Sunday School @ 9:30 / Worship @ 10:30
Christians, we're in a battle. The world wants to conform you to its ways: "sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these. . . . " (Galatians 5:19b-21a NLT). The world will tell you that this is the path to happiness, that this is part of being normal and it's what normal people do. The world will tell you that there is no reason to live a better life, because the best life is found in these sinful practices.
We know this to be a lie. The Lord has "set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it." (Deuteronomy 30:15-16 ESV).
The ways of the world lead to death and destruction. In the Lord, we have life and a fulfillment that we can never find anywhere else (John 10:10). In Him we have a hopeful future, but apart from the saving blood of Jesus we only have our own destruction.
To win this battle, all we need to do is join the winning side. Trusting in God will not lead us to ruin but to peace. This battle we face is one against sin. We feel these temptations every day and just when we start to feel like it's too much, we pray, because: "God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it." (1 Corinthians 10:13).
To win this battle, we must surrender. Surrendering sounds like losing to outsiders. But to those who are in Christ, we know that crucifying my own selfish, evil desires is the only path to Jesus. After all, "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." (Galatians 5:24-25 NIV).
Pray with me, that we can together be instrumental in the mission of Jesus to "seek and save the lost" wherever they may be. (Luke 19:10).
We know this to be a lie. The Lord has "set before you today life and good, death and evil. If you obey the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you today, by loving the Lord your God, by walking in his ways, and by keeping his commandments and his statutes and his rules, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land that you are entering to take possession of it." (Deuteronomy 30:15-16 ESV).
The ways of the world lead to death and destruction. In the Lord, we have life and a fulfillment that we can never find anywhere else (John 10:10). In Him we have a hopeful future, but apart from the saving blood of Jesus we only have our own destruction.
To win this battle, all we need to do is join the winning side. Trusting in God will not lead us to ruin but to peace. This battle we face is one against sin. We feel these temptations every day and just when we start to feel like it's too much, we pray, because: "God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it." (1 Corinthians 10:13).
To win this battle, we must surrender. Surrendering sounds like losing to outsiders. But to those who are in Christ, we know that crucifying my own selfish, evil desires is the only path to Jesus. After all, "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." (Galatians 5:24-25 NIV).
Pray with me, that we can together be instrumental in the mission of Jesus to "seek and save the lost" wherever they may be. (Luke 19:10).
No comments:
Post a Comment