Remain in Christ to the End: Abiding in the Vine

Jim Bright, an organizational psychologist did a survey asking people to give answers on different questions related to change, and how they react to change. The results were fascinating.

“1. One in three people would avoid change if they could.

Would you normally avoid change if you could?

If you said yes, then you'd join the 34% of respondents who agreed or completely agreed with that sentiment.

2. Over 76.51% of people said they could be fearless in a situation if they need to be.

Would you be fearless if you needed to be? Have you seen others being fearless?

5. Almost 1 in 3 people say that if they do not see immediate results for their efforts they usually give up and do something else.

32.2% say they do not persist if they do not see immediate progress, a further 21.3% are ambivalent. Less than half of people indicate they would persist in the face of a lack of immediate progress.” -Jim Bright, Jan 30th 2015, Results from an Online Survey

How does change affect you? Would you be able to persist in changes even if you didn’t see much positive progress at first?

The results from the survey that Jim Bright did are hardly scientific, just answers given by people online who decided to take the test, but the results are still interesting.

Examining the life of Jesus, at the moments before Jesus would go to the cross, we see change on a massive level. So we’re examining how the disciples respond to change. And how Jesus attempts to prepare his disciples for the change.

Jesus and his disciples had gathered in a private room to celebrate the Passover meal together. And Jesus had given his disciples many instructions about Himself, the Holy Spirit, and the future.

But then at the end of chapter 14 of John’s gospel Jesus said, “Come let us go from this place.”

He gathered the disciples and left. And I tend to think he must’ve come to a wall with a vine growing in it, or perhaps he walked through a vineyard with his disciples in the night.

And then he said this, in John chapter 15 verses 1-4, “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”

The Lord knows that a big change is going to take place. And all he is doing in these chapters of John is getting his disciples ready for the change.

Notice it says in verse 3 that you are "already clean" because of the word Jesus spoke to them.

We as a church, as Christians, right now, at this moment in time, are clean, branches in the vine, and all in all stable in our faith.

The question is how do we continue that journey into the future? And Jesus gives us the answer in verse 4: "Remain in me," Jesus says, and he continues and says, “As I also remain in you.”

Jesus remains in us, therefore the command is "remain in Him. This is synergistic. Jesus remains in us after we have Him as savior. Most leave it there, and you get an incomplete theology. They skip where Jesus gives the command: "Remain in me." 

We cannot bear fruit apart from the vine, which is Jesus. So we must remain in the vine.

A branch generates fruit because it’s being fed by the vine it’s attached to. Could a branch ever generate fruit while it’s disconnected from the vine, sitting on the ground? No, it would certainly shrivel up and die.

First point today, you as a Christian, must, must, must remain in the vine, remain in Jesus Christ. And in all that, it must also mean remaining in the church, the body of Christ.

There are no lone wolf Christians. Stay together, stay connected, stay strong, fed by the vine, bearing fruit for Jesus.

Next, we get a warning, from John 15:5-8, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” –John 15:5-8

What happens to a Christian who does not remain in Christ? They drift off (Hebrews 2:1) They get complacent. They get caught in sins. They stop gathering with the saints. They stop praying and reading the word.

Such a branch that does not remain is thrown away and withers. Such branches are thrown into the fire and burned.

What does that mean exactly? It means that a Christian that falls away withers and fades away, they crumble.

It’s a very stark reminder of the need to remain in Christ. Abide, the word is. Which means, to remain.

It would make me so sad, if I were to visit in a few years, and I were to find you having forsaken the faith, at the bar, angry and miserable, broken, wishing you’d stuck with it. Don’t let that be you. Never leave the vine. Stick it out to the end. To the very last day, repeat it to yourself, “I’m a Christian to the very end.”

It didn’t take years of me being away for me to see church members go that route. I saw it over the last five years. They left the fellowship, for some reason, or another. Maybe it was a secret sin. Maybe they just got tired of the Christian life. And the enemy targeted them once they left. They were an easy target, all alone in the wilderness. And soon, sins took over their life again, and they found themselves deep into the world again, wishing they could get back, but they couldn’t.

A former church member called me once, and she said I wish I could get back, but I can't. Something inside her had changed. It’s like when an alcoholic in 12 step groups relapses. They may have had years of sobriety, but once you’ve relapsed again, for some reason it’s so hard to get back into the sobriety life. I experienced that myself. Similarly, when a Christian falls away, it can be so hard to get back, because something fundamental has shifted within.

Don’t let that be you. Persevere in the faith. Abide in the vine. Stay close to the shepherd. Keep gathering with the rest of the sheep. Don’t drift off.

And if you do, if you remain in Christ, it also says, if God’s word remains in us, ask whatever we wish, and it will be done for us.

Ask for God to heal someone. Ask for God to deliver someone from sin. Ask God to change our country. Ask God to save someone from addiction. And God answers our prayers.

Ultimately then, God the Father gets the glory, and our actions prove that we really are disciples of Jesus.

Next Jesus tells the disciples this in verses 9-14, “9 “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 10 If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command.”

Love each other. And the example is, look to how Jesus loved the disciples. He said love each other as I have loved you.

Our third point today is: Real love is the evidence that we are really Christians in the vine.

That’s a beautiful moment for someone, when they realize, something really is special about you. They watch your actions. They watch how you speak. What you do. And slowly but surely, they watch it all, and one day they sit back, and say to themselves, wow, they really are Christians. And they will often then think, Jesus must be real. I see it in their lives.

Conversely, when someone watches our lives, and they see that our actions don’t really match our words… They see us mistreat someone. They see us act selfishly. They see us ignore the needs of people around us. They see us cuss, or steal, or lie. And then that same person sits back and says, well, I guess they really aren’t special or different. They are just liars. And their faith is a sham. So they think to themselves, I guess there is no Jesus after all.

I’m sure we’ve all been on both sides of that one. I know theres been times I’ve failed to represent Christ correctly. And that’s sad. But there have been times as well, when someone noticed the love of Christ in me.

Small actions done with love can make a big difference. They may change someone story forever in fact.

Next Jesus says this in verses 15-17, “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you. This is my command: Love each other.”

Friends, you know the word of God. You’ve been taught the word of God. It’s running through your veins. The blood of Jesus is flowing through you.

You are not simply servants of God, though you are, you are more than that, you are friends of God.

Jesus has made known to us everything from the Father, and I as your overseer have tried to faithfully teach you the word. So you do know the word.

You are friends of God. And you must remember that God chose you. He chose you to be here, now, at this moment in time, part of The Salvation Army church. You belong here. This is your church.

God chose you. And he appointed you to bear fruit for Him. To walk in the good deeds he planned for you to do, before all time began.

Things may change. Services change. Groups change. But the fellowship of the saints continues.

Fourth point, Friend of God, you were called here. Always remember that. He may call you somewhere else in the future, but right now, you belong here, and he brought you here for a reason.

Next Jesus warns the disciples of coming persecution, “If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you also. If they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours also.” –John 15:18-20

Fifth point today, persecutions will come, and future victories will come. You will continue to spread the gospel throughout Shiawassee county. Many will hate you for it and attempt to persecute you for it.

Jesus was persecuted, so we should expect persecution as well.

We don’t know what the future will bring. I don’t know what will happen in the coming years, as this facility changes into a 360 life center.

I do know that God will remain with you if you continue to abide in Him, wherever he leads you.

You will face persecution. Wolves will come into the sheep-fold and attempt to destroy the sheep. But cling close to the Shepherd, and he will protect you. The enemy prowls around like a roaring lion, resist him standing firm in the faith, and he will flee from you.

At the same time, Jesus also says, if many obeyed Jesus teachings, which is true, many did, then many will also obey the teachings of God you bring to them.

So there is also hope for great victories in the future.

There are people in this community who desperately need you to bring the gospel to them, to tell them about what Jesus Christ did for you, so they can believe that Jesus can save them too.

You will see women get saved from addictions and brokenness, you will see men get saved from sorrows and sins. You will see events that will prosper. You will see ministries that help meet human needs. You will see yourself rise up, and carry the gospel to the lost.

The chapter concludes this way, ““They will treat you this way because of my name, for they do not know the one who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin; but now they have no excuse for their sin. Whoever hates me hates my Father as well. If I had not done among them the works no one else did, they would not be guilty of sin. As it is, they have seen, and yet they have hated both me and my Father. But this is to fulfill what is written in their Law: ‘They hated me without reason.’

“When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning.” –John 15:21-27

In conclusion today, we must always remember that we as Christians are led by the Holy Spirit, who lives inside of us.

As things change in this church, as things change in this community, in Michigan, in the world, as the world gets darker, as we get closer to the end times, more and more we must look to the Holy Spirit to lead us. The Holy Spirit will guide us in the right directions as we submit to His leadings. Men may lie to us, deceive us, try to lead us astray, governments may try to manipulate us, church movements may go astray, but we must steadfastly remain led by the Holy Spirit, empowered by the Holy Spirit, and engaged in the work the Holy Spirit gives us to do.

The Holy Spirit will testify to us about Jesus again and again, reminding us of all the things Jesus taught us. And therefore we must testify about Jesus to the world, because we know all about Jesus and His life. We’ve been taught by our leaders, and by ourselves, from the word, and so we must share it with others.

Let’s Review Our Main Points:
1. Remain with Christ – after salvation comes constant abiding throughout our lives

2. Branches that don’t remain wither and fade away – too many Christians allow sin or drifting to cause them to fall away

3. Real love is the evidence that we are Christians in the vine – our fruit proves that we are his disciples

4. Friend of God, You were called here – Jesus chose you to be here, and bear fruit as part of this community

5. Persecutions & victories will come – you will face persecution, you will also find new victories

And lastly, remember, the Holy Spirit will guide you, remind you of the words of Jesus, and empower you to carry the gospel to those who need it most.

Can you work against yourself? Is the final question I ask you. Remember the survey, and the results on change. Can you stop yourself from giving up? From wanting to quit? From overreacting in your sorrow?

Remember, all the disciples, aside from John, left Jesus and hid, Jesus’ top Lt. Peter denied his master three times. But Jesus helped them to come back together, and the sending of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost prepared the disciples for a mission to change the world forever.

When the transitions come, remember, abide in the vine, hold close to Jesus, and invite the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Christ, to keep you close, even in the pain and troubles that transitions bring. Pray to Him, and He will help you in those times, when big changes rock your world. You’ll find Jesus is the rock, and you’ll come through safely in the end.

How to Align Your Soul with the Spirit: Discerning God's Voice from your Inner Voice

I remember early on as a Christian I had a dream. I had listening to different ministries and churches and I was just learning the faith. I remember having a dream one night that I was at this church, big, with many people.

But it all felt dead, empty, and I left the building. Outside the building I saw this beautiful river down in this valley. And I felt drawn to the river. I saw in the river people swimming in the river. And I did the same and began swimming in the river. And it was joyous. And I found purpose in that river. A path to guide me.

I never knew what that dream meant until recently I was thinking about it as a I prepared this message. Most of the modern church is not really led by the Spirit. They are led by the soul. They do what they want to do, and call it Christian. But to be truly Christian is to be led by the Spirit, not by the soul of man. The church today must learn to swim the river of the leading of the Holy Spirit. Otherwise we will never know the power of God and the path of His will. 

Have you ever had an experience where you knew that God was telling you to do something? Go pray with that person. Send that person an encouraging message. Pray for this person right now. Go and visit that friend and help them.

But part of you resists the leading of God. And you ask yourself, “Did God really say that? Or am I just making that up in my own mind?”

So you begin to wrestle back and forth, should I do it, should I not do it? What do I do? You feel the conviction of the Spirit more and more. And eventually hopefully you decide, alright, I’m going to do that. And you go do it.

What was happening there? You were wrestling within between your soul and your spirit. Your spirit received instructions from God and told you what you needed to do. But your soul got in the way and started questioning and resisting the leading of the Spirit of God.

This has happened to me many, many times! I’m sure it has for you. Now how about this one, have you ever been super excited and felt that you needed to go minister to this person, but then it went really bad and it was clear after, that it wasn’t God at all, but your own self? Again, the soul got in the way, and attempted to speak for the spirit.

But before we go further let’s talk about the structure of you as a human being.

Did you know that God reveals himself to us in three ways, as God the Father, as Jesus Christ the son of God, and as the Holy Spirit, the indwelling presence of God.

That’s interesting isn’t it?

You also are made up of different parts, you have a soul, your spirit, and your physical body.

That’s our first point today, you are soul, spirit, and body, as one.

Your physical body is just that, your body, your flesh and blood, and cells and organs and your five senses.

Your soul is you, the word for soul in the Greek actually means “breath.” Because it says in Genesis 2:7 that God breathed the breath of life into the man, he gave man a soul.

When a woman gets pregnant, the child is born as flesh, as a baby, but God puts a soul into that body.

So your soul is you. A puff of air you might say. Breathed out by God.

You also have your spirit. Your spirit is your higher self, your intuition, your inner light, your desire for something greater, your connection to God.

Before becoming a Christian, all three were very broken, soul, body, spirit. The soul was darkened and sinful. The spirit was focused on earthly things, broken, unable to connect with God, and the body was cursed and subject to physical death.

But once becoming a Christian, the soul begins a process of change, the body hopes for the promised resurrection after death, and the spirit is filled with the Holy Spirit and learns to be in connection to God.

Second point, even as a Christian we still battle between the Spirit and the self. The Spirit within calls us to live for God, but the flesh within wants us to focus on ourselves and our own needs.

The soul wants to go it’s own way. I battle that myself from time to time. I want to do what I want to do. But the Lord guides us to die to self, and live by the Spirit’s leading.

That happens every time I’m in conflict within between what my soul wants and what my spirit wants. And when I let the spirit lead the way, the soul comes into alignment with the spirit and they act as one.

That’s really the topic and goal for today: How do we bring our Soul into alignment with our spirit?

Secondarily, we are also looking at how this brings peace to our souls.

Jeanne Guyon gets into this topic of soul vs. Spirit in chapter 21 of her book. She says, “You see, when your soul is active on its own-that is, active apart from the activity of the Spirit-then by it’s very nature its activity is forced and strained! The soul’s effort in prayer is always that of anxiety and striving. This is actually to your advantage! You can easily distinguish when the soul is functioning.” -Jeanne Guyon, chapter 21, p. 94-95.

Third point, In prayer align the soul with the Spirit’s lead.

I can tell when I’m praying from the soul because it’s forced and awkward. But sometimes it’s necessary to start there. Then, at some point in the prayer as I begin to focus on the Spirit, the Spirit takes over, and the prayer suddenly becomes very natural.

“When the soul is responding to the Spirit, the action is free, easy and natural. It will seem that you are putting forth almost no effort at all.” -Jeanne Guyon, p. 95

So you’re probably wondering, when I pray, how do I let the Spirit lead? Honestly I think the best way is simply inviting Him, say, “Holy Spirit please guide these prayers.” And He will. God wants to be invited in. Other times though, you may not need to ask, it will happen naturally as you think about the Spirit, or as you simply draw near to God in your heart. It will come together beautifully.

Fourth point, hold your soul at peace. The soul will want to engage in strenuous effort and activity. Instead, hold the soul at peace.

Be still in the presence of the Lord, as the song says. Quiet the soul, and let the Spirit lead.

(2 slides – illustrations of soul led vs spirit led)

The soul will tend toward stress, anxiety, activity. Quiet that down, and draw near to God. And God will draw you. And you’ll find yourself drifting toward Him in your heart.

Quiet the soul, bring the soul to peace, which is stillness before God. Passiveness, simply wanting what God wants without any reservations.

Then, with the soul quiet, the goal is to operate from the spirit, and hear God’s Spirit and follow Him. But how do we do that?

As Jeanne Guyon wrote, “The Lord speaks to your spirit; He calls you to follow Him by drawing your center where there is only Himself. So your spirit is attracted first. You, in turn, follow the attraction of the center. You do so by turning your attention and all the powers of your soul on Him…” -Jeanne Guyon, Ch. 21, p. 97

How can I tell the difference between my internal voice and God’s leading? I’ve gotten myself into trouble a few times by thinking my internal voice was actually God’s voice.

So how do I tell the difference?

Fifth point, changes brought by God’s word will separate the voice of soul and spirit, so we can discern God’s voice from our own.

Hebrews 4:12 says, “For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”

The word of God is alive and active and able to divide between the soul and the spirit, to help you discern which is which.

As the word of God changes you, as you study it, learn it, and apply it your life, you will naturally know the voice of God from your own inner voice.

It’s a journey though. So if you aren’t there yet, don’t worry. Continue to diligently study God’s word, and God’s word will change you. Your own inner voice will grow more and more submissive to God’s leading.

The trouble occurs in the soul. The soul wants things to go a certain way. I want this outcome in this situation. So I will get in there and speak for God with my soul to try to manipulate what’s happening.

But I’ve noticed more and more as my reverence for God increases and my fear of the Lord increases, my own inner voices becomes more quiet. And I simply listen for the leading of God.

I’m not there yet myself. I still want my own way in situations. I’m desperate for a particular outcome. But from where I was two years ago, to today, it’s a world of difference. I misread God a lot less today.

I think in the end, we will at some point come to a mindset where we can really say, “I just want whatever God wants to happen.”

We allow God’s word to slowly separate the voice of the soul from the voice of the spirit, and then we submit the soul to the spirit.

It’s tough right. It’s surrender, total surrender of our will to God. “I just want whatever God wants.” What is the purpose of this molding and surrender?

Sixth point, the purpose in all this is restorative. Prep school for paradise.

Originally in the Garden of Eden, had the fall never taken place, we would naturally live every moment by the Spirit’s leading. Our souls would be entirely united with God in our spirit.

But because of the fall, man lost the ability to contain the life of God (p. 99). We became worldly minded, focused on jobs, bills, family, pride, stuff, ball games, and new tech. The soul, like Adam and Eve did, began to try to play god apart from god. And that doesn’t work.

Jesus Christ within, the Holy Spirit at work through us, all of this is training us, and getting us ready for life in heaven. A entirely new, permanent lifestyle of walking in union with God. That’s pleasure beyond imagining, exciting, creative, and joyous. It’s a state of joy. And the joys of heaven are new every day, each day it just keeps getting better. It’s not boring, it’s more exciting and wonderful than you could imagine.

You’ll live a day in the New Jerusalem and it will feel so balmy and perfect and beautiful, but you’ll know, tomorrow is going to be even better. Because it’s an adventure with God, that just keeps getting better and more amazing and wondrous and exciting each day.

The purpose of learning to align your soul with the Spirit is an instruction manual for living in heaven.

Point number seven, in allowing your soul to follow the Spirit, you will come into union with God.

Jeanne Guyon writes, “Now we have come to the final, deepest experience with God – the ultimate Christian experience. It is union with God.”

“The experience of union begins very simply when there is born in you a desire for God. And when is that? When the soul begins to turn inward to the life of the Spirit; when the soul begins to fall under the powerful, magnetic attraction of the Spirit. At this point, an earnest desire for union with God is born! Once your soul has begun to turn within to the Spirit, it moves nearer and nearer to God. This is the progress toward union.

Finally the soul is one spirit with Him. It is here at last that the soul, which has wandered so far away from God, returns again to the place for which it was created! You must enter this realm. Why? Because this is the purpose of all God’s working in you.” -Jeanne Guyon, Ch.21, p.102-103

Do you get it? It’s a journey. As a Christian you go from not being led by the Spirit really very much at all. To slowly desiring to follow God. To chasing after the Spirit more and more, slowly aligning your soul’s will with the Spirit’s lead. Finally, you’re one in spirit with the Lord. And you find yourself at the place where you were made to dwell, one with God, one with His leading. One with His purposes.

All God’s work in your, forgiveness of sins, the new birth, sanctification, spiritual growth, spiritual warfare, temptations, trials, joys and triumphs, all of it has this one purpose: To bring you into union with God, in a way that you follow His leading without any hesitation. Your soul is submitted to the Spirit, and it’s perfect. You go from stress and struggle in the soul, fighting against God’s leading, until we surrender, and surrender again, day by day, year by year, chasing the magnetic pull of the Spirit, until we find ourselves at one with the Spirit.

And who is this Spirit? It is the Spirit of Jesus Christ. We find ourselves at one with our savior Jesus Christ, and in alignment with the Father in Heaven ultimately.

Review of Main Points:
1. You are soul, spirit, and body, as one.

2. Even as Christians we still battle between the soul & spirit.

3. Align the soul with the Spirit’s lead in Prayer

4. Hold your soul at peace, work from the spirit

5. Changes brought by God’s word will separate the voice of soul and spirit, so we can discern God’s voice from our own.

6. The purpose in all this is restorative, Prep school for paradise

7. In allowing your soul to follow your spirit, you will come into alignment with God, which is called “Union with God”

Change is Hard: God's Authority over Transitions in our Lives

There is one constant in life, it’s change. Everything changes over time. I’ve experienced numerous changes over my life. Change is often hard and awkward at first. But it can also be something that brings a lot of positives.

But it never feels comfortable at the time. I remember when I first started my internship in Escanaba, Mi I was so nervous. I didn’t have any idea what I was doing. But more than that I felt sorrowful. I felt actual grief. Just because things were so different.

I had moved away from my hometown, I was in a completely new area, and I didn’t know anyone. It was hard.

But early on I didn’t give up. Each day at work it felt awkward, but I kept reminding myself, you’re going to find your rhythm. Your going to find the beat.

And sure enough that’s exactly what happened. But it took a few months to get there. I slowly found a pattern that was comfortable for me, and I was so excited when it came together for me there.

In situations of change, the future is a giant question mark. It’s like being blindfolded and trying to go somewhere. You don’t know what to expect. You have to walk by faith.

It’s traumatic. It’s painful. And its in those times that we need to cling to the Master, Jesus, and listen to His words very carefully.

In hard times in your life, run to the word of God. Train yourself to do that. Open your Bible in the dark time. And let it speak into your situation.

Transitions occur in life. Transitions occur in America. Transitions occur in your own personal life. And transitions occur in the church. Not only that, transitions occur in the Bible.

So I want to draw your attention today to a situation where the disciples didn’t know what to expect next.

It comes from John chapter 14. Jesus has gathered his disciples for a special occasion, they are celebrating the Passover, but Jesus has revealed to them that things are about to change.

So Jesus gives them this encouraging word from John 14:1-2, ““Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2 My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?”

Our first point today is that Jesus reminds them that there is a future. He reminds them of their faith. Keep believing Jesus says.

He reminds them, that the Father’s house has many rooms. And there is a place for each of them in heaven.

There is a future beyond transitions and change. When the dust settles, when the mysteries come forth, realize there is a future.

We can’t see it directly. We believe in God. We know he will continue to guide us. He will continue to guide this church. But it takes faith.

Faith in a future.

Now imagine if the disciples, after Jesus said this, got up and said well I don’t like that change, so I’m going to leave. And they stormed out the door. They would’ve missed everything.

But Jesus reminds them, control your emotions, don’t let your hearts be troubled.

When a traumatic change takes place we start to wonder if there is any future. We start to think well it’s all over. Well I might as well just give up. But Jesus reminds us, the future is bright, even in traumatic change.

Next, in verses 5-7: “Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

Point number two, crisis brings questioning.

Lord, why is this happening? Lord, where are you? Lord, what should I do? Lord, I can’t stand how I feel right now.

There have been a handful of times in my life when I really was up against a wall and needed an answer. I just needed some word of encouragement from God. I felt such pressure, such concern, that it seemed impossible.

Like Thomas who asks Jesus the question, we ask God, “What do I do? I don’t know the way!”

It reminds me of a time I was on the trash detail at training college. And we had to maneuver the dumpsters to different locations, hook them up to trash depositors, pull the dumpsters with a pickup truck, and for some reason I felt intimidated by this process. I couldn’t quite figure it out. It was hitting some pressure point in me, that I felt inadequate.

And the two guys on it with me, the maintenance guys were getting more and more upset as I couldn’t figure it out. Finally one of the guys blew up at me and said, “You should’ve been able to figure this out by now, what’s wrong with you?” And he just really ripped into me. I got super upset and stormed out. And I felt so upset and angry and disturbed.

I felt inadequate. I felt anxious. I felt like I wanted to just up and quit the whole thing.

But it all got worked out. I finished the detail that semester. But did different things related to it.
But I blew up at the training principle, and got sent to counseling, and I remember the guy who I had had the fight with, as I was getting in the vehicle to drive to the counselor, he would come out and just look at me and laugh.

I had tried to get him in trouble, which was terrible of me, but I couldn’t’ believe how rudely he’d treated me.

It became this extremely tense and disturbing situation. And eventually I went to him and apologized for what I did. He never apologized. But it didn’t matter.

It was one of those situations where you just don’t know what to do. And you ask God why? Why this?

As a result God gives answers. Honestly, God gives answers. Sometimes he will be silent, it’s true. I think we think of God like that. He’s not gonna give us an answer. The answer is just faith it up more.

But that’s honestly not my experience. God has come to me in those high stress times and has given me such tender encouragement from His word. He’s given me so many nudges toward the truth.

And Jesus does the same for Thomas here, he says, I am the way.

In our problems, in our transitions, in change, Jesus is the way. Trust in Jesus.

Cling to Jesus. When everything is out of control, cling to Jesus even tighter. Run to the Father. Run to Jesus. Hug Him tighter.

Next, John 14:10-11, “Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.”

Jesus reminds his disciples that all things that are happening, all the changes are not random. It’s not some evil scheme. It’s not out of control. It’s not chaos. The change that is happening is in fact God’s perfect will.

If you can remember that during a transition then you will prosper.

But it’s when we start to think, “this isn’t fair” “this is wrong” “this is bad” that we start to get into trouble. We try to take control away from God. We try to take control. We try to claim some sort of conspiracy. But it’s not a conspiracy. It’s not an evil plot. It’s God’s perfect plan.

The best example I can give is the Salvation Army moves system. Every 3-5 years The Salvation Army moves officers from one place to another. Many will assume that the moves are done according to the will of man. But it’s not true. The moves are done according to the will of God.

Chelsey and I aren’t moving because we got married. We aren’t moving because Chelsey needs to be trained. We aren’t moving because its been x number of years. We’re moving because it’s God’s perfect will for the universe and planet Earth for us to move.

If we can understand God’s authority in these situations, we can be at peace. We can accept the change. We can prosper in change.

Whether I went to Escanaba, or Chicago, or St. Charles, or Albert Lea, St. Louis or Rochester, MN, or Owosso, Mi, I always knew that it was God’s perfect will for me to be there.

Did I wrestle in those times? Sure. Did I argue with God? I did from time to time. But did God always help me to accept His will? Yes He did.

Lastly, we see in verses 12-14, “Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it.”

Jesus tells His disciples that he has trained them to do great things, to do mighty works, to ask God for things and God will do them.

Point number four today, Change brings opportunities for great victories

The changes and transitions God brings are almost always intended to bring about greater ministry opportunities and greater victories for the future.

I remember going from Wausau, wi to Escanaba, Mi and wondering why God would bring this sort of change. But I quickly found myself excited with the ministry opportunities I had after the move.

Major Ralph there allowed me to preach half time and I was so excited. I had longed for years to preach sermons, and finally, finally, I got to get into the pulpit and preach a sermon from the word of God.

I was so excited. I got to preach sermons, I got to do weekly bible studies at the nursing home nearby, I got to assist with kids activities. I got to lead and plan a vacation bible school. I got to coordinate kettles. It was amazing. But God had to bring me through the storms of transition to get me there.

God will as well bring you through the storms of change, and you’ll go from sorrowful and upset, to excited and hopeful. But you have to let yourself walk through the difficulties of change to get to the blessings of change.

In conclusion, we must allow God in times of change, to hold us by the hand through the change. We must not run away, which may be our instinct. We should allow ourselves to grieve and wrestle with questions. But we should bring it all to God in prayer. We must remember God is in control in the confusion. We must believe that change can bring new blessings despite the pain.

On any journey, in any shift in our lives, we must remember that there is a way through it successfully. Its by way of Jesus Christ, who is the way, the truth and the life. Jesus himself is the way through.

Though we may be tempted to give up, to run for the hills, to get bitter, to throw all our progress away, instead, in the difficulty we must turn our eyes to Jesus, and cling to him even tighter than ever.

Review:
1. There is a future in change – though we can’t the future we can believe God is with us in the transitions

2. Crisis brings questioning – we can bring our questions to God, and God encourages us through it all

3. God’s authority rests over transitions – we must learn to see change as coming directly from the throne of God, he is sovereign

4. Change brings opportunities for great victories – our sorrow will turn to rejoicing as we see what God does in transitional times

Guard your Heart: Block the Evil, Bring in the Gold

Have you ever had a conversation or experience, or a moment in your life that you took to heart?

You took it to heart. It impacted you so deeply that it stayed with you through your whole life.

I remember numerous experiences in my life that I took to heart. It affected me in a way that it went deep down inside me. It went into my heart and changed my life forever.

There are also terrible negative experiences that I unfortunately “took to heart” as well and they damaged my heart. I'm sure the same is true for you.

But God can redeem anything. He can take something meant to hurt us and turn it into a testimony.

The goal every Sunday is that you would, during the service, take things to heart, whether it’s something said in a prayer, or a line from one of the worship songs, or a word during the sermon.

The goal is you would notice a nugget of truth throughout the service, and stop on it, and say: "That is something I’m going to take to heart."

So you see something very beautiful with growing Christians. They’ve gathered all these gold nuggets of truth, and fashioned them into beautiful things, and they are a tree decorated with hundreds of gold nuggets of biblical truth.

They’ve carefully listened to allow the word of God to really change their hearts over time.

I think we naturally have things that go into our mind from the message. That’s a good thing, we want knowledge for the mind, but something powerful happens when it hits the heart. Something in the message we "get." We realize how profound it is, and we allow it to sink into our heart.

Or not. 

That’s why you’ll see people who have gone to church for 30, 40, 50 years but they are still unsaved. It’s all gone in the mind. And it’s never gone into the heart. And so they’ve been in church for 40 years but they’ve never been changed by the message. They’ve never allowed it to go in.

There’s a scripture from Proverbs chapter 4 that helps us understand the heart.

It a prescription you might say, for a young believer, a prescription for good heart health.

What does your doctor say when you’re having heart issues? They give you a prescription. They give you a list of foods to eat, foods to not eat.

This is a prescription from God about how to minister to our hearts.

It says this, Proverbs 4:20-23, “My son, pay attention to what I say;
turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them
and health to one’s whole body. Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.”

The first point today is that only God can really change your heart. If you don’t have Jesus in your heart today, then there’s no point in studying about how to keep your heart healthy or how to guard it or anything else, your heart is not able to do anything truly useful apart from Christ.

So what you’ve got to do is give your heart to Jesus right now, and invite God to change your heart.

As the scripture says, Psalm 51:10, "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”

That’s the cry of the psalmist, and it finds it’s completion in Jesus Christ.

It say again in Ezekiel 36:26 ESV, “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”

So if you have a stone heart today, but you feel Jesus tugging at your heart, invite Him in today, become born again, and then you’ll be able to consider the next steps.

The second point for today is that we want to “keep the word of God in our hearts.”

Now that Jesus has given us a new heart, our job is to continue to feed the word of our God into our hearts.

We do this by studying the word, praying the scriptures, listening to the word read aloud, and by listening to sermons and messages.

We allow the word to affect our hearts. Or we block it from our heart, and it all goes into the mind, and that knowledge puffs us up with pride. But we never change. That's dangerous. Don't block the word, let it in! 

The third point for today is to “guard your heart with all diligence, for all you do flows from it.”

There are many influences in the world. I often see Christians who are young in their faith and they get stuck. They get stuck in sins. They get stuck in their walk. They stop growing.

And often what I see is that they’ve got a spout, a faucet running into the heart, and what’s coming from that faucet is filth and slime. And it’s pouring like a mighty river into their heart. And then they are shocked that they aren’t growing and are living double-minded and trapped in sin.

Turn off that spout! What is that spout? It’s the influences of the world that are being poured into your heart from television, movies, news media, radio, billboards, wrong friendships, wrong relationships, and worldly influences. You’ve got to turn off those sources and replace them all with Christian content, Christian movies, Christian sermons, Christian radio, Christian friendships, and Christian influences.

And as you do, you turn off the bad spigot and you turn on the pure spigot, and instead of filth, pure living water of God’s word is flowing into your heart and pretty soon you begin to grow in your faith once again.

Guard your heart. That’s the goal. Don’t let those things into your heart. Because once something gets control of your affections it’s very hard to get rid of, only Jesus can remove it once it’s there.

I’ll give you an example, at one point in my life, I let drugs into my heart. I really loved drugs. And once it’s there, something loved and cherished, it’s very hard to get rid of. I had to go to treatment, detox, and pray, and seek God, and it was a whole ordeal to get rid of it.

Another example, is you’ll see a woman who falls in love with a guy and she lets him into her heart. This is a beautiful thing when it’s done in marriage and happens in God’s will. But sex traffickers have discovered, that if they can get a woman to fall in love with them, they can then control that woman later, and turn them into a prostitute, and force them to work for them.

That’s the power of what we let into our hearts.

Next point, God can set you free even if it’s in your heart. So if you’ve allowed something into your heart that has control, surrender it to God, he can set you free. You may need treatment though. You may a need a bit of detox. You may need to go deep with a counselor or pastor. But don’t give up hope. You can be free.

So to review, let God’s word go deep into the heart.

At the same time guard your heart, because sin is knocking at the door, trying to get us addicted.

But there’s more to that scripture in Proverbs 4, in verses 24-27 it says, “Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.”

Have you ever seen an old castle from the medieval era? There’s the main keep, and surrounding the keep is a wall, but then there is another longer wall along the outside, sort of a second line of defense.

Your heart is the keep. And you must guard it with the inner wall.

But there is a second level of defense, an outer wall, and here we see what the outer wall is. It's your senses. And there are gates where your senses take in information along the wall. We must guard these gates carefully. 

First, we need to guard the mouth gate.

Guard what you speak. I know this one from experience. I’ve been free from cussing for a while now. But there’s been a few times over the years where I got very upset and let a cuss out.

And it’s amazing how hard it was to get it gone again. Once you start cussing, or slandering others, or gossiping, it’s very hard to stop.

The word says the tongue is, "set on fire by hell." Once hell sets it afire, only a cold splash of the Holy Spirit can put it out. Without God's help, it just goes, burns and burns, like a blazing fire.

Guard what you say. Guard the mouth gate. Because once the mouth is uttering garbage, it’s hard to get it to stop, and that gate can lead to the inner gate, the heart.

It also says guard your eyes. “25 Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you.”

Watch what you look at! That’s another pathway for the enemy to get bad things into your heart.

Guard the eye gate.

Watch what you look at. Watch what movies you view. Watch what you focus on. Keep your focus on the goal, which is Jesus Christ, and the gospel message.

I watched a movie recently, very popular, but I knew there was a nude scene in it somewhere. But I really wanted to see the movie, it was historical and interesting. So I carefully watched the movie trying to guard against the nude scene, but sure enough, it came on so quickly I couldn't block it, and even to this day that image remains in my mind of that scene. How terrible! We can't unsee the things we see. We can be forgiven. But our mind remembers. 

Lastly, guard your pathways, the place you go.

It says Proverbs 4:26-27, “Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.”

You know what they say, if you hang out at the barber shop long enough you’ll end up getting a haircut.

Guard the Foot gate.

Don’t hang out with the wrong people. Don’t hang out in the wrong places. Follow God’s leading for your life. You’ll know if you aren’t in the right place. You’ll know because God will tell you. You will sense it, "something isn't right here."

Don’t turn to the left or right, keep walking the path God has for you. That is the challenge in life.

Don’t get distracted. Keep walking God’s pathway. That’s another gate, where you go, where you walk, where you step, a gate that you must guard.

Guard the outer gates, your senses. Guard the inner gate, your heart. Allow in the right content, block the wrong content, and you will be stable as Christian. You'll gain victory over double-mindedness. You'll become a single-minded Christian. But if you allow in the filth along with the pure, you'll always find yourself double-minded and as a consequence, unstable in your walk with Christ. 

Review of Main Points:

1. Only God can truly change your heart (through Jesus Christ)

2. Keep the Word of God in your heart (Let the message affect your heart)

3. Guard your heart with all diligence (Block the filth from your heart)

4. God can remove something bad from your heart (Surrender it to Him)

5. Guard the Mouth Gate (Speak life, guard against evil speech)

6. Guard the Eye Gate (Look at what is good, avoid what is evil)

7. Guard the Foot Gate (Follow God’s path, avoid dangerous situations)