Love produces grateful obedience

Partial obedience is called DISOBEDIENCE!

Want to please God?
Do what Jesus did, He obeyed the Father:
"For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me a commandment as to what to say and what to speak." John 12:49

Don't say you love Jesus if you don't read the Bible, know it and listen to and obey what it says. Love produces the desire to be with, know and please someone -
Jesus says,
"He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father's who sent Me."
&  "If you love Me, you will keep My commandments." John 14:24,15

If you have a relationship with Jesus, get to know Him & love Him. Christianity is not about walking an aisle, praying a prayer or keeping rules, but about believing in Jesus and that belief will produce a relationship.

If you spent the amount of time getting to know someone when you are or did date them that you do talking with & getting to know Jesus, would you have a relationship with them? For most that would be a NO. Try going on a date and spending the night playing on FB and never talking to the person or coming home to your spouse and never acknowledging they were even there unless you wanted something - how would those relationships grow? There would be no relationship.

If you don't spend time with Jesus, you might want to check to see if you really KNOW, really BELIEVE. Not that He existed or is who He says but that you have that believe in, trust in and rely-on belief that the Bible uses.

If you do know Him and don't have a great relationship, then chose to get to know Him better and improve it.
See yourself for the undeserving sinner you are
Be willing to change and be a part of God changing the things that need changing
Accept all that is yours in Christ (spend time finding out what you do have!)
Let Him love others through you
Forgive others

"If we truly appreciate what it took to forgive us (Jesus' death) and the fact we did and can do nothing to deserve it, how can we not forgive others?" - JimBrady

Don't think "I've got this covered" if your life is not changed and you are running your own life instead of God! You may just be fooling yourself and not find out until it is too late.
"it is appointed for men to die once and after this comes judgment," Hebrews 9:27

You can give your life to Christ now and live “justified by His blood, …saved from the wrath of God through Him” (Romans 5:9) and accept the payment, the punishment He took for you or you can die and stand before God judged for your own actions, your own righteousness.
“and the dead were judged from the things which were written in the books, according to their deeds….and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the second death, the lake of fire. Revelation 20:12-14”
 

You can eagerly look forward to Jesus coming for you or hope for the best on your own and be judged by holy, perfect God according to His perfect standard.
"so Christ also, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time for salvation without reference to sin, to those who eagerly await Him." Hebrews 9:28

Are you a new creation or are you just improving your flesh?
"Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come." 2 Corinthians 5:17

Be sure! If you are sure, then learn to be the new person you are in Christ!

Cooperate with God!

Getting ready for ETERNITY!

One way to keep them close to God...

                             How to stop the flood of young people leaving the Church

Why do young people leave the church? Truth is, unfortunately many do and fewer seem to return later in life. I saw a scenario not long ago and they had all sorts of statistics and programs to try to stop them from leaving, but I believe they are overcomplicating it.

Most don’t lose or deny their faith, they just decide it isn’t important now in their life or is something for when they get old or something they will do when they have time, etc.

Teaching them why they believe what they believe and some of the arguments that people may use against them can help, but what about something much simpler, but much more difficult to do?

Teach them to have a love relationship with Jesus!

If I know someone and love them and have a relationship with them, nothing is going to be able to convince me they are not important or that they don’t exist. I love my wife and nothing you can do will ever make me believe she doesn’t exist or is not important. Same goes for God!

We teach morals, rules and a few teach some doctrine, but we don’t teach them how to fall in love with Jesus and how to have a solid relationship based on trust, knowledge and experience. We don’t teach them to live by grace and appreciate the grace we have.

How do we get them to understand the difference between the joyful obedience of an attitude of “I get to love on and obey God” rather than an attitude of “I should”? Programs try to modify their behavior, but instead we need to show them how to love and let their love for God change their behaviors!

I have come to realize that we can’t make them understand or change and it isn’t our job; that is the job of the Holy Spirit. We can teach and show them the truth of God’s love, their sinfulness and His grace for now as well as eternity rather than rules by our love, our actions as well as our words.

We can teach them to obey out of a grateful love, a love based in grace and freedom by sharing the truth and freedom of the Gospel, and also by letting them see what it is like in practice. Show them God’s love by example. And, while you are doing all this it is very important to pray for God to guide you and to enlighten them so they can see what they are apart from Christ, and see who they are in Christ and come to love God and crave time with Him! Then leave the results up to God! Be available, stay an example & watch God work. Pray they will respond to His love!

God says, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” Deuteronomy 6:5
And Jesus said, “"If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” John 14:15 (NASB)

Learn to love and you will spend time with God and grow to trust Him and to love Him and to obey Him!
 

Be who you are IN CHRIST!

If you have believed and are a child of God then you are no longer what you used to be. Yes, you have that old nature, but it is dead and powerless unless you give it power. Learn to be what you are!

 

Live in the identity you have NOW in Christ!

Don't believe what you 'hear' - trust in God & His Word

Jesus came to save all who would believe.
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him.
He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God." John 3:16-18 (NASB)

 

Hit bottom? Look up & PRAY

He is the potter, we are the clay He created

Want joy in this life and good in eternity?
Say YES to Jesus and be the new you in Christ He will make you.

Do you really trust?

Trust God - He is reliable!

Trust God - He is both able and reliable to perform what He promises.