SWYC 2014: What We Believe: Back to Basics

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GYC Southwest

Morning Devotional

Martin Kim

The Devotional Life of Jesus

Dear Lord, thank you so much for bringing us together, Lord, this morning, because you long to draw near to us and you long to bless us.

I just once again pray that you would rain down your spirit upon us.

I just pray that you would minister to our hearts and our minds this morning.

I just pray that you'd keep me hidden behind the cross and that Jesus would be seen, heard, and known this morning.

Notice this amazing statement from the Desired Ages.

We are told, through continual communion, what kind of communion?

Through continual communion, he received life from God, that he might impart life to the world.

And then Ellen White goes on to say this.

She says, his experience is to be our experience.

You know, as I see the news these days, I no longer believe that we are headed for the last days, I believe that we are in the last days.

And if we are serious about fulfilling the mission of the Adventist church which God has given to us, of course, we must know the basics, friends, but we must also have the experience of Christ when it comes to devotions.

The devotional life of Christ must become our experience.

Now, I want to share with you 2 paragraphs that precede the words up on the screen.

But before we go there, turn with me and your Bibles to John chapter 14.

There's an amazing promise that Jesus gives to us.

Jesus says, most assuredly I say to you, he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also, and greater works than these, he will do because I go to my Father.

And did the disciples realize the fulfillment of this promise during their lifetime?

We read the book of Acts, and certainly we can see how this promise was fulfilled.

And in Desire of Ages, Ellen White makes it clear that that Jesus when he made this promise he's saying that their that their work would have wider extent and not that their work would be of a more exalted character she makes that very clear Who is Jesus speaking to this morning as we read this verse?

We too are his disciples and I believe that 1 day Jesus is gonna fulfill this promise through us.

I want to share with you a couple of statements from the Design of Ages that Ella White makes about this amazing promise in John 14, verse 12.

She writes, The Savior was deeply anxious for his disciples to understand for what purpose his divinity was united to humanity.

He came to the world to display the glory of God, that man might be uplifted by its restoring power.

God was manifested in him, that he, that Christ, may be manifested in us.

Jesus revealed no qualities and exercise no powers that men may not have through faith in him.

Then she goes on to write, his perfect humanity is that which all his followers may possess if they will be in subjection to God as he was.

Is it your desire to be in subjection to God as Christ was.

Because if so, his perfect humanity is that which all his followers may possess.

The Savior's promise to his disciples is a promise to his church to the end of time.

God did not design that his wonderful plan to redeem men should achieve only insignificant results.

Are you seeing significant results or insignificant results?

You know, sadly in a lot of churches in the NAD, the North American division, the average church is adding 3 members per year.

God did not design that as a wonderful plan to redeem men, should we achieve only insignificant results.

She goes on to say, all who will go to work, trusting not in what they themselves can do, but in what God can do for and through them, will certainly realize the fulfillment of his promise.

Greater works in these shall ye do, he declares, because I go unto my father.

How many of you want to realize the fulfillment of this amazing promise?

If we went to work trusting not in what we ourselves can do But in what God can do for and through us, would we be following the example of Jesus?

All these texts come from the book of John.

Jesus, speaking of himself, said, "'The Son can do nothing of himself.'" John 5, 19.

And then John 5, verse 30, he says, "'I can of myself do nothing.

"'My judgment is righteous "'because I do not seek my own will but the will of the father who sent me John 638 for I have come down from heaven not to do my own will.

So when you look at the life and ministry of Jesus, we see a life of utter dependence on the Father.

Jesus lived a life of entire submission to the Father's will.

Jesus was nothing and God was everything.

How many of you want to be nothing so that God can be everything?

Is Jesus calling us to live a life of utter dependence and to follow His example?

Because Jesus went to work trusting not in what he himself can do but in what what the Father could do for him and through him, it is for this reason that Jesus spent so much time in prayer.

So if we want to realize the fulfillment of this promise in John chapter 14, 12, it's only going to happen as the devotional experience of Christ becomes our devotional experience.

Now, I wanna share with you some words by Ian Balanz before we actually get to the 2 paragraphs that precede that statement that I put on at the very beginning of the message.

Ian Balanz has written many books on the subject of prayer.

He pretty much touches on every aspect of prayer.

In his book, Weapon of Prayer, he writes, prayer is the language of a person burdened with a sense of, what do you suppose goes into that blank?

Prayer is the language of a person burdened with a sense of need.

It is the voice of the beggar conscious of his poverty asking of another the things he needs.

It is not only the language of lack but a felt lack of lack consciously realized.

Prayer is the language of those who need something, something which they themselves cannot supply, but which God has promised them, and so they what?

In the end, poor praying and prayerlessness amount to the same thing.

For poor praying proceeds from a lack of the sense of need, while prayerlessness has its origin in the same soil.

Not to pray is to declare there's nothing needed and to admit there's no realization of a need.

This is what magnifies the sin of prayerlessness.

Did you know that prayerlessness was a sin?

It represents an attempt at instituting an independence of God, a self-sufficient ruling of God out of the life.

It is a declaration made to God that we do not need him and hence do not pray to him.

This is the state in which the Holy Spirit in his messages to the 7 churches in Asia found the Laodicean Church.

A Deeper, More Intimate Experience with God

You know, we sense His presence here, but when you're all alone in your prayer closet, it's going to be a different experience.

And many of you are probably going to struggle to go beyond the five-minute prayer barrier.

And so for that reason, I want to share a message.

If I go to a church and I'm only given 1 opportunity to share, I usually share this message.

It's titled a deeper, more intimate, more powerful experience with God.

And the reason I share this message is because if you apply what is shared in this message, in just 3 short weeks you will see God do amazing things in your life.

You will see God transform your Christian experience.

And so, for that reason, I will share this message this morning.

Dear God, thank you so much, Lord, for another day of life.

Another day where we can experience your mercy and your grace.

I just pray Lord that once again you would draw near to us.

Show us how it is that we could have a deeper, more intimate, more powerful experience with you.

So it was a couple of years ago now that I received this email from a friend.

I've been thinking about you 2 for the past few weeks now.

I've been praying, I've been meaning to write you, but I've been so busy.

I know you go around and preach about praying and it's so wonderful, but I wanted to ask if you also preach on fasting and praying.

Few weeks ago, I walked into my church and on the bookshelf I read a book out of curiosity and afterwards I was so very inspired.

The book is titled Fasting by Franklin Jentizen.

Jentizen Franklin is a Sunday pastor of a church out in Georgia.

This book is not only inspiring, but just amazing.

Pastor Franklin and his brother, since they were 18 years old, would fast constantly before they would preach, and God opened doors all over the world.

He fasts each year, beginning from January 1st through the 21st for 21 days.

He said when you dedicate the new year to God then God blesses throughout the whole entire year.

God was blessing him so much that he started asking his church to fast with him for 21 days.

Each year this is what his church does and God blesses the church and the members left and right.

There were many testimonies from the book, how God had blessed them with physical healing, emotional and mental healing, spiritual healing, and even stories about how God has helped people get out of serious debt.

There's a story about a single mom with a child who has leukemia.

She fasts for 21 days and wrestles with God and after 21 days the leukemia is gone.

Anyways after I read the book I was so inspired that I started fasting for 21 days.

Today is my 18th day of my Daniel's fast, where you just eat fruits and vegetables.

You should really get the book, it's such an eye opener.

My parents were amazed how God was answering my prayers, and they also started fasting for 21 days.

They are a week behind me right now, but God has been pouring his blessings upon our family.

We're not just talking about spiritual and physical blessings, but financial ones too, and we've been praying for relatives who left God, who would never have come back to him, but just 2 days ago, 1 relative called out of the blue about this very reason.

I shared this with few of my other friends who are all my age.

We're talking about young people in their late 20s.

They have started fasting and God has been answering their requests which they had been praying for years.

I wanted to share this because I really think in the last days the only way for God's Holy Spirit to be poured is if our people fast and pray.

The 2 goes hand in hand in order for the blessings to be poured into our lives.

He goes over verse after verse from the Bible why we must fast and pray and give for us to be able to know God's will for our lives.

It's been such a blessing, I just wanted to share this because I thought you may be interested in looking into it.

Thank you and so Sorry if you already knew about the book.

So a couple days later on Sunday morning, my wife and I called her up.

We got her on speakerphone and we just wanted to ask her more about this experience.

If someone's experiencing greater blessings, I wanna know about it.

I'm out for all the blessings I can possibly get.

And I actually told her on the phone that almost a year earlier, I came across that book.

My wife and I were at the South Bend Regional Airport.

We were going to go home to Seattle, Washington for the holidays to be with our parents.

And our flight was delayed, so I went to the small bookstore in that airport.

Actually, my wife was there, and she had picked up this book by Franklin Jendezin, and she's reading this book.

So I picked it up and started reading it, but then we had to board our flight, and so I ended up buying that book.

On the 2 flights and the layover in between, I ended up finishing the little book.

And so from time to time, I decided just to take 1 day a week just to do water fast, just 1 day a week.

I couldn't do anything intense because at that time, and I still had this problem, for me, I struggled to put on weight.

And once I lose weight, it takes forever to gain weight.

I know you all wish you had that struggle.

We all need to pray for each other So on occasion I would do a one-day water fast But after I got her email I was like I need to step this up Okay, and when I told her that I had already read this book she says what you knew about this book and you didn't tell me she wished she would have known earlier about this book because what it did for her her Christian experience I mean her her Christian experience just just took off and so now I make it a point to share this wherever I go.

Turn with me in your Bibles to Matthew chapter 6 verse 1.

Even in the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus highlights the importance of fasting.

Jesus says, Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men to be seen by them, otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven.

Therefore, if you do a charitable deed, is that what it says?

No it says when you do a charitable deed.

Doing charitable deeds is not an option for the follower of Christ.

And so it says, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets that they may have glory from men.

Surely I say to you, they have their reward.

So Jesus talks about the importance of doing charitable deeds and doing it for God's glory.

And then in verse 5, Jesus says, and if you pray, is that what he says?

You shall not be like the hypocrites for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men, assuredly I say to you, they have their reward." And Jesus goes through the Lord's prayer.

After talking about terrible deeds and prayer, what does Jesus go on to talk about?

Yes, in verse 16 he says, Moreover, when you fast, do not be like the hypocrites with a sad countenance, for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear to men to be fasting, assuredly I say to you they have their reward.

But you, when you fast, anoint your head and wash your face, so that you do not appear to men to be fasting, but to your father who is in the secret place, and your father who sees in secret, will reward you openly." Is fasting important?

Now, when's the last time you've heard a message about fasting?

Pastor Franklin Jentizen in Georgia, do you know how many members he has in his church?

And he invites all of them to join him for a 21-day fast at the start of each year.

And I believe, I can't help but think that 1 reason God has blessed this church is because of all the prayer and the fasting.

Humility 101

Before getting into the message, I just want to answer just a few questions that came in that were prayer related that were not covered.

Can you teach us a real simple prayer acceptable to God?

It's found in Psalm 67, verse 1 and 2, and I pray this almost every day.

If you have your Bibles, turn with me to Psalm 67, and it shows us what to pray and why God answers our prayers.

Psalm 67, verse 1, says, "'God, be merciful to us and bless us and cause his face to shine upon us.

And the next verse tells us why God blesses us.

That your way may be known on earth, your salvation among all nations.

If you want God to bless you, if you want to see many answers to prayers, understand that God will hear and answer your prayers, not just so He can bless you, but so that you can be a blessing to others.

Ellen White writes that the Holy Spirit will be given to all who come begging for the bread of life.

Ask God, God you got to bless me because if you don't bless me what can I give to others?

There's another question that came in, Is prayer the only medium to reach God?

But then I thought about the story about the widow, I mean the woman who bled for 12 years.

She just simply went and it was through the touch of faith that she reached out to God.

It is through prayer and faith that we reach out to God.

Alamite writes that our greatest, our need is our greatest argument.

So sometimes even if you don't know what to say, just just stay there in God's presence and just wait on Him and God understands what you need.

All right, I want to thank that brother who had prayer for us.

It was through his prayer that I just sensed that God was saying to me that the message I'm going to share this morning is the message that he wants presented.

The theme for this weekend has been getting back to the basics, And we've been talking a lot about what we believe.

And this morning, I want to talk about the basics of Christianity.

Ellen White in Desire of Ages tells us that the only greatness is the greatness of humility.

Andrew Murray in his book Humility says that the highest lesson a believer has to learn is the lesson of humility.

Dear God, thank you Lord for bringing us together for another opportunity where we can hear a word from you.

I just pray that you would send the Holy Spirit, the greatest of all teachers, to teach us.

But more importantly, Lord, please help us to know how to take the things we hear and apply them to our lives.

Please make your strength perfect in my weakness this morning.

Do you men ever get irritated or annoyed if your spouse or your girlfriend or someone of the opposite gender tells you how to drive?

Now is this just a guy thing or do the ladies also get irritated when there's a backseat driver?

Now how about you ladies, do you guys get irritated when you've worked hard all day long, you've worked very hard to prepare a nice meal, and your family members, they sit down, and they don't appreciate what you've cooked?

How many of you men get irritated if the food doesn't taste as good as it looks on the table.

How many of you get a little irritated when someone gives you advice or tells you that you are wrong?

Do you know why these things irritate us?

Yes, that is the correct answer I was looking for.

Pride is the root of every sin and every evil.

We get easily irritated because we lack humility, which is the root of every virtue.

Turn with me in your Bibles to Luke Chapter 17.

Luke Chapter 17, and we'll read this parable, which begins in verse 7.

In this parable, Jesus teaches us about servanthood.

What is expected of a servant, and what must be the proper attitude of a servant.

Verse 7, it says, and which of you having a servant, plowing or tending sheep, will say to him, when he has come in from the field, come and sit down to eat.

Either servants of Christ or servants of?

Now servants spend their day out in the field.

And at the end of the day, his servants come in.

But will he not rather say to him, prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself, and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink?

The servant always puts others first, himself second.

Verse 9, does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him?

So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are what?

So Jesus teaches us the necessity of 2 virtues.

These are the 2 true characteristics of true servanthood.

Do you see yourself as a servant of Christ?

In other words, are you an obedient and humble servant?

Would others see you as an obedient and humble servant?

What would your spouse or your children say?

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