james 12 - jesus' life, your life - ptr alvin gutierrez - 4 pm afternoon service
TRANSCRIPT
JESUS’LIFE,
YOUR LIFE
13 Now listen, you who say, “Today ortomorrow we will go to this or that city,spend a year there, carry on businessand make money.” 14 Why, you do noteven know what will happen tomorrow.What is your life? You are a mist thatappears for a little while and thenvanishes.
JAMES 4:13-17
15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is theLord’s will, we will live and do this orthat.” 16 As it is, you boast in yourarrogant schemes. All such boasting isevil. 17 If anyone, then, knows the goodthey ought to do and doesn’t do it, it issin for them.
JAMES 4:13-17
HOPES &
DREAMS
The way life works is we have a vision for a future, a hope, a dream, a
longing, and then we start to plan so that we can have our life going in that
direction.
The things that are most important are the things that get a plan.
If you want to figure out how to put together a plan, you start considering
your options for counsel.
Some of the counsel you’ll get is “Godless,” meaning it doesn’t say
anything negative about God. It just doesn’t say anything about God;
No reference to God at all.
Some of the counsel you’ll get is “God-light.” It’s sort of best business
practices, tips, and tricks with vague, general, spiritual references like,
“Don’t overlook your soul. Make sure to include your spiritual life.”
TWO TRUTHS
ABOUT LIFE
13 Now listen, you who say, “Today ortomorrow we will go to this or that city,spend a year there, carry on businessand make money.” 14 Why, you do noteven know what will happen tomorrow.What is your life? You are a mist thatappears for a little while and thenvanishes.
JAMES 4:13-16
15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is theLord’s will, we will live and do this orthat.” 16 As it is, you boast in yourarrogant schemes. All such boasting isevil.
JAMES 4:13-16
LIFE IS
UNCERTAIN.
The Bible talks a lot about planning. Proverbs talks a ton about how wise it
is to seek good counsel and make a wise plan. It’s not a sin to have a vision. It’s not a sin to make a plan. It’s not a
sin to be organized.
The problem is not when we have a vision, hope, a dream, a plan; the
problem is when it doesn’t include the Lord. The problem is when it’s out of
arrogance and not humility; it’s seeking our will, not God’s will. That’s the
problem.
SOVEREIGNTY &
SEPARATION
This is how you behave in business. This is how you behave as a citizen. But the spiritual, the faith—it’s private. It’s
internal; it’s not external. You don’t share it with anyone. It doesn’t affect
the rest of your life.
What they’ve done is they’ve created a firewall in their life between their
relationship with God and all of their other relationships.
“IF THE LORD
WILLS”
What that allows for those of you who are more active is humility. For those of you who are passive, it will allow
you to have more confidence. Some of us get ourselves in trouble saying, “The
Lord said let’s do it,” and then he changes the circumstances.
The way out of that is humility and to say, “I believe this is best, and the Lord
can change his plan for us. But as of now, this is what we’re doing and
where we’re going.
More humility for the confident, more confidence for the humble to proceed
together into the will of God. If the Lord wills, if the Lord wills. His first
principle is that life is uncertain.
LIFE IS
BRIEF.
14 Why, you do not even know what willhappen tomorrow. What is your life?You are a mist that appears for a littlewhile and then vanishes.
JAMES 4:14
All the little questions orbit around the big question, What is your life?
What is your life? A mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.
“HEBEL”
Life doesn’t have to be lived in vain, but it can be. You can have a wasted life instead of an invested life. That
word hebel—it has a lot of meanings because life is complex.
But ultimately, James here gets the best interpretation of that word
hebel. What is life? Life is a mist that appears for a little time and then
vanishes.
LIFE IS FASTER
WHEN YOU’RE
OLDER.
DEATH
Life gets very clear when time is very short. It’s ultimately people and
memories that matter, and we take those with us to the kingdom of God.
Ed and Floreen Hale
Floreen and Ed’s lovestory began more than60 years ago when thetwo met at a party.When the youngengineer went toFloreen’s parents toask for her hand inmarriage,
they refused becausethe young woman wasrecovering at that timefrom a horrific caraccident whichclaimed the life of herfirst husband whomshe had married onlythree months earlier.
Here’s Floreen’s story:She’s young. She’s in love.She gets married. She andher husband have plans,and in a car crash, he diesthree months later.Breathes his last breath,and life is a breath that’shere today and gonetomorrow. Somehow thisshaped she planned herfuture to enjoy it.
The story continues. ButEd was determined to bewith Floreen and wouldnot take no for an answerdeclaring to his future in-laws that he was willing tocarry his beloved in hisarms every day. Thecouple said, “I do” May12, 1953, and settled inBatavia, New York, in ahome designed by Mr.Hale.
The Hales have twosurviving children, Reneeand Ricky. A third babydied in infancy. Life is amist here today, gonetomorrow.
Ed’s greatest joy in lifewas pampering his wifeand spoiling her with littletokens of affection. At atime when she worked asa telephone operator at alocal hospital, Ed wouldbring Floreen her dinnerand dessert.
Ed did most of the groceryshopping for the house,and every time he went tothe store, he picked upsome sweet treat orflowers for Floreen. In thewinter, Ed would clear hiswife’s car of snow andwarm it up for her to drivehome from work earninghim the nickname SaintEdward from theirrelatives.
When Floreen’s familyand friends would teaseher about her adoringhusband asking her whatshe would do withouthim, Floreen would replythat he was not allowedto go before her.
After an active, full life,Mr. Hale was diagnosedwith kidney disease a littleover five years agorequiring dialysis, regulartreatments. He alsosuffered severe heartattacks and had diabetes,but that didn’t stop himfrom taking his wife outalmost every day.
Mrs. Hale, known for herirrepressible sense ofhumor, chattiness, and apension for colorfuladornments, also had alaundry list of ailments,from asthma to heartdisease. Still she woulddress up to go to thedoctor, with Ed always byher side.
At the same time, herhusband was in UnityHospital in Rochester withkidney failure. We werehanded two deathsentences. Floreen’ssister, Marlene DeCarlotold this blog. The 83-year-old man, Ed, wassemi-conscious andappeared to be at death’sdoor, but two days afterhis wife’s hospitalization,
Ed woke up and told hisdaughter, “I need to seeFloreen.” See, Ed had aplan to take care of hiswife for the duration ofher life. That was his plan.What followed next was aseries of negotiationsbetween the hospitals inRochester and Bataviahelped along by a socialworker whose job it wasto convince United to
admit Mr. Hale. TheBatavia Hospital agreed toaccept the dying patientbut only if he was strongenough to make the 35-mile trip. She’s in thehospital dying. He’s in thehospital dying. They’vebeen together for 60years, and now they’reseparated by thirty-fivemiles.
Ed wakes up and isdetermined. His plan is toget to Floreen. As if bymiracle, Ed ralliedsufficiently for the shortambulance ride arriving atUnited in the afternoon ofFebruary 6. His solerequest was to seeFloreen. The hospitalprepared a room for thecouple where the twobeds were pushed
together so that theycould lie next to oneanother and hold handsas Floreen faded away.You notice she’s still got abow in her hair? She hada plan, too.
The 82-year-old womanwas pronounced dead themorning after Ed’s arrival.Ed made it there in time.He got to walk his wifehome. Surrounded bydozens of friends andfamily, her husbandfollowed her a day later.
The most important day of your life is the last day. There are enumerable things that could distract you from
living for that last day.
That’s the most important thing. You could go at any time, and you’ll all go at some time. What about the people
and things in your life?
LIFE SHOULD BE
URGENT
We make our plans and we seek to make our plans his plans for our life.
Life is uncertain. Life is brief.
LIFE’S
PRIORITIES
WHAT TO DO
WITH YOUR
LIFE
DON’T BE
ARROGANT.
GO TO
SCRIPTURE.
Don’t just make a plan for your life and then find people who agree with
you and declare them to be wise counsel.
SEEK WISE
COUNSEL.
Seek wise counsel, godly people whom you will invite into your life
and entrust to your decision-making.
ASK THE
HOLY SPIRIT
TO EMPOWER
YOU.
The Holy Spirit is God come to take up residence in you to inform and empower your life as he did Jesus.
And Paul declares that the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of wisdom. What we’re talking about here is wisdom and
folly.
PLAN
ACCORDINGLY.
Plan accordingly, openhanded, if the Lord wills.
WHAT JESUS
DID WITH HIS
TIME
Now, God became a man, his name is Jesus Christ, but he welcomed upon
himself certain limitations for a season to identify with us.
Jesus didn’t start worshiping when he stopped hammering. He was worshiping
through hammering, and then he was worshiping through preaching, and it was always worshiping, and it was taking what
the Father had given him to do and just doing that well by the grace that God
gives.
THREE THINGS
TO KNOW ABOUT
YOUR PLATE
KNOW THE SIZE
OF YOUR PLATE.
There are limitations, and we have greater limitations than he. When we’re talking about your plate size,
we’re talking about your life capacity.
KNOW WHAT
TO TAKE OFF
YOUR PLATE.
So you have got to take some stuff off your plate. Whatever the case may
be. Maybe there were things that you had time and energy for, and now you don’t and they have to come off your
plate.
KNOW WHAT
TO PUT
ONYOUR
PLATE.
Life is a mist. It’s here today and it’s gone tomorrow. And here’s the good news:
we’re alive. We have an opportunity to examine the life that God has entrusted to us, to make some course corrections
and changes so that we don’t live in such a way that the last day is a regrettable, remorseful day, but it’s a rejoicing day.
We don’t want you to be discouraged but encouraged. We don’t want you to just regret the things you haven’t done, but
we want you to celebrate the things that are yet to be done.
Life is short
but god is
good.
FAITHWORKS CHRISTIAN CHURCH GLOBAL
Presented By:
Ptr. Alvin GutierrezFCC Main
10AM Morning Worship Service May 29, 2016
Website: http://faithworkschristianchurch.comFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Faithworks-Christian-Church-Global-292363410916567/