4. Luke 17: 1 Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come.”
5. Luke 17: 3-4 “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.” The apostles said to the Lord,“Increase our faith!”
6. I’ve been let down… Who ? - Somebody else (parents, family, friends) - The Church (Leaders) - God
7. Proverbs 13: 12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.
8. Psalm 37: 1-4 Do not fret because of those who are evil or be envious of those who do wrong; 2for like the grass they will soon wither, like green plants they will soon die away. 3 Trust in the LORD and do good; dwell in the land and enjoy safe pasture. 4Take delight in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
9. Is the Jesus you are believing in the Jesus of the Bible … or one of your own imagining ?
10. I’ve been let down… Who ? - Somebody else (parents, family, friends) - The Church (Leaders) - God - Myself
11. Luke 10: 27 ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’
12. I’ve been let down … Who ? How ? - Accidentally - Ignorantly or thoughtlessly - Deliberately
13. Matthew 5: 43-44 You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbour and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
14. I’ve been let down … Who ? How ? Why ? - God is Sovereign - We’re not protected from others sins - We sin and make our own ‘stupid’ mistakes
15. Matthew 6: 31-34 “So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
16. I’ve been let down … Who ? How ? Why ? What ? - So what are we meant to do about it ?
17. Matthew 6: 9-15 Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us today our daily bread. Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.
Notas del editor
What can you see? (Thanks to Sarah Bridges)Camels? Where are they?What you are looking at is shadows and the shadows were are way bigger than the camels.IN this picture the difficulties that we see are like shadow … if we put God way over to the side, our difficulties appear way bigger than they actually are.But when we put the sun centre stage, in this picture right overhead … what happens to the shadows ?They don’t disappear, but they do shrink down in size … and they appear under our feet.
When Jesus talked to the apostles about handling feeling let down … their response to his teaching was ‘we need more faith!’
This week I want to introduce the area, and look a brief look at the first two on this list
It’s a little like him saying, ‘in this world you will have trouble’.The challenge of parenting!
The response to putting Jesus first in your life is to live differently from anything you ever thought was possible.The challenge of disappointed expectations to the worship of God is a real one … it means a step up in faith
Somebody else:Anything from upbringing (we have 4 children, from early on we thought it would be worth starting a University fund for them, as the years passed – we’ve renamed it the ‘therapyfund’).Family issues.Disappointments with friendsTrouble with neighbours or people at workMarital problemsThe Church (the Leaders?):The family of God is meant to be different from the rest of the world, I should be able to expect more. Many disillusioned believers.We know that we are all imperfect people hereGod:Disappointed expectations – Hope deferred makes the heart sick. (Back to individualistic thinking – its got to make sense to me)What about the desires of my heart?
Proverbs are not promises, but they are wisdom
Ultimately true – but this is not a promise, pure and simple.The Psalms contain truth expressed thorough poetry.You cannot take a verse out of the middle of something and claim it, you need to take the whole thing and soak in it, meditate on it and hear God through it.For instance, Psalm 37 has a total of 40 verses with a couple of verses devoted to each letter of the Hebrew alphabet.
Sometimes we are engaged in Idol worship and we don’t even know it!
Myself:I’ve been given so many chances, I don’t deserve any more?I can’t forgive myself, I don’t even trust myselfMy parents always said I was useless, it turns out they were right.What’s the point, nothing ever changes anyway.Jesus answer to all of this is to keep on loving and trusting God, and not to assume the worst about yourself.God does not make mistakes, though he may take risks.Before we go any further, who here has felt let down badly at some point in your life?All of us!What is God’s answer to disappointment, to being or feeling let down?
Worship is the answer.Worship in every sense Worship in all of lifeWorship.Love of others…… and not beating yourself up.Disappointment can be a block to worship.Ironically the antidote to disappointment is worship.As we worship we change perspective.But it does beg the question, who are you worshipping?Is it the God of the Bible or a dumbed down version of your own imagining?
How can make a real difference to our thinking:AccidentallyWell, they didn’t really mean it, these things happen, please apologize and take a little more care next time.Ignorantly, thoughtlessly (they didn’t know or they didn’t care) Grrr … this is annoying … I really want to give them a piece of my mind … the Lord says no! don’t give that away!DeliberatelyChoosing to wind you up (beyond teasing)Apparently unprovoked attacksMalicious behaviourWell, I will take measures to protect myself from harm … sensible and dangerous … you need the leading of the spirit.Putting Jesus first in all of this means … love your enemies.
But Why is sometimes the biggest issue:God is SovereignWe can struggle with this when bad things happen or when things we dearly want don’t happen.This is where the talk from PJ Smyth I think is really helpful and should be revisited.God chooses to let things happen that we can see no good in … but if we surrender and submit to him, he will bring good out of it.Not protected from the sins of others?Let me qualify this, I think that sometimes we are protected – but usually we are not.Why do I know this? We’re all affected by the economic downturn, largely generated by greed and probably corruption.We make mistakesWe learn more from our mistakes!Even when we ask God to ‘shut the door’ if something is a mistake, the truth is, sometimes he doesn’t.Putting Jesus first in all of this means … Put Jesus first.
Have a bigger picture of your world.Chose to live in the world where the Kingdom of God is real, actual and every day … and expect it to be advancing.IN this world you will have trouble.Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come.Each day has enough trouble of its own.This is the world that Jesus said we live in … this is the world that we should expect … and this is the world that the Kingdom of God is advancing into.
Love the LordLove one anotherLove your enemiesAnd put God first in your life
Love the LordLove one anotherLove your enemiesAnd put God first in your life
![JESUS 1st [6/11] ‘I’ve been let down’ – Part 2 Luke 17: 4 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)