Truth

Yesterday's sermon was really good.  Thought I'd share:

God gets exasperated with us when we forget the heart of the gospel = that we cannot save ourselves and we have to depend on the Lord. Satan tells us we are failures, bad Christians, not good enough, and have blown our faith, etc...basically wanting us to condemn ourselves by having us forget the heart of the gospel. It is not about what we do for the Lord; rather, it is about if we are grateful for what the Lord has done for us. We have been crucified with Christ and therefore it is no longer about us; we don't have to earn His love and favor because He has already given it to us. Often times we think, "if I'm good enough, smart enough, rich enough, etc., then I'll be ok. I'll be right enough for Jesus." But Jesus was right enough for us. It is done.

Does your self esteem depend on yourself or the heart of the gospel? [For example, when I heard this sermon I kept thinking how I was all alone at church and felt super ugly. Because I was so focused on myself.] Galatians 3:3 says, "Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" If we begin in the Holy Spirit, then we are to end in the Holy Spirit, and not by our own human endeavors. We know that God finishes what He starts. When we try to work out God's will on our own strength, we fail. Often times, when we become a Christian, it's all about our faith and the Holy Spirit. But then we continue on to do life and we try to do it ourselves. We tend to worry and forget about Jesus.

It is really easy to take the first step in faith and the second step in personal reliance. In starting a new job, moving, a new ministry, etc. Things get hard because life is hard; the world is not an easy place. In fact, the Christian life isn't hard; it is impossible. It is impossible when we do it on our own. We are only able through Christ.