Sunday, May 16, 2010

Servitude

Serving appears a ton in the New Testament, mostly because Jesus came and showed a perfect example of what a disciple of God is supposed to look like. After He came and died, His disciples continued in His footsteps to share the Truth. And in doing so, they made sure to include serving and giving of themselves for God's glory. With serving, comes giving.

Serving:
  • shows I am a follower of Christ
  • confirms my faith

Committing my life to Christ means that I gave it to Him to use me however needed to bring glory to Him. And giving my life to Him means it's no longer mine to live; means to die to self; putting God's wants before my own.

*Jesus Christ emptied Himself
  • I need to empty myself and rid of the things that pull me away from God
  • I need to be obedient to Christ until death; just as Jesus did
*I need to give:
  • with the right heart
  • because it shows love and selflessness, (step closer to being like Jesus)
  • because it shows separation from the world
  • because it shows Jesus' love through action
***Find contentedness in Christ alone.
Jesus Christ is: peace, love, perfect, patient.
I need to allow God to work through me in this life.

Saturday, May 15, 2010

Faith is Needed; God is Holy and in Control

"We cannot escape the simple and obvious truth that God must be the main thing in my life."
- John Piper

1 Corinthians 3

Fact: We're all going to die someday. With that in mind, I need to focus on having a strong faith that my life is in God's hands. It's also important to comprehend how important my beliefs are, and how important they should be.

*My beliefs matter:
  • Determines the way that I live my life
  • Every action that I make is because of what I believe
  • There's a belief behind every motive
  • All of my thoughts need to be of God's truth
*Beliefs worldly= worldly actions; Beliefs of God= godly actions.

Verse 1-4 : There's a point in every Christian's life where they need to stop and think, "I need to grow up in my faith." This "growing up spiritually" means that you're able to seek God on your own. That you're able to talk to Him, read His word; without having someone hold your hand the entire time. To grow up spiritually requires that, in a sense, you're able to feed yourself. This should result in a lifestyle that's pleasing to God. Another crucial thing to keep in mind: Motives must be right. Meaning, don't do things to impress man; do it to impress God.

Verse 12-15
  • Authenticity of faith will be tested
  • Live for God if He dwells in you

***Beliefs lead to action
v18 - Remembering humility is important
v19 - Wisdom of the world is STUPID
v23 - I belong to Christ. Christ belongs to me.

Friday, May 14, 2010

James 1

How you can be certain that God is working in your life: by the fruits that are produced.
James 1
  • Things to remember:
  • I am dead to self
  • I am alive in Christ
  • It's okay to not feel at home on earth
Verse 2:
Count it all as joy- praise God in everything.
Everyone wants to be like Jesus, but not everyone is willing to go through what Jesus went through. I looked up the definition of "perseverance" and found this:

per·se·ver·ance /ˌpɜrsəˈvɪərəns/

–noun
1. Steady persistence in a course of action, a purpose, a state, etc., esp. in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.
2. Theology. continuance in a state of grace to the end, leading to eternal salvation.

The key is perseverance :)

Verse 3:
Trials make us stronger if we keep the faith

Verse 4:
Instead of complaining about struggles, use them as opportunities to grow in Christ.

Verse 5:
I need to ask God for His wisdom....not my own.

Verse 6:
I need to have faith. If you don't have faith when abiding in God, you're not really abiding to Him because He calls us to have faith.

***Wisdom: seeing things through God's perspective.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Knowing God

A little someting mustered up:

It's not what you know. It's who you know. And who you know will determine what you know. Therefore, know Jesus and that will determine what you know.

Make sense?

In a nutshell, it's important, as a Christian, to know the God I'm living for.

John 14:9-21

*The darker things get in the world, the brighter Jesus should get in my life.

*Knowledge of God will determine what God is revealing in this world through His Word.

*Jesus calls me friend because He wants to reveal His plan for me so that I can carry out His will that He already has planned for my life.

 *God will only do His work in people He trusts

John 2:23-25
Jesus already knows me. He knows what I'm all about; He knows whats in me; sin. He came because He knew what was in me was the very thing that was keeping me from knowing Him completely.

*It's a sin not to trust God.

Things to remember:
  • Trust God always with all that I am.
  • Remember that Christ is always with me and always in me; always a part of me. He's the very thing holding me together.