The Word This Week – WE BECOME INEFFECTIVE BECAUSE WE HAVE GOT IT ALL WRONG

2 June 2014 by Rev Dr Jai Kumar –

1 Peter 2:21

Christ is your example. Follow in His steps.

WE HAVE TRANSMITTED BUSINESS FOR MINISTRY

Do you feel betrayed and disappointed when friends let you down? Are you expecting a reward all the time? Are you keeping a record of how much you have been giving and trying to strike a balance of how much they have returned to you? Perhaps there may be times when you feel that you have given more than what is returned back to you?

You know what? Jesus is no exception! He gave all He had in order that we may be set free and be abundantly blessed. ( John 10:10) Nevertheless, He experienced disappointments, He was let down by some of them He trusted so much. They became unreliable and immature. One even betrayed Him.

All the preaching, all the counseling, all the advice that He GAVE was however not accepted by everybody. Only some fell on good ground and reaped a harvest. A lot of it fell on bad ground and were destroyed.

Although the scripture says in John 1: 4

In him was life, and that life was the light of men.…….. 5 The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.

………10 He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not.

11 He came unto his own, and his own received him not.

They were unfortunately slow learners so to speak and they had to learn the hard way. Despite all that, He forgave them and loved them anyway.

John 13:1

Having loved his own….He loved them unto the end.

Jesus loved everybody irrespective of who they were not because they were worthy of His love. Not because they were righteous! His love made them worthy! His righteousness made them righteous!

THE KEY IS .….Keep in mind always that the ultimate master you are serving is Christ (Col 3:24)

A SPIRIT FILLED LIFE EXPRESSES THE CHARACTER OF GOD

The will of God for the children redeemed by the blood of a Jesus is to reflect the heart of God and express his character. Therefore, Christian giving and serving is part of the will of God – II Cor. 8:5

The problem with most of us is that we have unconsciously allowed the enemy to shift our focus from walking in the spirit to walking in the flesh.

Gal.5:16

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.

There is an opposing force that constantly confronts us against walking in the spirit. The only way we can overcome this force is by refusing to feed the flesh.

INNER TRANSFORMATION

We are supposed to be on a journey of transformation the moment we received Christ in our lives. This journey is a process of crucifying our flesh and gradually bringing us to a place of total surrender to God where you can say as Paul said in (Philip 3:8 NLT)

“Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ.”

We are supposed to seek the Kingdom of God first and foremost and all these other things will be added to us. In fact, we don’t even have to ask God for them, because they are automatically given to us as we put His Kingdom ahead of our selfish needs.(Matt.6:33)

GOD SYSTEM NEVER FAILS

In God’s economy His faithfulness and His promise outstands everything else. You see, God is a faithful God. God is a promise-keeping God. If you and I can take care of His business, He will take care of all our concerns.

God’s system has never failed since the beginning of history but unfortunately man’s system fails all the time. Yet man keeps chasing after elusive things like his own clever ideas believing that he can steer his own boat without God in the picture.

John 15: 5

I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing.

WE HAVE GOT IT ALL WRONG

I am truly devastated to discover some people who are not even Christians can demonstrate such love to mankind without expecting a return from them. The value, the compassion and the mercy they place on humanity can put some Christians to shame sometimes.

And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “We are , what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 10:25, ESV)

Jesus asked him what was written in the law, and the man responded: “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” (Luke 10:27, ESV)

Pressing further, the lawyer asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?”

Your neighbor?

Jesus told of a man going down from Jerusalem to Jericho. Robbers attacked him, took his possessions and clothes, beat him, and left him half dead.

A priest came down the road, saw the injured man, and passed by him on the other side. A Levite passing by did the same.

A Samaritan, an unbeliever from a race hated by the Jews, saw the hurt man and showed compassion on him. He poured oil and wine on his wounds, bound them up, then put the man on his donkey. The Samaritan took him to an inn and cared for him.

The next morning, the Samaritan gave two denarii to the innkeeper for the man’s care and promised to repay him on his way back for any other expenses.

Jesus asked the lawyer which of the three men is a neighbor. The lawyer answered the man who showed mercy.

Then Jesus told him, “You go and do likewise.” (Luke 10:37, ESV)

YOU GIVE BECAUSE YOU HAVE EXPERIENCED GOD’S LOVE

I Cor. 13:3

Loveless giving is not Christian giving

II Cor. 9:9,10

Christian giving expresses God’s righteousness

I don’t think it is hard to give for the sake of giving if it’s coming from your heart. The problem comes when many people give expecting something in return. I guess it’s human nature to feel this way however on the other hand!

People don’t realise that when you give, the biggest joy comes out from your gesture of giving. When you think whatever you give must be reciprocated because you feel you’ve done something good and you expect justification, then I am afraid, your very faith in Christ is questionable.

Acts 20:35

…… And remember the words of the Lord Jesus, that He said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

God loves a person who gives cheerfully, not grudgingly, not giving because you want to cut a deal with Him! YOU CAN NEVER TRADE WITH GOD. YOU CAN NEVER OUT GIVE HIM, no matter how much you give. REMEMBER HE GAVE ALL HE HAD!

Giving is not hard but people just make it hard for themselves. Humans are becoming greedy and selfish. Thus giving is becoming an issue of settling accounts and balances. If we keep giving without asking in return we’ll be doing the noblest deed for ourselves... However, keep giving and blessing others, don’t worry somewhere/somehow you bet, one day God will open the windows of Heaven and pour out a blessing which will be a mind–boggling blessing that will bounce back to you!

GOD IS A GIVING GOD!

John.3:16

“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.

Mother Teresa said: if you are kind, people will accuse you of selfish motives; be kind anyway! The good you do today most people will forget; do good anyway, You may give the world the best it may never be enough: give your best anyway! You know what? At the end of the day it’s between you and God, it’s not about the people out there.

James 2:15-18

Faith by itself if it’s not accompanied by action is dead. But someone will say you have faith I have deeds. Show me your faith without deeds and I will show you my faith by what I do.

Note: Rev Dr Jai Kumar is an ordained & licensed minister of Covenant Ministries International N.J. USA. He is also the representative of Faith International Bible School for Malaysia & Singapore. He is the founder and senior pastor of Full Gospel Outreach Ministry KL, a member of ECCM, Spiritual Adviser & overseer of Full Gospel Christian Church KL. Co-founder and adviser of Kingdom Christian Fellowship, Subang Jaya, he is also the author of a book entitled, ‘God’s Time Clock.’