The Way Things Work

Life is full of bizarre things that do not make much sense. A few examples are the platypus, atomic weapons, and stuffed animals. While these things may seem bizarre, useless, or counterproductive they all exist according to God’s plan.
The platypus is in a great deal responsible for controlling the population of “small invertebrate animals on the bottom, including crustaceans, worms and molluscs, as well as the larvae of many freshwater insects” in Australia as they spend about “12 hours every day” foraging for food “and can consume 13-28% of their own body weight in food a day.”
So even something as bizarre and inexplicable as the platypus has its proper place in the world.

Every detail no matter how apparently insignificant is prepared and carried out by God according to His plan. Everything from which mosquitos will survive the day to who will be elected President.

Many Christians believe the election of Obama was some sort of mistake or the worst possible outcome for the election or even the end of the world. While it may seem to be a bad thing those who truly believe should know that only God knows what will happen as a result of this and that God chose this outcome. We all need to remember that there are NO mistakes, accidents, or coincidences. Every detail has been set forth according to the plan that God has made.

God has a plan. He has a plan for each of our individual lives and he also has a plan for this nation. Whether that plan leads to prosperity or downfall makes no difference in our task. We who believe are to witness to those who do not, to support each other, to support everyone else, and to glorify God in doing so.

We cannot complain about what has happened or how it will affect our lives. We are to set out on our ministry and bring others to Jesus.

Belief v Faith

Do you believe that there is only one God who created the universe
and everything in it?

Are you saved?
Because of your belief in God?
Is there anything else that you must do, believe, or say to be saved?

James 2:14-19
Belief in God’s existence in not faith.

Hebrews 11:1
Faith is believing in God
In God and his promises
That God will and has kept all of His promises.

What are some verses that include promises God has given?
1 John 1:9 and John 3:16, 21 specifically
What does god promise in these verses?
-Forgiveness for those who ask for it
-Salavation for those who have faith

Faith opens the door for us to receive salvation.

1 John 1:9 says that when we confess our sins God forgives us.
In order for God to give us the gift of salvation we must acknowledge
that we are sinners.
When we have confessed we are forgiven and are therefore saved

Genuine Faith inspires us to act and requires action to stay healthy
and grow.

James 2:20-25
It is in acting on our faith that it is made complete.
When Abraham followed through with God’s request he proved that he
believed in God’s promise that he would be the father of a nation.
When Rahab helped the Jewish spies escape the city she proved that
she believed in God and that she would follow Him.

James 2:14-18
Hebrews 11:29-34
Many people say these passages are opposites.
However they are actually referring to different things.
James is referring to living life and having a faith that is useful
and productive while Paul is referring to salvation.
Even Paul says that faith in itself isn’t salvation.
“By Grace” – God’s willingness to give us a gift we don’t
deserve. Salvation.
“Through Faith” – Faith is necessary to receive the gift. If you
don’t believe that God will grant you salvation then you will not be
able to receive the gift of salvation. You need to have faith in God
and believe that he will keep his promise in order to receive it.

Faith is a living thing it grows as our relationship with God grows.
However like all living things faith requires sustenance.
What nourishes our faith the most is action.

The most fulfilling action is sharing God’s promise.

What are some things that we can do that glorify God?
-encourage others
-be honest
-read your bible each day
-pray about everything
-help those in need

James 2:26
When we stop working for God our faith dies
This doesn’t refer to the loss of salvation but rather to the loss of our wish to grow closer to God
This refers to how we fall apart when we chose not to act upon the opportunities God puts our way

Prices

In the world everything has its price.
However not everything that has a price is worth what it costs.

Most things have more of a cost than just the dollar value.
Your “Life Account” includes the emotional, physical, mental, monetary, and time that has been granted to you by God.

Quite frequently people will invest in things that have a cost but little to no benefit, making them not worth the cost they require to obtain.

There are many ways to deplete your “account” without truly gaining anything.
However there are also many ways to spend your “life account” wisely.

Things not to waste your account on:

- Getting Drunk

This has a high monetary cost which increases the more you drink.

Also included is the mental cost in the loss of clear thinking.

This also has the physical cost of a hangover, potential addiction, possible loss of life, and the cost of all the things you choose to do while in that state.

This has the emotional cost of eventual dependency

This also wastes precious time

- Lust, Sex, Pornography, Masturbation

Pornography is a large monetary waste.

The physical cost of can include simple pain, STDs, pregnancy.

The emotional cost as in many cases is addiction or dependency

Another emotional cost is the inability to share this precious gift for the first time with your spouse.

Every Choice has a consequence that we must face doing the wrong thing always results in something negative over the long run despite the initial pleasure of wrong-doing.  Doing the right thing will result in positive consequences (or rewards) that bring a pleasure lasting much longer and be much stronger than the temporary pleasure of doing something wrong.

Life

Life is a gift of God

Many people choose to throw away that gift through addiction, alcoholism, or suicide.

More commonly it is thrown away through inaction and apathy.

People are given the precious gift of time in a life on the wonderful planet Earth.

Many people however choose not to take advantage of this literally LIMITED-TIME OFFER.

Don’t waste your life.

Live each day as though tomorrow will never come.

Live each day as if it were the last chance to do something good.

Each day is an opportunity and in this life we are not promised a tomorrow.

Tomorrow doesn’t exist until it comes so do not say that I will share Jesus’ love with someone tomorrow.

Your time is NOW.

Act

We never know how far our actions would spread until we see the final effect, which may not be evident in this lifetime.

In life our actions are a chain, intertwined with the actions of others. The interactions between people are connected in ways unimaginable.

If you choose not to do the right thing you will never get that same chance again. Nobody might every be given the chance to make a difference just because you chose not to ACT when you had the opportunity.

Open your eyes and do the right thing. For all you know you could save the lives of many through your one act of kindness.

You can be the hero. Heroes do what is right, Heroes are made when a choice is made.

You might only directly affect one person’s life, but that person and their story could save many more indirectly. Lives that would have been lost if not for your action.

Make a choice. Be the hero. Save a life.

You can make a difference in many ways.

Apathy is a curse.

Share Jesus with someone.  It might save them