Sunday, February 12, 2006

a life by faith

can i just say that i dearly enjoy Bob Flayhart? In a few short weeks a bunch of kids from the singles and I will be joining Oak Mountain Presbyterian Church and I am so excited!

Here are some of the things that I took away from the sermon today. It's mostly Bob, with a pinch of Suz.

all day long we exalt human pragmatics, practicalism, and behavioralism. we praise the one who "has it all together". FILTHY RAGS!

the power of the christian life is NOT in our own discipline; it is in Christ. Practicality and discipline have their place but we must understand that there is no power in them! the ONLY power in the universe is Christ and He can be tapped into by FAITH! "it is by grace you have been saved through faith" and we live solely by faith - anything outside of that is living independently of God... a.k.a. sin!

has your joy vanished? are you feeling down or depressed? did you know that spiritual joy is a BY-PRODUCT of trusting in Christ?! without discounting the fact that some people just have a chemical problem and suffer from continual emotional pain...it could be that you are feeling low because of your unbelief? this may sound harsh...but look at the flipside...all that Jesus requires of us is to believe Him! and when we rest and trust in the love of Christ, supernatural power is poured out on us!

Rest - to remain in a settled spot, to be glued immovably and fixedly on one spot (JESUS!)

Trust - to repose upon, to put your entire weight on

are you sitting in a chair right now? does the thought even cross your mind that this chair could break underneath your weight? no, most likely not. today, i realized that i trust more readily in this chair (and so many things) than my heavenly Father! yet, He is MORE, no MOST trustworthy of all! how much we live by sight and not by faith!

but praise the Lord, we do not despair because our sanctification is not up to us! It is HIS work in us! and this receiving system is all for the purpose of a relationship with Him.

and one more thought not from the sermon...
when i/you/we are frustrated with ourselves when we sin, are we not essentially asking "GAH, why am I not more perfect?!?"
"But if our unrighteousness serves to show the righteousness of God, what shall we say?" - Romans 3:5
more thoughts on this later...

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