Romans 13:9 – “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
When Paul says we are to love our neighbors as ourselves, he means that we should have the same care and concern for others that we have for ourselves. Paul said the same thing in this way: “Let each of you look not only for his own interests, but also for the interests of others” (Phil. 2:4). You should be just as concerned about the comfort, happiness, peace, and joy of others as you are about your own.
Whose face do you wash in the morning? Whose hair do you comb? Whose wardrobe do you buy? Whose comforts are you concerned about? You are concerned about your self–preservation and self–comfort and should be concerned about others in the same way. Pay as much attention to them as you do yourself. That’s loving your neighbor as yourself.
Who is your neighbor? Anyone who comes across your path. Although it is hard to love everyone, you have a new capacity within you to do that (Rom. 5:5).
Will you take me as i am; i know the way im livin is wrong, but i cant change on my own tryin to make it alone; i wonder, how could u love me with my life so ugly; when you came down and died for me.Will you take me as i am; i know the way im livin is wrong, but i cant change on my own tryin to make it alone; i wonder, how could u love me with my life so ugly; when you came down and died for me…
PROVERBS 23:4 – Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the wisdom to show restraint.
Matthew 6:33 – But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Resources:
Speaker on sermon jam is Joshua Harris
Sermon Jam was created by 1031 Sermon Jams
Rejoice and be glad, because you have a great reward waiting for you in heaven. – Matthew 5:12
In the Sermon on the mount, … what Jesus promises is not a gimmick to give you goose bumps nor a mental attitude that has to be pumped up at pep rallies. No, Matthew 5 describes God’s radical reconstruction of the heart.
Observe the sequence. First, we recognize we are in need (we’re poor in spirit). Next, we repent of our self-sufficiency (we mourn). We quit calling the shots and surrender control to God (we’re meek). So grateful are we for his presence that we yearn for more of him (we hunger and thirst). As we grow closer to him, we become more like him. We forgive others (we’re merciful). We change our outlook (we’re pure in heart). We love others (we’re peace-makers). We endure injustice (we’re persecuted).
It’s no casual shift of attitude. It is a demolition of the old structure and a creation of the new. The more radical the change, the greater the joy. And it’s worth every effort, for this is the joy of God.
Resources:
Speaker on sermon jam is Loran Livingston @ centralchurchofgod.org
Sermon Jam was created by John Mahshie @ relevantrevolution.com
It’s easy to thank God when he does what we want. But God doesn’t always do what we want. Ask Job.
His empire collapsed, his children were killed, and what was a healthy body became a rage of boils. From whence came this torrent? From whence will come any help?
Job goes straight to God and pleads his case. His head hurts. His body hurts. His heart hurts.
And God answers. Not with answers but with questions. An ocean of questions.…
After several dozen questions … Job has gotten the point. What is it?
The point is this: God owes no one anything. No reasons. No explanations. Nothing. If he gave them, we couldn’t understand them.
God is God. He knows what he is doing. When you can’t trace his hand, trust his heart.
Surely I spoke of things I did not understand; I talked of things too wonderful for me to know. – Job 42:3
Resources:
Speaker on sermon jam is Loran Livingston @ centralchurchofgod.org
Sermon Jam was created by John Mahshie @ relevantrevolution.com
Ephesians 5:22-29 – Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church—
Resources:
Artist of song is J’son @ www.lampmode.com
Ephesians 5:22-29 @ www.biblegateway.com
The love of God has been poured out in our hearts by the Holy Spirit who was given to us. – Romans 5:5
You need to give the Holy Spirit complete control over your life. You can either hold onto feelings of bitterness, anxiety, and hatred toward someone, or you can yield them to the Spirit of God. When you submit to the Holy Spirit, He takes over your life and replaces bitterness with love and vengeance with affection. Paul said, “Concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another” (1 Thess. 4:9).
The capacity to love others is available within you; you just need to understand the resource. If you submit to the Holy Spirit, He will teach you how to love.
Resources:
Sermon Jam was created by John Mahshie @ http://www.relevantrevolution.com
Speaker on sermon jam is Carter Pounders @ http://www.thebodyasheville.com/
Questions? You can email me at inhalejesus @ gmail
I am the way, the truth, and the life.
No one comes to the Father except through Me.
John 14:6
Jesus leaves us with two options. Accept him as God, or reject him as a megalomaniac. There is no third alternative.…
Call him crazy, or crown him as king. Dismiss him as a fraud, or declare him to be God. Walk away from him, or bow before him, but don’t play games with him. Don’t call him a great man. Don’t list him among decent folk.… He is either God or godless. Heaven sent or hell born. All hope or all hype. But nothing in between.
But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. – Isaiah 53:5
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich. – 2 Corinthians 8:9
Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness:
He was manifested in the flesh,
vindicated by the Spirit,
seen by angels, proclaimed among the nations,
believed on in the world,
taken up in glory. – 1 Timothy 3:16
I have questioned him before you all, and I have not found him guilty. – Luke 23:14
A crook places himself between Jesus and the accusers and speaks on his behalf.… “We are getting what our deeds deserve. But this man has done nothing wrong”(Luke 23:41, niv).
We are guilty and he is innocent.
We are filthy and he is pure.
We are wrong and he is right.
He is not on that cross for his sins. He is there for ours.
Proverbs 16:3 – Commit your works to the LORD,
And your thoughts will be established.
Do you believe in God.. or let me put it like this do you pray for the strength to be able to follow His will in your life? Even if it would cause you to suffer? Our belief or trust in God should be so real and deep that we should be able to follow Him even to our death. Am I there? no… Is that something I long for? Yes..
Take a few seconds and sit down and think about this.. Who’s really in control of your life? If for the most part you are and you want to be, then examine your conversion…
Mark 8:34-35 – And he called to him the multitude with his disciples, and said to them, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it.
There is no middle ground with God you either want Him to control your life and you make choices based upon His love for you.. or you want to control your own life because you trust yourself more than Him..
My prayer: God help me to follow your will in my life even if it causes me to suffer..
Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. – Galatians 5:16
The immediate result of walking by the Spirit is not discovering which job to take, which person to marry, or which car to buy. The immediate result is that you will not carry out the desires of the flesh. To do one is not to do the other. Paul does more than command us not to fulfill the desires of the flesh. The command is to live in dependency on and sensitive to the prompting of the Holy Spirit. Saying no to the desires of the flesh will be the natural outcome of walking in the Spirit.
S.M. Lockridge – Thats My King
The Lord is our King; He will save us. - Isaiah 33:22
God has given us a healthy way to love ourselves. The word that most readily comes to mind is respect. Respect yourself. That is what it means to have good self-value or self-worth. Regard yourself as God regards you—a unique, irreplaceable, and beloved creation with a divine and eternal plan and purpose.
Don’t allow what others say to drag you down.
Don’t put yourself down.
Hold your head up and face the world with the knowledge that you are a child of God and your Father is the King of the universe!
“It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”- Galatians 2:20
God never intended for His children to live a life characterized by defeat. He doesn’t expect you to live with defeat in your thought life, your emotions, your attitudes, your self-control, or your faith. He paid much too high a price to allow you into His family just to watch you fail in your attempts to function as His family member.
God’s plan of salvation includes a provision for saving you from yourself. And the key player in that part of His plan is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is God’s provision for righteous living. He is the abiding presence of Christ’s life in you. That is why Paul could say with confidence, “It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”
Jesus gave his life to us so he could live his life through us.
Believe it, breathe it.
Create in me a new heart, O God. – Psalm 51:10
Ever blamed your plight on Washington? (If they’d lower the tax rates, my business would work.) Inculpated your family for your failure? (Mom always liked my sister more.) …
Consider the prayer of David: “Create in me a new heart, O God.” …
Real change is an inside job. You might alter things a day or two with money and systems, but the heart of the matter is and always will be, the matter of the heart.
You will seek the Lord your God, and you will find Him if you seek Him with all your heart and with all your soul. -Deuteronomy 4:29
To seek God means to pursue Him as life’s only definitive and ultimate source for meaning and truth, for understanding and wisdom. It means to consult God first and foremost in all matters.
When we seek God, of course, we seek His commandments, His righteousness, His purity, His statutes—all of the attributes and manifestations of His being. God cannot be separated from His goodness, His justice, His provision. To seek God is to seek His way for living a life that is pleasing to Him.
“No one has ever imagined what God has prepared for those who love him” (1 Cor. 2:9).
Whoever finds [wisdom] finds life, and obtains favor from the Lord. – Proverbs 8:35
If you truly believe you are associated with God who reveals Himself to you, guides you daily, protects you always, gives you strength and power to make it through every day with hope and courage, and imparts to you joy and contentment, how can you have a poor self-image? The almighty, awesome God of the universe is your heavenly Father! He is not only your Creator but also your Sustainer, Provider, Protector, and Lover of your soul forever. You are His child, and you will live with Him forever.
How can a poor self-image thrive in the face of such beliefs?
I think a lot of the times we think some of our little ‘problems’ are too small to bring to God.. We think God has much more important things to do than helping us find our keys.. or fix something that we can’t fix on our own.. or whatever. But God is everything and everywhere, he raises people from the dead, he feeds thousands with enough food for 5, he gives sight to the blind, he walks on water.. How could you ever experience this power of His if you never ask Him to see it?
These past 2 weeks i’ve had some very interesting ‘coincidences’ that relate to this:
Two separate situations I couldn’t get my car to start. Both instances I tried on my own to solve the problem, I turned the key..nothing.. turned the key again.. nothing.. again nothing. This went on for about 10 minutes then I finally thought, “Why don’t I ask God for help?” I prayed,”God start this car.” And I swear on my life the car started on the first time I turned the ignition each time after asking God to do it.
Another situation Aimee couldn’t get the tv to turn on. She messed around with it unplugged various things, I messed with it a little, nothing.. I finally had to leave but on my way out I told her to just pray about it. She prayed and then the next time the tv was flicked on it worked. And here’s the last ‘coincidence’…I have a program I use for a ministry I do online.. One day it just stopped working. I tried everything to fix it spent 2 days messing with it. I even had my brother and another technical guru friend of mine try and troubleshoot the problem with me. No luck.. Finally I prayed “God if you want this fixed if you want me to continue this ministry then fix it.”.. The next time I double clicked the software it worked.. Thats just unbelievable. I didn’t do anything but pray and a computer problem that I spent 2 days trying to fix on my own was fixed in a mere second. Those little situations all happened in the past 2 weeks… Now i’m actually hoping for opportunities to see God work little miracles in my life..
I’ve looked back at situations in my life when I didn’t even truly believe in God and he answered requests that I had made. I didn’t realize it then, but I see it now.. Is your faith so small that you don’t think the God of the universe, who spoke this universe into existence and raises people from the dead, can’t start cars, or fix computers and tv’s? So what I ask of you is this.. The next time you have a little ‘problem’ and you’ve tried on your own to solve it to no avail.. Give it to God.. And lets see if it coincidentally gets solved after you do.
Just look back at your life has He answered prayers you’ve made and you never even acknowledged it was Him? You just thought it was a coincidence? Its funny we give God so little praise for all he does and he answers more prayer requests for us than we can imagine. He definitely deserves more attention than we give Him.. The way we can truly see His love for us is when we ask Him to make us to truly love him.. With our whole hearts, with our whole mind, and with our whole soul.. We can’t do this on our own… He makes us in love with Him.. We just gotta take that step of faith and ask…. What does it take for us to realize that His way is better than our way? His way leads to life… Our way leads to death.. Please seek God..
Grace and Peace
Phillipians 4:6-7 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Hebrews 11:6 – And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Proverbs 14:12- There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.
We do not realize the importance of the unconscious part of our life ministry. It goes on continually. In every greeting we give to another on the street, in every moment’s conversation, in every letter we write, in every contact with other lives, there is a subtle influence that goes from us that often reaches further, and leaves a deeper impression than the things themselves that we are doing at the time. It is not so much what we do in this world but what we are, that draws others to Jesus…
Matthew 5:16 – Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.
Romans 12:2 – Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will..
Lets just sit back today and be thankful for everything God does for us (food, shelter, clothing) what he’s done for us (the cross) and what he will do for us throughout our lives (save us).. Keep Him first.. Seek Him First..
Grace and Peace
2 Corinthians 12:9 – But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
Trip Lee – Young and Unashamed
Full Lyrics
Cats don’t really understand, they think I lost my mind
They hood on they back, but I rock a cross on mine
Walk wit Christ in light, blood bought plus I’m
Not dark as night, I’m light because I sought His shine
I was livin’ for today, was always caught in crimes
Bout guilty as O.J., my talk and walk declined
The Boss of time and space, but I put that to rest man
I saw my old life, it wasn’t right like my left hand
Now He orders my steps and with Him is how I walk bro
Got off the highway to Hell and I took the cross roads
Now I’m walkin with Christ, what beautiful thing
Its cooler than fame, more precious than jewelry and chains
Most think God is just old school like Kool and the Gang
They wanna be like Jeezy, Jay-Z and Ludacris main
But I’m here today to say that if you want a greater day
Don’t fade away, cling to Christ and His amazing savin grace
If you a Christian who accepted the King and you clean
We gotta move, the Lord is pleased when we play on His team
I hope young believers understand, I pray its in ya brain
If we love the Lord we must be young and unashamed
A person is made right with God not by following the law, but by trusting in Jesus Christ. – Galatians 2:16
God is not stumped by an evil world. He doesn’t gasp in amazement at the depth of our faith or the depth of our failures. We can’t surprise God with our cruelties. He knows the condition of the world … and loves it just the same. For just when we find a place where God would never be (like on a cross), we look again and there he is, in the flesh.
It’s funny I used to listen to this thinking it’d have no effect on me.. But how does a little punk white kid from suburbia, that grew up in a christian home, end up carrying guns and selling drugs? My parents definitely didn’t teach me that.. It definitely wasn’t for the money… The music I was listening to glamorized these things.. Its called brainwashing, garbage in garbage out… and don’t think for one second that you aren’t brainwashed by what you fill your head with.. Examine the lyrics you are letting your children listen to.. And if you don’t have children… if you did would you want them to listen to the same message you are flooding yourself with?
Now i’m gonna throw you a curve ball.. listen to this…
Trip Lee – Looking for Love
Lyrics
So the way I see it is this.. What would be a wiser message to listen to? A message of hate.. or a message of love.. A message of foolishness.. or a message of wisdom… A message that hurts you.. or a message that truly helps you… The talent level on both is equal.. What would be the wiser choice to fill your mind with?
Grace and Peace
Matt Chandler – Repentance for Goodness
First things first this msg is for ‘christians’ if you are not a christian this msg will prob. not benefit you in any way shape or form….please listen to both clips they both coincide with the text.. Also please forgive me for my sentence structure, punctuation, and any misspellings you might find throughout this.. try and see past that and hear the truth i’m trying to convey.. This is kind of long but please take the time to hear me out on it..
Do you honestly think knowing more about some celebrity on tv than you know about the God of the universe is being productive with your time on earth? Do you honestly think mastering some video game is being productive with your life? I’m saddened by the fact that we would rather watch some random persons life unfold on television these days and know more about them.. than we know about God.. How would you account for that to God? “I didn’t have enough time?” You will eventually meet Him…. and you will be accountable for the life he’s given you.. will you even know Him when you finally do? Scripture clearly states that you will accomplish what he has created you for (Glorifying Him) either as an object of mercy… or an object of wrath.. So look at your life, look at the way you think.. Do you have any true desire to know Him? If not that’s a red flag.. Is your purpose to Glorify Him? I mean that’s how we can look at our lives and tell whether or not were on track with God… It says it in the bible that we are created to glorify God.. … If you call yourself a ‘christian’ or are ’saved’ is that what your life is about.. Glorifying Him.. so much so that you even want your thoughts to give Him glory…. is that a pursuit in your life? Do you have any pursuit of righteousness in your life whatsoever? Or is your life about you… You fit God in but your pursuits are all based upon your own decisions.. Has he shown you yet that those other pursuits aren’t worthy of your time? Do you pursue Him to know him.. or is your pursuit of Him a chore? He gives us an approval of salvation by his holy spirit… has the spirit shown itself to be a part of your life? If you’ve asked God to take over your life before does it seem like he has? Maybe you aren’t asking hard enough… There ain’t no middle ground with God.. you either love Him or you don’t… You either want to know Him more… or you don’t… and if he’s a part of your life… you know it..
We are created to glorify God.. Please read your bibles..
2 Corinthians 1:21-22 – Now it is God who makes both us and you stand firm in Christ. He anointed us, set his seal of ownership on us, and put his Spirit in our hearts as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come.
John 3:16-17 – For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
Galatians 2:20 – I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Ephesians 2:8-10 – For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
Matthew 7:21-27 – Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.”
Grace and Peace..
In Christ we are set free by the blood of his death, and so we have forgiveness of sins. – Ephesians 1:7
Jesus spoke of freedom, but he spoke of a different kind of freedom: the type of freedom that comes not through power but through submission. Not through control but through surrender. Not through possessions but through open hands.
God wants to emancipate his people; he wants to set them free. He wants his people to be not slaves but sons. He wants them governed not by law but by love.
We have been liberated from our own guilt and our own legalism. We have the freedom to pray and the freedom to love the God of our heart. And we have been forgiven by the only one who could condemn us. We are truly free!
If only folks would stop to think today, they would realize that they must make some decision about Jesus. In the first century His miracles demanded an explanation. Today 2,000 years of the persistent faith of millions that Jesus is the Son of God also demands explanation. How can an obscure carpenter in a tiny, backward district of an empire long turned to dust continue to affect so many human lives? This is perhaps the greatest miracle of all, and any thinking person must be driven to find some explanation.
And you can’t say he was just a ‘good man’ .. because Jesus actually called himself God. Anyone who calls them self God is not a ‘good man’ he’s a lunatic.. But is Jesus remembered as a lunatic? Interesting if you think about it…
Create in me a pure heart, God, and make my spirit right again. – Psalm 51:10
We are thirsty…
Not thirsty for fame, possessions, passion, or romance. We’ve drunk from those pools. They are salt water in the desert. They don’t quench—they kill.
“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.…”
Righteousness. That’s it. That’s what we are thirsty for. We’re thirsty for a clean conscience. We crave a clean slate. We yearn for a fresh start. We pray for a hand that will enter the dark cavern of our world and do for us the one thing we can’t do for ourselves—make us right again.