22 Jul Grace-Enabled Diligence
Pastor Vincent - 10 October 2013
Follow The Lord's Instruction Closely In Spiritual Battle
It is human nature to worry about tomorrow. What if I can't do this, what if things don't work well tomorrow.. what if we often let what has yet to happen to rob away our present happiness in Lord. Before Jericho, the Lord said to Joshua, " See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men.." God is always there, He is always present in your sadness, your current helplessness, your current family problem, relationship problems and even your insufficiency. But we often forget, we are often being frightened by what have yet to comeÉ the what if's in your mind - Satan is always instilling the fear, the deceptions and confuse our spirits so that we cannot look at the truth of God and draw strength from it. Behind the problem we are seeing everyday is actually the deeper spiritual battles that we need to fight against Satan - who is attacking us in every possible way just to divert us away from God's truth so that we feel the gospel irrelevant. But God has a precise instruction to our problems now, so that we can stand against the devil's scheme. Be in sync with God, hear what the Lord says and follow it carefully. As we wait upon the Lord and see what He is doing right now in our lives, we will then not be distracted by Satan into following our own desires and emotions. The Lord is not slow in fulfilling His promise and He has time for everything, therefore, go into prayer and ask God to reveal the very next thing we can do while waiting for His timetable. As we develop the instinct to hear Him through prayers, our faithful God will not hide from you and when the perfect time comes, your Jericho will be conquered, as you become more intimate with God.
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Grace and Grace-enabled hard work
- <1 Cor 15:10>: But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
- Grace has effect >>> work hard
- Grace and hard work not mutually exclusive.
<2 Th 3> 6 In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, we command you, brothers and sisters, to keep away from every believer who is idle and disruptive and does not live according to the teaching you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know how you ought to follow our example. We were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. On the contrary, we worked night and day, laboring and toiling so that we would not be a burden to any of you.
9 We did this, not because we do not have the right to such help, but in order to offer ourselves as a model for you to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”
11 We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies.
12 Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat. 13 And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.
Man is not created to be idle, but with a purpose.
- PURPOSE.
- “Idle men tempt the devil to tempt them.” – Charles Spurgeon
- “An idle mind is the devil’s playground.”
However, the Fall distorts our purpose and ways of working hard.
- Sloth, and an attitude of reaping without sowing.
- No desire to improve, or learn.
- Easily discouraged and give up.
- Habits that lack self-discipline.
- Burn out easily when not relying on God.
- Toil for the wrong motivations.
- Busy till drift from God.
We need healing in our labor/no labor.
- See the meaning to our hard work.
- Working hard is Christian virtue.
- Enjoy the process of working hard.
- In the end, God is looking not at the outcomes of our hard work, but at how faithful we are in using His gracious gifts.
<1 Cor 15:10>: But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.
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