What are the most popular Christian messages today? They are messages that help people feel at ease with their sins, teach principles on how to prosper or multiply what we have, paint a Christian veneer on man-made ideas about health and exercise, or analyze the “redeeming qualities” of ungodly movies and TV shows. We hear a lot on how to live more of your life in the world, away from the Lord, but balance it with the good programs at your church, the praise and worship music you listen to in your car, and the Christian Aerobics class you take with your friends.
Meanwhile, what are the major directives of the Word of God? •To fear God •To love God •To obey God •To repent of sin, die to sin •To live by the Spirit and not by the flesh •To love not the world nor anything in the world•To have faith with actions so our faith won’t be dead
…And what are the major themes of the Word of God for living a life directed by God while we are still on earth (one writer has called these themes Opposite World)? •Less is more •Last is first •Servant is greatest •Givers receivers •Die to live
…And in our it’s all about me and what I get for myself world, what does God’s Word tell us?
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised” (Job 1:21).
“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that” (1Timothy 6:6-8).
Oh, God, please take control. We know you have control over where history is going, and we know you have control over where this is all leading for the world and for the evil one, but please, Lord, take control of us, your people. For we have indulged ourselves in our own delights instead of dying to ourselves, taking up our crosses, and following You. We’ve loved the shadowlands because we haven’t found the sweetness of living in the purity of your desert, the desert that leads directly to the Promised Land. We’ve loved Egypt, the land of slavery, so much that we re-named it “Christian City,” built our churches and homes there, when you’ve been calling us out into the Placeof Repentance and Forgiveness, Place of Spiritual Worship, and the place of Prayer, which would lead us to the true “City of God” and to a harvest of miracles beyond anything we’ve ever experienced, beyond any of the pleasures we’re addicted to back in Egypt.
Meanwhile, what are the major directives of the Word of God? •To fear God •To love God •To obey God •To repent of sin, die to sin •To live by the Spirit and not by the flesh •To love not the world nor anything in the world•To have faith with actions so our faith won’t be dead
…And what are the major themes of the Word of God for living a life directed by God while we are still on earth (one writer has called these themes Opposite World)? •Less is more •Last is first •Servant is greatest •Givers receivers •Die to live
…And in our it’s all about me and what I get for myself world, what does God’s Word tell us?
“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised” (Job 1:21).
“But godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into the world, and we can take nothing out of it. But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that” (1Timothy 6:6-8).
Oh, God, please take control. We know you have control over where history is going, and we know you have control over where this is all leading for the world and for the evil one, but please, Lord, take control of us, your people. For we have indulged ourselves in our own delights instead of dying to ourselves, taking up our crosses, and following You. We’ve loved the shadowlands because we haven’t found the sweetness of living in the purity of your desert, the desert that leads directly to the Promised Land. We’ve loved Egypt, the land of slavery, so much that we re-named it “Christian City,” built our churches and homes there, when you’ve been calling us out into the Placeof Repentance and Forgiveness, Place of Spiritual Worship, and the place of Prayer, which would lead us to the true “City of God” and to a harvest of miracles beyond anything we’ve ever experienced, beyond any of the pleasures we’re addicted to back in Egypt.
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