Give Us This Day – 9

Give Us This Day - 9

Subject – Eat the Frog

By Rick Welborne

Matthew 6:9-15 (NKJV)
⁹  In this manner, therefore, pray: Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
¹⁰  Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven.
¹¹  Give us this day our daily bread.
¹²  And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors.
¹³  And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
¹⁴  "For if you forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
¹⁵  But if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses. 

--Today we continue sharing the series “Give Us This Day” and today we are going to deal with something in which we will call “Eat the Frog!”

--If you ever have to eat the frog, the best time to do it is first thing in the morning. If you have one of those days where you have to eat two frogs, then eat the big frog first. Mark Twain’s advice.

--I know that your chances of ever having to eat a frog or eat two frogs is very unlikely but it is still good advice nonetheless. 

--Why eat the frog first thing in the morning you may ask? It is because you can go through the rest of your day knowing that the most difficult thing is behind you.

--What is it that you have been procrastinating on? What have you been putting off simply because it is difficult or you do not know what the outcome will be?

--What difficult decision have you been delaying? What thing in your life is taking preeminence in your mind most of your day and making it hard to concentrate on anything else.

--There is a possibility if you deal with this that it possibly may not go the way you want it to but just letting it go may cause the situation only to get worse. Ignoring this is not an option. This is your frog. 

--Here is a word to those of you who almost take pride in the fact that you don’t get involved, you don’t stir the pot, and you, in your mind, just let God work it out, eat the frog…deal with it sooner than later.

--If God, in His infinite wisdom, has given us a biblical precedence in dealing with something, He expects us to trust Him enough to obey His Word and leave the results to Him. Where are we going with this Pastor Rick?

--Nothing, except maybe forgiveness, is more difficult for a believer or really anyone, than dealing with conflict. We avoid it like the plague but God has given us a plan and He expects us to obey it.  

--You may be wondering what this has to do with the Lord’s Prayer and especially what does it have to do with “Give Us This Day”? The sooner “This Day” we deal with something, the better. Eat the frog!

Matthew 18:15-17 (NCV)
¹⁵ “If your fellow believer sins against you, go and tell him in private what he did wrong. If he listens to you, you have helped that person to be your brother or sister again.
¹⁶  But if he refuses to listen, go to him again and take one or two other people with you. ’Every case may be proved by two or three witnesses.’
¹⁷  If he refuses to listen to them, tell the church. If he refuses to listen to the church, then treat him like a person who does not believe in God or like a tax collector. 

1. Stop Avoiding Conflict. Eat the Frog.

Matthew 18:15 (NCV)
¹⁵ “If your fellow believer sins against you, go and tell him in private what he did wrong. If he listens to you, you have helped that person to be your brother or sister again. 

--The whole purpose of conflict, especially in the church, should be for restoration. Paul said in Gal. 6:1 “if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness…

--Contrary to what you may have heard or even believe, biblical conflict is healthy for the church and the person who practices it is someone who is spiritual and mature.

--Please understand that practicing biblical conflict according to Mat. 18 is only good and effective when we realize that it works both ways. If you go to someone to confront them, being willing for people to come to you.

--The key here is to go to the person privately which seems to be very difficult for most of us. We have a tendency of wanting to rally the troops on our behalf. We want a base of people on our side. This is wrong.

--If we will truly be biblical we have to eat the frog and go to the person who has offended us and deal with it privately. The more people who get involved the uglier it becomes. 

--Most of the time, you will find out by doing what the bible says, that it was just a misunderstanding or a miscommunication on someone’s part. Restoration happens quickly and without all the drama.

--Recently I had to deal with someone who did not follow Mat. 18 by coming to me privately with issues they had with me. They spoke out in front of multiple people and then called another pastor to share their issues.

--Two very important issues occurred. First, because I have taught my pastoral staff well, this pastor stopped the man in his tracks and told him to come to me. 

--Second, because this man had broken protocol with Mat. 18, I took this pastor in the meeting to reaffirm my standing in the situation. Again this is in keeping with scripture. 

--I confronted the man about his not following the Word and he said he had intended on doing that but God must have had another plan. I told him God’s plans will never be contrary to His Word. 

--When you biblically confront someone for restoration it may not always go the way you expected. Always remember the important thing for us is obedience, the results are in God’s hands. He will deal with them. 

--There are times when confronting someone prematurely can get in the way of God dealing with them Himself. Never use this as a cop out to not follow the directives of the Word (Mat.18).

--Okay, Pastor, how do we know when to confront and when to wait. Great question. This is why it is imperative for believers to walk in Holy Spirit power and truth.

John 16:13-14 (NKJV)
¹³  However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.
¹⁴  He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.

--Think about it, the Spirit of Truth (Holy Spirit) will guide you into all truth and tell you things to come. He will let you know when to confront and when you should wait.

--I cannot tell you how many times I have been prepared to meet with someone to resolve an issue and Holy Spirit said wait. Usually the next day the person would come to me with a spirit of reconciliation. 

2 Corinthians 5:18-21 (NLT2)
¹⁸  And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him.
¹⁹  For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them. And he gave us this wonderful message of reconciliation.
²⁰  So we are Christ’s ambassadors; God is making his appeal through us. We speak for Christ when we plead, “Come back to God!”
²¹  For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ.

2. Sometimes You Have to Eat Another Frog – Take Others with You.

Matthew 18:16 (NLT2)
¹⁶  But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses.

--In our Western way of thinking, we can actually think that this is a negative because it seems like or feels like you are ganging up on the person. We can be way too sensitive.

--If the witnesses also have a heart for restoration and for the situation to be healed, it can be a positive thing for everyone in the room.

--Years ago, a leader in the church was complaining about how the money was being handled and how it was being distributed to help people in benevolence. Everything had to be ran through him for his approval. Nope!

--There are really only three reasons for us to look at someone’s giving. If someone wants to be a covenant member, if someone wants to be in leadership, or if someone is complaining about how money is spent.

--In this man’s case as it has been in all the others, he was not being faithful in tithes or missions. When I met with the man and the other leaders, our willingness to restore him touched his heart.

--He broke, began to cry, and repented of his lack of faithfulness and his complaining about how money was spent. The Scriptures worked as we practiced them in love. The man was restored and friendship maintained.

3. One More Frog to Eat – Tell It to the Church

Matthew 18:17 (NLT2)
¹⁷  If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. Then if he or she won’t accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector. 

--We only had to do this once in almost 31 years and I brought in my presbyter to give wisdom and guidance. It always helps to have those in authority over you to help you eat really nasty frogs.  

--Eating frogs and praying Lord, give me this day may not seem to be the easy route, but hear your pastor, it is the healthy route for the body of Christ.

--Please know this principle works at home too (tough love) and at work. God’s Word works everywhere.

Pray, Lord, give me this day, and eat the frog.