy life," said the industrialist.

"What do you think I'm doing now?" the fisherman replied.
CONTENTMENT

God, Forgive Me when I whine

Date: 9/2007.101

Fresh Ideas: Illustrations, Stories & Quotations - Jim Burns & Greg McKinnon P109 - 1 Thessalonians 5:18

Today upon the bus I saw a lovely maiden with golden hair;

I envied her because she looked so fine and wished I was as fair.

And suddenly as she rose to leave,

I watched her hobble down the aisle.

She had one leg and wore a brace but as she passed a smile.

O God, forgive me when I whine. I've got two legs.

The world is mine.

And then I stopped to buy some sweets,

The boy who sold them was so fine.

I talked with him and he said to me,

"You know, it’s good to talk with folks like you.

You see,," he said, "I'm blind."

O god, forgive me when I whine. I have two eyes,

The world is mine.

Then walking down the street

I saw a lad with eyes of blue.

He stood and watched the others play

But seemed he did not know what to do.

So I watched him for a moment and then I said,

"Hey, don't you know the others here?"

He looked ahead without a word and then I knew he could not hear.

O God forgive me when I whine, I have two ears,

The world is mine.

With feet to take me where I go,

With eyes to see the sunset glow,

With ears to hear what I need to know,

O God, forgive me when I whine.

I'm blessed indeed, the world is mine.

Application:

Rather than looking at what you don't have, you need to thank God for all you do have.

1 Chronicles 16:34; Philippians 4:6, Philippians 4:11-12; Colossians 3:15-16; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18; 1 Timothy 6:8; James 1:2-4
CONTENTMENT

Learning contentment in suffering

Date: 1/2010.101

June 19 2011 DCFC English Worship – [Carpe Diem: Live, Laugh & Love] Eccl 3:1-15 Does God really have a plan? - only feeding part

It meant making tough choices, deciding this and not that, going in this direction and not that one. Why does the secret involve such hard work? because approaching God's throne of grace is not our natural bent. Just take a look at a few of Paul's well chosen words in Philippians "I press on... I strive... I stand firm."

Joni, "In a small way I understand making choices like these. I got tired of being fed by others. But when I tried to feed myself with paralyzed arms, I wanted to give up. A bent spoon was inserted into a pocket of my leather arm splint. With weak shoulder muscles, I had to scoop food on the spoon, then balance and lift it to my mouth. It was humiliating to wear a bib, smear applesauce all over my clothes and have it land more times on my lap than in my mouth. I could have surrendered - it would have been easy and many wouldn't have blamed me for quitting. But I had to make a choice. A series of choices. Was I going to let my embarrassment over my food-smeared face dissuade me? Was I going to let disappointing failures overwhelm me? Learning to ask the Lord for help was the secret.

How do we learn contentment have get the right kind of subtraction of gaining through losing like Paul in Philippians 4:12, Philippians 4:17-18, learning to life in abundance and lack.

Suffering is having what you don't want and wanting what you don't have. If so then Subtracting your wants and you will have contentment. The world is clueless about this sort of math. The world will try to improve its circumstances to match its desire - increase its health, money, beauty, power. It is wiser to subdue your heart to match your circumstances. Christians may not be able to rule their life situations, but they can rule their hearts.

Example of Myanmar or Thai Christians with little.

Gaining contentment does not mean losing sorrow or saying goodbye to discomfort. Contentment means sacrificing itchy cravings to gain a settled soul. You give up one thing for another. It's hard. Hard but sweet. You are sorrowful yet always rejoicing. You have nothing yet posses everything. 1 Timothy 6:6 - Godliness with contentment is great gain. And gain always comes through loss. No wonder contentment requires enormous strength. Jeremiah Burroughs "A Christian is the most contented man in the world, yet the most unsatisfied man in the world. These two together must needs be mysterious. he is contend if he has but a crust, but bread and water... yet if God should give unto him Kingdoms and Empires, all the world to rule... he should not be satisfied with that. A soul that is capable of God can be filled with nothing else but God.
CONTENTMENT

No Title

Date: 11/2005.101

God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him

Only Jesus Satisfies

Date: 12/2008.101

Victor Krutko came to Moody Bible Institute from Minsk, a town in Belarus. This gifted, passionate pastor and I have become good friends. I’ll never forget an episode with him as we were traveling through Belarus visiting some of his work. God had used him to start a Bible school and seminary in his home country, and his influence had sparked the planting of more than 100 churches in the region. But the most special moment of the trip came when we went to visit Victor’s mom.

Our trip to meet this dear woman took us 40 miles outside of Minsk, down a rutted track with weeds sprouting up in the middle of the lane. Passing ramshackle shanties as we entered this backwater village, we pulled up in front of one of the shanties to be greeted by a beaming, ruddy-faced woman in her late 70sVictors mother! With a babushka scarf wrapped around her head, she bustled us inside saying, Come in, come in!

We picked our way past the outhouse and through a meager garden. I pointed out the pig to Victor, and he said, Oh yes, she raises the pig in the summer and eats it in the winter. The vegetables from the garden were her only other means of sustenance.

Inside the two-room shanty was a kitchen featuring a little table. A sheet divided the other room into a bedroom and a sitting room. As Victor’s mom fed us cucumbers and tomatoes for lunch, she couldn’t stop beaming. Initially, I thought that her unbridled enthusiasm was because her boy, Victor, had come home. But it soon became apparent that her contagious joy was not just about Victor but also about another man in her life, Jesus! As Victor translated, all she could talk about was Jesus how much she loved Him, how much He loved her, how much she couldn’t wait to get to heaven to see and be with Him. This woman, who had very few material possessions, had all that she needed because Jesus had clearly become a well of living water flowing in her heart.

This visit prompted a reality check in my heart about how addicted we are to the thought that having more in our material world is where joy is found. It’s not that we don’t want Jesus. It’s just that we act like He’s not enough. Were really glad to have Jesus, but we feel that what we really need is a spiffier set of golf clubs, a newer car, a bigger home, or at the very least a new shirt or pair of shoes. It’s not that having those things is necessarily wrong; it’s just that believing that they will satisfy is a wrong thought.

Which reminds me of another woman. When Jesus sat down next to a Samaritan woman by a well, He initiated a conversation by discussing a material need: Would you give me a drink? Then, lovingly, He steered the conversation through territory that explored the many ways that this woman had tried to satisfy her own emptiness, including failed relationships, illicit pleasures, and empty religiosity. Then He made this staggering offer: If anyone comes to Him for satisfaction, they will find their deepest needs and longings met.

So, how about you? Instead of seeking to satisfy your life with stuff, will you turn your heart to Jesus and receive His eternally thirst-quenching, soul-satisfying gift of living water? If so, you will experience the deep, genuine joy that captured the heart of Victor’s mom and the woman at the well.

Ps 23

Date: 6/2009.101