NOT IN VAIN - Happy Steadfast Day!

TODAY is the day I am choosing to CELEBRATE the LORD'S STEADFASTNESS and how He has been teaching me to be the same!

 

 

 

My labour (church ministry, retail management, etc) is not in vain. Period. Should someone attempt to suggest otherwise, I will point them to 1 Cor. 15:57-58. Jesus is faithful.

 

May is an important month for me. It was the month I began serving as a ministry leader in the church, 16 years ago. Back then I was a youth director teaching children and youths about prayer and the Word. I was just a young man.

 

Years have passed and I am now our church's Assistant Pastor. I've seen a generation of children grow into adults in God, and I helped to contribute to their development. What a special privilege and honour that has been... and still is! There just isn't anything better than this for me... raising spiritual children.

  God's faithfulness has shone through my wonderful church, Church On The GO. I continue with youth ministry, but over the years I have expanded my portfolio of ministry: I teach the Word to adults, lead in worship, run a ministry to Christian singles, and do other tasks as needed for the church.

It is a month that has much reason to celebrate. But for me, this day also has the potential to remind one of disappointments and loss. But I choose to remember and CELEBRATE the GOOD of the LORD over the unfaithfulness of people. I aggressively and assertively declare the GOOD of the LORD which HAS PREVAILED in my life, and continues to prevail! He has given me victory, and I choose to walk in that victory every day. Trials have come, and still do come. I sometimes fail and have to repent.
But the understanding that I already have victory over those trials has shaped my attitude as a whole. The Lord always brings me through each trial. He hasn't failed me. He is FAITHFUL. 

1 Corinthians 15:57-58 1599 Geneva Bible (GNV)

57 But thanks be unto God, which hath given us victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore my beloved brethren, be ye STEADFAST, UNMOVEABLE, abundant always in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labor is NOT IN VAIN in the Lord.

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By the way, that Greek word for "vain" is defined by the blueletterbible as "emtpy, devoid of truth, fruitless" and it is also defined as "without SPIRITUAL WEALTH." Well that is what we have been studying in church.... God's wealth is 3-D! Our lead pastor got a revelation of the Word from the Holy Spirit on this concept of wealth being triune or 3-D. It is: the spiritual wealth of God, character wealth of the soul, and natural/bodily wealth such as money and health.

The Lord has made me immoveable. I depend fully on Him and not on my own strength or ability. Thank you Jesus for this day. This is a good day.... it's God's day.

 

Here is a list of things I choose to CELEBRATE about the LORD'S STEADFASTNESS in ME!

 

1. The Lord gave me a church ministry in May 2001... 16 years ago. He has expanded it since then.

2. Nearly 22 years work experience in retail.

3. My recovery from being abandoned, and recovery from divorce. (Married May 21 2005, Divorced Oct 15 2009) I am HEALED. I have FORGIVEN. I have MOVED ON in Christ. (In fact, today, it took me more than HALF A DAY to even realize that this was my former wedding date.

4. My SINGLES ministry is ONLY POSSIBLE due to the loss in my life... the compassion and the insight and experience the Lord allowed me to have is invaluable when ministering to other singles, divorced people and widowers.

Happy Steadfast Day.

-CJA

Sun May 21 2017 1:39pm EST

Feel Isolated in Christ? You are NOT ALONE!

Matthew 10:42 English Standard Version (ESV)
42 And whoever gives one of these little ones even a cup of cold water because he is a disciple, truly, I say to you, he will by no means lose his reward.”

1 Corinthians 7:17 English Standard Version (ESV)
17 Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. This is my rule in all the churches.

I want to encourage you: don't be afraid to walk your unique and holy path in Jesus. He calls you to it, and it will be an isolating experience, just as Bonhoeffer explains in his book "The Cost of Discipleship". Believe me when I say that I can RELATE to this!!

Yes, we gather in fellowship in local public churches. But that does not mean our individual paths in Christ will all look identical. We all seek to have the same mind in Christ and the same doctrine. But not every path in Jesus will be the same. 1 Corinthians 12 does a great job of explaining the diversities of callings and gifts in Christ. It is always the same Spirit. There is unity through diversity of callings and gifts. Not all people have to do the same thing in the body. In fact, in that chapter, Paul says that if everyone did the same thing or had the same gift, then the spiritual body would not be fully equipped!
Discipleship will cause you to feel separate. Indeed I know I feel separated and sometimes misunderstood because I don't have the same calling and walk as others. God equips us with desires that match the calling. So don't feel bad when you don't desire what other people think you should desire.
Remember the source of your desires.... it is God who changes your heart and determines what you will desire:

Psalm 37:3-5 English Standard Version (ESV)
3 Trust in the Lord, and do good;
    dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.
4 Delight yourself in the Lord,
    and he will give you the desires of your heart.
5 Commit your way to the Lord;
    trust in him, and he will act.

By delighting in the Lord and in what He desires, He will plant His desires in your heart and they become yours. This is what I believe the Psalm is telling us. Let God give you the desires of your heart. Then when you go to ask for those things, He will grant your desires, because they match His sovereign desire. And His sovereign desire for you is GOOD and HOLY. But it still will not be the exact same path as other disciples/Christians. Contrast the difference of paths between Peter and John in the New Testament. One was called to die on a cross, the other lived to full age while banished on a prison island.

 People want to put you into a cookie cutter. But you don't fit in the cookie cutter mold. And that's ok. God is using your set of unique experiences to further His kingdom of spiritual children. You don't have to fit man's cookie cutter. God shaped you with a different mold! He shaped you into the image of His Son! And Jesus did not follow man's tradition or Adam's natural path. He PERFECTLY did the will of His heavenly Father. And Jesus IS the LAST ADAM.
The FIRST ADAM had sinned, and had a natural family who also took on his natural sinful nature.
The LAST ADAM, Jesus Christ, is SPIRITUAL, and did NOT sin. He was SINLESS, yet He took on our own sin. He took it on, so that He could adopt all who believe Him as SPIRITUAL children!
Isn't that amazing? Read 1 Corinthians 15 for Paul's teaching on the First Adam vs. the Last Adam.

 Your path is unique and holy in Christ! Stay close to Jesus and stay obedient to His Spirit. Don't second-guess what God has already told you and shown you. Not everything that applies to other persons in the church will apply to you. Though your brothers and sisters in Christ love you, they may not understand God's will for you fully. It's ok. Just love them. Don't waste time defending your position. Since you are not sinning, you have nothing to repent of. There is no shame in following Jesus, even if it costs you personal relationships. And please don't assume they are wrong in their path. Don't assume everyone must walk exactly the way you do in your practical and life choices.

Be BOLD. Be yourself in Christ. You don't take up the cross of a different disciple. You take up your own unique cross for Jesus. And that cross will be misunderstood by some Christians. People don't mean any harm. So please be gentle and gracious with them.

God bless and strengthen you for the journey ahead, and remember, you might feel like me.... alone at times. Even though you feel alone, remember that you have JESUS with you and Jesus and the FATHER are ONE.
Jesus declared:
John 16:32 English Standard Version (ESV)
32 Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.

This is my reality. The Father is with me too, because I believe in Jesus, Love Him, and obey Him.

Jesus promised you and me:

Matthew 28:20 English Standard Version (ESV)
20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”

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Bless you!
Pastor Curtis

Mon May 8 2017 9:47pm EST

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