Pleasing Christ

Being a Christian is not about following a bunch of rules, or trying to be "good", or having a long list of things you "can't" do. It's a relationship with Christ.

When you know Him and love Him-when you know the love He has for YOU-you come to a place where you WANT your life to honor and please Him.You KNOW He wants the best for you and that HIS ways are best, so you surrender your will to His and let Him work in you to change you from the inside out.

The more you read and study God's word, the more you learn about Him, the more you surrender your life to Him, the more your words and behavior will just naturally become that which pleases Him.

"Our action is not to earn God’s love. Our action is because of God’s love for us. We don’t act to earn God’s love. We act to express our love for God. Jesus says in John 14:15, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Love comes first. Obedience follows. Do you love God? Don’t obey to earn His love. Obey God because you enjoy His love and want to love Him back."(Unknown) 

No One is Good.

Rom. 3:10-12: “As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one; There is none who understands; there is none who seeks after God. They have all turned aside; they have together become unprofitable; there is none who does good, no, not one."

I often hear people say something like, 'why do bad things happen to good people and good things happen to bad people?'. Well, what makes a person "good" or "bad"?

The Bible says that NO ONE is good. No matter how much of a "good person" you think you are, none of us are good compared to God's standard of perfection and holiness! All of us have fallen short, we are all sinners who need God's grace.

That is why Jesus had to come to die on a cross-not for all of us "good" people, but because we are ALL sinners and evil people by nature who need to be saved.

Just something to think about. Be thankful today that God has mercy on us and does not deal with us as we deserve, but that He sent his Son; his perfect, sinless, GOOD Son to die for us, so that wewouldn't have to keep trying to live up to God's standard of perfection but simply put our faith in Christ!

Things We Should Pursue

Our culture tells us to pursue things such as pleasure, success, fame, money, and power. We are led to believe that these are the things that will bring us happiness and fulfillment. The Bible, however, has a quite different view than our culture.

Ultimately, the things that the world tells us to pursue will always let us down. Apart from Christ, there is no true peace or contentment.

Rather than striving for things the world values that may only give us temporary satisfaction, we should strive for things that have lasting value; things that really matter in light of eternity.

These are a few things the Bible tells us to strive for: 

*To become like Christ (2 Cor 3: 18, Phil 2:5)

*To please God (Romans 14:8, Eph 5:10)

*Holiness (Eph 4:2, Phil 2:3-4)

*To love others (Heb 13:1, 1 Cor 14:1)

*God’s glory (1 Cor 10:31, Romans 11:36)

*To obey God (Col 2:6)

*Reaching others for Christ

*To be an example to others (Titus 2:7)

*Peace (1 Peter 3:11, Romans 14:1)

 

1 Timothy 6:11

…follow what is right and good. Pursue a godly life, along with faith, love, perservereance, and gentleness.

 

 

Pray More, Worry Less

"Pray in the Spirit at all times and on every occasion. Stay alert and be persistent in your prayers for all believers everywhere." -Ephesians 6:18

God wants you to know true peace, and that peace is found only in drawing near to Him and having a close relationship with Him. The more time you spend reading God's Word, the more you know of Him, the more you will want to talk to Him.

You can't develop a relationship without communication, right? Well, that's one of the ways that we develop our relationship with God. You don't have to worry about praying the "right" way, or saying the right things, or spending 2 hours a day praying. No, prayer is just sharing your heart with God and talking with Him all throughout the day.

Try it!

"So when anxiety knocks at the door of your heart, let prayer answer. Not just a general prayer or only a venting prayer, but one with adoration, petition, with thanksgiving and specific requests. God wants to comfort you and give you His peace, and He wants to help you with the problems that you can’t solve on your own."

-Chip Ingram

LOVE!

As I've been reading through the New Testament the main thing that has stood out to me is one theme: LOVE.

It's not all about  us. It's about how we treat others, serving others, putting others above ourselves. For most of us(well, for me at least!) that does not come naturally. But we are to follow the example that Jesus set for us.

Think about this-Jesus, God himself, the creator of the universe, put aside His crown, came down to Earth and washed the disciples dirty feet! Just picture that. And that is the example we are to follow: to humble ourselves and to serve and help others.

"Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you."

-John 13:14-15

God is love. He sent Jesus here to die for us to show us how much He loves us. And because we are loved that much, we are to love others. I know that I need to do a much better job of this!

 

 

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another."

 -John 13:34

 

Action

I read in a Billy Graham book recently that what attracted people to Jesus was not what he DIDN'T do but what He DID do, and that's so true...

So often, people think that being a Christian is all about the things you don't do, when really it should be what we DO that sets us apart from the world. Following Jesus' example should be what we strive for, and that means living out our faith; it means taking action; it means loving, serving, and giving to others.

If you read through the New Testament, you'll find that one of the main themes is loving others. Love is a verb. Without action, it means nothing. Just like it says in James, faith without works is dead.  Without action, our faith is useless. 

We weren't put here on earth just to live for our own pleasure and happiness...but to live for God, to glorify Him, and following in the footsteps of Jesus is how we do that. He set the ultimate example by setting aside His crown and coming down to earth from Heaven to become a servant, to give  up His life for US. Now that is LOVE.

"Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you." -John 13:14-15

ALL Circumstances

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. 1 Thessalonians 5:18


Choosing to be joyful and thankful is often not something that comes naturally-it’s something you have to work at it.

Most of us often tend to think that if only our circumstances changed, THEN we could be happy, or if we had more, THEN we would be thankful.... But as my preacher taught about once, what usually really ends up happening is that the more we get, the more we want, and the more DIScontent we actually become!

Instead, we must LOOK for things to be grateful for, and CHOOSE to be joyful regardless of  our circumstances! And really, if we have Christ in us, and a true, real, growing relationship with Him, what more could we desire?

When God becomes our heart's desire, we can't help but be overflowing with joy and thankfulness, no matter what we may be going through.