Did you know that the flesh and blood on your bones do not belong to you? Well you better believe it because it's true. God created us for a reason. That reason is to glorify Him. Since it is His body and not ours we should not abuse it. Our body is the temple of the Holy Ghost. God is so holy that we cannot be alive and physically see Him. How do we expect the Holy Ghost to live in us with dirty,polluted, and infected hearts. When you go to church you honor that you are in church. You do not do the same thing you would do at a party or even school. Therefore you need to respect yourself. Our body should be a place where the Holy Ghost would want to dwell. Devote your body to serving God and not the world. It doesn't just mean to be abstinent but to also refrain from lying, cheating and stealing. Little sins like this could bring shame to you which could result in departure of the Holy Ghost. So from now on, ask God to help you keep the temple in which God gave you, Holy.
Happy Thanksgiving! The year has passed by so fast. Eleven months nearly gone in a flash, and December will mark the end of this year. Today is a day to reminisce about the great things God has done for us. However, if you have forgotten to do so in the past, now is a great time to start. This is how we decided to give thanks to the Lord: Do you ever feel as if there is no point in confessing your sins because God will never forgive/hear you? Well, I have good new for you today. That's not true! God knows everything about you. He even knows you more than you know yourself. Think about it. He knows what you are going to be when you grow up. He knows who you will marry and he knows when you are going to die. He also knows that we are humans. He knows that we may make mistakes. He sent his only son to show us the way Jesus experienced the temptations on this earth. When we come to God through Jesus and ask for forgiveness he will surely forgive us as he promised in text today. Just surrender all to him. Tell him that the sin you are confessing, you don't want to do it anymore. Tell him that you want to be pure and as innocent as a child. When you do this he will cleanse you and wash all unrighteousness from you. Hands of God is one of the ah-mazing songs from Francesca Battistelli's recent album, If We're Honest. I'm a bit late about getting to know it, but I encourage you to listen to it. I pray God will minister to you in the way He chooses to. Amen. As Christians, we are to reflect God and be holy. However, we sometimes mistake this concept to mean that we can never be vulnerable. We each clam up about our struggles, and wonder why it seems like we’re the only ones having problems. But that’s not true, everyone has struggles, because we’re simply human. But we’re all concerned with appearing flawless, that we create a bubble that no one can penetrate. We all remember when we went to church, and we heard the saying "You need to be crucified with Christ." Well, today we will find out what it truly means to be crucified with Christ.
Crucify (v) To put to death by nailing or binding the hands and feet to a cross. ~ Dictionary.com As said above, when we are crucified, we are put to death. This crucifixion refers to our behaviors. When Jesus comes into our lives, we become new creatures. All our old, sinful ways are dropped, and we become new and righteous. Christ's ways should live in us. (2 Corinthians 5:17) This verse also makes us to understand that we cannot just live this life trying to serve God on our own. We need to live by faith. always trusting in the Lord and following His commands. He knows what's best. After all, He gave his life for you! I was sitting down today, listening to a sermon, when my mind wandered off. Yes, I know, I should have been focusing on the message, but hear me out. I started to think of life in general, nothing deep or really philosophical.
But one thing that struck me is this simple mindset I have, that every problem will receive its solution soon enough. “God will soon take care of this situation.” And to me, “soon” means as quickly as possible. The longer the problem drags on, the more anxious I become. Then, I start to become worried. I start stressing out. My faith starts to waver as I try to hold on to God. Over the years, God has granted me with patience, so I’m not as easily prone to doubt Him. Nevertheless, it can be hard at times. Anyway, back to my not-so-philosophical musings. As I was thinking of the need to be patient, I suddenly considered the disciples. Near the end of His earthly sojourn, Jesus had told them that He was returning to the Father. Trying to place myself into the scene, I would have assumed He was coming back no later than a year (John 14). I wonder how many disciples assumed the same thing. After they witnessed His ascension to Heaven with the angels, they waited. And waited. And waited some more. They told others about Christ and His coming. And waited. Weeks stretched into months, which stretched into years. Friends died as martyrs, they were scorned by many. And still, they waited. He never came though, at least not in the human form they expected. According to the human mentality, He was late. He had broken His promise. However, as the verse shows us today, He had a very crucial reason for not coming earlier: love. The reason the Second Coming has not happened is because Jesus is still calling everyone to repentance. He wants to save everyone from the peril of Hell. Just as we’re waiting, He’s also waiting. He’s waiting for more sinners to accept Him. He’s waiting for more runaways to return home. He’s not late, He’s not being slow. He’s patiently waiting. Have you ever felt that you were "not good enough"? Or do you just have an issue in your life that you need resolved? Well, in our Bible verse today, it says that we should "ask in truth". God loves us so much, and He would never allow something terrible to happen to us without Him knowing.
So first, we need to ask truthfully. Then, we need to fear Him. We cannot be a sinner and only come to Him begging when we need something. No. That is not right. If we do that, we're using God. Instead, we need to fear Him. Give Him the respect He deserves. When you ask truthfully with your whole heart, you will see that He will answer your cry. Just believe in Him. It's 10 AM, and you're wondering, "Should I go to church or should I go to work? After all, I really need the money..."
We shouldn't only think about things in the present life, but think of ALL God has promised you. Things of this world will not last forever. We need to understand that one day, all of these things will pass away. There will be a new earth. There is only one thing that will not perish, and that is your soul. You can spend your whole life trying to gain this whole world, but in the end it will not matter. The only thing that WILL matter is what you've done on this earth to please God. "I don't wanna gain the whole world and lose my soul." -tobyMac (Lose My Soul) We all go through some problem or the other at a certain point of time in our lives. In our text, it doesn't say everything will be all jolly good in the end for everyone. It says that things will be good in the end for us Christians, "them who are the called according to his purpose". I was reading an article one day, and it just happened to say something that was really interesting. There was this kid whose mother made lots of cakes, which he loved. One day, he decided to try each ingredient of the cake individually, starting from flour, to baking powder to the raw egg. Everything tasted disgusting. However, after everything was mixed together, and put into the oven to bake, it tasted delicious.
This is similar to what Christians experience. Although we may be going through many different problems, everything will just end up being perfect. So just keep believing! As long as we are going according to God's will, He will see us through every situation. There is only one person who we can trust with our lives. He knows the beginning and the end. He knows your future. He knows everything. His name is God.
In our text today, we notice that it says we should trust in the Lord with all our heart, and lean not on our own understanding. As previously mentioned, we don't know what tomorrow may bring. Just because the weatherman says, "It's gonna be the perfect day for a picnic," doesn't mean that it might not end up raining the whole day. We might think we know our future, but it doesn't mean we know the best. That's why if we can learn to just acknowledge God, and to put our trust in Him in everything we do, He will surely direct our paths. |
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