Over-Inflated Faith (Pt.2)

(Part 2 of 2)

“Then Jesus left them again and prayed the same prayer as before. When he returned to them again, he found them sleeping, for they couldn’t keep their eyes open. And they didn’t know what to say.”-Mark 14:39-40

Where did all their proud boasting go? These die hard believers that were, hours before, willing to lay down their lives for Jesus; couldn’t keep their eyes open for one hour to pray with Him. The sad reality is that a man will never die for Jesus if they aren’t first committed to pray with Him. Gethsemane always comes before Calvary. The truest test of our faith is not our willingness to die, but our willingness to pray.

The problem for many is that prayer is not as colorful as martyrdom. There are no books like Foxes Book of Martyrs geared towards those, who rather, lived a life of consistent prayer. We’ve romanticized martyrdom and marginalized prayer.

However, Jesus said in Luke 9:23:

“Then he said to the crowd, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.”

Usually when quoting this passage we recite it like this: “Jesus said take up your cross and follow me.” We leave out the “give up your own way” part of the passage. Nonetheless, that is precisely what Jesus did at Gethsemane:

“He went on a little farther and fell to the ground. He prayed that, if it were possible, the awful hour awaiting him might pass him by. “Abba, Father,” he cried out, “everything is possible for you. Please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine.”

In prayer, Jesus laid down His will for the Father’s will. Why? Because Gethsemane always comes before calvary. Living a crucified life is rooted in prayer. You can tell God all day long how much you love Him and how you would do anything for Him; but if you fail to prioritize prayer you are offering Him hollow words. Peter’s unwillingness to pray ultimately resulted in his denial of Christ. This after, Jesus had graciously tried repeatedly to wake Peter up from his slumber, knowing that his prayerlessness was going to lead him into sin.

These Scripture should give us pause and cause to to stop and consider if our prayer life is reflective of a person who would truly die for Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote in Philippians 3:10:

“That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.”

Our fellowship in Jesus’ suffering doesn’t begin at the cross, it begins at the rock where He shed tears like drops of blood in prayer. So before we boast of the great faith that we carry, let us first stop and ask ourselves if our prayer time truly reflects our testimony.

Pastor Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church

Over-Inflated Faith (Pt.1)

(Part 1 of 2)

“On the way, Jesus told them, “All of you will desert me. For the Scriptures say,

‘God will strike the Shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ But after I am raised from the dead, I will go ahead of you to Galilee and meet you there.” Peter said to him, “Even if everyone else deserts you, I never will.” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, Peter—this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny three times that you even know me.” “No!” Peter declared emphatically. “Even if I have to die with you, I will never deny you!” And all the others vowed the same.”-Mark 14:27-31

I love Peter’s passion in this passage as he declares his undying loyalty to Jesus;  professing that he would never desert Jesus and would ultimately die with Him if it would come to that. This didn’t come from a man who had recently began following the Lord, Peter had walked with Jesus day in and day out for 3 years. He had sit at Jesus’ feet and been discipled by Him. He had heard Jesus teachings to the multitudes  and witnessed first hand the miracles that we only read about. He had hosted Jesus in His home and watched Him heal His mother-in-law. Jesus included him in His inner circle of three and declared before all the other disciples that he would be intricately involved in establishing the church. Peter had an intimate knowledge of Christ based on an intimate relationship with Him. So Peter’s proclamation of faith was not necessarily misguided. However, it was certainly over-inflated.

Let’s be honest, probably everyone of us, if we had been there that day would have responded and vowed the same as each of the others. But are we as committed to Christ as we think we are or have convinced ourselves that we are? Or have we over-inflated our faith? The funny thing is, Jesus tried to caution Peter not to “over-inflate” his faith:

“Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, Peter-this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny three times that you even know me.”-Mark 14:30

Jesus’ response to Peter’s proclamation was basically this: “Die with me? Before the night’s out you will have denied simply knowing me!”

Jesus then proceeds to the Mt. Olives with His disciples.

“They went to the olive grove called Gethsemane, and Jesus said, “Sit here while I go and pray.” He took Peter, James, and John with him, and he became deeply troubled and distressed. He told them, “My soul is crushed with grief to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.”-Mark 14:32-34

           

Jesus goes off to pray and in verse 37 returns to His disciples- “Then he returned and found the disciples asleep. He said to Peter, “Simon, are you asleep? Couldn’t you watch with me even one hour? Keep watch and pray, so that you will not give in to temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”-Mark 14:37-38

Those words that Peter professed earlier must have seemed pretty hollow at this moment. Peter had emphatically declared that He would follow Jesus anywhere…even to death. Yet, he was unable or unwilling to stay awake and pray for even an hour!

Pastor Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church     

Choices (Pt. 2)

“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!”-Deuteronomy 30:19

God has given us the ability to choose a path that leads to life or choose a path that leads to death. Today, I want to focus in on six areas in which you’ve been given the ability to choose. Choices that can impact your life everyday: love, joy, peace, forgiveness, serving God and salvation.

Believe it or not, love is a choice!  Infatuation is certainly an emotion, but love is a choice. Romans 5:8 declares that God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us. His love for us was demonstrated through His sacrificial death and not through an emotional expression. In fact, in Luke 10:27, we are commanded to love the Lord with all of our heart, soul, strength, and mind. You cannot command someone to be infatuated with someone else, but yet the Lord commands us love Him and to love our neighbors. He even goes as far in Matthew 5:43-44 to tell us to love our enemies; something most of us would have a difficult time doing, if love were merely an emotion. Love isn’t a feeling it is a demonstration of Christ’s goodness, service, and sacrifice towards others.

Joy is a choice! Don’t confuse happiness and joy. Happiness is tied to our circumstances, joy is tied to our relationship with Christ. James 1:2 states: “Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.” You can either choose to be miserable and play the victim or you can rejoice in your relationship with God. Joy reminds us that we are not moved by our circumstances, but by our faith in God.

Peace is a choice! Romans 12;18 declares:  “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.” A wise man once told me: “Just because someone calls for a war, doesn’t mean you have to show up to fight.” The passage is clear. I cannot control everyone, but I can certainly control how I respond. As far as it depends on you, live at peace.

Forgiveness is a choice! Matthew 6:14-15 states: “For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Each one of us has the power and the prerogative to forgive. Forgiveness isn’t just something God hopes for us but it is something He expects from those who have received His forgiveness.

Serving God is a choice! Joshua declared it best in Joshua 24:15: “And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Choosing to serve God is a daily decision!

However, the greatest choice you will ever make is choosing Jesus! Salvation is a gift secured for us by Jesus that we must choose to receive. It should not be a decision we make once you’ve eliminated every other option, but a willful distinct life-altering choice that will direct your life.

Romans 10:9-“If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.” You can choose to sin and live for self, or you can choose to repent and live for Christ! The choice is yours!


Pastor Scott Burr
Dayspring Community Church

Choices (Pt.1)

“Who are those who fear the Lord? He will show them the path they should choose.”-Psalm 25:12 (NLT)

Choices! I read an article recently about a Columbia researcher who has found that the average person makes about 70 conscious choices everyday. That amounts to 25,500 choices a year. Meaning that over 70 years a person will make 1,788,500 choices on average.

As I searched the internet I found what, at first, I thought was information that was countering her findings. Multiple other sites say that the average person makes 35,000 decisions per day. This may sound contradictory, however, choosing and making decisions are not necessarily the same thing.

Decisions are made as we eliminate options compared to making a choice which involves empowering ourselves to choose.

Let’s say I am approaching  fork in the road. Both roads take us to our destination, one appears to be paves and well maintained, the other is a dirt road and extremely difficult to navigate. As we approach the fork in the road, upon looking at the options we decide that dirt road looks too difficult to pass, so we veer right, we’ve made a decision. If we approach the fork in the  road and stop to consider the ramifications of taking each path and ultimately decide that going left will produce in us something that will strengthen our character, then we’ve made a choice. Most of what we face each day are not choices, but decisions. In fact, most of our decisions are informed by our emotions or preferences, where choices are rooted in values and beliefs. Things can get sticky when we make choices based on emotions and preferences.

We can spend our lifetime making all sorts of decisions, yet we spend little time, if any, making distinctive life choices. If it is true that we make 35,000 decision per day and only 70 distinct life choices; then it would be easy for those important life changing moments to get swallowed up by decisions that are fleeting.

According to Psalm 25:12, God has empowered us to choose! In one of my favorite verses in the Bible, God is speaking to Israel and declares in Deuteronomy 30:19:

“Today I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!”

God has given us the ability to choose a path that leads to life or choose a path that leads to death. Next week I want to focus in on six areas in which you’ve been given the ability to choose that can impact you life everyday: love, joy, peace, forgiveness, serving God and salvation.

Pastor Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church

The receiving end of resentment (Pt.2)

“And David behaved wisely in all his ways, and the Lord was with him.”-1 Samuel 18:14

It’s important to understand that when the spears began to fly, David did not stick around to be pierced through by Saul. He removed himself whenever he could from these difficult moments.  However, removing ourselves is not always an option and so David adopted another way of handling Saul’s persistent attacks. He behaved wisely in all his ways!

The bible is clear about how we should respond to those trying to harm us:

“Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. Therefore “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; If he is thirsty, give him a drink; For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”-Romans 12:17-21

The Bible says not repay evil for evil, but rather we are to let God take care of bringing about justice. It’s not enough that we simply don’t wish bad things to happen to our enemies, but He goes so far as to say that we should demonstrate compassion towards those who wish to do us harm. Jesus takes the idea even further in Matthew 5:44-45: 

“But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.”

Through each of these passages God is challenging us to choose honor rather than vengeance, something David chose in regards to King Saul:

“And David said to Saul: “Why do you listen to the words of men who say, ‘Indeed David seeks your harm’? Look, this day your eyes have seen that the Lord delivered you today into my hand in the cave, and someone urged me to kill you. But my eye spared you, and I said, ‘I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.’ Moreover, my father, see! Yes, see the corner of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the corner of your robe, and did not kill you, know and see that there is neither evil nor rebellion in my hand, and I have not sinned against you. Yet you hunt my life to take it. Let the Lord judge between you and me, and let the Lord avenge me on you. But my hand shall not be against you.”-1 Samuel 24: 9-12 

David chose the path of honor. One which each of us is called to follow:

“Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. Let each of you look out not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others.”- Philippians 2:3-4 

This is a noble pursuit, but what happens if they persist. Remember King Saul tried to spear David three times, sent messengers to kill him, pursued him in the wilderness repeatedly in an attempt to capture and kill him and yet every time David demonstrated honor.

In fact, David refused even to rejoice in his enemies ultimate demise:

“Therefore David took hold of his own clothes and tore them, and so did all the men who were with him. And they mourned and wept and fasted until evening for Saul and for Jonathan his son, for the people of the Lord and for the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword.”-2 Samuel 1:11-12

I never see it recorded that David ever bad mouthed, gossiped, or slandered King Saul in any way. Choosing honor protected David’s heart from becoming bitter and from becoming resentful himself!

Pastor Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church 

The receiving end of resentment (Pt.1)

“Now when he had finished speaking to Saul, the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. Saul took him that day, and would not let him go home to his father’s house anymore. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan took off the robe that was on him and gave it to David, with his armor, even to his sword and his bow and his belt. So David went out wherever Saul sent him, and behaved wisely. And Saul set him over the men of war, and he was accepted in the sight of all the people and also in the sight of Saul’s servants. Now it had happened as they were coming home, when David was returning from the slaughter of the Philistine, that the women had come out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with joy, and with musical instruments. So the women sang as they danced, and said: “Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands.” Then Saul was very angry, and the saying displeased him; and he said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed only thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?” 9 So Saul eyed David from that day forward.”-1 Samuel 18:1-9

How are we to behave when we are on the receiving end of someone else’s resentment? So often when we discuss resentment, we are discussing the dangers of holding it ourselves and how that impact our lives. However, we also need to look at how to respond to resentment when we have become the target of it. 

David became the source of great displeasure for Saul, when greater victories and successes were attributed to David rather than to himself. In fact, vs.9 tells us that Saul began to eye David. Saul could bot appreciate the praise being heaped on David and it soon became the seed of his resentment. 

Resentment is a feeling of indignant displeasure or persistent ill will at something regarded as a wrong, insult, or injury. 

The displeasure Saul felt toward David swelled into a desire to destroy him by any means:

“And it happened on the next day that the distressing spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house. So David played music with his hand, as at other times; but there was a spear in Saul’s hand. And Saul cast the spear, for he said, “I will pin David to the wall!” But David escaped his presence twice. Now Saul was afraid of David, because the Lord was with him, but had departed from Saul.”-1 Samuel 18:10-12

This would not be the only time that Saul would attempt to pin David to the wall with his spear (1 Samuel 19:9-10). However, pinning someone to the wall isn’t always done with a spear; in our lives it is done mostly with words and vicious behaviors. Nevertheless, Saul’s wickedness is not the focus of our study. What we are looking to glean from is David’s response to Saul’s attacks. 

It’s important to understand that when the spears began to fly, David did not stick around to be pierced through by Saul. He removed himself whenever he could from these difficult moments. 

However, removing ourselves is not always an option and so David adopted another way of handling Saul’s persistent attacks: 

“And David behaved wisely, in all his ways, and the Lord was with him.”-1 Samuel 18:14. 

Pastor Scott Burr

Dayspring Community Church