44"No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last day.
John 6:44
7"Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. 8For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks, the door will be opened.
Matthew 7:7-8
1I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— 2for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. 3This is good, and pleases God our Savior,
1 Timothy 2:1-2
Main Idea: Prayer is essential.
While praying today, I really felt God impress this message on my heart. Today, John Heald, MCCC youth pastor, preached on being a living sacrifice to God, holy and pleasing to God, from Romans 12:1-2. I thought about that today, and I really felt that in order to please God, to be consecrated to Him, we must obey Him. Jesus wept when He saw Jerusalem fail to recognize what would bring them peace( what would bring them peace is Jesus, the Prince of Peace) [ Luke 19 ]. In the same way, Jesus weeps over those who do not know Him, those who fail to recognize that peace comes from God. As Christians, our purpose in life is to bring God pleasure; therefore, we are to pray for God the Father to bring the lost to Jesus, where they will be able to come to know His truth, as it says in John 6:44, because this certainly will bring God pleasure, "who wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth"(1 Timothy 2:4).
So my challenge for you, make it your prayer, believing that it will happen, for God to bring people to Jesus, where they can truly find peace.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
No Condemnation
I was reading and meditating upon Romans 8 for the past week or so, and every time I re-read it, I become extremely pumped up. I didn't know why I got so excited at the time, but I have had some time to reflect upon it and decided 'twas time to blog about it.
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Romans 8 - NLT
(taken from BibleGateway.com)
1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 And because you belong to him, the powera]">[a] of the life-giving Spirit has freed youb]">[b] from the power of sin that leads to death. 3 The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature.c]">[c] So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. 4 He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.
There is no condemnation. None! All the things you've done--lying to your parents, cheating on a test for school, stealing a dollar or two from your friend for lunch money, sleeping around with your boy/girl friend, watching porn, getting into fights, letting your anger get out of control, swearing your head off, etc. (the list could go on forever)--it's done! It is over with. There's no reason why we should feel condemned for it.
We condemn ourselves/each other. One of the biggest reasons why Christians backslide away from their faith is because of the condemnation they give themselves once they sin. Once we commit these sins, we often say to ourselves, "Oh, I can't worship God after I just did that" or something along those lines. Even worse, people judge and condemn others for their actions, be it good or bad. Too often, it is the Christian body that becomes the source of criticism as if we do not sin ourselves. Jesus never told a sinner to get out of the church. Not once. Instead, he said, "Let he who is without sin be the first to cast a stone." Wow.
However, sin has lost its control! This is a lie from the enemy! Once you repent of the law and accept the blood of the Lamb, you're redeemed. The enemy can't rightfully touch you. So how can he get you? By whispering in your ear all the bad things you have done in the past, in the present, and even in the future. Listen, there's no condemnation, period. Even for sins that are going to happen without you knowing. Proverbs even says, "the righteous man falls 7 times...[so shall he] gets up 7 times." The Bible does not judge our righteousness for being perfect, but for coming to Jesus just as we are.
Follow the Spirit, not the sin. The irony of the whole [self-]condemnation ordeal is that many times we choose to listen to the spirits behind the sin instead of God. As if the evil spirits know us better than the Creator of the Universe and the world. He knows us by name, the number of hairs on our head, and knows the number of days in our lives. So when he says that he loves us, he welcomes us back with open arms, and he has sent his Son to come and break the bondage of Death, why do we allow it to rule us?
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Man just typing this out is getting me pumped. Due to time restraints, I will have to elaborate on other verses in Romans 8 somewhere down the road.
Stay vigiliant!
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Romans 8 - NLT
(taken from BibleGateway.com)
1 So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. 2 And because you belong to him, the powera]">[a] of the life-giving Spirit has freed youb]">[b] from the power of sin that leads to death. 3 The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature.c]">[c] So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. 4 He did this so that the just requirement of the law would be fully satisfied for us, who no longer follow our sinful nature but instead follow the Spirit.
There is no condemnation. None! All the things you've done--lying to your parents, cheating on a test for school, stealing a dollar or two from your friend for lunch money, sleeping around with your boy/girl friend, watching porn, getting into fights, letting your anger get out of control, swearing your head off, etc. (the list could go on forever)--it's done! It is over with. There's no reason why we should feel condemned for it.
We condemn ourselves/each other. One of the biggest reasons why Christians backslide away from their faith is because of the condemnation they give themselves once they sin. Once we commit these sins, we often say to ourselves, "Oh, I can't worship God after I just did that" or something along those lines. Even worse, people judge and condemn others for their actions, be it good or bad. Too often, it is the Christian body that becomes the source of criticism as if we do not sin ourselves. Jesus never told a sinner to get out of the church. Not once. Instead, he said, "Let he who is without sin be the first to cast a stone." Wow.
However, sin has lost its control! This is a lie from the enemy! Once you repent of the law and accept the blood of the Lamb, you're redeemed. The enemy can't rightfully touch you. So how can he get you? By whispering in your ear all the bad things you have done in the past, in the present, and even in the future. Listen, there's no condemnation, period. Even for sins that are going to happen without you knowing. Proverbs even says, "the righteous man falls 7 times...[so shall he] gets up 7 times." The Bible does not judge our righteousness for being perfect, but for coming to Jesus just as we are.
Follow the Spirit, not the sin. The irony of the whole [self-]condemnation ordeal is that many times we choose to listen to the spirits behind the sin instead of God. As if the evil spirits know us better than the Creator of the Universe and the world. He knows us by name, the number of hairs on our head, and knows the number of days in our lives. So when he says that he loves us, he welcomes us back with open arms, and he has sent his Son to come and break the bondage of Death, why do we allow it to rule us?
-----
Man just typing this out is getting me pumped. Due to time restraints, I will have to elaborate on other verses in Romans 8 somewhere down the road.
Stay vigiliant!
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