You Can't Have Both.
Brother and Sister, what is it?
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What is it that keeps you up at night...that makes you feel hideous and awful? What is it that you just cannot overcome?
Is it sex, drugs, or alcohol?...Yea, they are the overused sins that people talk about, but they are REAL, and they may be real struggles in your life.
Is it pornography, lustful thoughts, or your "fear of missing out" that makes you say YES to the things that rid you of your soul?
Matthew 16:26
"And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?"
Is it the desire to feel wanted, so you give everything to the next girl or guy that shows a tiny bit of interest in you? Listen, that "interest" he or she shows will NEVER suffice to the interest Christ has for you. What is better than Him? Nothing.
----
This topic is not easy for a lot of people to face because they are ashamed or they think that their sin is not that big of a deal because others do worse. It is time to stop shrinking our God to the size we want him to be. We have to respect and honor our God's sovereignty instead of diminishing it. How disrespectful and disobedient of us. We tend to always make God into what we want Him to be, and we have stripped God of His authority. Yes, God is an understanding God who gets that we are imperfect, but He is also a jealous God. He is jealous that we invest our time into things that ruin us.
Exodus 34:14
"Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God."
Brother and sister, whatever you put before your relationship with God is something you worship over Him. We don't always realize it, but we do. God wants our full attention and heart. This double life we are trying to live is not our "true and perfect worship" Paul speaks to us about in Romans 12:1. If our opinion of what WE think is true and perfect worship overshadows what the Bible says, then it is not even close to what God should receive each day. We cannot let our sin control us Monday through Saturday and then fake our way through Sunday. We cannot have both lives. Our God deserves more.
---
John 4
Do you remember the story about the Samaritan woman at the well?
Jesus asked this woman for water. She was jolted back at the fact that Jesus, a Jew, asked her for water. Remember that the Jews did not associate with Samaritans. Jesus then told her in verse 10, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst."
---
Are you still thirsty? Jesus, our Messiah, will quench your thirst like never before. If we continue to drink from the wrong well, we will be unsatisfied forever. Our hearts will be unsatisfied forever. What you're getting caught up in may feel or sound good, but it leaves you empty time and time again. It will always leave you begging for more. That wrong well, whatever it may be in your life, is intoxicating.
---
That boy or girl, those drugs, that pornographic site, that bottle of alcohol, or that raging party may sound so perfect you can't dream or beg for better, but it is a hoax. It will desert you. It will fail you. It will deceive you. It will destroy you...but there is hope in Jesus. There is forgiveness in Jesus. There is restoration in Jesus. He will make you whole again, and He will fill that gap in your heart. He is our chief remedy for our selfishness.
Christian or not, we ALL have baggage. We all feel as if we are the worst people to walk on this Earth, but when we choose Christ, He is our advocate. He pleads our case to God and goes before Him covered in our sin. He takes on what we deserve. He loves us that much.
---
We have to stop. We have to stop trying to live this double life. We either want Christ wholeheartedly or we don't. There is no in-between. Jesus promises life eternal. He never breaks His promise, but those worldly things do, and they always will.
---
What is it that keeps you up at night...that makes you feel hideous and awful? What is it that you just cannot overcome?
Is it sex, drugs, or alcohol?...Yea, they are the overused sins that people talk about, but they are REAL, and they may be real struggles in your life.
Is it pornography, lustful thoughts, or your "fear of missing out" that makes you say YES to the things that rid you of your soul?
Matthew 16:26
"And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?"
Is it the desire to feel wanted, so you give everything to the next girl or guy that shows a tiny bit of interest in you? Listen, that "interest" he or she shows will NEVER suffice to the interest Christ has for you. What is better than Him? Nothing.
----
This topic is not easy for a lot of people to face because they are ashamed or they think that their sin is not that big of a deal because others do worse. It is time to stop shrinking our God to the size we want him to be. We have to respect and honor our God's sovereignty instead of diminishing it. How disrespectful and disobedient of us. We tend to always make God into what we want Him to be, and we have stripped God of His authority. Yes, God is an understanding God who gets that we are imperfect, but He is also a jealous God. He is jealous that we invest our time into things that ruin us.
Exodus 34:14
"Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God."
Brother and sister, whatever you put before your relationship with God is something you worship over Him. We don't always realize it, but we do. God wants our full attention and heart. This double life we are trying to live is not our "true and perfect worship" Paul speaks to us about in Romans 12:1. If our opinion of what WE think is true and perfect worship overshadows what the Bible says, then it is not even close to what God should receive each day. We cannot let our sin control us Monday through Saturday and then fake our way through Sunday. We cannot have both lives. Our God deserves more.
---
John 4
Do you remember the story about the Samaritan woman at the well?
Jesus asked this woman for water. She was jolted back at the fact that Jesus, a Jew, asked her for water. Remember that the Jews did not associate with Samaritans. Jesus then told her in verse 10, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst."
---
Are you still thirsty? Jesus, our Messiah, will quench your thirst like never before. If we continue to drink from the wrong well, we will be unsatisfied forever. Our hearts will be unsatisfied forever. What you're getting caught up in may feel or sound good, but it leaves you empty time and time again. It will always leave you begging for more. That wrong well, whatever it may be in your life, is intoxicating.
---
That boy or girl, those drugs, that pornographic site, that bottle of alcohol, or that raging party may sound so perfect you can't dream or beg for better, but it is a hoax. It will desert you. It will fail you. It will deceive you. It will destroy you...but there is hope in Jesus. There is forgiveness in Jesus. There is restoration in Jesus. He will make you whole again, and He will fill that gap in your heart. He is our chief remedy for our selfishness.
Know this, brother and sister: Jesus still pursues you even knowing all of your junk and sin.
He still wants you.
Christian or not, we ALL have baggage. We all feel as if we are the worst people to walk on this Earth, but when we choose Christ, He is our advocate. He pleads our case to God and goes before Him covered in our sin. He takes on what we deserve. He loves us that much.
---
We have to stop. We have to stop trying to live this double life. We either want Christ wholeheartedly or we don't. There is no in-between. Jesus promises life eternal. He never breaks His promise, but those worldly things do, and they always will.
1 John 2:1
"My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father-Jesus Christ, the Righteous One."
This blog was inspired by Jody Flowers' sermon at Chapin United Methodist Church on Sunday, January 29th.
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