Fueled by Kindness

We are in a series called Drive.

This is the second week, second message in this series, and we're asking the question: what are the things that cause us to lean toward God to find our purpose and our significance?

What things cause us to see the circumstances of our life from the perspective of God is working a purpose and a plan and to then look to Him and pursue Him for the answers in the circumstances?

Last week, Pastor Marcus brought a great message on how purpose achieves that work in our life.

We're all created with a divine design.

God is working in the circumstances, and they provide opportunities and vehicles for us to respond to God and find our purpose and significance in Him.

I just say to you, if you didn't weren't here last week and didn't hear the message, go online and listen to it or stop by and get a CD.

It really will help you understand what God is doing in your circumstances.

And today, the title of this message is Fueled by Kindness.

Fueled by Kindness.

Now I know when we talk about kindness, that's probably not on the top of the list of things that say, well, now that really motivates me toward God.

Usually we view kindness from the context of being something that is to be taken advantage of.

We see it as maybe a weakness in people or as a weak attribute.

We're more motivated by the fear of God, or by the miracles of God, or by God's provision.

And so we talk about those things, but I want to tell you, here's the reality.

Kindness is the best motivator of all.

And so let me just read to you a list of some of the attributes that are a part of God's kindness: loving affection, sympathy, friendliness, empathy, mercy, compassion, patience, pleasantness, gentleness, and joyful care.

When we talk about kindness, we we attribute kindness to generous and gracious actions.

And so you might say, well, I don't know about that.

Well, let me just read some passages of scripture to you and follow along with me.

We're going to read a bunch of them.

In fact, if you want to go ahead, you can uh put a finger in Psalm 103 and another finger in Titus chapter 3, and I'll get to you in just a minute.

Titus 3 · chapter mention

Numbers 14, 18, the Lord is slow to anger and abundant in loving kindness, forgiving iniquity and transgression.

1 Chronicles 16, 34, O give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.

For his loving kindness is everlasting.

Psalm 36 and verse 5, your loving kindness, O Lord, extends to the heavens.

Your faithfulness reaches to the skies.

Verse 7, how precious is your loving kindness, O God, and the children of men take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

Psalm 42, 8, the Lord will command his loving kindness in the daytime, and his song will be with me in the night, a prayer to the God of my life.

Psalm 103 and verse 2 Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget none of his benefits, who pardons all your iniquities, who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit, who crowns you with loving kindness and compassion, who satisfies your years with good, so that your youth is renewed like an eagle.

Titus chapter 3 and verse 4.

Titus 3 · chapter mention

But when the kindness of God, our Savior, and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His kindness or His mercy.

God is kind.

If you don't understand that, you will perceive the circumstances of your life in a completely different way than if you understand God's at work in my life and God cares about me and He loves me and He is kind.

And here's the first thing I want to say to you, I want to share with you about kindness.

Kindness solicits a response.

Kindness solicits a response.

Romans chapter 2 and verse 4.

Romans 2 · chapter mention

Or do you think lightly of the riches of his kindness and tolerance and patience, not knowing that the kindness of God leads you to repentance?

God is kind.

His kindness is not to be taken for granted, it is to fuel our pursuit of him.

Ephesians 2 and verse 7 says, so that in the ages to come he might show the surpassing riches of his grace and kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

God's actions are designed in such a way that in the ages to come, his kindness is going to be revealed in the way that he responded to you and to me.

Hosea talked about this.

The prophet Hosea in chapter 10 and verse 12, he said this: sow with a view to righteousness, reap in accordance with kindness, break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord until he comes to reign righteousness on you.

Now, we've been taught by Pastor Robert that when we read a verse like this, we need to go deeper.

You understand that Hosea is not talking about seed like corn seed or milo seed or things like that.

There is a seed that you and I are sowing by the behavior of our life.

We're sowing spiritual disciplines with a view toward right standing with God.

Our right standing, though, has been determined by our relationship with Jesus Christ, not by the performance that we do.

And if we understand that, we will know it's been because of his kindness that we have relationship with him, and because of his kindness, he sent Jesus Christ to stand as a substitute for the penalty of our sins.

This is what Hosea is talking about.

But here's an application for it.

He says, break up your fallow ground.

Our heart is the ground where God works.

And fallow ground, these are agricultural terms that Hosea is using.

Fallow ground is ground that has been set aside.

It's no longer in production, it's no longer being seeded for fruitfulness.

And if we view God as angry, as mean-spirited, as harsh, we will take the ground of our heart and set it aside.

Your view of the kindness of God, my view of the kindness of God will open up my heart, the ground of my heart to allow God to do a work.

Kindness solicits a response on our behalf to God.

And so I want to ask you something today.

Have you taken the ground of your heart because you've been disappointed?

You've been praying and asking God for something in your life and it hasn't come yet.

And you're angry or frustrated or disappointed or discouraged.

And so what you've done is you've taken the ground of your heart and you have set it aside.

Today, you can re-engage your heart because God is kind.

He is merciful.

He's empathetic and sympathetic with the situations of our life.

And fruit will be born because we turn our attention to his kindness.

Here's the second thing: kindness is a filter for behavior.

Psalm 61 and verse 7.

Appoint loving kindness and truth that they may preserve Him.

Appoint loving kindness and truth that they may preserve Him.

Our view of God's kindness will affect how we perceive circumstances and then how we respond to them.

Now there's many examples, but let me just give you one.

In Genesis chapter 4, we're told the story of Cain and Abel.

Genesis 4 · chapter mention

Maybe you know the story.

Cain and Abel were the sons of Adam and Eve.

And in the course of time, Scripture says, we're going to pick up in verse 3, it came about in the course of time that Cain brought an offering to the Lord of the fruit of the ground.

Abel, on his part, also brought the firstlings of his flock and their fat portions.

And the Lord had regard for Abel and for his offering, but for Cain and for his offering he had no regard.

So Cain became very angry, and his countenance fell.

Then the Lord said to Cain, Why are you angry?

And why is your countenance fallen?

If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up?

And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door, and its desire is for you, but you must master it.

Cain told Abel his brother, Can you imagine that conversation?

Cain, he didn't blame his brother at that point, I believe.

I think what happened is he went to his brother and he said, Can you believe God?

Can you believe what God is doing?

He is so mean-spirited.

I came and brought this offering to him, and he wouldn't receive my offering.

And then he had the nerve to ask me why my countenance has fallen.

Isn't that the kind of conversation we would have with friends or with a brother when we're disappointed because of something that's taken place?

So he told his brother.

And it came about when they were in the field that Cain rose up against Abel, his brother, and killed him.

God sought to bring a correction out of the loving kindness that he had toward Cain.

He had an intended good for Cain's life, and Cain perceived him as mean, as harsh, as critical, as unfair.

He didn't see the kindness of God in the work of God, and sometimes that's the way it is for us.

The circumstances of our life were presented with something difficult, or maybe even out of the sinfulness of our life, we we make a decision and then we think, well, God's He's just mad and He's being difficult, and it just makes me mad when He's this way.

Cain saw God's treatment of him as mean and rejective.

And because of that, his perception of God's meanness led to anger and jealousy toward his brother.

A comparison.

Say, why would God do that to you and not to me?

Why would he give that to you and not to me?

And he turned his attention.

The filter of his behavior changed because of his view or lack of it of the kindness of God.

How's your behavior today?

Are you angry at somebody?

Are you frustrated?

Are you mean at somebody?

Because you have not understood, even in a difficult situation, that the kindness of God is at work to be revealed in you.

And it's an opportunity, a circumstance to draw you into a pursuit of God's purpose and significance for your life.

God said to Cain, If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up?

And I just give you the lane interpretation of that.

Cain, if you understand my loving kindness for you, if you understand the compassion and mercy that I have for you, if you understand my goodwill for you, you will change the way you see this.

Your countenance will be lifted up.

Even if your circumstance don't change immediately, the perspective of the circumstance will change and your countenance will change.

If Cain would have understood that God's kind, the full measure of God's kindness, he never would have killed his brother.

Instead, he would have turned his response to God.

God's kindness causes us to see correction, opportunity, and temptation in a completely different light.

Kindness is a filter for our behavior.

And here's the third thing: kindness orients our response to God.

The circumstances of life present us with opportunities to respond to God.

Even our sinful choices present opportunities to respond to God.

Psalm 86 in verse 5, for you, Lord, are good and ready to forgive and abundant in loving kindness to all who call upon you.

Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer.

Do you know today, regardless of the circumstance you're in, because God is so kind, no matter what you have done, his love for you has not changed.

In Luke chapter 15, Jesus tells an account of the prodigal son.

Luke 15 · chapter mention

Maybe many of us, or maybe all of us, are familiar with the account of the prodigal son.

The son goes to his father and says, I want my inheritance, give me my inheritance.

He was tired of living under the rule and the authority of his father, and so his father divides the portion of his goods, gives it to his son.

His son leaves, goes to a faraway country, and spends it in sinful and riotous living.

And when the results of his behavior came to full measure, and he was seated, he was looking, he was hungry, and he was looking to the feed that they gave to the swines, he it says, Scripture says, he came to his senses.

And this is, we pick it up, the story up in verse 17 of chapter 15.

But when he came to his senses, he said, How many of my father's hired men have more than enough bread, but I am dying here with hunger.

I will get up and go to my father and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, I am no longer worthy to be called your son.

Make me as one of your hired servants.

I heard a story one time about a preacher that was asked to speak on this passage, kind of given short notice and asked to speak.

So he was reading the account of the prodigal son, and when he got to this point in the story, and he was talking about how the prodigal son had come to his senses and was coming back, and the account of the father's reaction.

Scripture says that when the father saw the son yet afar off, he ran and hugged him.

Well, the the preacher took a little license in telling the story, and so when he got to the point of the father saw the son, he told the story like this.

When the father saw him, he he came, uh saw him coming, he ran to him and beat him within an inch of his life.

And somebody in the back of the auditorium said, Well, that's the way it should have been.

When we view the kindness of God, as I said earlier, we view it as something to be taken taken for granted or taken advantage of.

We see it as a weak attribute rather than seeing it as something that motivates us.

And when we think of others, we prefer justice for others, but we desire kindness for ourselves.

Isn't that true?

We look at somebody else and we say their sinful behavior, well, they're just they just got what they deserve.

They should be paying a price for what's done.

But God, now remember, I couldn't help it.

We want to lean on God's kindness, but we want him to get somebody else for their behavior.

Can I tell you, God is kind all of the time?

If you want a homework assignment, go to Psalm 136 and read the whole Psalm.

26 verses.

All it does is talk about the kindness of God.

His loving kindness endures forever.

Well, so the prodigal son, the real story of the prodigal son, is he wakes up one day.

His mind had been clouded by selfishness and sinful activity and behavior, and one day he comes to his senses and he says, What am I doing?

What am I thinking?

My dad's servants live better than I am.

And I I've blown it.

I don't deserve to be a son, but I know that my dad is kind.

I watched how he took care of the hired hands, how he treated them with dignity and kindness and and understood their situation.

And I'm just gonna go back to my dad, and knowing that he was kind, I'm gonna ask him to treat me with the kindness that he would a servant, and just let me be a servant in his house.

The prodigal son was reminded of the kindness of his father and turned his behavior, turned his attention to lean on the kindness of God.

Where are you today?

Maybe you're in a circumstance, and maybe you've been thinking, you know, I got myself into this.

How can I call on God?

You know, I I did this all myself, and I just got to get myself out of it.

Can I tell you, you have a kind God?

A God that no matter what circumstance you're dealing with, he's for you and not against you.

He loves you, and he's waiting for you to respond to him.

Because kindness will solicit a response.

When I was in my uh early teens, just before I started driving, my dad came to me one day and uh handed me his business card.

And on the back of his business card, he had written this note.

I'm your best friend.

I will always be your best friend.

No matter what happens, if you need me, call.

Love dad.

Now, what my dad knew is I was getting ready to drive.

And with driving comes increased opportunities and increased responsibilities.

And he knew that the temptation of a young teenager in situations like this is to not tell everything that happens and to look to the friends, somebody that might pat them on the back and and and enable them in a difficult situation.

And what my dad wanted me to know is that there would be no situation I could get myself into where I couldn't come to him.

He's my best friend, he will always be my best friend.

And no matter what, if I ever need him, call.

Well, I didn't know how, and my dad probably didn't know how prophetic he was.

But in my sophomore year, in the fall of the year, a buddy and I went to a basketball game, an away game of our high school basketball team, and we pulled into the parking lot and got out of the car, and some some uh from another car across the parking lot, some guys yelled some not very nice things at us.

Used some cuss words and things like that, and my buddy elbowed me and he said, Are we gonna put up with that?

And I said, No.

And so we walked over toward the car, and these guys start piling out of the car, and as we get close to the car, I was wearing glasses at the time.

My buddy says, I'll hold your glasses.

So I mean, in a minute, you know, arms are flailing, and I mean it was not a it wasn't a street brawl or anything like that.

It was not even probably a minute long before the police were there, and they they broke things up and they hauled me and another couple of guys, not my buddy who was holding my glasses, of course, uh, into the the game where the principal of my school was standing with the principal of the other school, and he said to me, uh, Well, Tom, you had a promising athletic career here.

You had uh uh you you I thought you were a good student, but for now you're expelled from school and you won't be able to get back in until I talk to your dad.

It was a Friday night, my dad was at a business meeting, so I went home, not seeing the game, and told my mom, and my mom said, Well, you're gonna have to tell your dad what's happened.

So I waited for my dad to get home, and those uh couple of hours seemed like days.

And I was internally thinking, is my dad gonna kill me?

Will I never see the light of day again?

Maybe I'll never I'll never be able to go out with my friends again.

Maybe I'll never drive again.

And then I remembered the card that my dad had given me.

I'm your best friend.

And I will always be your best friend.

If you ever need me, call me.

Love Dad.

Here's what I think today.

I think some of us need that kind of statement written on our heart from our Heavenly Father.

Are you in trouble today?

Have you been looking to other friends for the answer to enable your behavior or to treat you with some kind of compassion and kindness?

Can I tell you?

God's kind.

He's your best friend.

If you ever need him, you can call on him.

Sometimes when we fear what may be the result, we want to, without faith, we want to look and take matters into our own hands.

And here's the last verse I want to share with you.

Psalm 84 is such an encouraging word to us because it represents the kindness of God's heart.

Verse 11 says this for the Lord God is a son and a shield.

The Lord God will give grace and glory.

No good thing will he withhold from those who walk uprightly.

It doesn't mean from those who walk perfectly.

It doesn't mean for those who don't have circumstances they have to deal with.

It means for those who are pressing into God.

There's no good thing that he would withhold.

And so today, what we can do today, the wisest thing we can do, is to recognize the kindness of God in the middle of our situation and say, I don't know how to deal with this.

I don't know what to do with this.

I got this bad report.

I'm dealing with this crisis situation.

I don't know what to do, but I do know this.

God's my best friend.

And I can go to Him with anything in my life.

Let me just ask you to bow your heads if you would.

What's the Holy Spirit saying to you today?

Have you taken the ground of your heart out of production for God?

Have you been angry or frustrated or upset, and it's colored your view of the circumstances of your life?

Are you dealing with something?

You're dealing with something that you just didn't think you could go to God with?

You've been handling it on your own, or you've been talking to somebody else, and they really don't have the answers.

It begins with a simple step today.

We're saying, what are those things that orient us toward God for finding our significance and our purpose?

A simple response today that says, God, I just come to you.

And like the prodigal son, I know that you're kind.

I know that even when I've messed up, Lord, you'll receive me.

And even if you just treat me as a servant, it's going to be better than what I have today.

You can make that response to God right now.

Lord, I pray today that the kindness of God, the mercy of God will fill this place like an ocean tide.

That you would overcome our life, Lord, and every objection, every hurt, every anger and frustration that would keep us moving a direction other than pressing toward you would be removed.

Come, Holy Spirit.

Minister the kindness of God to our heart and life today.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.