Memorial Day

This weekend we celebrate Memorial Day. Memorial means that we are supposed to remember something.

We remember the soldiers who fought and died so that we can live in a free country. Many of them sacrificed their lives so that we could gather together and worship Christ without being afraid of being punished.

In Deuteronomy 4:9, we read

 “Only be careful for yourself and watch over your soul diligently, so that you do not forget the things which your eyes have seen and they do not depart from your heart all the days of your life; but make them known to your sons and your grandsons.” (NASB)

Moses is teaching the people in the wilderness. In the name of God he is creating a community which will become a nation. He gives them laws that embody the virtues of justice. They will have to fight to claim their homeland and to defend it. They will face many challenges to their commitment to God and justice.

Moses warns them, “But take care and watch yourselves closely, so as neither to forget the things that your eyes have seen nor let them slip from your minds all the days of your life; make them known to your children and your children’s children.”

On our national holidays we are reminded of the values and principles that our founders taught us, and we are called to remember and to pass them along. We renew our commitment to liberty and justice for all.

We give thanks for those who have risked their lives and lost their lives defending those principles. We remember them and thank them for their honor and courage.

On this day we remember the men and women who died for our freedom. But we also remember Jesus Christ who died so that we could have freedom from our sins.

A Prayer for Memorial Day

O Lord God of all, we remember before you with grateful hearts the men and women of our country who paid with their lives for the liberties we now enjoy. Grant that we may not rest until all the people of this land share the benefits of true freedom through Christ our Lord. Amen. 

Politics and the Christian

 Politics and the Christian

When you do a search on the word politics or political in the Bible (ESV) you get zero matches. The Bible doesn’t use those words, but the Bible does, however, have some things to say about government and a Christian’s behavior.

There are many verses on government and the life of a believer, but the passage that keeps jumping out at me is Romans 13:1-7 (ESV).

Verse 1 “Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God.”

Isn’t that powerful? God has instituted the governments that exist and we are to obey them (provided, of course, that the government is not issuing orders that are in direct violation of God’s Word).

Think about it, God is telling us (through Paul, the inspired writer of Romans) that we are to obey and respect (verse 7) every position of authority in our lives. This involves the government over its citizens, the Church over its members, parents over their children, and even bosses over their workers.

Governments are here to reward or promote good and restrain and discipline evil. The question is: what is good and what is evil. Christians should be able to answer that with ease.

God expects us to speak out against the evils of society, but we need to do it in a godly and law abiding manner. Two great examples of this life are Daniel and Paul.

As Christians, we are to proclaim the Gospel to the world. We are given that commission in Matthew. Many Christians are politically active and there if nothing wrong with that in itself. The problem arises when a Christian is more concerned with politics than with the Gospel.

We know there are problems with our government and our leaders. They are not perfect. However, we are to hate the sin, not the sinner. Too often, Christians turn people away from the Gospel rather than turn them to it.

Instead of focusing our time and attention on changing or influencing laws, let’s spend our time on changing lives with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We need to remember to consistently pray for our leaders so that they may have the will of God revealed in their life. Does your life show the transforming power of the Gospel?

Lifting Our Hands in Surrender to God - Exodus 17: 8-15

Lifting Our Hands in Surrender to God - Exodus 17: 8-15

Opening Prayer

Lord, we thank you for the opportunity to gather here this afternoon and learn about how you want us to live. We thank you for the many blessings that you have placed into our lives. May we honor you. AMEN.

Intro

How many of you like Math class? Who is the teacher? Is she nice?

My 5th grade Math teacher was Mr. Duke and he was mean. Or at least I thought that he was at the time. When you got in trouble in his class he gave you two choices, you could get benched for 5 minutes at recess or you could take the book challenge.

Getting benched meant you had to spend so many minutes sitting on the bench instead of playing during recess time.

The book challenge is where you had to hold your arms out for a certain length of time with books stacked on them. If you dropped the books then you got double the benched time for recess.

So it was a risk you had to be willing to take.

Now, you are probably wondering what holding some books in the air has to do with chapel. Any ideas?


Intro to Exodus 17: 8-15

Our bible passage today is about Moses and the Amalekites.

What do we know about Moses so far, that is up to Exodus 17. We know about his birth, he was placed in a basket and hidden in the reeds by the water. Pharaoh’s daughter finds the baby Moses and that is how he ends up growing up in the royal household. But Moses saw an Egyptian beating a Hebrew man so Moses killed the Egyptian and fled to Midian where he married his wife Zipporah and started his family.

While Moses is tending the flock he sees a bush that doesn’t burn up and he hears God call him to free the Israelites from Egypt. This is where God uses Moses’ staff as a sign by turning it into a snake.

Moses heads back to Egypt and meets up with his older brother Aaron. Moses goes to Pharaoh and tells Pharaoh to let his people go. Pharaoh of course refuses and God brings about all of those ten plagues on the Egyptians (blood, frogs, gnats, flies, livestock, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, death of the first borns).

This is where the passover and festival of unleavened bread were instituted. Then Moses led his people out of Egypt and parted the Red Sea so they could escape safely. God provides food and water for the Israelites. Moses strikes the rock and water comes out of it.

Let’s get into the bible here and read Exodus 17:8-15.


Exodus 17:8-15 New International Version

The Amalekites Defeated

8 The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites at Rephidim. 9 Moses said to Joshua, “Choose some of our men and go out to fight the Amalekites. Tomorrow I will stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in my hands.”

10 So Joshua fought the Amalekites as Moses had ordered, and Moses, Aaron and Hur went to the top of the hill. 11 As long as Moses held up his hands, the Israelites were winning, but whenever he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. 12 When Moses’ hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under him and he sat on it. Aaron and Hur held his hands up—one on one side, one on the other—so that his hands remained steady till sunset. 13 So Joshua overcame the Amalekite army with the sword.

14 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the name of Amalek from under heaven.”

15 Moses built an altar and called it The Lord is my Banner.



Story Summary

This story comes as Moses and the Israelites are in the desert. They have been unhappy with their situation. That sounds like us sometimes, doesn’t it. Maybe we grumble about our situation, much like the Israelites. But God has provided manna and quail for food and water from the rock and God provides for us today as well.

The staff that Moses is carrying is the staff that God turned into a snake and God said to “take this wooden staff in your hand. You will be able to do miraculous signs with it.”

The Amalekites came and attacked the Israelites. Amalek was the grandson of Esau, Jacob's twin brother. The Amalekites were semi-nomadic people meaning they moved around when they felt like it and were known as warriors, but not noble warriors. They never fought a fair fight.

Moses called on Joshua to choose some men to go fight. This, by the way, is the first time we see Joshua in the Bible. Moses said he would stand on top of the hill with the staff of God in his hands.

As long as Moses held up his hands, holding the staff of God, the Israelites were winning. When he lowered his hands, the Amalekites were winning. When his hands grew tired, they took a stone and put it under Moses to sit on. Aaron and Hur held his hands up.

Joshua and the Israelites overtook the Amalekites.

This is actually a fairly short story. It is easy to overlook the significance of what this story reveals to us. I believe that the Word of God has only one meaning, but many applications. Moses stood in complete surrender to the Lord. His upheld hands stood as an appeal to God for help. Without his surrender, the Israelites would not have won against the Amalekites.



Questions

Did you ever wonder why some people hold their arms in the air when singing to God? Why do you think they do that? (It is a way to show you are surrendering to God.)

Have you ever helped someone do something very important? Maybe it was as simple as holding a flashlight while they worked. Holding a flashlight for someone is not a very exciting job. In fact it is rather boring, but it is very important. Without light the person working won’t be able to see what they are doing.

Moses was a strong leader and a man of faith. In fact we read about Moses as an example of faith in Hebrews 11:24-28.

24 By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be known as the son of Pharaoh’s daughter. 25 He chose to be mistreated along with the people of God rather than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. 26 He regarded disgrace for the sake of Christ as of greater value than the treasures of Egypt, because he was looking ahead to his reward. 27 By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the king’s anger; he persevered because he saw him who is invisible. 28 By faith he kept the Passover and the application of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel.

But as we saw in our story he needed help. He got tired. Aaron and Hur helped Moses hold up his hands. Aaron, the high priest, was Moses' older brother and Hur, probably a nobleman, was a friend. Because of that help, the Israelites won an important battle.

It is important for us to remember that we all need help sometimes. We can get that help from our family and our friends.



New Testament Examples

Who can think of some examples of friendship in the New Testament.

Jesus - Peter, James, and John


Jesus - Mary, Martha and Lazarus

Jesus had a close friendship with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus to a point where they spoke plainly to him, and he resurrected Lazarus from the dead. True friends are able to speak their minds honestly to one another, whether right or wrong. Meanwhile, friends do what they can to tell each other the truth and help one another.


Paul, Priscilla, and Aquila

Friends introduce friends to other friends. In this case, Paul is introducing friends to one another and asking that his greetings be sent to those close to him.



Paul, Timothy, and Epaphroditus

Paul talks about the loyalty of friends and the willingness of those close to us to look out for one another. In this case, Timothy and Epaphroditus are the types of friends that take care of those close to them.


Comprehension Questions

Does anyone have any questions about the story?


Who led the fight against the Amalekites? (Joshua)
Who were the Amalekites descendants of? (Esau)
What did Moses do during the fight? (hold his hands up, holding the staff of God)
What do you remember about Moses' staff from a previous story? (God turned Moses' staff into a snake to prove that he sent Moses - see Exodus 4)
What happened when Moses lowered his hands? (Amalekites were winning)
Who supported Moses' hands when he got tired? (Aaron and Hur)
What did Moses do after they defeated the Amalekites? (built an altar to God)


Closing

Moses had to completely surrender himself to God’s plan for the battle. We too need to surrender ourselves to God.

Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not depend on your own understanding. Proverbs 3:5


Prayer

Lord, we thank you for giving us an example of a faithful servant in Moses. We know he wasn’t perfect as none of us are, but help us to surrender our lives to you as he did. We thank you for our friends and family who are there to help us when we are tired and weak. But most of all, we thank you for your perfect son, Jesus Christ, who paid the price for our sins. It is in His name that we pray and give thanks. AMEN.

The End

“The End” - Mark 13:1-13 - Audio - Video

Last week, Pastor Bill talked about Salvation from Hebrews. He said it means to be redeemed, to be delivered from the consequences of our sin through faith in Jesus Christ.

To continue on that subject today there is a past, present, and future aspect to our Salvation. The past happened when Jesus Christ died on the cross and paid the penalty for our sin. The present occurs now, we are no longer under the power of sin. We have an advocate to strengthen us through our trials and temptations. And finally, the future. One day we will be removed from the presence of sin when we are in our eternal home.

Today’s Scripture from the book of Mark continues to look at the future and is directed to the disciples. This is a passage that's not easy to fully understand or interpret. Such passages have been the basis for a lot of books, sermons, and teachings on the end times. We need to approach them with caution, not making them say things we want them to say and mean. Of course, this is always true with the Bible, or should be for us.

Jesus and his disciples are leaving the temple or passing by it at least. Someone comments to Jesus about the beauty of the temple. Built by Herod the Great, it was magnificent. It had marble pillars some forty feet tall. It had elaborate stone work, engraved by the most skilled stone cutters and craftsmen. Gold all around it. In the entrance to the Temple was carved an intricate cluster of grapes, symbolizing Israel as the people of God. They were awe-struck by it, but not Jesus. He had already wept over the city (see Luke 19:41-44).

He somberly says, "The days are coming when this temple will not be left standing, not one stone on top of another." We know that day did come in AD 70 when Rome destroyed the temple and most of Jerusalem.

Jesus saw where the misplaced religious zeal and nationalism would lead his people. Even their views of the Messiah were greatly shaped by such concerns, for they wanted a military messiah, one to overthrow the Romans and set up Israel as the great kingdom it had been under David - and greater than that!

A magnificent temple, filled each day with many people and impressive rituals would not save them. The One who could save them was in their midst but only to be himself a temple they would seek to destroy. The irony here is that you may recall that one of the chief charges brought against Jesus when he was brought to trial is that he predicted the
destruction of the temple, taking it to mean by some that he and his followers would do it.

The disciples, always ready to ask the wrong questions at the wrong times, want to know more about all of this, especially when it will happen (vs 3-4).

Jesus begins by warning them that many will try to lead them astray when they ask and seek answers to such questions. Teachers and false messiahs will come in his name (claiming to be sent by him to try to get their support and following) claiming that they have superior knowledge of the end times, even to the point of saying that it is near
or here's a sign that surely means it is near. Jesus simply and bluntly says, "Do not go after them." In other words, don't listen to them. They don't know what they're talking about.

So Jesus warns about those persons who claim to know far more than they possibly can about such things. Uncertain times cause some people to look for messiahs, for persons to reassure them, to lead them. But then he goes on to say that there are some things that must happen before that time comes. It will not come right after the fall of the temple that he has just predicted. Neither will it come when they are hearing about wars and rumors of wars. They are not to let such idle talk and speculations terrify them. The end is still not yet (vs 7).

Jesus says before the end there would be great conflicts between nations (vs 8) and would even influence the natural world. But still this was not the end.

He warns them that far from being taken up to Heaven in the rapture, they will suffer. They will be arrested, persecuted, and tried (just like what was about to happen to him). Still this was not the end. Such times, Jesus says, you are not to seek to be delivered from but see as opportunities to speak on behalf of God's kingdom and will (recall how Jesus used his own trial to do that).

He seeks to reassure them that when those days come God will be with them, God will give them the courage and the words they need to make a good defense and witness. (Just recall some of the stories in Acts about how the disciples did just this when brought before the authorities, who were often astounded that these were just unlearned
individuals and how bold they were).

Jesus warns them that they would be hated because of their faith, because they go and live by his name. But in the end they were in God's hands and the authorities, as powerful as they were, could not finally harm even one hair on their heads (as elsewhere Jesus had assured them that God had numbered every hair on their head - see Luke 12:7). They
could kill the body, as they would with Jesus, but that was not the end of him, was it? They tumbled his temple but in three days God raised it up!

Note how Jesus ends: "By standing firm you will gain life." Continue to work, to serve, to be faithful. Do not become distracted by those who would mislead you, even coming to you in my name. Keep focused on the work at hand.

The FUTURE is a major theme in our scripture today and the emphasis is on faithfulness in the midst of present troubles, not letting speculations about the future or the troubles of the present distract from the responsibilities of the present.

This still applies to us today. So often we get caught up in the minor troubles and annoyances in our lives, that we forget why we are here, which is to simply glorify God with all that we say and do. We have God’s Word, we know what the future holds. We simply need to continue in faithfulness.

Just talking about the future or prophesying the future is not living our lives out in faith. Trusting in a God who holds the future in his hands is how we live by faith. Jesus told us to BE READY. Jesus wants us to live out our faith.

Faith does not believe that God will make our lives comfortable and affluent. Faith knows that whatever situations we face God will be with us through those situations. Faith is not worrying about the future. Faith is believing and trusting God’s plan and carrying out His will for your life.
So when our circumstances shift from comfort to discomfort; when our world moves from certainty to uncertainty; and when perhaps even friends and family turn against us, these are not reasons to reject God or to cease to believe in him. They are the opposite. They are times to remind ourselves that Jesus predicted these events. They are times to stand firm.

Another theme running through the whole chapter is that of being alert and watchful. Verse 5 “watch out”, verses 9 and 23, “be on your guard”, verse 33, “be on guard, be alert”, and verses 35 and 37, “keep watch”.

Will Jesus return? Is He coming back? He said he will! He is coming back. Before that day, he’s told us what to expect. Jesus calls us to be alert, and not to worry even if circumstances are awful.
We need Jesus to stay on the right path and to live a full life! Let me give you an example.

Many years ago, the actor Charlton Heston had to learn how to drive a chariot with four horses for his part in the movie Ben Hur. He explained to an interviewer that after many weeks of chariot lessons he told the director, “I think I can drive the chariot all right but I’m not at all sure I can actually win the race.” The director, responded,” You just stay in the race and I’ll make sure you win.”

Today, Jesus asks us to stay in the race of life no matter what happens to us. And Jesus Christ promises us that as long as we are with Him …we will win the race of life. So the challenge for us this week is simply this. The disciples learned to live their faith one day at a time. Let us follow their example and the example of countless Christians who have gone before us—trusting, loving, serving—never knowing if this is our last day or not, but being assure that no matter what God is with us.

Applying what we’ve learned:

1. God has a glorious Kingdom waiting for us. He will be back to take us to the place he has prepared and to judge those whom have not accepted His gift of salvation. If you haven’t accepted Christ as Lord and Savior of your life, do it today. Don’t wait.

2. Whatever our current situation is, we are to remember why we are here. We are to glorify God. We are to go into all the world and spread the Gospel message. The best tool for spreading the Gospel is your life. Does it honor and Glorify God? Can people tell you are a Christian by the way you talk and act?

3. Remember, no matter how bad things get for us, and we know persecution will come to Christians before Christ returns, we are not to give up hope. Christ died for our sins and will be back for us.

4. Keep on living the spirit-filled life. We cannot simply sit around and wait for the rapture. We were put here to do a job, so lets do it to honor and glorify God.

Closing Prayer
Merciful God, we come before you this day as those who are often afraid to confess all the many ways in which we have disappointed and betrayed You. You have given us continual opportunities to serve and love others, but we have withdrawn into lives of selfishness and greed. We have turned our backs on others in need. We have denied the gifts you have given us. Your voice calls to us to come home, to come to you unafraid, to receive forgiveness and healing. Open our hearts this day to receive these magnificent blessings. Help us understand the many ways in which you love us, and help us share that love with all those whom we meet. For we ask this in the name of Jesus Christ. AMEN.

Merry Christmas or Happy Holiday’s?

Merry Christmas or Happy Holiday’s?

With “Black Friday” a few days away, many people are preparing for Christmas. Some will wish you a Merry Christmas, others simply say Happy Holiday’s.

So as not to offend anyone, some companies do not allow their employees to wish people a Merry Christmas, but are allowed to say Happy Holiday’s. Often times, this offends the Christian’s that want to keep Christ in Christmas.

But what does it really mean when you say Merry Christmas or Happy Holiday’s?

Literally Christmas means Christ’s Mass. Merry comes from the word Murg which means brief or short. Merry as defined today means joyful or cheerful. So have a cheerful Christ’s Mass.

How about Happy Holiday’s?

Happy comes from the word Hap, which means, by chance, fortune, or good luck. Holiday literally means Holy Day.

So whether you say Merry Christmas or Happy Holiday doesn’t really matter. Both have religious significance.

Thanksgiving is a Holy Day where we should give thanks to God for the things He has given us, is doing for us, and will do for us.

Christmas is a Holy Day where we should give thanks to God for the salvation He has given to us through His Son Jesus Christ.

New Years is a Holy Day where we should give thanks to God for another year of life and ask Him for continued blessings and His presence in our lives for the new year.

So the next time someone says Happy Holiday’s to you, rather than saying Merry Christmas, simply say, “Thank You, and I hope you too have happy holy day’s ahead as well.”

Forgiveness

Click here for the audio message of Philemon 17-20

Forgiveness

Philemon was a prominent member of the Colossian church. The church met in his house, so he was probably wealthy. This letter was for him, his family and the church. Paul writes about forgiveness even though the word is never actually used.

So what is the story here. Well, we don’t know all of the details for sure, but we can piece some things together. First, we know that Philemon received Christ through Paul’s ministry. We know that Philemon was wealthy enough to have the church meet in his house, meaning it was probably a larger house than most people had.

We also know that Philemon had a least one slave named Onesimus. Onesimus was apparently not a believer because he stole from Philemon, probably money, and ran away to hide out in Rome.

At the time, there were many slaves in the Roman Empire. Some estimates claim maybe about 1/3 of the population were slaves. Slaves in Rome were an accepted part of daily life. There were so many slaves around that nobody really knew who the slaves were because they all blended into society.

These slaves could be doctors, musicians, teachers, artists, librarians, accountants or pretty much any job they could do. Slaves were not considered people, but were tools of their masters. They could still be bought, sold, or whatever. Of course, their masters had control and power over the slaves and no doubt there were severe abuses that took place.

However, the Romans began to realize that a contented slave worked harder and was more productive, so many masters treated their slaves decently. When accused of a crime, slaves were even given the right to a trial. Being a slave in Rome could in some ways be better than a freeman living in poverty.

Anyways, back to our story of Onesimus, Philemon’s slave. He fled to Rome to blend in with the population. While in Rome though, he somehow ran in to Paul and also received Christ into his life.

Paul grew to love Onesimus and wanted to keep him for use in the ministry, but he knew the right thing to do was to send the slave back to his master. Remember, James 4:17 says, “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.” That’s a tough portion of scripture for me and it was tough for Paul too.

Even though Onesimus was of great use to Paul in his ministry he knew what he had to do. By stealing and running away from Philemon, Onesimus had broken the law and defrauded his master. Paul knew those issues had to be dealt with, so he sent Onesimus back to Philemon with this letter.

As a side note, the New Testament never directly attacks slavery. Rather it simply recognizes it as a fact of life. Christianity does, however, undermine the evils that can occur with slavery by changing the hearts of both slave and master.

Had Paul or any other writer of the New Testament attacked slavery then the Gospel message, the Good News of Jesus Christ, the idea of repentance and a changed heart, would be hopelessly lost and confused with a message of social reform. Unfortunately, that is what many people are trying to do today.

So Paul writes this letter to his friend, his brother in Christ, Philemon, to accept his slave back and to treat him as a brother in Christ. Paul starts by appealing to the strong love and faith that Philemon has.

Paul knows that Philemon loves God, loves others, and loves himself. So if that is true, then here is your slave back. Yes, he did wrong and he realizes it but he has come to Christ and repented of his sin. Please accept him back not just as your slave, but as your brother.

Paul also says, hey you know I am an authority figure over you, I can simply command you to take back your slave, but I know I don’t need to do that because of who you are. I know that you too will do the right thing.

Paul also realizes that there was a physical or probably a monetary loss for Philemon, so Paul says send me the bill. I will repay it. Of course, Paul throws that little reminder in there that Philemon literally owes Paul his life because Paul is the one who brought him to Christ.

That is a debt that none of us can repay. The person that brings us to Christ should have a special place in our lives and Paul knew that. How can we repay that? We cannot. All we can do is to do the same for someone else and introduce them to Christ.

How this story ends we don’t know. But I like to believe that Onesimus returned to Philemon and was welcomed with open arms, not as a slave, but as a brother in Christ. Someone who received the full forgiveness of their sins.

Today we live in a world where people are so focused on themselves and are not concerned with others or forgiveness. For a Christian, unwillingness to forgive is unthinkable. We are to forgive others as God has forgiven us. Failure to forgive others has its consequences.

It keeps that pain alive. It robs us of the joy of living, the joy of our salvation. It also produces bitterness. The longer you dwell on that pain the more bitter you become. Bitterness is sin and it can infect your entire body. Your speech becomes negative, your thoughts are turned toward revenge and you shut out any type of kindness or love toward others.

When this happens, of course, the door is open for Satan to jump into the situation. Once this happens, look out. Our fellowship with other Christians and even God will be hindered.

Forgiveness restores the believer to the place of maximum blessing from God. It restores the purity and joy of fellowship with God. Forgiveness is an important theme throughout Scripture, but here we see it in action in the lives of a slave and his master. What a wonderful lesson for us all to learn.

Is this a lesson that you need to implement in your life. If so, why not today? Is there someone that you need to forgive? Do you still hold a grudge about something?

Let the pain go. Bring back the joy of living and the joy of your salvation. Forgive them as God in Christ has forgiven you.

Closing Prayer:

Lord, we thank you for this lesson in your word this morning. We thank you for the forgiveness that you have given to us. Help us to forgive others so that the pain will be healed and our bitterness is replaced with love, joy, and peace.

We ask this in your son’s name, AMEN

Happiness

Happiness - Mark 12:28-34

All of us have some needs in life beyond the basics of food, clothing, shelter, and security. We see this in our Scripture this morning. All people need some type of self-worth, intimacy with others, and of course intimacy with God. All other laws of Scripture really hang on this great commandment.

In other words, if we are loving God and loving others, everything else falls into place and life works out for us and not only for us but for the glory of God. If we obey the great commandment, then we are really obeying all other commandments. Love God, love your neighbor, and love yourself.

So how do we do this? How does this give us a happy, fulfilling, meaningful life. This morning I would like to look at several key ideas that should make your life better.

First of all, commit your daily life to be a walk with Christ. Use every day and every opportunity that comes your way to glorifying God. Start each day with a prayer of thanksgiving. Ask God for the opportunity to bring Him glory today. Pray for self-control and the strength to get through whatever situations arise throughout the day.

Spend time each day not only talking to God, but reading and meditating on His Word to us and of course apply what you have discovered.

It seems as though our brains are programmed from childhood to be selfish and sinful. It seems as though we automatically lean toward doing the wrong thing. The more we do the wrong thing, the easier it is to deny that we are doing anything wrong in the first place.

The prophet Jeremiah saw this. He said, (Jeremiah 17:9) “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked who can know it.” We need to reprogram our brains with God’s Word, with godly things. If we are going to live a happy, content life then we need to align our thoughts with God’s Word, not the ways of the world.

We need to get rid of the garbage that is bouncing around in our brain and replace it with the faithful Word of God. Some of that garbage comes from others. Ephesians 4:26 tells us to get rid of our grudges daily. We all get angry sometimes, but we need to deal with our anger in appropriate ways.

I am convinced that another key of a happy, meaningful life is taking time and building your relationship with your spouse and children. Sure other close relatives, like parents, siblings, and so on have a high priority, but your spouse and children should always be at the top.

Sometimes conflicts arise when we are with family. It is important to address the issue and do whatever you can to resolve the conflict. Don’t ever seek vengeance on family members. Instead, create an atmosphere of healing love and leave the rest up to God.

No doubt family relationships are important, but so are friends. Fellowshipping with other Christians is important to your overall well being and spiritual growth. In Proverbs 13:20 Solomon writes, “He who walks with wise men will be wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.”

You can’t usually choose your family, but you can select your friends. Choose wisely. You will find that your friends will have an influence on you. If they are fellow Christians progressing on their spiritual journey then you feel that effect on your life as well. If on the other hand, they are Christians in name only, then you too will feel that effect on your life.

Now, that isn’t to say that we shouldn’t be friends with non-Christians because we should. In fact, our life should be a witness to those nonbelievers. We just need to make sure their worldliness doesn’t rub off on us. In fact, we need to rub off our Christ-likeness on them.

The idea is to obviously love others and be friendly and peaceful with all, but try to cultivate those deep relationships with other Christians that are also maturing in their faith. We all need friends. You know how you get friends? You go out and be friendly! We have to earn our friends.

Today, I think it is tough to have time for family and friends because our lives are so cluttered with stuff. They’re filled with activities and other things that just suck up our time. I find this especially true with families. It is like Mom and Dad are simply chauffeurs for their children taking them from one event to another, but never actually spending any time with them.

Many people’s lives seem to be very haphazard today. I think we all need a daily routine. One that includes a nice balance of the topics I have mentioned here this morning, but one that is also personally satisfying to you. It is the idea of being convinced that this is what God wants for your life and you find joy, peace, and satisfaction serving your Lord through your daily routine activities of life.

Your daily routine should include time for God, time for yourself, time for your family, time for your job, and of course time to glorify God through your life.

Finally, you want to be happy, you want to feel like you have a meaningful life, then each week do something nice for someone. It doesn’t matter who and it doesn’t matter what, just do something nice.

It can be a physical activity like raking leaves or cutting the grass. It can simply be a visit to someone who doesn’t get out much or maybe a phone call or card. It doesn’t have to be expensive or time consuming, just do something nice for someone.

Ask God at the beginning of the week to show you someone who needs something this week and see it through. Do something nice for someone else. Not to get a pat on the back, but because this is what God wants from us.

I truly believe that if you love God, love others, and love yourself you will find doing all of the ideas mentioned here to give you that happy, meaningful, fulfilled life. Of course, for anyone who truly knows Jesus Christ and receives Him as Lord and Savior of their lives will indeed have a happy, eternal life with Him.

Closing prayer

Lord, we thank you for our time in your word this morning. Help us this week to focus our life on living out your will. Help us to love you, to love others, and to love ourselves. Make your desires our desires so that you will be honored and glorified through us.

AMEN