Tyler West

“Those People: The Needy”

We all know them…and sometimes we are them! Growing up one of the books I remember most is Chicken Little! How the acorn fell & hit him on the head and the hysteria spread! We have people in our lives that are that way! In this constantly updated News Cycle “The Sky Is Falling” is the cry of the day & every situation is “the big one”! So, how do we deal with those in our lives that seem to constantly have an acorn falling and the end is always near?

2 Samuel 9:1-13

• Give Others What THEY NEED not What THEY WANT (2 Samuel 9:1-5)
  • David is the King! He’s been on the run & finally in the place God wanted him to be and it would be easy to rest and take it all in! Yet, David knew God was calling him to do something more…bless the very family that tried to kill him! So, he goes out to see if anyone else is left in the line of Saul that he can bless!
  • This is where obedience to what God calls us to is HUGE! If we aren’t careful we can think that we hold the answers to restore others…and we don’t…we can only give them relief! In obedience doing what God has called us to do (by pointing others to Him in all that we do), we can actually give others what they need…not what they want. I can’t help but think, “Bring a man a fish & he’ll have food for a day—but teach a man to fish and he will have food for a lifetime”! Same reigns true with the Hope of the Gospel…a gift of generosity isn’t the restoration of the needy it’s the temporary relief…the Hope of the Gospel being shared with a world in need is the only restoration!
• Set BOUNDARIES For What YOU WILL and WILL NOT DO (2 Samuel 9:6-13)
  • David is promising to give back to Mephibosheth all of the land of his grandfather but not the Kingdom! And let’s be real…Mephibosheth is in the bloodline of the king…the only heir left to the throne (though he wasn’t God’s anointed as David is) and if any one could lay claim they deserved more he can! Yet David, clearly states what he will do…give back the land of his father, let Mephibosheth eat at the king’s table but Mephibosheth is still responsible for Ziba working the land to be taken care of. This is a foreshadowing of Jesus coming to restore all people to God…not just those set apart!
  • That’s the hard line we have to tow…but it’s the most important. Any one with children know that you want what’s best for them but a soda right before bedtime or tantrum in the store to get what they want isn’t what’s always best for them! The same goes for the relationships in our life! We have to be healthy before we can help others be healthy and to do that we have to set clear boundaries about what we will and will not do. That hard conversation can be the difference of dealing with “the sky falling” every day or not!

The real truth behind this story is the perfect picture of the Gospel! We are all Mephibosheth! Our sin and brokenness has separated us from a relationship with God, the Creator of the universe. Our sin has left us crippled in a place we were never made to be in! And God loved us enough that He made a way for us to be restored to a relationship with Him through His best gift…His Son Jesus! Jesus lived the life we couldn’t live, died the death we deserved and loved us enough not to stay dead but left an empty tomb so that we can experience Heaven on earth and have a relationship with God! There’s nothing we can do to earn this restoration…all we have to do is receive the gift of life that Jesus wants to give us by confessing with our mouth that He is Lord and Believing He died for our sins and rose again! Does this mean everything is done for us and we won’t have to work in this life? No…we will still have to work (look at Mephibosheth). The difference is we will always have a seat at the King Jesus’ table (no matter what we look like, what our past is or what shame we have carrying around with us).

Take Away
Why do you think our typical first reaction to needy people is to give them relief instead of restoration?

 

Share a time when you received what you wanted instead of what you really needed. What did you learn from that experience?

 

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“Those People: The Critic”

We all know that person…they make our blood boil! We know something’s not going to be right! It’s the Critic! We all know ‘em and sometimes we are them! Knowing that we all face criticism in our lives what do we do about it?

Luke 13:10-17

• Know When To DISMISS Criticism (Luke 13:10-14)
  • There are 2 people about to face criticism here. Jesus (which is to be expected) and the woman who is about to be healed! The woman is seen by Jesus…from the outer court from where He was teaching! He called her out of the outer court to where He was teaching (something she would have known would not be approved by the leaders of the Synagogue). And Jesus is about to be criticized not just for calling the woman out of the court but for healing her on the Sabbath
  • Here is the thing about criticism…to face it you have to understand you have been seen! Let that sink in! So many times we think criticism is because others want to cause us harm…but what if that criticism is what sets you up for something greater! Don’t let criticism stop you in your tracks…take what good can come from it & keep moving forward in obedience to what God is calling you to!
• Know When To RESPOND to Criticism (Luke 13:15-16)
  • Jesus knew how/when to respond to criticism! He’s telling the Leaders in the Synagogue that it’s a matter of obedience not religion that we should follow! Religion said the woman should not have been healed or even in the same place with the men on the Sabbath
  • In our life we have to know what criticism to respond to and what criticism to move on from! There will always be someone to tell us that we aren’t up to par and we have to know when to respond to it! For Jesus it was a response that was actually taking away from someone seeing God more clearly! If someone is tearing down Jesus working through you…let the Holy Spirit guide you when to stand up…because you weren’t made to be silent!
• OVERCOME My Own Critical Nature (Luke 13:17)
  • Like the leaders in the Synagogue we can get stuck in our own critical nature and completely miss out on the miracles that we can be a part of. Think about this…the leaders of the Synagogue got to see the Son of God heal a woman who was broken for 18 years…and instead of Celebrating it, they tried to find a way to make it less significant. We have to keep ourselves in check when we see our criticism is affecting others seeing Jesus more clearly!

Take Away
Why do you think we so often put other people’s opinions of us ahead of God’s opinion of us?

 

We often criticize others to make ourselves feel better. What insecurities might be fueling your own critical nature of others?

 

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“Those People: The Hypocrite”

In this world polarizing world full of offenses it’s not hard to point out where someone is wrong and you are right. How many of us can say we’ve ever encountered a hypocrite? Don’t point :D! It’s often the hardest thing in the world we can deal with right? Having someone who looks like they are all put together and then to find out that they aren’t…it can often be a stumbling block for us! And many times when we are confronted on our own hypocrisy we spend all of our effort trying to prove ourselves right instead of fighting to make others right with Christ! So how do we go about confronting hypocrisy on in our lives? Let’s see one of the ways Jesus did!

Luke 10:25-37

• Confront with TRUTH (Luke 10:25-28)
  • Pay attention to this…an EXPERT in the Law asked a question about the Law! Even crazier he asked it to the One who wrote it! Proudly the expert answers Jesus’ question with poise & confidence…expecting Jesus to give him the gold star! And yet Jesus answers the answer with TRUTH! Live out what you attest to be!
  • Here’s where we all can get stuck! We think because someone is a follower of Christ they don’t sin anymore…and that’s just not true! When we have a relationship with Christ we have the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and through that we go through sanctification (which means we become more like Christ)! In a nutshell that means that we still sin, but sanctification allows us the opportunity to act on the desire to sin. Truth is we don’t have it all together…we either trust in the One who does or we don’t! Having trust in Jesus to hold it all together is what gives us the freedom to speak in Truth!
• Confront with HUMILITY (Luke 10:29-36)
  • Jesus didn’t blast the lawyer for asking the question! He didn’t scream “Are you Dumb? You just answered your question and I agreed…why ask again?” No, Jesus sees his heart and that he wasn’t getting it. Not saying “I’m Right and You’re wrong”…instead He comes to the lawyer with the heart of understanding. If the lawyer truly understood the law…then he would get who the real neighbor is. The Samaritan lived the Law instead of just knowing the Law! This is who Jesus is—the fulfillment of the Law.
  • This is one of the hardest things to do! To approach someone with humility when you know you are right and they are wrong. It would be so easy to throw it in their face! Often in this social media world we do! The Samaritan didn’t worry about who was right and wrong…he walked through the eyes of what if this was me—wouldn’t I want someone to help me and not leave me! Sometimes it’s not the things we do that make us a hypocrite…it’s the things we don’t do (see the Priest and the Levite)
• Confront with RESTORATION (Luke 10:37)
  • The story ends with the same way it started with Jesus saying live the Law and you will have eternal life! And here’s the thing…the lawyer probably believed that if he was good enough living the Law he would have eternal life. But he, nor you & me, could ever truly fulfill the law with a perfect life! That’s why we need Jesus! Jesus is telling the lawyer “you are the man on the road and I am the Samaritan coming to pay your heal you and pay your debt”. That’s what He’s telling all of us today! There will always be more to do, a status to live up to and knowledge to gain whether we are at the top or the absolute bottom; however, without a Savior we are all on the same road to the penalty of sin…death! And Jesus, lived the perfect life and died the death we deserved and left the tomb empty so that we can live the life we get to live today! We just have to receive Him! When we do He’ll bandage our wounds, pay our debt and set us free from the

Take Away
How have you been impacted by the hypocrisy of others?

Where are you being hypocritical in your own life? What’s your next step to addressing your hypocrisy?

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“I Quit: Living in Fear”

If we go back to the “monsters under the bed” phase of our lives, we can all say that we have dealt with fear! And as we grew older did our fear ever really go away? Maybe you fear being alone, loss, failure, rejection or the unknown. If we are completely honest with ourselves we can admit we all still deal with fear! Many define fear as the opposite of faith…but fear is really faith in the wrong things! Fear is Faith In The What If’s over Faith in God’s Promise!

1 Samuel 17:45-58

• What You FEAR the MOST Shows What You VALUE The MOST & TRUST God The LEAST
  (1 Samuel 17:45-51)
  • We see such a different picture painted here! The Israelites have the fear “What if they beat us and take us back into bondage and kill us”, The Philistines have the fear “What if this is another defeat by Israel” and David has the fear “What if I don’t trust God’s Promise”! What’s crazy is that they all have a fear, yet only one is fueled by Faith in God’s Promise!
  • When we dig into our fears we can truly see what we value the most in our lives…and if we value something enough we are scared to lose it that reveals to us where we trust God the least. In a nutshell our biggest fear is the biggest area we have to grow our faith in the right things! The hard part is we want to close our eyes and it all go away…but just like the monster under the bed it didn’t go away in one night. It took night after night of someone assuring us that we weren’t facing this alone…and honestly that’s what God promises us (not that it will be easy but that we will never walk through this life alone)!
• ACKNOWLEDGE Your FEAR and TRUST God ANYWAY (1 Samuel 17:51-58)
  • When David faced certain death and the Lord delivered him…he was able to take the very words that struck fear in the hearts of Israel & used them against Goliath! This is a foreshadowing of Christ to come! Satan used God’s Word against Adam & Eve and that lead all of humanity to a path of fear (remember the fig leaves) and until Jesus came and conquered Sin, Death and the Grave to fulfill the Word of God we could never experience true deliverance! When we acknowledge our fears, we see how Satan will twist God’s Word to ignite fear in us…instead of us trusting God’s word to fuel in His Promise of Deliverance!
  • Many times we get stuck here because we pridefully refuse to admit our fears…but only when we define our fears can we truly grow in our faith to overcome it. Many times we put on the filter of “all together” to stay stuck in something we were meant to be free of years ago…and our fear of letting it go is paralyzing us to grow in the faith!

The Boldest Thing I’m asking you to do today is not face your fears alone! Share with someone you trust what you fear the most…and let them walk step by step with you as you both grow your faith in Christ through it!

Take Away:

What are some of the “what if’s” that ignite your fears?

What are some of the fears that God has delivered you from?

 

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“I Quit: Making Excuses”

Last week we dove into finding the ONE THING God wants for you this year!  It’s fun to start the new year with new goals and fresh perspective! You have drive and motivation to actually accomplish what you set out to do…then life hits! You find yourself going to the gym less, splurging more, sleeping in later & not following through. It was going to be different this year! We were so focused to start the year! What Happened? One small compromise after the other filled with EXCUSES.

1 Samuel 16:1-19

• When I DECIDE To Be DIFFERENT, SATAN Gives Me EXCUSES to STAY the SAME (1 Samuel 16:1-2)
  • We see right from the beginning that Samuel has a choice to make & his first instinct is fear that Saul will kill him! God tells Samuel to be obedient and what next step to take.
  • This is where we can be jaded…we think because we have decided to make a change that we won’t face opposition. And the opposition we come against is often because of the change we need to make! Excuses will keep us in the same spot we’ve always been and Jesus didn’t live the life we could never live, die the death all of us deserved and leave an empty tomb to let us live Heaven on Earth to stay in the same place!
• FIRST OPTIONS Aren’t Always BEST OPTIONS after OBEDIENCE (1 Samuel 16:3-10)
  • Samuel takes the step of obedience God calls him to and the first option for him to anoint the next King seems like the perfect option! Yet, he wasn’t! Then option after option presented itself that seemed good to the human eye, but not to the great thing God’s called us to!
  • The first option after our step of obedience is usually the most appealing, yet if we aren’t careful we will let the excuse of comfort defeat us here! We will settle for the good in this life and not the great we are called to! This excuse find itself in “I worked out yesterday so I should be good” and “2 out of 3 Aint Bad” and “I just don’t have time today”…we all know the slippery slope that leads to!
• Stay CONNECTED to GOD to Do What ONLY HE CAN (1 Samuel 16:11-19)
  • Samuel could have settled and reasoned “maybe God meant a different Jesse”! But instead he stayed obedient to what God called him to. He asked Jesse “is that all of your sons”? Instead of settling…David is brought in and Anointed, goes back to the field in obedience, and then is called to the play the lyre for Saul!
  • This plays out in our life to stay obedient to what God has called us to in the success and the trial! We don’t give up when option after option are presented to us that aren’t the great God’s called us to…and the only way we know the difference in the good vs. the great is how we stay connected to Him

 

Take Away:
                                                                  MY ONE THING:

What are some of the most common excuses you make to not get the ONE THING God desires for you?

How would your life be different if you stopped making excuses and started obeying God?

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“One Thing”

New Year’s start all of the Resolutions…and come March we usually end up being on top of our goals or we end up being feeling defeated by them! What if this year we can be different? What if 2018 is the year we just focus on ONE THING instead of 4. What if this One thing is the One Thing we pray over, our friends hold us accountable and support us in…and what if this One Thing is the building block for the One Things to come? Let’s go make 2018 GREAT!

Matthew 6:33

• What One Thing Do You DESIRE From God? (Psalm 27:4)
  • This is the thing you want to see God do most in your life! This is the thing that keeps you up at night, wakes you up in the morning, drives you insane & if you didn’t have it in your life you would feel without purpose.
• What One Thing Do You LACK ? (Mark 10:21-22)
  • This is the thing you need to accomplish your purpose. This is the thing that Jesus is telling you that you lack in order to take a next step deeper into your purpose and His blessing!
• What One Thing Do You Need To LET GO? (Philippians 3:13-14)
  • There are something things we need to put to rest in order to move forward because they aren’t God’s best for us! What are the good things in your life you have to say no to in order to live out the great things God has planned for you?
• What Promise Do You Need To CLAIM ? (Psalm 56:9-13)
  • God’s Promises are found throughout the Bible! Declare it and watch God’s faithfulness!
    • In Sorrow (John 14)
    • Struggling with Sin (Psalm 51)
    • Worry (Matthew 6:19-34)
    • Danger (Psalm 91)
    • Faith (Hebrews 11)
    • Down & Out (Romans 8:31)
    • Need Peace & Rest (Matthew 11:25-30)
    • Empty Bank Account (Psalm 37)
    • Lonely (Psalm 23)
    • Bitter & Critical (1 Corinthians 13)
    • Relationship Struggles (Romans 12)

 Take Away:

MY ONE THING:

 
Once you know the one thing God is leading you to do make some reminders (Sticky Notes work great for this). Make this one thing more than just a good intention by surrounding yourself with a great support system (stick notes every where to remind you of your one thing). Have Friends join you in prayer for your One Thing and ask you about your progress.

 

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Twisted “Do Not Judge”

We’ve all been there on the both sides! The truth comes out and it’s time to give an account for what wrong was done…and the opening line whether you believe in Jesus or not is usually “Do not judge me for what I did but them for what they did”. This is so often one of the most misquoted Scripture in our society today. Yet without judgement we would have no grades, no possibility of a jury for a fair trial and no accountability from death by someone driving drunk! The issue is, if we are really honest, it’s awesome doling out the judgement but it’s the hardest thing to be punished by it…even if it was our own fault!  So where is the Bible clear about judging?

Matthew 7:1-2

• Don’t JUDGE by APPEARANCE (John 7:24)
  • We always have to look at the context of Scripture with Scripture. Jesus has just spend John 6 Feeding the 5000 and walking on water…then explaining that He is the Bread of Life and sees many Disciples leave Him because He said this. The Pharisees are angry Jesus has healed on the Sabbath & Jesus addresses them by saying don’t judge by the Appearance of something but the reason behind it. It isn’t that we aren’t to keep the Sabbath Holy…it’s that we are to be obedient to what God’s called us to (which the Pharisees didn’t uphold either). The judgement we must walk in is obedience…not appearance of obedience!
  • Isn’t that where we sit? Often the thing we criticize others for the most is the very thing we are struggling with ourselves!
• Don’t JUDGE HYPOCRITICALLY (Matthew 7:3-5)
  • Jesus is teaching us here that it isn’t up to us to gripe about the size of our neighbor’s sin, but instead realize we too are sinners and are called instead to lift our neighbors up not blast them & put them down. It isn’t the size of the sin that matters but that the Grace of God is bigger than sin!
  • As we are calling for others to stop their sin we too are to do the same. It’s one thing to call someone out on their sin…it’s another to walk with them through it! We are called to walk through it with them!
• JUDGE With GRACE and TRUTH (John 1:14-18)
  • Jesus came and operated through Grace and Truth! Both! Not one over the other! He called out the sin in those around Him and gave them the grace to take a next step to be set free from it (look at the Miracles and the Pharisees)
  • This means Christians don’t get made at Non-Christians for not acting like a Christian! We will all be in a place of judgement in one way or the other (because we all mess up). When we are judged with Grace and Truth is where we can grow into all God made us to be! All Truth No Grace drives others away…All Grace No Truth makes everything okay. Both of those situations leave us with no true friends.

Take Away:
Who’s your favorite reality TV judge? What would it be like for you to be judged by them?

What are the situations in your life where you feel most judged? When are you most judgmental of others?

What changes can you make to lead with grace before truth, especially in your relationships with people who don’t follow Jesus?

 

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Twisted “Whatever I Ask In Your Name”

As we go into the crazy busy season of Christmas it’s easy to get things a little twisted! We often quote Bible Verses to explain why, or why not, we get what we ask for! So, why is it that good things happen to bad people and bad things happen to good people! If I pray about it and do good shouldn’t I get what I ask for (Sound Familiar 😉)! So how do we break free of the way we twist this Bible Verse?

John 14:12-14 1 John 5:14-15

• Understand CONTEXT of SCRIPTURE
  • To do this well we have to know this difference between 2 big ideas
    • Exegesis – drawing Truth out of context
    • Eisegesis – Interpreting Text as only you see…not pulling out Truth
  • We have to look at the Scripture in what’s before it, after it and who wrote it. The thing about the Word of God is it’s just right for the season you are in. You will never outgrow and it will always be relevant! The verse you read 3 days ago may reveal something new through the same Truth today! We must stay in exegesis and stay away from eisegesis to truly be in the Will of God.
• Interpret SCRIPTURE with SCRIPTURE
  • As from above, we can see that a Scripture’s context matters for us to really see the Truth revealed! Jesus fulfilled 44 Messianic Prophecies in the Bible. The Word Himself was fulfilling the Word as He spoke the Word! Whenever anyone asked Him who He was He always answered through the filter of Scripture!
  • We must do the same as we learn the will of God for our lives! Our filter must always be through the Holy Spirit through Scripture…not just our experiences!
• Apply WHAT You’ve LEARNED
  • A student will tell you that one of the hardest things to do is to take the things taught and apply them when needed most. The Bible is no different! This isn’t just an historical document to be read, but a road map for a life to be lived! Don’t let the Words on the pages stay stuck there…instead apply them and see how you will get to live out the will of God for your life!
  • Pastor TD Jakes said it well recently “We get stuck asking God for Furniture when He’s given us all of these trees…it’s up to us to make the furniture not God!” This is how we apply God’s will to our lives! Take the things He’s given us and use it for His glory!

This life has never been about what God can do for me (He already did it all)…it’s about His name getting the most fame! We are His Restoration Project for the world to have Eternal Peace & it starts with asking His Will Be Done!

Take Away:
How can you balance coming boldly to God in faith-filled prayer with also asking according to His will?

Has there been a time you asked and asked for something before you finally realized your motives were wrong? What is your biggest prayer request right now?

 

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