broken bread and poured out wine

March 3, 2005
Read James Chapter 4

Verses 1-3 talk about asking and receiving… what are our shortfalls?
(don’t ask, don’t ask out of right motives)
Think about the focus that you normally have when you’re struggling with some aspect of your life… when you’re anxious about money, or lack thereof… or when you’re battling a temptation… or trying to help someone you love who is floundering…

Do you immediately go before God with your struggle? Or do you go to Him in desperation when all else fails?
Philippians 4:6 ‘Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.’
....How does a ‘peace that transcends all understanding’ differ with what you normally feel when you deal with problems?

Do you zealously attack what you see as the problem, trying in determination to fix it so that it works out well for you… So that you suffer nothing more then possible?
Philippians 3:7-8 ‘But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him...’
...everything is meaningless, compared with knowing Christ Jesus.

Do you consider that everything you struggle through is a chance to grow? A chance to learn more about the character and heart of Christ Jesus, who faced everything we will ever face, and overcame it?
James 1:2-4 ‘Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.’

Do you forget that your happiness and well being are actually not the point of life? Do you ever realize that as a servant, your life should be first and foremost tasked to honour your master?
2 Corinthians 12:8-9 ‘Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.’



Why should we submit ourselves to God? Think about what it means to submit…

Verse 5: ‘Or do you think Scripture says without reason that the spirit he caused to live in us envies intensely?’
The Spirit of Almighty God envies our devotion… our surrender.

Verse 7-10: ‘Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.’

Verse 17: ‘Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.’

We cannot serve God until we have surrendered ourselves to Him… until we learn to yield our focus unto his will for our lives, which is to serve as Christ served. To become broken bread and poured out wine, for the gospel of God.

Read Luke 5:4-5 ‘When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.”
Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.”’ …once more, and once more…


Philippians 3:13-14
‘Brothers, I do not consider myself to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.’

John 16:32-33
“But a time is coming, and has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home. You will leave me all alone. Yet I am not alone, for my Father is with me.
I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

We will have troubles in this life… and we will fail God in many of those troubles. But Jesus has offered us peace in him.
Chin up…. He has overcome the world and all its troubles!