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parking lot where they store the snow plows, there are no parking spots.\u00a0 You don’t really care about parking close (even though it’s only 20 degrees and a raw wind is blowing).\u00a0 You just want to park anywhere<\/em> and get this shopping errand done.\u00a0 And so you join the competition, weaving back and forth through the parking rows like sharks looking for food.\u00a0 You search for backup lights.\u00a0 You follow pedestrians walking towards their car in hopes that they will vacate a spot and end your search.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/pitmanumc.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/judge-158269__180-400x300-300x225.jpg\")
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Yep.\u00a0 God saw that; He knows you were wronged.\u00a0 He’s got enough time for you personally; He didn’t just wind up the world and walk away.\u00a0 Here’s what David said about God in Psalm 139 (verses 1-7):<\/p>\n
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- O Lord, you have examined my heart and know everything about me.\u00a0You know when I sit down or stand up.<\/span><\/li>\n
- You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.<\/span><\/li>\n
- You see me when I travel and when I rest at home. You know everything I do.<\/span><\/li>\n
- You know what I am going to say even before I say it, Lord.<\/span><\/li>\n
- You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too great for me to understand!<\/span><\/li>\n
- I can never escape from your Spirit! I can never get away from your presence!<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
You can’t get away from God’s presence.\u00a0 If you’re shaking your fist, God sees that.\u00a0 But if you’ve been wronged and you look to God for justice and peace, He sees that too.\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t
\n\t\t\tBeen there Too..<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\nTrue, Jesus never lost a parking spot at the mall, but He’s not some aloof celestial being either. He knows what it’s like to be human. He knows what it’s like to be wronged. And He knows what it’s like to be tempted to do wrong.\u00a0 The writer of Hebrews put it like this (Hebrews\u00a04:15<\/span><\/a>):\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
This High Priest of ours understands our weaknesses, for he faced all of the same testings we do, yet he did not sin. <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
The High Priest is Jesus.\u00a0 He faced temptation in the wilderness.\u00a0 He cried when a friend died.\u00a0 He know what it was like to be a human.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t
\n\t\t\tGod Values Us… <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nEeyors of the world take heart; Your value is in God, not in what others think of us.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But prideful, self-sufficient ones be warned:\u00a0 Your value is in your relationship with God, not in what you have or do.<\/p>\n
You probably remember what Jesus told Nicodemus one evening (John 3:16-17):<\/p>\n
\n“For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.<\/span> <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
Before saying that, Jesus told this religious man, “You must be born again.<\/span><\/em><\/strong>”\u00a0 Your value isn’t in what you do, it’s in what God does through you.\u00a0 Here’s how Paul put it (Galatians 2:19-20):<\/p>\n
\nFor when I tried to keep the (<\/span><\/em><\/strong>Jewish<\/span><\/span><\/span>) Law, it condemned me. So I died to the law\u2014I stopped trying to meet all its requirements\u2014so that I might live for God. <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.<\/span> <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
“Crucified with Christ” sounds pretty crude.\u00a0 But Paul’s saying that the things he does doesn’t define his value; God values Paul (and us) because Jesus died for us.<\/p>\n
So if we keep that in mind instead of trying to constantly defend our own evaluation of who we are, we’ll be less likely to lash out at someone.\u00a0 And we’ll be more likely to be a peace with ourselves and with the people around us.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t
\n\t\t\tJustice will Win Out!<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nYes, you WERE wronged!\u00a0 Somebody did a bad thing to you and you’re right in recognizing that this person needs to pay a price of some sort.\u00a0 But we have the freedom to leave that to God.\u00a0 WE don’t have to set things right.\u00a0 Here’s what Paul told the Romans (Romans\u00a012:17-19<\/span><\/a>):<\/p>\n
Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say,<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
“I will take revenge;\u00a0 I will pay them back,”\u00a0\u00a0 says the Lord.<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
Billy Graham once commented that he “read to the end of the book- God Wins!<\/span><\/strong>“<\/p>\n
God Wins!\u00a0 Just take a look at the final chapters of Revelation; God certainly gives His enemies “a peace of His mind”!!!\u00a0 Because of that, we can rest in the Peace of His justice.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t
\n\t\t\tGod Provides Our Needs…<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nParking spaces right by the door may not always open before us, but God knows what we need and He provides for us.\u00a0 In Matthew\u00a06<\/span><\/a> (the Sermon on the Mount), Jesus tells the crowd to keep things in perspective.\u00a0 Don’t worry about life’s necessities, or even about little things like parking spaces.\u00a0 God will provide (verses 25-27):<\/p>\n
“That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life\u2014whether you have enough food and drink, or enough clothes to wear. Isn’t life more than food, and your body more than clothing?\u00a0 <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
Look at the birds. They don’t plant or harvest or store food in barns, for your heavenly Father feeds them. And aren’t you far more valuable to him than they are?\u00a0 Can all your worries add a single moment to your life?<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
Instead of worrying and focusing on the things you need, “seek the kingdom of God.”\u00a0 In other words, trust God and know that your value is in your relationship with Him (verses 31-33):<\/p>\n
So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’\u00a0 <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.\u00a0 <\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.<\/span> <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
True, He may not always give you a parking spot right by the door.\u00a0 But if God supplies our basic needs so that we’re free to seek Him instead of those needs, then maybe we shouldn’t worry so much when someone steals our parking spot.<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t
\n\t\t\tPeople Care…<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nWe’re not alone!\u00a0 God has given us the opportunity to be surrounded by other Christians who will help us.\u00a0 The Church is God’s way of providing our needs, giving us encouragement, giving us comfort and love, and for giving us a value that’s not rattled when somebody cuts us off.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Jesus said that when someone loves us (or fails to love us), it’s as if that person is loving (or not loving) Him.\u00a0 Jesus takes us under His wing and takes us personally.\u00a0 Here’s what He said in Matthew\u00a025:34-40<\/a><\/span>:<\/p>\n
\u00a0“Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.\u00a0 For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.\u00a0 I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
\u00a0“Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink?\u00a0 Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing?\u00a0 When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’<\/span><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
“And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’<\/span> <\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
If someone does us wrong, Jesus knows it because the wrong was done to Him too.\u00a0 We don’t have to give a piece of our mind.\u00a0 God, through the love of His Church, will give us a Mind of Peace.\n\t\t<\/div> \n\t\t
\n\t\t\tBe Joyful…<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nGod’s not telling us to turn a blind eye, and live in a world of “ignorance is bliss” or “Don’t worry, be happy!”.\u00a0 Our relationship with injustice isn’t to ignore it.\u00a0 But we diffuse anger and claim peace when we simply place our trust in God’s justice.\u00a0 God wants us to be free from worry and anger.\u00a0 He wants us to be joyful!<\/p>\n
When Paul wrote Galatians, he was in agony about how they had turned from the faith.\u00a0 He then implored them (Galatians 4:15):\n\u00a0 “What has happened to all your joy?<\/span><\/em><\/strong>” <\/p>\n
Anger and turning our thoughts inward robs us of of the peace and Joy that God wants us to have.\u00a0 Here’s how Solomon put it (Proverbs\u00a017:22<\/a><\/span>)…<\/p>\n
“A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit saps a person’s strength.<\/span><\/em><\/strong>“<\/p>\n
God doesn’t want us to have a “broken spirit.”\u00a0 How can we love Him and serve Him if our focus on ourselves?\u00a0 Anger saps a person’s strength.\u00a0\n(for more on this thought, check out Pastor Jim’s 1016 Camp Meeting Sermon, “What\u00a0Ever\u00a0Happened\u00a0to\u00a0Laughter?<\/a><\/span>….<\/em><\/span>)<\/p>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div> \n
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It’s Your Choice…<\/span><\/h3>\n
What kind of mind do you want?\u00a0 Do you want to be on the edge of giving someone a “piece of your mind” or have you refocused your mind on God so that you can have Peace?\u00a0 In Galatians\u00a05\u00a0(19-25 )<\/span><\/a> Paul contrasts two different mindsets.\u00a0 One is when we determine our own value and give a piece of our mind.\u00a0 But the other is when we allow God to value us, and we let the “Fruits of the Spirit” give us a Mind of Peace.<\/p>\n
Here are a few items from that passage that compare these two attitudes:<\/p>\n
\n\t\t\t\t\t\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n
\n PIECE OF YOUR MIND<\/span><\/td>\n \u00a0MIND OF PEACE<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n \n \n - \n
- hostility<\/span><\/li>\n
- quarreling<\/span><\/li>\n
- You know my thoughts even when I’m far away.<\/span><\/li>\n