April 18, 2021
Sunday AM
What is the greatest enemy of become all that you can be? The satisfaction of staying who you presently are. If you are satisfied with where you’re at now, that’s as far as you will go. God is always changing us and growing us. He wants to increase us. If you’ll let Him increase you, He will increase everything around you.
Luke 17:1-4 Then He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. 3 Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. 4 And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.”
This is saying that it is inevitable that offenses will come. If you have the capacity to be offended, you also have the capacity to offend others. No one can offend you unless you allow it. We all want increase in our lives, but offenses hinder that more than we realize. Have you ever been stuck? When you’re stuck you expend a lot of energy and resources, but you don’t go anywhere. We get stuck in our everyday lives. Most of the time people are stuck because they hold on to offenses. Because they hold on to things people have done to them. We weren’t taught to take these things seriously. There is pride involved. The fuller you are of yourself and pride, the easier it is to become offended. We are to be people who let our light shine. We are to be salt and light. We are to be examples. People of love do not live in strife and contention all the time. It’s not who we are. Every day there is an opportunity to be offended or for you to offend someone. You have to be aware! We live in a time where selfishness is rampant. But for a Christian, selfishness should not be the way.
In verse 2, the “little ones” referred to are people who have newly come to the faith. It does not necessarily mean a child. D
Matthew 18:1-3 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who then is greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” 2 Then Jesus called a little child to Him, set him in the midst of them, 3 and said, “Assuredly, I say to you, unless you are converted and become as little children, you will by no means enter the kingdom of heaven.
We must develop this kind of heart. We much become as little children. A child is teachable and trusting. It represents humility. You cannot teach a prideful person because they think they know! When we become adults and people hurt us, we become harder and not as trusting. It does affect how we trust God whether we realize it or not. Holding these offenses in your life will hinder you from becoming who you are meant to be. God takes it very seriously how we treat other people
In verse 3 of the passage in Luke where it says, “rebuke him,” this means to go to the other person and express that you both know that wasn’t right. You have to handle this situation right. Especially if you are upset. You don’t know how they will respond, but what is important is that you have already settled how you are going to respond.
In verse 4, He is teaching that you cannot put a limit on how many times you forgive.
Luke 17:5-6 And the apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith.”6 So the Lord said, “If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
When they asked Him to “increase their faith,” He pointed them towards the tree. He was proving that they don’t need an increase in faith. Because faith just the size of a mustard seed could speak to that tree and it would obey. These particular trees have a very enormous root systems. It is just like things that get rooted deep within people. We tend to think the tree is the issues, But it’s really the root. We think that faith is the issue, but it is really the deep-rooted things in you. If you’ll take care of those things, your faith will work. If not, it will hinder and devastate your faith. We have the faith of God just like Jesus had the faith of God. When you were born again the faith of God was measured to you and redeemed in you. You have faith. Even if it is the size of a mustard seed, it is His faith, and it will work for you just like it works for Jesus. But if you have things in your heart that are hindering it from working, it simply won’t work. This is where the love of God comes into play. The same heart that you believe with, is the same heart that you love others with. Love is of the heart. Faith is also of the heart. But if you have doubt in your heart, you can’t operate your faith and you can’t believe, and you can’t love. It hinders everything! We are to forgive people no matter how many times it comes up. Do not hold any animosity in your heart. Only the love of God can change your heart to the degree that no matter what people say, it does not get rooted in you. There is nothing that will affect your prayer life like the love of God coming in and driving the unforgiveness and doubt out. Prayer can work like it was designed by God to work. The love of God drives out contention and strife. Love never bows to strife. If you want peace to increase in your life, love has to increase. You want the peace that can be so strong that everything around you can be falling apart and all you can feel within is peace? You have to get in the presence of God and let His love weed out all the darkness and doubt. It is so aggressive and powerful that it will overwhelm anything that tries to invade it’s space. Wouldn’t it be great to get to the place that you wouldn’t even notice when someone does wrong to you? To get there, you have to have God’s love and peace. It does not originate in man. There is nothing outside of the love of God that is worthy of your time. It is worth it for you to take the love of God seriously.
When you were born again the love of God was planted in you in seed form. He gave us His nature. God is love. We have a capacity to love like God loves. But just because you got that nature, does not make you automatically able to love on that level. But it can be increased. As the love increases, so does the peace. It drives out the fear, the doubt, the things that keep the faith from working. Then, your faith can work like God designed it to work.