Pastor Aaron Cordeiro
May 17, 2015 - W1520

Good evening everyone.  Today we are going to talk about, as you have heard this saying before, “You are what you eat.”  As summer begins, it is always good to slow down and inquire of God – “What does God want to tell us?

In regards to food, if someone were to ask you, “What are you, and you thought, I am what I eat, then what would you be?  I would be a big sushi or the New Hope Coffee Company.   We eat so…much- especially in seasons like graduation.  We go all over to eat and eat like crazy – especially at pot lucks.  We eat until we are so full that we cannot eat anymore.

Last week, on Mother’s Day, I ate so much.  I took my wife to the Hawaii Prince Hotel where we ate and ate and ate at the all you can eat, Prince Court Buffet. The buffet had seafood, poke, sushi to the max, breakfast food, lunch food, dinner food, Japanese food, Haole food, every kind of food that you could think of.  On the way home, my wife said, “Oh by the way, honey, I hope you didn’t forget, but we have to go to my grandmother’s house to celebrate Mother’s Day. I replied, “Honey, you are kidding me.” I was so….full. I told her that I was not going to eat any of her grandmother’s food.  When we pulled up to Grandma’s house, Grandma told me “Aaron go eat, eat, eat.”  Well, when  Grandma says to eat, you betta go eat – so I said yes grandma, and went to eat.

We live in a society where it is so easy to eat, and eat, and eat.  However, today I want to talk about the sustainability of spiritual food.  Even someone like me, who does their best to follow God, can fall off of the bandwagon.  We get caught up with life.  We get caught up with our families, and with our work.  Therefore, it is important for us to have a daily, sustainable, and well-balanced meal in the Word of God – Amen …

What we regularly digest is more important when it comes to a spiritual diet.  “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.’”(Matt. 4:4)

In context, Mathew, Chapter 4 was about a point in Jesus’s life, where He was preparing himself to go into a public ministry, and declare himself the Mesiah and Lord over all.  During this season, he entered the wilderness and was tempted by Satan for 40 days. The devil told Jesus, “If you are really God, then take these stones and turn them into bread so that you can eat, because you must be hungry.” Jesus overcame these temptations, because He lived not by bread alone, but by every word that came out of the mouth of God.

When we are hungry, we will eat just about anything.  What Jesus taught us, is that man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.  What God is saying, is you will go through transition seasons when you are hungry.  This is a time when He is preparing you for your future.   People of New Hope – we must develop an appetite for the eternal things. 

For this season, and summer please pray that God gives you an appetite for eternal things, for the ways of God, and for His Word.

Throughout my week, I have a big appetite for so many things –whether it be good or bad; however, when it comes to God’s banquet table, do I come to God’s house, and say I am full, and I have no more room to eat?  The scriptures in Psalms says that God prepares a table for you, even in the midst of your enemies.  At His table, He anoints you with oil.  This is a sign that God wants to heal you when you come into His presence.

I went to the Prince Court and Grandma’s house and got stuffed.   However, I’m wondering if we come to God’s table, too full to eat at this spread He has prepared for us.  One of the greatest prayers that we can do as a church family is, “God, please increase our appetite for things that last forever.”

My stuff runs out.  My love runs out.  My patience runs out; however, the things that God gives, lasts forever.   There is only one source that will help us to get through life  and to navigate it, in a way that is divine, and beyond us. 

We find sources of wisdom in three places:

1.       Experience
2.       Other’s experiences
3.       The Bible – the best source

Throughout our life experiences, we can gain insight and wisdom.  We also learn from the sufferings or circumstances of others.  Last Tuesday, I went out to dinner with my Dad and the founders of New Hope. I heard them talk about how God had been faithful to them, through everything they had gone through.  During my conversation with them, I asked them to speak into my life some tidbits of wisdom.  They said when they were my age, they were planting churches. Thirty-five through forty-five was the prime of their lives, where they had the energy, and just enough experience and wisdom to do this.  So they told me that now was the time to pour my entire life into what God had called me to do.

The best source of wisdom is the Bible.  When you pour your heart into the Bible, the Bible …

1.     GIVES YOU WISDOM BEYOND YOUR YEARS.  This is because it is filed with 66 books about godly men and women who have done very well.

When I was seven years old, I was exposed to a daily diet of God’s word.  At 5 a.m., my Dad would run into my room, and exclaim, “Aaron wake up!  You have an appointment with the King of kings and the Lord of lords.”  I would reply, “Dad, shut –up….”  My Dad continued to do this day after day, until one day he came in and said, “Aaron, let’s go to McDonalds. I quickly woke up. Dad took me to McDonalds three times a week so that I could watch and observe him doing his devotions – getting a daily diet of God’s word.  Dad knew that devotions are the most important thing in his life, and are the most important, most beautiful, most powerful, and most precious gift that he could give his son.

The lessons that I learned were sustainable truths.  This helped me during moments when I could have messed up.  The Bible gives us wisdom beyond our years, for every issue in life.

When I was in the master’s program at Bible College, I met a 28 year old Indian man named Rafael who was working on his 3^rd master’s degree, and who already held two doctorates.  So I asked him why was he attending Bible College.  He said that although he had learned a lot, God had called him into full-time ministry.  He also needed to learn how to live a godly life, and be a godly husband.   The Bible says, “I have more insight than all my teachers, for my testimonies are my meditation.” (Ps 119:99)  Testimony means to embrace or encircle.  I need God and His Word to engulf me in my life.  This is the only way that I can survive.

The Bible gives us wisdom beyond our years, but also, the Word of God is

•          THE HIGHEST FORM OF prayer.

Prayer changes situations, and does damage to darkness in our lives. Someone once said that prayer is thinking deeply in God’s presence about your life and your future.  The Bible says that Heaven and Earth will pass away, but not God’s Word.

In the society that we live in, there is a huge slippage in morality, standards, ethics, rules, and laws.  The standard in society is constantly moving and changing; however, God’s law and His ways are unchanging. 

The Bible …

1.      GIVES YOU PEACE AND ASSURANCE.

“Great peace have they which love Thy Law:  and nothing shall offend them.”(Ps. 119:165 KLV)  If we obey His Word, then nothing will become a stumbling block.  If I am stumbling, this means that I do not have a great enough appetite for God’s Word.  This means that I have to get back to God’s Word

•          GOD GIVES YOU HIS CONFIDENCE.

A while ago, I was going through a deep depression, and at my wits end.  One night, after many hours of being unable to sleep, I went into the living room and opened up my Bible.  I read God’s word for hours.  As I was reading God’s plans for me and how much He loved me, God began to fill me with life.  God told me that I was thinking about myself too much.  In my response, I took out my I-phone and touched the New Hope app which connected me to posted prayers.  By reading about the challenges of others, I realized that I had a lot to be grateful for.  This also gave me a huge and massive heart for God’s Word – to pray, to speak, and to live out God’s word.

God has prepared a banquet table for us that we will be filled with an overflow of His spirit.  New Hope, you have an appointment with the King of kings, and the Lord of lords, every single day.  We will be better people if we come to His table.  We will be lesser people if we are too full, and choose to not show up.

1.      IT WASHES US DAILY. 

The Bible says, “…Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the Word.”(Eph 5:25-26 NIV).  The Word of God is the most amazing detergent that you will ever experience in your Christian life.

Today, I had the privilege of ministering over a wedding that was dear to my heart.  As I was sharing with the groom what matters most in a marriage, I came to this scripture.  The Bible says, for husbands to love their wife as Christ loved the church.  The best feelings that you can feel, would be to have God run His feelings through you to your wife, because your feelings will run out – God’s feelings will not.  The good news is that God can wash you.  He can wash your marriage.  He can wash your thoughts.  He can wash your circumstance.  If you are willing to come to God’s word on a daily basis, He will be faithful to you.

When you come to God, would you bring the following items:

1.       Bible  (not a commentary or a Christian topic book)
2.       Pen (mark up your bible and underline those gems).  When God speaks, you want to write what He tells you down, so you don’t forget what He said.
3.       Journal (take notes on what God is speaking to you)
4.       Bible book mark (chart your daily course) or refer to the reading plan in your journal.

So this summer, let’s bulk up and prepare for what God has in store for us, by spending time in the Word – Amen.

Questions:

•          What must you personally do to bulk-up for what God has in store for you?
•          Differentiate between the three sources of wisdom and reflect on circumstances that you or others used them in.  Were they good choices?
•          What is the highest form of prayer, and why is this so?