Advent 2008 #3 Go
Let’s go
Let’s go and see
Its one thing to believe what you have been told,
especially if you consider that the person giving you the information
is trustworthy,
but when it’s your experience,
what you have personally witnessed,
belief becomes fact.
First hand knowledge takes your belief from a hearsay experience to personal fact.
Can you be fooled by what you see?
Certainly.
With today’s modern technology,
audio and video can be altered so that what you hear and see may not be
true.
If you go to any decent magic show you know that you can be fooled into
seeing or not seeing what the magician wants you to see.
Recently I got to go to the Magic Castle in Hollywood.
One of the magicians levitated a table and then danced around
the room with it.
Can you sincerely believe something that is not true?
Certainly
Mike Pratt works with a group of folks who believe all kinds of outlandish
things.
One fellow believes he owns Ford Motor Company.
Another believe he is Adam’s, of Adam and Eve, Adam’s
grandfather.
A reality check proves that what they believe just isn’t true.
Mike Shermer in his book, Why People Believe Weird Things,
says that people believe weird things because they want to.
He has observed that the more intelligent the person,
the more reasonable their arguments to support their
belief.
But bottom line—folks believe what they want to,
The stronger the belief, the more narrow they become,
rejecting any argument that suggests that what they believe is
not true.
So you can strongly, maybe even fanatically,
believe something that is not true.
Mike Balmer will tell you that there is nothing more unreliable than an eye
witness.
Yet when two or three people independently tell the same story,
Their account of what happened becomes more credible.
In a court of law the testimony of two or three eye witnesses can
establish something that was seen, as fact.
I am naturally skeptical.
What seals the deal for me, that something is true, that something is a
fact, is to experience it myself.
I say a lot of things that I hope that you believe are fact.
I hope you would consider me a reliable source to accurately retell
what I have experienced.
But I suspect, that like me, what will seal the deal for you,
is for you to see and experience the spiritual realities I speak
about for yourself.
Today I want to tell you how you can gain first hand experience in your
relationship with God.
Luke 2:8-15 (MSG)
There were sheepherders camping in the neighborhood. They had set night watches over their sheep. Suddenly, God's angel stood among them and God's glory blazed around them. They were terrified. The angel said, "Don't be afraid. I'm here to announce a great and joyful event that is meant for everybody, worldwide: A Savior has just been born in David's town, a Savior who is Messiah and Master. This is what you're to look for: a baby wrapped in a blanket and lying in a manger."
At once the angel was joined by a huge
angelic choir singing God's praises: Glory to God in the heavenly heights,
Peace to all men and women on earth who please him.
As the angel choir withdrew into heaven, the sheepherders talked it over. "Let's get over to Bethlehem as fast as we can and see for ourselves what God has revealed to us."
The Angel told the shepherds,
I’ve got good news of great joy a savior is born.
The shepherds could have been like far too many people today who are
content to just hear and exercise a hearsay belief.
Yes I believe that there is a God.
Yes I believe that a savior is born
Yes I believe Jesus died for my sins
Yes I believe that Jesus rose from the dead
If asked why, their answer is because someone told them about God, or they read about Jesus,
or they believe to make their wife happy.
They might say something like—
I grew up in the church of course I believe.
Great Grandpa was a preacher,
Grandpa was a preacher,
Dad was a preacher—
That makes me a Christian.
Some might even say I believe, I am a Christian because,
I am not Jewish, or a Muslim, or a Buddhist, or a Hindu.
I want to encourage you to do what the shepherds did.
They heard the message, and then went to check it out.
Let’s go and see.
They went, they saw, what was told to them was confirmed,
They were changed by the encounter,
They left rejoicing and telling every one about what they
had experienced.
Personal encounter is incredibly convincing.
Encounter and experience has a profound effect on you.
It changes you.
It changes you from a hearsay believer,
To one who believes because of what they have
experienced.
I want you to have your own personal encounters with God.
I want you to daily experience the presence of God,
The voice of God, the hand of God, the guidance of God.
I know that it through the practice of the spiritual disciplines that you make
yourself most receptive for an encounter with God.
I have encouraged you to practice seven spiritual disciplines.
Bible reading and study, prayer, fellowship, service,
Worship, obedience and contemplation.
You engage in these practices with the express purpose of
encountering God.
It is through these audiences with God,
That your spiritual eyes are open to see spiritual truth
It is through these audiences with God,
That you spiritual ears are open to hear spiritual truth
It is through these audiences with God,
That you deepen your relationship with God.
It is through these audiences with God,
That you gain first hand eyewitness experience.
It is through these encounters with God
That hearsay belief becomes personal experiential fact.
Recently I asked the Lord,
why do people find it so difficult to practice the spiritual disciplines?
Folks will agree that this is what they need to do but never
Seem to get around to doing it.
Why?
Why don’t they go and see for themselves?
Four thoughts came to mind.
Or if I want try to impress you: “The Lord told me four things.”
But I’ll let you be the judge of whether these thoughts are my
own or inspired by God.
Why Do People Find It So Difficult To Practice The Spiritual Disciplines?
Reason Number One:
It’s a discipline.
Most of us equate discipline to punishment.
Even if you don’t have that mental hurdle and learned that
discipline can be a very good thing,
you know that discipline is not easy.
Hebrews 12:11 (MSG)
At the time, discipline isn't much fun. It always feels like it's going against the grain. Later, of course, it pays off handsomely, for it's the well-trained who find themselves mature in their relationship with God.
While discipline is not punishment it is correction.
Most of us don’t like to be corrected,
We much prefer doing life like we’ve been doing it.
Change your thinking about discipline, from punishment and
correction to “pays off handsomely.”
And that’s all you may have to do start your daily
practice of the spiritual disciplines.
Reason Number Two:
Folks find it difficult to practice the spiritual disciplines because any
change in lifestyle is hard to make.
That puts practicing the spiritual disciplines on par with staying on a
diet, getting the proper amount of exercise,
8 to 10 hours of sleep every night and
drinking 64 ounces of water everyday.
I can’t remember the author, but he or she liked to refer to the spiritual
disciplines as habits of the heart.
Habits—ever try to break a bad habit,
Or create a new good, healthy habit?
In the beginning it is tough work,
Success is often pursued by the temptation to
relapse.
It is hard work that only pays off later.
The experts say it takes 30 days to start a good habit.
They say you should concentrate on just one habit at a time.
They say you need an accountability person to keep you
committed to the change.
They say your next goal after day thirty is
day ninety.
Maybe all you need to do is what the experts say to make your
practice of the spiritual disciplines a habit.
Why do people find it so difficult to practice the spiritual disciplines?
I think one reason is that folks have a negative mental hurdle to
overcome.
Another reason is that its hard to make a lifestyle change.
Reason Number Three:
Folks are afraid to have a personal encounter with God.
Moses has lead the nation of Israel out of their Egyptian bondage
They arrive at Mt. Sinai, and God meets them there.
Exodus 19:16 (NIV)
On the morning of the third day there was thunder and lightning, with a thick cloud over the mountain, and a very loud trumpet blast. Everyone in the camp trembled.
Moses goes up the Mt, he returns with the Ten Commandments and
presents them to the people.
Exodus 20:18-19 (NIV)
When the people saw the thunder and lightning and heard the trumpet and saw the mountain in smoke, they trembled with fear. They stayed at a distance and said to Moses, "Speak to us yourself and we will listen. But do not have God speak to us or we will die."
Later Moses will call the people to
remembrance of this time
Deuteronomy 5:5 (MSG)
At the time I stood between God and you, to tell you what God said.
You were afraid…
Could it be that you believe everything I have told you about practicing the
spiritual disciplines and are just plain afraid of what will result if you
have an encounter with God.
So you’re hiding?
Are you afraid that God will direct you to do things that you don’t
really want to do;
That God will tell you things that you don’t really want
to know?
Are you afraid that God is mad at you;
Or that He will punish you?
Is fear keeping you from going and seeing for yourself?
Would you rather have someone else tell you what God said,
What God wants, what God is doing, than to get that
information first hand because then you are without
excuse and can be held accountable?
Maybe you think God is that harsh critical parent whom you can never
Please;
Or maybe that demanding boss who is always pushing
you to do more, achieve more, get more done.
You’re afraid that your fears will prove to be well founded if
you have an encounter with God.
The shepherd took what they heard, and decided to go and see for
themselves.
When they found the Messiah,
He was not decked out in dread array.
He was neither impressive nor powerful,
He was a baby, born in poverty.
Could the message be any clearer—
Don’t be afraid.
The only way I know to overcome your fear is to face what you fear,
and in that experience discover that there was nothing to be
afraid of.
If fear is holding you back, you’ve got to find the reason why you are afraid,
Then you will have to face your fear to overcome it.
Be encouraged, God, the one you are afraid of will help you overcome
your fear.
Reason Four: You’re Angry with God.
God did or did not do something that has greatly impacted your life.
And you are just plan angry.
Something happened, it hurt, it rocked your world.
You’ve said to yourself:
How can a God who is supposed to love me and take care of me
allow this to happen?
Your expectations of your relationship with God have been violated,
and God is the offending party.
Anything from no pony for Christmas to the death of a
loved one.
Job was angry at God (
Jonah was angry at God. (Jonah 4)
Jeremiah was angry at God. (Jeremiah 15:18)
I suggest that you do what they did.
Each one brought their complaint to God.
Each one laid their grievance out on the table.
Each one experienced an encounter with God,
and they left that encounter no longer angry.
Your relationship with God is like your relationship with someone you are very
close to, someone you trust.
I know I have hurt my wife’s feelings, and out of hurt,
She was angry with me.
Now if she just tucked that angry away and started to avoid me,
Our relationship would deteriorate,
With further hurts and misunderstandings piling up.
Instead of burying her anger, she seeks to resolve her anger through
confrontation.
She cares about her relationship with me,
Anger is the emotion you feel when your
expectations are not met.
Used positively anger is the motivation and the energy to
iron things out.
So if the reason you are not practicing the spiritual disciplines is because you are
angry with God
use your anger positively and tell God how you feel,
with the intent to let your side be heard,
and to iron out your grievance.
You’ll be amazed at what happens.
Four reasons why people don’t practice the spiritual disciplines:
Wrong thinking, hard work, fear, and anger.
The result of not practicing the spiritual disciplines is hearsay belief.
Hearsay belief is not sufficient.
Having a faith in God solely based on what others have told you is not
the real deal.
To know God,
To become the person God created you to be,
To do the things God created you to do,
To live your life to the full,
You need the belief that only comes from
first hand experience.
If you want to know the joy of the Lord,
And the peace which surpasses all understanding,
You need the belief that only comes from first hand
experience.
You gain that first hand experience through encounters with God.
And you ask for those encounters through the practice of the
spiritual disciplines.
Let’s go and see for ourselves.
There is joy and there is peace to be found in your encounter.