Faith is a fight not a fiesta. To love is to care deeply about someone, even if he/she disagrees with you. If your heart is full of love, your words will be, too!
If you don’t learn to love, follow, & obey Jesus while living, why would you do it when you’re dead? If you never learn to be obedient & submissive to Jesus, you’ll always be a rebel against Him! Close your soul to evil & open it up to the glorious presence of God. Being a Christian isn’t an occasional nod to Jesus. It’s total commitment!
When church tries to please people; we forget about pleasing God. People pleasing is based more on fear than on love. Rather than trying to please people, perhaps church could challenge them to follow & obey the risen Jesus!
People pleasing can prevent church from focusing on directly hearing & obeying Jesus. When you truly love people, you do what’s best for them, not what pleases them. When you’re goal is people’s approval, you soon become a slave to their opinions. Be faithful to follow Christ & His teaching, no matter what people say about you.
Nobody is liked by everybody, so don’t waste time trying to get everybody to like you. Living to please self leads to misery; living to please God leads to joy! The Bible shows us “how to live in order to please God.” -1 Thessalonians 4:1.
If you read the Bible with an open heart Jesus will tenderly untangle your soul.
People who live for people’s approval are quick to accuse others of “judging” them. To do wrong & expect to have no guilt is like rolling in the mud & expecting to not get dirty.
If you’re not daily growing closer to Christ, you’re missing life’s greatest adventure. If you’re not wildly in love with Jesus, perhaps you’ve never met Him. The risen Jesus continually lifts me out of sadness and into gladness!
If you’re full of self, there’s no room for God. To ignore God is to embrace loneliness. “I am not such a lover of myself nor so vain that in order to avoid censure I would refrain from preaching Christ’s glory and strength.” –Hrotsvitha, a 10th century Benedictine nun & Christian playwright.
If you feel the need to use profanity, perhaps you’re trying to mask insecurity. Cussing is adolescent language. Profanity is hate speech, cussing others instead of blessing them. Lying is also hate speech; robbing people of their right to know the truth.
It’s incredibly powerful to be quiet & let God form words in your heart! Try it. If you dare to take time to be still & silent, God will speak in your soul. It’s beautiful to worship with people who freely open their hearts to Jesus and to one another.
God cares deeply about every person, which means He experiences the pain of tons of unrequited love. “The mercy of Heaven is greater than you or your sins. Let your sadness be dispersed by its glorious beams. Do not let apathy prevent you from seizing the moment for repentance.” –Hrotsvitha
Christians can meet together & experience the life of the Spirit among them. Let’s go beyond the tree of the knowledge of good & evil, & back to the tree of life.
Ekklesia is based on the life of Christ in our midst, not on our religious knowledge. Ekklesia is an agape-lab where the love of God can be openly experienced & freely shared.
