There's Only Now: Part 4

The fight is not over until you say it is over. We cannot say it’s over until we win. It’s time to have the mind of Christ. You must say to yourself: Do not give in! Do not give up! It’s not over until I win! People give up because they buy into the lie the enemy is giving them. It’s not over until you say it is over.

If you are in Christ, then you are a soldier of Christ (2 Timothy 2:3). This means you are not a complainer, whiner, etc. We are not supposed to be entangled in the affairs of this world. Faith is now (Hebrews 11:1). You can’t operate in faith except for right now. People get scared of what doesn’t exist. Jesus told us to be bold and not fearful.

To be successful, we have to see things from God’s perspective (Proverbs 27:1). You can’t spend today worrying about tomorrow or regretting yesterday. God is your helper. Therefore, you should not fear what man can do to me (Hebrews 13:5-6). If you live in the now, nothing can touch you; you are protected. Tomorrow can’t be your focus, you have to live in the now. You can’t be covetous. You can’t let your unmet desires mess with you. If you are covetous, you can’t appreciate anything. You can’t live in the now if you are covetous. We have to content with such things that we have.

God only deals with you in the now. You cannot bank on tomorrow because it may not come. Everything you see now is subject to change, if you order your life now. Getting God’s perspective is about now. When I set right priorities, then I can define my own successes. When you are covetous, you letting other people define your success. You have to make sure everything is lined up right now and that will take care of tomorrow (Luke 12:16-21). The only way you can rich toward God is to load up with Him. It’s all Him, only Him and nothing but Him.

There's Only Now: Part 3

This is the only opportunity you have to do something or act. Yesterday is gone, the future isn’t promised. We are inside of time; God is not. When we began this series, we learned that we are not to presume tomorrow. When we have God’s perspective, we will have the mind of God, understand what is really important, to see things properly, and set proper priorities.

God tells us what eternal life is in John 17:3. “Knowing” in the Biblical sense is to experience intimately. Proverb 27:1 tells us we don’t know what tomorrow holds! If you follow and obey God, you don’t have to worry about anything because He is obligated to you and what happens to you. When you deviate, you assume responsibility for yourself. There is a rational, validatable reason that God can’t lie! Luke 12:16-21 – God must want us to be rich toward Him.

The benefits of setting and having right priorities:

1. You can determine success for yourself. This is freedom! No one has a right to determine success for you or can control you.
   
2. You can enjoy success at any time.
   

Matt 6:33, 34 – In this passage, God is speaking directly to our circumstances today. Faith is now, and keeps you in your right position, dependent on God. Fear drives us to obsess about tomorrow and keeps us from focusing on the present. If you do what God tells you to do, all things you desire will be added to you now. The only way you will get to know God is to experience life on His terms. Seek God first (priority) and stop scheming and conniving up your own plans. God wants you to know Him as intimately as He knows you.

Definition of “priority” – whatever you seek, pursue, or chase is your priority and runs throughout your entire life. Seeking God’s kingdom is to go to His territory, to get on His domain, and seeking righteousness is to align yourself with how the kingdom runs.

Mark 10:20- if you are into possessions, this passage is for you. Separate yourself from your stuff. God wants you to know Him.

Luke 10:38-42 – worry and anxiousness is sin. Martha lacked in setting right priority by burdening herself with busyness.

Psalm 27:4 – David was a man after God’s heart, setting his priority on God first.

Philippians 3:13 – Paul attested to not knowing all things, but the one thing he did know was to forget what happened in the past, both victories and failures, and pressing now through toward what lies ahead. You can’t say one thing and live contrary to your words – it causes stress.

Ephesians 5:22-25; 6:5, 6 - Your prioritywill run throughout all aspects of your life. If your priority is family first, then your husband or wife is first - not work, friends, or other distractions. All that you do should be done unto God. When you have priority stress will disappear. Adopt the mind of God, live for eternal purposes.

Pastor Appreciation Day

Pastor Appreciation Day
Pastor Robert L. Thomas, Jr.

This Sunday, Berith celebrated its 5th Annual “Pastor Appreciation Day.” In honor of his tireless contributions, Pastor Rick was able to enjoy his special day from his seat, and enjoyed the message delivered by associate pastor “Pastor Bob” of Vine Life Christian Fellowship in Riverside, California.

If you’ve never heard Pastor Bob teach before, you have missed an engaging, enlightening, and very lively delivery of God’s Word. How to explain? For starters, Pastor Bob set the tone of his message through music; referencing both Beyonce and Fred Hammond!

Fun aside, Pastor Bob was there to remind the congregation of the awesome ministry gift the city of Oakland, and Berith Christian Fellowship in particular, has in its midst. We’re to remember that celebrating our Pastor isn’t just a one-day occasion. Receiving a precious gift should not be taken for granted, nor is a gift defined only as something tangible with monetary value. Every day we are alive is a gift, but we must remember that each day brings its own set of challenges. We are also to realize that we are in spiritual warfare here in the natural. John 10:10 advises us that the enemy is here only to kill and destroy.

Pastor Bob posed an intriguing question. Why is it that most people agree with the special reverence the pope receives as ministry gift, but disagree with extending that same level of reverence to any other ministry gift? Why is our Pastor any different? Pastor Rick loves each and every one of his sheep, and has laid his life bare for all of us.

So, the question is, how can you take your reverence a little higher for your ministry gift? Pastor Bob offered a few ways:

*Show up. Mentally and physically. Show your beautiful face! Attend service regularly; come out for the events hosted by the church and bring a friend!
*Sow your time. Become involved in the ministry (1 Timothy 5-17).
*Remember Pastor Rick loves you. As the overshepherd, Pastor Rick has accountability for each and every one of us. Our Pastor has dedicated our children, blessed our families and interceded for us when we were sick or in trial. Remember that Pastor Rick needs our encouragement, too.

There's Only Now: Part 2

There’s only now to act. Yesterday does not exist now. Tomorrow does not exist until it comes. As we see from God’s Word, there is no guarantee that tomorrow is coming. Therefore, we need to think, speak and act from the frame of reference that there is only now. God’s Word tells us that there is only now (Proverbs 27:1; Matthew 6:34). God’s mercy is new everyday. You have to be in the now because that is the only way you can be in faith and it is the only place you can access God. If you have the right perspective – the mind of God – then you can have proper priorities. When you have God’s perspective, then you can start setting your life up.

Having the mind of God helps you to prioritize. No one can do everything. You have to know when to say “no.” This is especially important given that we live in hostile territory – the enemy’s world. You cannot have the right priorities if you don’t know how to say “no.” You have to take your cues from God in order to be the best person God calls you to be. If you don’t have the mind of God, you cannot see right and, therefore, you cannot have right priorities. Having the mind of Christ helps us to see right and helps us to have right priorities. There are only two choices you can make – right or wrong. God set it up this way for our benefit. He always tells us what is right.

There are only two sets of priorities. The first set is society’s priorities. In 1 John 2:15-17, God points out society’s priorities. The first thing God says is “Do not” for our protection. He gives us the buffer up front. The third word in these verses is “love.” That is the real issue – Where is your affection? Where is your priority? God tells us “do not love the world.” Our assignment is to be in the world to get saved and rescue the captives. God has equipped us to be in the world and win, but we are not to love the world. The “lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life” is pleasure, possessions and prestige, respectively. There is no joy, peace, happiness, contentment, fulfillment or satisfaction in this world. In these scriptures, “lust” is contradicted with “love.” Love is a commitment and dedicated attitude. Love is life. Lust, on the other hand, is convenient and it is all about emotions. Lust is death. If you believe that lust is love, then you will lust after the wrong things and call it love. Lust leads to regret.

If we make society’s priorities our priorities, then we will surely die. People are deceived into believing that pleasure, possessions and prestige is the end. God says that these are a means to enjoying life and fulfilling God’s will and purpose for us. We have God’s blessings at our disposal (Genesis 12; Galatians 3). The blessings of Abraham are for whoever is in Christ. God will give you pleasure, possessions and prestige if it is not your goal because they will kill you (John 10:10). The only way to get these things is to forget them. God tells us to cease from our own works (Hebrews 4:10). We are supposed to receive by God’s grace, not by our own works.

The second set is God’s priorities. Having God’s priorities is not about religion, it is about relationship (John 17:3). We should make it our priority to know God. Let God bring it to you because you are pursuing Him. Eternal life is that we know God and Jesus Christ. This means pleasure, possessions and prestige aren’t a god.

Proper priorities will determine success (Matthew 6:31-34). If you don’t determine your priorities, then you are letting other people control you. If you are chasing pleasure, possessions and prestige, you are letting others control you. When you are not living in line with your priorities, it produces stress. When you are living in line with your priorities, it produces peace.

Don’t take the simplicity of Christ or the wisdom of God for granted. Simplicity is worth everything. You build your house on a rock by hearing what the Lord says and following it (Matthew 7:24). It is unnecessary for your house to fall because you have heard the simplicity of the Word of God. We cannot think that we will be immune. The covenant of God is like an umbrella – it makes us insusceptible to attack. God is faithful to those who hear His Word and obey Him – that can be anybody.

There is only now. If we hear and obey God now, He will set us up for what is to come. God knows that we have needs. His response is for us to have right priorities, not to chase pleasure, possessions and prestige. God is telling us that the answer is proper priorities. God’s remedy is to “seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness.” This scripture does not say seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness – it says make this first. Your life should be built on a rock so that it won’t fall. God tells us to seek Him first – this means that He is obligated. He shows Himself strong when we walk by faith.

There's Only Now: Part 1

There is only now to do something. There is only now to act. You can’t do anything in the past or the future. This is good news! God is not in the past or the future. He is outside of time. Don’t let the past kill you now. Forget about the future. Focus on the now. Because we, as Christians, are never going to die, we need to forget about tomorrow. There is only hope because there is only now. As long as there is a now, we are good. If there isn’t a now, we are lost. Our hope is not in man. Our hope is in God, “so that we may boldly say the Lord is my helper.” (Hebrews 13:5-6)

Don’t presume on tomorrow (Proverbs 27:1; Matthew 6:34). This means don’t make plans on tomorrow. The definition of “presume” is “to undertake with unwarranted boldness,” “to take for granted or assume,” and “to undertake without right or permission.” God gave us support for our boldness (Hebrews 13:6). If you presume, you will be in fear. There is no such thing as yesterday or tomorrow. The only proof you have of yesterday is what you reap today. If we make God our helper, that’s the only way we can be absolutely sure. We have to receive this, operate by it and see what God does.

We should live with Godly perspective. If God doesn’t think about yesterday or tomorrow, then we shouldn’t (James 4:13-16). This life is for one thing – to make sure that we are ready for eternity. Your time has eternal repercussions, so you must make it count. You should follow the God of all wisdom, who knows the beginning from the end. God doesn’t want us building on sand. He wants us building on a rock. By living in the now, God prepares you for whatever will come because God knows all.

If you ask “What will I do?” and you proceed to act according to your plan, then that is arrogance and it is satanic. You should ask “Lord, what shall I do?” Self should not be in conversation with God. True prosperity comes from your relationship with God. Seek God’s presence, not His presents, and you will be rich.

You shouldn’t talk to your soul (Matthew 11:29). You should speak the Word of God and you should consult God. To be rich toward God, you have to know Him. You have to be intimate with Him and have a relationship with Him. If you are full of yourself, God can’t get in. Whatever can’t be corrupted, can’t die (1 Peter 1:23). To be rich in God, you have to be in God’s Word.

Focus on your relationship with God. The best way to spend now is to focus on your relationship with God. Prayer is fellowship with God (1 Peter 4:7; Ephesians 5:14-17). You have to give up your plans and be in the now with God (Proverbs 16:25). If God establishes it, nothing can pull it down. We have to be rich in God and not be in our plan (Proverbs 16:25). We have to build our life on a sure foundation, which is our relationship with God.