A young man came up to me recently who I honored and admired.

He told me he was attracted to this lady and wanted to lay down his intentions of pursuing her.  Now just to provide context, both are now working and done with schoool.

He said that it can go either way – that she will say ‘yes’ or he’ll end up ‘on the floor, bloody.’  Pretty funny how he put it but yet I encouraged him to go for it, prayed for him and let me know what happens.

In a day and age when men would rather be sure (the seguristas) to have their girl on the palm of their hands before they lay down their intention to pursue, this guy was going against the flow.

I’ve seen men who have done this and have done it in a way that honored God and the women they were pursuing.  Some successfully pursued and now married like Dan, Dennis and Joe while others ended up on the floor bloody as my friend put it.

But either way, the result was that God was honored in the process and that the lady didn’t end up getting reeled in and hurt.

As Randy Pope says,

“Ladies, if you want a king, you’ve got to be a queen.
Guys, if you want a queen, you’ve got to be a king.”

Kings treat their future queen as a princess.

Paul, in Philippians says it this way,

‘Learn to love appropriately. You need to use your head and test your feelings so that your love is sincere and intelligent, not sentimental gush.’ (Philippians 1:9-10 The Message Bible)

Let your love be sincere and intelligent and not mere sentimental gush.

We had dinner with my younger sister, Meg, last night who works for an airline as a flight attendant.

She told us many stories about her experiences – some funny, many were interesting, others scary and horrific.

There was one when she had a passenger who was seated near the emergency exit. Because she was where she was, airline regulations won’t allow her to have a bag in front of her, more so, on her lap.  In cases of emergency, the emergency exit will need to be clear of any obstructions.

This passenger had her bag on her lap and was asked by my sister to stow it on the overhead bin. She refused. And refused. And refused. It came to a point that the altercation reached a point when she needed to call the captain and security.

She unwillingly surrendered her ‘precious cargo’ (her laptop) to be stowed in the overhead compartment.

On her way out, she screamed at my sister, grabbed her arm and told her, “I hate you… Ako ang nagpapasweldo sa yo. (I’m the one paying for your salary.)”

I was so proud of my sister for not retaliating and just replying, “Have a good day, ma’am.”

Now it is true that the lady paid for her fare. (Probably a ‘piso’ fare.)
But to say she’s the one that pays for all the cabin crew’s salary is off the wall.

I tell you this story not to get us all upset at the lady passenger but to make us realize that we are all capable of doing something stupid like this and fall into ‘entitlement.’

When we’ve been in a company that long, or in a team for some time, or leading the organization for a while, or working for your boss for all these years, this dangerous attitude called entitlement can creep in.

King David, after serving God for many years and serving his nation battle after battle had this to say…

“Who am I, O Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far? Do you deal with everyone this way, O Sovereign LORD? ²² “How great you are, O Sovereign LORD! There is no one like you. We have never even heard of another God like you!  (2 Samuel 7:18-19, 22)

David could’ve listed down all the things he has done for God.

But instead, he starts listing down all that God has done for him.

And this is one way to destroy entitlement.

Remember the old way of watching movies? VHS.
I asked my 8 year old son if he know what a VHS player was. He answered and said, “Is that a sport?”

How about the old way of taking pictures? Film.
It took a couple of hours to actually see the shots you took because it had to be ‘developed’. Now with digital cameras, you can see the pictures almost instantaneously.

When we gave our life to Christ, the Bible says that those who are in Christ are a new creation; the old is gone and the new has come.

There is now a new way to live. And we can live it… NOW!

Why?

1. NEW STANDING.

John 3:18 says that  “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”

However, Romans 8:1 tells us that there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

In Him, we have been justified. Some put it this way, “just as if you’ve never sinned.”

2. NEW POWER

We have been given new power to live the life God designed for us.

Romans 8:11 tells us that the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is the same Spirit that lives inside of us.  Because of that, we now have power to overcome sin and the devil.

It is never by our own power, might nor ability.  It is by the Holy Spirit of God that we are able to do what God calls us to do.

3. NEW RELATIONSHIP

Formerly, we were slaves of sin. Now we are children of the Most High.

Paul declares in Romans 8:15, ” For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” 

In Christ, we are now sons and daughters. Because of what Jesus accomplished at the cross, we now have a new relationship.

Finally, because of this relationship, we are forever His. Not only that, there is nothing that can separate us from Him.

Romans 8:35, 37-39. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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POSTSCRIPT:

This is an excerpt from the message last night at Victory Fort.

The full message on video can be found here.