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As Jesus drew closer to the cross, knowing all the suffering and anguish that awaited Him there, the Bible says that there was a joy for Him in enduring the cross. What kind of joy could Jesus possibly have found in such a horrific event, and what can we learn from this when facing struggles and suffering of our own?
Paul continues in Gal. 2:20 to explain that the life he now lives, he lives by faith. What does it mean to live life, and how is it that Paul now lives it by faith. What is faith? When we say that Christians belong to “the faith” what is being said? What is it about living a Christian life that separates that life from anyone else? How do we live by faith?
“It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.” Salvation is the point where you die, in your life, and Christ begins to live, in your life. Are you attempting to live the Christian life by making your life match the principles he teaches, or are you letting go of your life and allowing Him to live His life through you? A Christian is a new creation, born again. The process is similar to that of a butterfly; unless the caterpillar dies, you will not find a butterfly.
Paul writes in his letter to the Galatians, “I have been crucified with Christ”. Is Paul speaking in code, or is he speaking clear truth? The questions that revolve around this are at the heart of the gospel. What took place on the cross, and what effect does it have on the life I am living today?
When something monumental occurs in our life, it has the power to change us forever. Depending on the circumstance, we may want to erase that event from our memory, or intentionally remember how greatly we have been impacted by it. How important is Jesus Christ’s sacrifice to us? How often do we really focus on what He has done for us? (The last few minutes of this message were lost, but the heart of the message is still intact for you to listen to.)
For worship to be accepted by God, our heart must be right before Him. God knows every thought and intent of our heart. We cannot believe the lie that we can just do what we believe or feel to be the right thing and God will be pleased by it; just dropping some money in the offering plate or singing a song or praying a prayer are not accepted by God if our heart is not right. If we want our heart to be right before God, we must know what the bible says the heart is and how it can be right in His eyes.
When we look at other religions and cultures of the world, we recognize that they worship their god. For Christians, we know that their worship, whether image-worship or spirit-worship, is idolatrous because they are not worshiping the one true and living Holy God. Is their a difference in the worship aside from the object being worshiped? What is at the heart of idolatry?
Idolatry is essentially falling down before someone or something other than God. Pride is knowing God, and refusing to fall down before Him. True Worship begins with both knowing God, and falling down before him. In knowing Him, we begin to understand how valuable He is. It must be significant to true worship then, how valuable God is to us.
To paraphrase Mark 7:6-7 & Matt. 15:8-9 Jesus says that people attempted to honor God with their lips but because their hearts did not belong to God their worship was in vain. They placed a high value on following their traditions that they had set in place, but the very traditions replaced the object of their worship; not intentionally I’m sure, but this is the case. There are two specific requirements that must be met for worship to be genuine, or true; Knowing God, and Falling Down before Him. If these two prerequisites are not met, worship of God is in vain. Do you know God? Have you fallen down before him?
The events surrounding Jesus birth are so amazing when we pause and meditate on what took place. Specifically to focus our thoughts on the wise men and compare them with Harod and the Jewish Scribes, some interesting facts pop out. The wise men came to fall down before an infant; Harod was not willing to. What’s so significant about falling down? Have we fallen down before Jesus?
All mankind has a center to their being. At that center is a throne. The Natural Man himself is sitting on that throne. No matter what stage of life you are in; if Jesus is not sitting on that throne, you have not come to salvation.
The double minded man is unstable in all his ways. We live each day in a war, the flesh against the Spirit. We will be unstable in all our ways if we do not submit ourselves to God. He gives the spirit of wisdom; the spirit of understanding; the spirit of counsel; the spirit of strength; the spirit of knowledge, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord. These are brought about from within us, for the Spirit of God makes His dwelling within us. They are not tacked on from the outside. Full submission of our heart to God is the beginning.
