Pastor's blog, Priorities, Success

 

Admin, “Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—(For until the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed when there is no law. Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who had not sinned according to the likeness of the transgression of Adam, who is a type of Him who was to come. But the free gift is not like the offense. For if by the one man’s offense many died, much more the grace of God and the gift by the grace of the one Man, Jesus Christ, abounded to many. And the gift is not like that which came through the one who sinned. For the judgment which came from one offense resulted in condemnation, but the free gift which came from many offenses resulted in justification. For if by the one man’s offense death reigned through the one, much more those who receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness will reign in life through the One, Jesus Christ.) Therefore, as through one man’s offense judgment came to all men, resulting in condemnation, even so through one Man’s righteous act the free gift came to all men, resulting in justification of life. For as by one man’s disobedience many were made sinners, so also by one Man’s obedience many will be made righteous. Moreover the law entered that the offense might abound. But where sin abounded, grace abounded much more” (Romans 5:12-20) Open the right door for yourself. Jesus calls to find the right door, among many other doors, the door that says “Blessing and Life”. He is the door on the path of life that says “I am the way the truth and the life”. Do not be like the three strapping men that are standing at the crossroad, they stand before a choice that their future life depends on. Choose the right choice and the right way. When God created the world, He created only two people, they were the standing “door” that would open the way for the rest of the people. It was specifically from them that rest of the human race was made. They had all the keys: the future of people depended on their choices – to be under curses or to be under blessings. If we were to be exact, then Adam was responsible for that, not Eve, because God made a covenant with Adam. He specifically was the “door” for all humans, whether he knew that or not. When sin found that only door (Adam), by entering into that door, he influenced the whole situation of the earth: on the Garden of Eden in full, on it’s economy, on the relationship of Adam and Eve, on health and other aspects. The same thing is in our lives: if we find the door to our blessings, then everything is restored and goes to its own place. Only because of this: “because of the crime of one, all people are condemned, just the same as the justification for one leads to the justification to all peoples lives. For by disobedience of one person many became sinners, and by obedience of one many become righteous”. Any work in our life has one door, open towards blessing or failure. If sin came into our life then that means that it came in some form of a way, right? The same thing can be said about sickness, about curses... For any kind of work there is a specific door. It is necessary for us to understand the laws of curses and blessings that are executed by the means of one person. Only then will we have the right attitude towards life, towards time, and towards anything that we own. Learn to value the most important. The Bible narrates about one person (there weren’t many of them), who’s directions were valuable and heavy in the eyes of other people. His name was Ahithophel. His advice was considered God’s advice. It was the same thing as if someone got into heaven and consulted with God concerning a question and then returned to earth. This wise man was oriented on one principle – the principle of doors, the distinction of the most important priority in life. He knew that there was one thing that determined the future. When a person does one thing after another but he doesn’t value the most important, then he will always miss the main goal. When a person divides himself at a few jobs at once, he will not reach the desired result. You must discover the door to your blessing. It must be a specific value, it must be your priority. “Moreover Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Now let me choose twelve thousand men, and I will arise and pursue David tonight. I will come upon him while he is weary and weak, and make him afraid. And all the people who are with him will flee, and I will strike only the king. Then I will bring back all the people to you. When all return except the man whom you seek, all the people will be at peace.” (2 Samuel 17:1-3). Be very attentive. Ahithophel teaches the young and godless Absalom: “Absalom, I am capable of turning the whole nation against the previous king and conquer the people for you, in one night. Just in one night!” Imagine a country where grumble and a revolution started. A person comes to the president and says, “Give me just one night and I will solve this problem”. This is possible! All it takes is to find one necessary door. Ahithophel offered Absalom to destroy something valuable, something that Israel loved – which was a king. After this step, not much hardship will be needed. When the war with Iraq began, the “value” was Saddam Hussein. He was the only person who made chaos in all of Europe, America, and the world. The war wasn’t against Iraq, or the world inhabitants, it wasn’t against the soldiers, but against one thing... Today the world isn’t looking for all the terrorists but they are looking only for one – Osama Ben Laden. Why? They are looking for the one who is the main door of all the evil. Because by destroying the “value” of all the terrorists, it will be easier to destroy all the others. What are the terrorists doing? They are protecting their “value”. In the time of David, the main value was the king. It was impossible to destroy Israel without the destroying the king. Ahithophel knew on what principles stood the Kingdom of God. This law was, is, and will be operating until the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. David understood that the danger of Israel stands in the hands of Absalom and Ahithophel. But he also knew that Absalom – is the feelings, and Ahithophel – is the wisdom. So David sent Hushai to destroy the influence of Ahithophel. David understood that to destroy the advice, then you won’t have to fight for very long. Clearly define your “one”, your goal, your value. “One thing I have desired of the LORD, that will I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD All the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to inquire in His temple.” (Psalms 27:4). King David defined for himself what is the most important in his life. He placed a questionnaire, and defined his priorities. No, he did not desire a formal service, he didn’t look to just visit the temple and put a period at that. Today somebody can say: “I, just like David, seek only one thing: to visit the Sunday service”. This a mistake comparison, because, David, first and foremost searched for God and fellowship with Him. He realized that a house, family, and business – are good but they are not the most important. God’s glory – is the door to everything else. Just the same way, in our lives we have one most important door that leads to everything else. Just God’s presence changes everything in our lives. We are not allowed to economize on God’s presence. Be very sincere with God and always seek Him, and enjoy His presence. Many people think that this sphere of their life is not important. They do not value the time that they spend with God. “Oh, we are believers”, they say. But can you put your hand on your heart and say, “I am with God today, He – is in me, and I – in Him!” In our lives we have something that influences us radically. Let’s take, for example, our health. It depends on many factors: from food that we use, from the amount of physical load, from our activities, from heredity... But if we were asked to determine only one, the most important condition of our health, then hardly anybody would answer this question specifically and intelligently. Because we have never actually thought about it, we have not learned to value it. This is why so many of us have problems with our health. We just don’t know the one most important thing. What are the priorities in raising and disciplining children: having food, clothes, habitation, other material blessings, care, love or something else? They really are necessary integral conditions, ones that we cannot build a good family without. But with all these priorities there is “one” that the family is based upon. What is it? Somebody will say that love – is the most important. Then why is it that when some families with love for their kids, sometime don’t have very good relationship with them. Of course it is necessary to do everything possible. However, it is better to know the most important in life that influences everything else. This way it will be easier to live. Notice that Hushai denied Ahithophel’s advice, and led Absalom to pay attention to everything at once. The advice of Ahithophel was oriented on the most important. Absalom, having broken the law of “one”, lost his kingdom and opportunities. The undeniable value of the nature of a person is his heart. But not just physical but also the spiritual. It is from the heart that good and evil thoughts come. If we protect this spring and keep it clean, then there will be blessings. A person can live without hands, without legs, without some inner organs but he cannot live if his heart stops and the mind stops functioning. Therefore, to live a righteous life it is necessary to protect your thoughts and heart. If you were working hard with your hands and got some calluses, there is no danger in that. But to any kind of pain in the heart, you must be very serious towards it. If your mind works and it develops – that is good, it is bad when it is in a stage of degradation. David determined his value. He asked God only for one thing. “... For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion; In the secret place of His tabernacle He shall hide me; He shall set me high upon a rock. And now my head shall be lifted up above my enemies all around me; Therefore I will offer sacrifices of joy in His tabernacle; I will sing, yes, I will sing praises to the LORD. Hear, O LORD, when I cry with my voice! Have mercy also upon me, and answer me. When You said, “Seek My face,” My heart said to You, “Your face, LORD, I will seek.” (Psalm 27:5-8). You see, God Himself tells us to find the “one”, the most important, and then it will influence everything else. This principle works in all the areas of our life. There is one thing that influences the growth of our ministry. For those that have a business, it is also important to determine the most important and to separate it from the minor and independent area of the business that you are working in. If we do not find the central aspect, we begin to disperse and do many things that do not bring success. Give priority to your value. Learn to say “no” to things that do not have the major meaning until you say “yes” to the most important. In life we face and suffer many, many defeats because we break the fundamental law of the most important. “Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”(Luke 10:38-42). What did Jesus want to teach Martha? Very often, I hear that when a man enters the kitchen during a holiday, they would quote: “Martha! Martha! You take care of and fuss about a lot, but only one thing is needed...” However later on the “spiritual and devout” husband would eat the prepared food. And at times I desire to say: “Precious husband, you are eating what “Martha” has prepared and confidently you ask for seconds. But neither you, nor other people who heard you speak those words believe in them”. These husbands would only play the role of a devout person but not fully understanding the meaning of what was spoken. Women, who were listening, probably thought: “Okay, let him play his role because the words of thanksgiving to God will still be said”. What did Jesus want us to pay attention to? I am certain that He, with thanksgiving, blessed the food, thanked God for Martha and with the disciples he bit into the food. The prepared food wasn’t gone. If this is the reality, then what exactly did Jesus want to teach Martha? People lose their goal and purpose of their life when they reject to make an accent on the most important, what they live for here on earth. Jesus’ goal wasn’t to eat, He, first of all, wanted to bring a revelation from the heavens to those around who will listen, The Word of Life. But Martha did not find the time, not even thirty minutes, to sit down and listen, to bite into the “livening food”. Jesus desired for there not to be any premature vanity, for everyone to listen carefully about the most important. We do big amounts of different jobs and think that we will gain much from them. But from this mindset sometimes there is nothing left but emptiness. And we panic from all our hard work and it got us nothing, that in the end result we did not reach success. You just did not have time to stop and understand the meaning of the most important. Guard your vineyard “O daughters of Jerusalem, I am dark, but lovely, Like the tents of Kedar, Like the curtains of Solomon. Do not look upon me, because I am dark, Because the sun has tanned me. My mother’s sons were angry with me; They made me the keeper of the vineyards, But my own vineyard I have not kept.” (Song of Solomon 1:4,5). It does not talk about the tan here. To this day, many will agree that a tan – is not bad. Maybe there are people that think the more tanned you are the more stylish you are. However, in the old times if you were tanned it was considered that you were a part of the slaves. Tanned girls did not belong to the aristocrats, to the notable people, they did not attract gentlemen. Let every single person to value beauty in his own way, but I am not talking about that. I want to touch this question deeper. The girl narrates that the son’s of her mother became angry with her and made her work. She drove foxes away, she stumbled, hurt her feet, and worked under the scorching sun. However, herself and her life – her vineyard she could not save. And now that she has found her beloved, she did not waste time on her brother’s vineyards, but she devoted her attention to the most important – her life. Often, people live for years and cannot discover the most important. They say, “I have a ministry. I have a business. I don’t have time for myself”. Then it turns out that you are not guarding your vineyard but somebody else’s. The year 2007 is walking confidently. If we do not write our goals and priorities down, for ourselves, then we will not have any changes in our life. We will live through this year the same way that we lived through the year 2006 and the years before, because we will be doing everything but one thing. How will our health be? What will happen with our finances? On what level is our ministry rising to? All these spheres of your life will become worse and worse if you do not concentrate on the most important. You do not have to wait until the first of January, start today. “Our generation made the greatest opening: a person is able to change his life by changing his attitude towards it” – said Uiliyam James, the father of modern psychology. I recommend each and one of you not to just fill your luggage with the knowledge of this preaching, but to write down what is valuable to you, what is the most important, what can change your life forever. Why didn’t I specify exactly what it is? I want you to find it for yourself personally. In every preaching, I always talk about every detail. However, sometimes people doubt them. Once you find it for yourself, it will become your baby. You will feed it, you will value it and fulfill it. I will show you a small example, so that is will help you find your main thing. We are always light, like the cover for a guitar, if we are not filled with values. People, who are light with words, - are light with in their actions, they do not have values. For example, what does a musician have as the main condition in order for him to be successful? Talent, desire, money, hearing, practice? All of this is important but there is one that is the highest priority. Let’s say he plays on the guitar. So, if the musician prays over his instrument, will he become a musician? No. What if he preaches to his guitar? No. What if he walks around it in circles and professes the words of faith? Ridiculous! If he looks at how others play, does he become a musician? No. Even if he attends rehearsals, it still does not make him a musician. The most important for a musician – is to take the instrument and begin to play. He who has ears, let him hear..Right now write down for yourself what is Pastor Victor Muzichuk