Good afternoon men. As we get set to close out this year and this decade, I know many people will have New Years resolutions they will be after this coming year. If we keep our focus on God and set him as a priority, we will have met the primary resolution that matters. The rest will fall into place.
Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you”–this is the LORD’s declaration–“plans for your well-being, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”
This Sunday I heard a sermon from one of our Pastors that the Lord really wanted me to hear. And I believe the Lord wants to encourage all of you with it as well. Normally I don’t like posting something this long, but I believe taking only the highlights or anything out of it would not do it justice in light of its full context. So please prayerfully read through this when you have 5-10 minutes.
From Pastor Danny Burns at The Avenue:
This Christmas, like virtually every Christmas past was one filled with gifts, food, traveling, photos, memories. But there was one thing that was missing for us this year. And as I was reflecting I realized that I literally miss this thing each and every year. No matter how prepared I think I am – it’s never enough.
The thing I’m always missing…batteries! It never fails. Double A, Triple A – they are never to be found. I buy some specifically for Christmas and days later I am left with an empty package. So, what do we do – we steal batteries from other toys, from remotes. This entire black market of new and used batteries pops up. There’s side deals, exchanges made. And if you get something that needs an exotic battery – a C or D battery – forget about it – it’s like Chik-Fil-A on Sundays. For all our young married or newly married, start buying batteries now – because when the time comes you will need all of them.
This year, our youngest son got a gift from his Aunt. It was a Ghostbusters remote controlled car. He was so excited. What was interesting is that even though I told him it needed batteries and we’d have to find some batteries, and he may have to make some back alley deal with his brother or sister, he put the car on the ground and he began driving it around the carpet with his hand. He was making sound effects and busting ghosts left and right.
Now this gift works without batteries. It functions pretty well. My son could actually use it immediately with a little bit of imagination. But the creators of the car built it to function to its greatest capability – with batteries inside. In order to be everything it’s supposed to be. In order to do everything it’s designed to do – it needs power.
And when it gets power! Oh man! He drives that thing with no hands – just the remote. It has lights and it tears around the house. It’s operating as it was designed to, at its fullest capability because it has power.
And as we look at this past year and the year ahead – I believe we all have a tendency to live the Christian life without power. I believe we have a habit of living each and every day without batteries plugged in. My concern is that we may be living life not nearly as effective as we could or should as followers of Jesus Christ. And if you look around – the stakes are far too high for us not to be all that God desires.
Before we go further, I think it’s important that we are reminded as followers of Christ – the power that has been given to us.
Look at Ephesians 3:16 -21: 16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.
16 I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.
17b And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever! Amen.
This is the power that is available to you!
God is able to do incredible things through you because Jesus gave you the power inside of you.
If the Holy Spirit is the battery that delivers power, the way we keep our power is if we remain daily desperate for Jesus.
Listen, as long as we are in this world, this will be a daily battle. We believe that because Jesus died on the cross and rose again, those who believe in Him, who follow Him, who turn their life over to Him, have won the war. We get to enjoy a relationship with God the Father, Son and Spirit today and we will get to enjoy eternity forever. So while we’ve won the war, there is a daily battle. And that battle is between your flesh and the Spirit.
So how do we hold fast to the power given to us, how do we remain daily desperate for Jesus?
Desperation requires a daily awareness.
Turn to Psalm 63:1-8 – were going to take a quick look at what King David did to remind himself of his desperation. This is his prayer as he’s fleeing Jerusalem because his son Absolom is on his way to take the throne.
Psalm 63:1-8 (ESV) — 1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water. 2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. 3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. 4 So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. 5 My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, 6 when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; 7 for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. 8 My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.
We see a few things here…
1 O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.
2 So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory.
3 Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. 4 So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. 5 My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, 6 when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; 7 for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. 8 My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.
For David, he clings to God – he knows who God is, he knows what God has done and there is absolute desperation. We see this throughout David’s life – as he pens psalm after psalm – his reliance on God was paramount.
If we look into the New Testament, even Jesus himself had a deep reliance on God. As the Son of God, fully man and yet at the same time fully God – even He relied on the Father.
Look what Jesus specifically says after some people were accusing him of claiming to be God.
John 5:19 (ESV) — 19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.”
There are at least six times in Scripture where Jesus is in the heat of ministry, he is doing life and he withdraws from the crowds, he withdraws from those closest to him – in order to ensure he is relying on the Father.
The King of Israel and King Jesus were keenly aware that even they were powerless without the Spirit of God.
Remember when I said this is going to be a daily battle to remain aware. To operate in the spirit and not in the flesh? Here is why that is so challenging for us.
In this country, you and I don’t have to be desperate for anything. Everything is available to us in ways some people only dream of. Want to know something? Ask Google. Want to know what to do? Ask a hundred of your “friends” online? Need something – order it on your phone in seconds and get it in hours or days. Need to fix a problem, watch a Youtube video. In our culture – it’s the American way – go get it. In fact, go get it before someone else does. Take care of yourself. Do what you want to do when you want to do it.
If we’re honest, we aren’t daily desperate for the Lord. We run our day. We run our jobs. We run our homes. And we rarely ask – am I desperate for the Lord today, in this moment? We instead reserve desperation for the Lord to moments when life gets hard. When things in our life are too overwhelming or too difficult – then we’re like – Lord, little help down here.
And yet – as a believer in Jesus Christ – we have access to incredible power through the work of the Holy Spirit. Jesus died to give you power – you have the batteries, you just have to turn them on.
The Bible is a mirror for the human condition. It is one of the primary ways we as Christians can become aware of our daily need. I would argue that it would be very difficult to remain desperate for Jesus, to win the battle between spirit and flesh if you aren’t looking in the mirror.
As we do that, we begin to release control of our lives and let the Spirit of God lead us in every moment, every decision, big or small, throughout each and every day. If we take Psalm 63 and we layer it over our lives in the context of a follower of Jesus, these should be some of the rhythms of our lives and the things in our heart and mind.
We must use God’s word as a daily reminder of our desperation for Jesus. And then we need to proclaim that desperation in our hearts, minds, words and yes even in song – you can sing in the car by yourself, ain’t no one hear that but Him.
Desperation requires a daily awareness.
Desperation requires less of you.
As a former collegiate athlete and red-blooded American – I want my list of things to go do. Give me the blueprint, the gameplan, the training regimine to maximize my spiritual power. And in the economy of God that is backwards.
Jesus says – “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.”
So desperation is actually about you releasing control. It’s about less of you. It’s about inviting the Holy Spirit into the situations in your life where you have always owned them. Where you have always ran them. Where you live without even thinking about it. Do you have some of those? Take a brief inventory of your daily life, where you’re just doing life and where it’s void of a desperate need for God to be present for the Holy Spirit to be leading you.
What would it look like for you to invite the Holy Spirit into those daily parts of your life you’ve never or rarely asked him into. What would happen if you asked Jesus to come and speak to you through the Spirit in those moments?
Listen, here is the crazy part – you can and probably are doing these things fairly well. Like a ghostbusters car without batteries – it’s okay. You are probably good at what you do. You’ve cracked the code – you’ve figured out how to run certain parts of your life that you don’t even think about them. Your job, your marriage, your friendships, your trips to the stores, your schoolwork, your social media posts.
But what would all that look like if you had the power of God coursing through your veins, granted to you by Jesus via the Holy Spirit? We’re talking about spiritual direction and guidance that is aligned with God in ways that transforms the Kingdom of God.
This world doesn’t need more of you, it needs less of you and more of Jesus.
What would it mean for your daily life if you were powered by the Holy Spirit? If your desperation caused you to lean in and open up. I would suggest that as your heart is softened to the leading and direction of the Holy Spirit moment-by-moment, it would change your job. It would transform your marriage. It would grow friendships, open your eyes to the world you move around in every day. It would change your schools and yes – bring some light to all the places we find ourselves. But ultimately – that’s not Jesus’ sole purpose. To make your life better.
Cumulatively – all together, the more we live in the power of the Spirit the more glory we give to God and the more the Kingdom of God expands in preparation for the return of King Jesus.The more people in our cities come into a transforming relationship with Jesus Christ.
Desperation requires a daily awareness.
Desperation requires less of you.
Our cities need desperate Christians.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed but the world is kinda a hot mess. I know every generation thinks that their generation is experiencing in some ways a worse world than the generation before them. But if you hold up where we are today culturally, globally, all the things that are unfolding around us, the challenges facing people in our own cities – sometimes it feels like things are on fire.
It’s easy to feel apathetic to all the noise. It’s easy to be silenced – we won’t want to rock the boat. We live in a cancel culture and we don’t want to get cancelled. If I hunker in and stay focused on my life and church on Sundays and sports for the kids and my job and keeping it together, I’ll be okay. Come back Jesus.
And all of that…is nonsense. It’s counter to the commands of Scripture, our call as Christians and the character and capability of God.
Our world, our country, our cities need Christians who are desperate for Jesus. Desperate for Jesus to intervene in their life every day. Desperate for the Holy Spirit to empower them in real, tangible, Godly ways. Not just for the real hard things but for everything. Christians who are aware of their daily desperation, who don’t try and perform for their God who has already saved them, but who invite Him into each and every moment.
What would this church look like if we were running with greater spiritual power? What would that do to our neighborhoods, our workplaces, our cities? How would the Kingdom of God be different if we awoke from our slumber and said, God I need you for the easy, for the valley, to the top of the mountain…I need you here and in every place inbetween?
I’ll leave you with this…
Colossians 1:16–20 (ESV) — 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.
For those of you who have already believed in Jesus, the many questions I’ve asked today are for you to consider, take to the Holy Spirit and experience transformation at the hands of Jesus. The hands that have already done the work on the cross. The hands that desire to help you experience a life of desperation and devotion. A life that he himself designed.
For those of you who may be familiar with some of the concepts but you know that you’ve been running without any batteries for a long time. Or maybe you’ve never experienced Jesus in a way that you would call powerful – a relationship with the living God is available to you today. The divine purposes for your life are bigger than your life apart from God. And you can experience a radical transformation now and forever if you believe and confess in Jesus.
My prayer is that the Holy Spirit would awaken us to the spaces in our lives where we aren’t that desperate for Jesus. That we would become daily aware of our desperation. That we would invite Jesus through the Holy Spirit to lead us in all those places. That we would remember that desperation requires less of us. And that we could boldly, move around our cities operating in Holy Spirit power, helping those who desperately need Jesus.
Pastors, today’s message will be your last of 2019. I pray that each of you make this one your best of the year.
This is my final message of this year, as well. I appreciate that you read these every day, but especially Saturday and Sunday. I hope it is as good for you as it is for me. I would encourage any of you to write one of the messages. It is a great way to increase your faith.
Final thought, at the conclusion of the Clemson vs Ohio State game Trevor Lawrence, quarterback for Clemson, was interviewed. Trevor was interviewed. Let’s recap his year … people have been incredibly critical of him and he has yet to lose a game as a starting quarterback.
In case you didn’t see the interview, he chose to be humble and quote scripture after their best win of the year. He didn’t passive aggressively knock his critics, he was a great example for us all.
Men, I hope you’ve had a great 2019 and now have a great 2020. Make it a great week in the trenches. Be exceptional at being you.
Love,
Yancey
Hebrews 13:16
16 And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
As we head into the new year, I want to share this thought with you. Each day, then each week, then each month, then each year is an opportunity.
We are fallen men in a fallen world, but we all have the opportunity to do good. Knowing we are not perfect, I would just say to do more good today than you did yesterday. I’m not saying 1,000% more each day, I’m saying that as long with doing good out there, we’d be surprised at how far a little good goes.
Make it a great day in the trenches. Be exceptional at being you. Please continue to travel safely if you’re headed different places.
Love,
Yancey
Good afternoon, men!
Matthew 18:20 says:
“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and have enjoyed time with family. We had to postpone family Christmas this year to today. I managed to come down with the flu for the first time in my adult life.
As we move forward this Holiday season, take time to be thankful for those we have and those we have lost. Gather in Jesus’ name and give Him the praise he deserves!
Have a blessed day!
M.I.T.T. ~ Runyan
Does not Scripture say that the Messiah will come from David’s descendants and from Bethlehem, the town where David lived?”
John 7:42 NIV
Jesus, was born in Bethlehem, He is the baby born to take the Government on His shoulders. The expectation of a Messiah was a mighty ruling king, with power over everything. But, instead God in human form came from a virgin, was adopted by a carpenter and came into this world born in a ‘stable’ in Bethelehm, the most humble of situations.
Eventually He would would be the sacrifice, for all of us, beaten, bruised, battered, lashed all by choice, in innocents, laying it down. The sacrificial Lamb, so that we could have forgiveness of sins and eternal life.
The word Bethelehem means “house of bread”. Jesus’ body broken and remembered. The bread of life, that sustains believers.
Hope everyone is having a blessed holiday! Continue to keep the reason for the season at the forefront!
With love, dlp
M.I.T.T.
Good morning men! I pray you are all ready for a wonderful Christmas with family and friends tomorrow. Remember it’s not what is under the tree but who is around the tree. Also, remember why we use an evergreen at Christmas. As seasons come and go in this world, certain flowers, plants and trees shed their leaves or die all together. The evergreen is the same all the time and is symbolic of Christ. He is our steady rock. He doesn’t change with the seasons. He is the same all the time. Have a blessed Christmas men.
Thank you Father that you loved us so much that you foretold all about what was to come and you yourself fulfilled it as only you could! You loved us so much that you came to earth in human form as a baby, your son, Emmanuel – God with us – Jesus Christ, to do what we could not do: to live a sin free, perfect life of obedience and willingly lay down your life to fulfill the required sacrifice to pay for our sins and restore our relationship with you by rising from the dead so we could experience and be with you now and for all eternity! Praise the Lord! Hallelujah! Glory be to God most high!
James 1:19
19 My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,
Pastors, you have a big week and we believe in you.
Men, we will have some time in close quarters with family coming up soon. It is possible that not all family gatherings will be fun and jovial. Be a man in the trenches if you find yourself in a situation that could lead to conflict.
Listen and be slow to speak and become angry. Be the example of patience and love. Most people simply wish to feel heard. They only act out when the hurt of not feeling heard takes hold.
Again, please be safe in your travels. Make it a great week in the trenches. Be exceptional at being you.
Love,
Yancey
 | dlpfeifer on King of Glory |
| dlpfeifer on Grateful heart |
 | Yancey Walker on An Example of Faith |
 | kevin christensen on An Example of Faith |
| dlpfeifer on An Example of Faith |
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