The Price of A Miracle

good afternoon everyone hello and welcome my name is father Anthony Meza and welcome to my weekly Wednesday scope today as you saw in the title of this scope I will be speaking about my blog post from this morning which was titled the price of a miracle and kind of talking about you know spiritual warfare and just some of the different things that I have experienced and see so often when it comes to you know when good stuff happens to us in life that sometimes there's always sometimes it's always there always is a price to that we'll talk about that today and I'll answer your questions but before I get into that hello tell me who is on the scope and where does your tuning from hi boo boo xxx from Sweden welcome I Salaam from Calgary welcome faithful tater from Connecticut it was great to see you he we great to see you Stephanie s TSA love the smiley face yo dude from Houston welcome hi Manute from Maryland mihari from Seattle he me from Maryland Cydonia from North Carolina I'm from Montreal welcome nice to see so many of you guys so many regulars if you would like to share the scope with someone who you know might appreciate some encouragement on this rainy Wednesday afternoon I know where you are trained here it's rainy and you can share this scope very easily by just swiping right on your screen and then you can share the scope with all your social networks if you know someone who would appreciate it I appreciate you getting the word out that way hey Mark from Australia hi Jenny Lynn hi Gannett from Houston welcome to everyone who is tuning in here for those you don't know my name is father Anthony Meza I write a blog post every Wednesday morning it's father Anthony com fr Anthony comm and then I scope about it every Wednesday afternoon 12:30 Eastern Time which theory is people's lunch breaks but I know people are from different time zones so it's at least my lunch break so what I'm talking about today is the price of a miracle before I do that as I do every week I start off by answering just some questions that people have so I got two questions here and the first one comes from mark mark asks I was listening to one of your sermons on evangelism and I was thinking to myself what if you turned someone away from God while trying to preach to them I'm mark from Australia great question mark so marks basic question is I want to evangelize to bring people to Christ but what if in the course of what I do I actually push people further away so there's like a God component answer God answer enemy answer so first on the me answer so I understand where you're coming from because this is this is the this is the role that all of us play and we hope to be a light to this world and hope to be an encouragement to people but sometimes for honest we're not and sometimes our ministry pushes people further away either on purpose or not on purpose so there's two answers that I have to you on this one okay first is a me answer which is I should do everything in my power that this never happens and some of it isn't within my ability all right then I should be a man of integrity and I should not preach something to you that I'm not living myself or at least struggling to live okay number two I should be honest and I should not paint a picture of myself that isn't true but I shouldn't stand up here or sit here and say to you that you know I got it all figured out and you know I am perfect and forgiving others and I am perfect at loving one another and you should just be like me you know I paint an honest picture of myself and say you know what I'm struggling with this too so if you see me struggling like I'm struggling with it too and I'm just I'm just trying to do my best and to encourage you to do your best as well so for sure there's a me part of it and I live with integrity all right and that that one I also remember the verse that Jesus said in John chapter 17 I'm sorry Luke 17 what he talked about no wait John 17 John 17 no Luke 17 John 17 for this for their sakes I sanctify myself John 17 for their sakes I sanctify myself for their sakes I sanctify myself so like today is like Wednesday and it's a fasting day I don't want it fast and I don't want to eat a veggie burger whatever is that my wife made me for lunch today but you know what for their sakes I fast meaning for the sake of the ministry for the sake of that my life my walk would match my talk okay because how can i challenge you to fast and call you too fast if I myself I'm not walking it so we we have to do our we have to do our best to match our talk with our walk and be people of integrity okay that's my first answer to my second answer to you Marcus this is that in the end we can only do what we can do and God does the rest so I'm never gonna let fear to be what guides me thank you for confirming is John 17 I'm not gonna fear guide me so imma go up there and I'm gonna do my best and you know what I finished my sermon I realize you know what I didn't do a very good job that's okay like I did my best and I'm not gonna let being a perfectionist okay being a perfectionist was never never the call of a disciple or an apostle like work was Saint Peter and Saint John and and and Saint James those guys were they perfect Saint Peter we know wasn't perfectly denied Christ three times okay uh other disciples were discussing James John were discussing who would be greatest among them alright in another group it was at the time where they were saying you know bring lightning down on the city or smite this city so Jesus perfection wasn't his model okay he calls us to be good enough okay and I feel like am I good enough to go and evangelize yes am i perfect no but am I good enough yes I'm gonna do my best let God do the rest okay first I think are there Psalm four or five that when I know they saw him four or five cuz that one someone gave me this I told this person this verse so many times in confession that he gave me a money clip okay and it says right now for the I can see it says Psalm four or five and yes that's a one dollar bill I like carries twenty one dollars in cash and credit cards all I care okay well Psalm 45 says trust offer right sacrifices and trust in the Lord so I'm gonna do my part man of integrity walk the walk okay strive repent ready to repent and do my part and then I'm gonna trust God to do the rest okay alright sacrifice to trust in the Lord good question more next question comes bit on sort of on the heels of that from someone named T says I was listening to one of your periscopes the other day and you said everything is allowed to me a Christian but not everything is helpful okay so he's I was referencing the verse that said all things are lawful for me but not all things are helpful first Corinthians 1:12 6:12 I'm sorry first 15 6:12 it's the rain out there man it's a dreary day it's messing with my Bible all things are lawful for me but not all things are helpful for me 1st Corinthians 6:12 I'm confused about the statement how is everything allowed for us I thought we weren't allowed to watch and he says you know all these bad things commit adultery get drunk drugs if that statement is true then technically there's no such thing as sin because I'm allowed to do anything and it's up to me to get to heaven by doing good things sacraments etc good question tea a little bit of a misunderstanding okay on your end when Saint Paul says so the peers hang but I said all things are all for me I'm not saying okay I'm just quoting st. Paul and saying Paul says all things are lawful for me what he's saying that is that we no longer live under the law of the Old Testament and the Old Testament there was no thinking involved it was don't touch this don't do this do this don't do that okay you can walk on the Sabbath only this distance so there's no thinking if you walked 10 steps it was okay 11 steps sin there was no thinking involved okay there was no spirit really involved it was just law it was letter of the law not spirit of the law in the Old Testament if someone steals your ox you do this if they steal your your chicken you do this it was very much letter of the law letter of the law letter of the law what st. Paul is saying right is that we no longer live by the letter of the law all things are lawful for me okay and I can walk a hundred steps on the Sabbath if I want but is that helpful for me okay we no longer have not to eat this food you're going to eat this food even with our fasting okay even with our fasting yes there's regulations but more think about it more of like it's more of guidelines okay because someone may be sick and they may not be able to fit the regulation or it may not be able to abstain or they may not be able to eat this or they may need a protein or whatever it may be so all things are awful for me no one says that if you eat meat on a Wednesday to hear it you're going to hell or anything like that all things are lawful for me we I live under the letter of the law anymore but we live under the spirit of the law and is the reason that you're eating that hamburger because you really need it or because you're trying to cut corners is the reason that you are doing this on the Sabbath day alright on the Lord's Day because you need it it's helpful or because you say all things are lawful for you just kind of looking at as an excuse to do what you want to do so that's what that verse means there T doesn't mean doesn't give us a license to say that in fact if you continue to read on say Paul makes that very very very clear especially when you look okay and the rest of his writings he says that that God's grace is not an excuse to sin god forbid okay that's later on in the exits before in that chapter verse 20 and 6 at the beginning as well as in the end and I'm sorry again I'm off Romans 6 and Romans 7 is where he talks about that as well okay those are my questions those are your questions let's jump into today's blog post today's blog post today's topic is the price of a miracle and I'm gonna read you this quote from a guy whose name is Charles stud okay who lived in the 19th century he was a British missionary he had the coolest name of the world Charles stuff so imma call him mr. stud mr. stud said my prayer is that when I die all of Hell rejoices that I'm out of the fight okay that's a great quote when I die all of Hell rejoices then I'm out of the fight today's message comes yesterday I was reading in John chapter 11 12 and 13 alright and John 11 is the story of Lazarus when he was raised from the dead okay in the story that we all know Jesus comes guy was dead for days and Jesus didn't raise many dead people but Lazarus was one of the few and Lazarus was the most public in front of so many people and as soon as Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead this really upped Jesus's popularity obviously as you can imagine someone's going on raising the dead so this really raised his his kind of his stature in the public and everyone wanted a piece of Jesus because of Lazarus and then we read John chapter 12 which is the next chapter okay and they are starting in verse 9 now great many of the Jews knew that he was there knew that Jesus was there and they came not for Jesus sake only but that they might also see Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead so many people said we want to see Jesus we wouldn't see Lazarus - and we want to see Latin and everyone wanted to be what why because he was dead they won't say really what you did you did four days and he raised you like really was a true and Lazarus everywhere he went became a superstar and it wasn't he was a superstar himself it was that Lazarus his life declared Jesus is the Son of God Jesus is the real deal you cannot ignore Jesus verse 10 but the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus - here you have a problem Jesus did a miracle for Lazarus Lazarus got this great miracle great blessing great glory great honor all my goodness but there's a problem is it certain people not that they don't like Lazarus they don't care about Lazarus the chief priests don't care about Lazarus is a no-name er did we know him today but back then he was a no-name er his his his their hatred for Lazarus and their desire to kill him was because he was a witness he was a walking witness a living example like here you go here's an exhibit a of why Jesus is God he's walking around from village to village because I was dead and I'm alive show me anyone else who raises the dead unless he is the son of God himself Lazarus experienced a great miracle but his miracle was in direct opposition to what the chief priests the scribes and the Pharisees were preaching about Jesus they were preaching Jesus is just an ordinary guy he's actually not even a good guy is kind of a bad guy and that was their message and Lazarus's life was a testimony to the exact opposite so now you have a conflict and the conflict was that who is Jesus Lazarus his life said one thing their word said another so basically what they did is they made it all out warfare to kill Lazarus not because they hate Lazarus but because they hate his life because it's a testimony to who Christ is what I wrote into my blog this morning is this I said I am Lazarus I am Lazarus I am Lazarus I know that for sure I am Lazarus because God has worked so mightily in my life I am NOT just saying that but I truly believe that with all my heart I always tell people that have all God's children on this planet I am his favorite then I go on and say you know like let's be honest here okay all parents okay I had two kids many parents have two kids my wife I just saw her come on the scope she's gonna hate me what about to say but everyone knows it's true every parent has a favorite and we don't admit it okay but you could tell regret of course I don't okay in case Michael is in case y'all ever watch this go I don't your mother okay I'll tell you her her favorite later okay but not now there she is jumping in nowhere but sometimes that's okay least that's the perception okay that you feel I feel like I'm God's favorite I honestly feel that way and and I hate to break it to you but God really really loves you but he loves me more and why I say that of course I'm not really saying that so all that the the you know the haters relaxed okay I'm not really saying that God you can't get more than infinity but what I'm saying is I walk around and I feel like I look at how God raised me and how all that God has given me the people he's programming the church he's allowed me to serve best church in all my world the people who work in the office right next door to me okay like I have the best family the best Church the best parents like the best everything and look around so you know what I must be God's favorite like a logical person would deduce to say you know what God likes me better than anyone else in this whole wide world that's how I truly feel and that Victor that's how Lazarus felt and I bet you Lazarus walked around so you know what Jesus freely really loves me like true that I am his beloved but I want you to know that if you feel that way that that comes with a price being God's favor comes with a price having the miracle comes with a price and the price is that the bad guys that there be other people out there who will not want to hear your witness and they will want to shut you up not because they care about you cuz you're nobody I'm nobody I'm nobody but my life is a witness to God is somebody great okay and anyone who says something great about me it's not me I didn't raise myself from the dead I'm not the one who works in my own life okay faithful tape do you feel that way too I'm not I'm not saying myself but what I'm saying is I am a witness that God can do great things out of ordinary people okay and I'm a witness that God can use anyone's life to do amazing things so then we some people out there who are not happy to hear that message so here's the message for today okay here's the important part that you need to get is that sometimes we got to realize that there will be attacks on our life and those attacks are not about us they're about the devil versus God they're about the message which we share they're about our life which is a testimony to them to the gospel of the good news the good news of God okay so let me say it this way I said it this way on my blog let's say in my marriage all right let's say you know we just did this series on marriage and was powerful so many people in this series of series then all of a sudden I notice that you know what me and man seem to be fighting about the dumbest things the dumbest things I say we make any wait a minute my right maybe this isn't about me and her maybe this is me and her maybe someone is attacking us okay someone is it someone may be attacking us because he doesn't like our witness and the more and more we witness to what a godly marriage is the more and more we should expect that he's gonna attack it so you know what I'm gonna say when the attack comes when I'm gonna say hey wait a minute no no no no I'm not stupid here I know how this game works I know what the devil is trying to do to us I'm not gonna let him win I'm a competitive person so I'm not gonna let him win once I realized the game that's being placed I'm not I'm not gonna let him win same thing with my thoughts my anxiety my purity my fear okay my relationships whatever it may be say hey wait a minute why all this stuff right now why all this spiritual warfare st. Paul says do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against spiritual hosts okay against powers and its rulers of the darkness of this age spiritual hosts in the heavenly places all right while this stuff is happening there's someone who's trying to ruin my testimony there's someone who's trying to shut me up so that you say someone out there wants me to say you know what like with God it's okay but you know what it's really knowledge cracked up to be and you got to be aware of that Christian you got to be aware of that mr. servant man mr. evangelist mister I want to do something great for God you must be aware okay you must be aware of the spiritual warfare that's out there okay so that when it happens you are not taken by surprise that you know that hey wait a minute that someone out there is trying to shut me up and same thing with Lazarus Lazarus knew that it wasn't about him they weren't trying to kill him because of him they knew that they were trying to kill he knew they'd try to kill him because of his message and that just made him if you ask me if Lazarus has what's inside me and hopefully what's inside you that just makes it say it even louder that makes us be more protected and guarded okay and like I said in the beginning integrity all right walk in in honesty repentance purity prayer all right trusting God godly relationships accountability like my fort and I go out there and I start fighting knowing that I'm gonna be attacked but knowing that I'm gonna win in the end because I know whose side I'm on and it's not really about me when I wrote my blog this morning then I'll open up for questions right here if you find yourself under unusual attack these days don't look around for answers look up the problem may be all around you but the solution is always above that's good stuff okay that's tweetable right there came a go treat that right after if you find yourself under unusual attack these days don't look around for answers look up the problem may be all around you but the solution is always above okay I'll open up for any questions right now Nellie k23 asked so are we all Lazarus I hope so I hope you're Lazarus I hope that the enemy doesn't like your message and I hope that he wants to try to shut you up and I and I know you'll be victorious in Christ but I I hope that you're doing something to make him you know to put him to make him a little bit nervous okay and I hope that like I said that quote from mr. stud that I hope that when you dying when I died that hell were Joyce's and says thank God we got rid of that guy okay because that guy was doing damage to the kingdom of darkness and that guy was winning people for the kingdom of light I hope so okay I sorry I saw someone else popped up a question I'm sorry I didn't get to it if you could throw it back up there I'll be more than happy to answer or anyone else who has any questions oh he says how do we realize that it's spiritual wharf warfare how do we stop and fight it it's always spiritual warfare that's what I'm saying is that is always spiritual warfare taking place and your that is to assume it right off the bat and it may not be okay they may not be spiritual warfare I should wait let me let me take that let me take a step back there's always a spiritual component and a new component okay there's a spiritual component and you component so I I got to be smart and I got to be wise and I can't okay walk around in in in and you know it's like the example of the guy who goes to the bar you know and and says you know God you know don't let me be tempted by my drinking and then when he's tempted of spiritual warfare know that's you so sometimes it is you but sometimes it's spiritual warfare and your best bet is to assume that it's always both to start by saying you know what what am i doing like I said fight with my wife what am i doing just to create this fight okay can't you say spiritual warfare I'm a selfish and I'm a lazy and I'm an ignorant and I'm an inconsiderate I say it's spiritual warfare on my marriage no man can get up off the couch okay you gotta get up off the couch is that spiritual warfare your wife is complaining about you that that could be you so you have to start by look at you but it also realized there's a spiritual component as well and I wouldn't do one or the other I would do both okay that helps yeah any other questions I'm glad you helped that I really thought what's happening father Anthony I'm lagging in my reading okay I am doing a Bible study scope later today but for our church family weren't great specificity but one of my friends believes that people sleep after they pass I'm not sure sorry not sure what that meant forgive me and there's another question I'm sorry I didn't catch it there I'm sorry I'm a little slow today it was just kind of a long morning and I just running on them that's the raining outside and you know that anyone wants to throw up another question right now I got two more minutes until I got to get out of here but if you have another question I'll be more than happy to answer if not then you push that little button down there and you give me some hearts I appreciate that thank you so much so long you'll start Bibles I do a Bible periscope for our church family this evening but that's kind of like a church family kind of a thing so that's a different thing God has been giving me the same message the last few days glory to him Amen I'm glad to hear that Dave how can you watch your liturgical sermons you come 830 Church three three five one Fairfax Drive Arlington Virginia you show up welcome anytime okay how do we pray with faith I don't know faith is a big topic I'm not sure I can answer that if I had to give one short answer to read your Bible the Bible builds my faith and the more I read it and read about what Jesus did especially in the Gospels the more I have more faith for my own life maybe that'll help you yeah okay I'm gonna go hit my lunch thanks so much for tuning in and have a great rest of the day see y'all next week

Channel: Fr. Anthony Messeh

Views: 987

Rating: 4.7837839 out of 5

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Id: kruCufiWgIo

Length: 22min 45sec (1365 seconds)

Published: Wed Oct 11 2017