Facebook has been so popular that there are more people who use Facebook than live in the USA. In fact, if the users of Facebook made up their own country they’d be the 3rd largest nation on earth – with a population of over 400 million.
65 million of those people access their Facebook account regularly thru their cell phones or mobile devices. And experts say that the average user has about 130 Facebook friends and they spend more than 55 minutes a day on their site talking with friends, posting pictures and reading about other people they’ve met online.
Essentially Facebook is a place where people tell other people WHO THEY ARE!
Well, actually it’s a place where people tell other who they THINK they are…
Well, actually, it’s a place where people tell others how they wish others thought they were.
Now on my Facebook, I am careful to show pictures that show me in what I think are flattering poses. Pictures that show me as being…
· Forceful
· Debonair
· Affectionate
· Mysterious
· Religious
· A World Traveler (these were all humorous poses
It seems that when people get on Facebook they always reveal WHO they are.
It’s like they believe they’re somehow anonymous because no one is looking them in the eye. And thus, they don’t think anybody is really paying attention.
Now, some people are very nice folks in private… and so they’re nice on Facebook. But others – if they’re mean spirited, lewd, crude and generally despicable in private that’s how they behave on Facebook. And some of these people will post pictures on their Facebook they wouldn’t ordinarily want anybody to see, but they’ll put them online because they think they’re being funny.
There’s just something about Facebook that reveals people – as they really are.
ILLUS: I remember one woman who “friended” me (in other words she asked to be able to read my posts and put her posts on my page).
Now that was nice… it was a compliment to me. And of course I said “Yes.”
But then, after a few weeks I noticed a disturbing pattern in her postings. What she wrote on HER Facebook (and thus shared with me) often had foul words,
So, I sent her a private message explaining that this wasn’t appropriate.
She was remorseful and said it wouldn’t happen again.
But it did.
So I sent her another message… and she “unfriended” me.
And that was ok.
You see, what she began to realize was – the things she thought were private were not private. She came to the conclusion that if she wanted to do what she wanted to do she had to make sure I didn’t know what she was doing.
So she unfriended me.
She cut me off from her Facebook page.
Because (in her mind) if I didn’t KNOW what she was doing… she could keep on doing it.
Now, she can hide that from me… but she can’t hide those things from God
In Jeremiah God tells us “My eyes are on all their ways; they are not hidden from me, nor is their sin concealed from my eyes.” Jeremiah 16:17
Hebrews 4:13 “Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.”
That woman may have thought she’d gotten away from with something by “unfriending” me, but she can’t hide anything from God. He sees it all. And here in Luke 6 Jesus is essentially telling us that God has a Facebook page for each of us. On that Facebook page God sees exactly who you and I are. Every word we speak is recorded. Every action we do is shown
Because God sees us as we really are.
Now just to put your mind at ease – none of us come off looking all that good on the Facebook page God has for us. As Romans says – “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”
But here in Luke 6 Jesus is telling His disciples that, while that may be true, they shouldn’t get real comfortable with that idea. While all of us do mess up in our lives on occasion, God is looking to see what kind of fruit we’re bearing in our lives.
He says: “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit.” Luke 6:43
Then Jesus points out what kind of fruit God looks at:
· God looks at what we SAY
“The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth SPEAKS.” Luke 6:45
· AND God looks at what we DO
“Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not DO what I say? Luke 6:46
What Jesus is saying is this: what you say and what you do are reflections of what is inside of you. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart.
How you and I TALK… and how you and I WALK are reflections of what we’ve stored in our hearts. In computer language they have a scientific description of that process.
It’s called “Garbage in, garbage out.”
If you put bad things in a computer… you’ll get bad things out.
And conversely, if you put good things in… you’ll get good things out
So, as Christians, what’s INSIDE of us?
Well, it’s should be the Spirit of God.
My Friends and Family, For years I use to wear a cross necklace on a daily basis... For a number of years I lost my way in following our Lord and this didn't necessarily become unimportant, but when I lost the necklace I had it was not an important issue to me to replace it... Over the course of the last 5/6 months several wonderful things happened in my life; 1st - God brought Pastor Dewey Moede to me; 2nd - God had Pastor Dewey introduce me to Pastors Marty & Paulette Cooper at 'Christ Full Deliverance Ministries' in Rio Rancho where me and my wonderful wife Sandy now regularly attend service... THE LORD HAS ALWAYS BEEN WITH US REGARDLESS OF OUR INATTENTION, BUT WE HAVE NOW LET CHRIST BACK IN OUR HEARTS !!!... I can't tell you how wonderful it feels !!!!!! Keeping in mind that I lost my job a couple months ago and I have been unable to find new employment with my age & disability hindering me... Funds are running extremely low and we'll be on hamburger helper without the hamburger relatively soon if I don't find something, but a couple weeks ago I called my wonderful wife who was out grocery shopping and asked if there was any way we could afford for me to go shopping and try to find an inexpensive one to replace my lost necklace... She knew how important this had become to me again and said "Go get one and don't worry about how much it is, I know had bad you want one."... Won't mention stores involved but I went to the mall and proceeded to try to find one... I had found a rather inexpensive one but the chain was just way too small... Suddenly, Sandy called me back and said she was going to the mall to get something and asked where I was... When I told here I was already at the mall she said she would be there in a couple minutes... When she arrived I showed her the one I had picked out and she took me to the jewelry counter where the attendant showed us another chain of good length but the most inexpensive one they had was well over twice the amount of the cross itself... The combination of the two would have come to a total of $99 which was very had for me to chew on with our current situation and while I'm trying to cut back on anything I can to provide what is left for my wife & family... Anyway, I didn't really care too much for the ones we picked out but decided to get them... My wife said to get them anyway but she needed to go pick out what she was looking for first... We left the items with the attendant and told her we would be right back with the other item also... Sandy was unable to find the item she wanted at that store so we went back to get the chain & cross and then go to another store... When we arrived back at the counter the attendant was now busy with another customer... We waited and waited and waited and waited... Eventually, we decided to go to another store to try to find the item she was looking for... She found the item she wanted which she said was perfect and exactly what she was looking for... We turned around to go pay for it and right there in front of me was the jewelry section and the counter directly in front of me had the most beautiful cross necklace I think I'd ever seen... I looked at the price and told her it was just way way too much... She said "Nonsense - get it"... We asked the attendant if we could see it and while she pulled it out she said - "Nice pick, it's on sale for 75% off !!! We got the cross necklace which I absolutely love and her new handbag which she absolutely loves for exactly the same amount as I would have paid for the cross & necklace I didn't like that much at the other store !!!!!! Four part quiz for the day: 1 - Did I actually loose the original necklace; (or was it misplaced for a reason) ?... 2 - Who brought Sandy to the mall at that exact same time I was experiencing this problem ?... 3 - Who kept the attendant at the first store so busy we finally left ?... 4 - Who took us to the other store where we found exactly what we both wanted which were both of better quality and much more inexpensive since they were both on sale ?... If you can't answer all four of these questions with a single word - CALL PASTOR DEWEY - he'll be happy to help you find the answer !!!!!... Rick Stambaugh
Thank you for the word's Rick! We are praying for you and Sandy! Please keep Rick in your prayers, he is undergoing a medical
procedure today. Also as I shared earlier Sandy, his wife had breathing problems yesterday.
For God's Glory Alone in the Love of our Lord Jesus Christ, Dewey Sharon and Family
Visit us today! www.fggam.org If you would like to support the much needed work of For God's Glory Alone Ministries, Dewey Moede, and Dewey's Daily Cup please consider giving a financial gift. You can securely give by clicking on this link- https://fggam.org/donate.html then scroll down the page to securely give through PayPal. Be assured my friends, your gift will be of the greatest help in furthering the ministry work the Lord has laid upon us to carry out in His Holy Name. Thank you, Dewey Moede
It is our privilege to pray for Rick who is undergoing a medical procedure, as well as for his wife Sandy who has recently had breathing problems.
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