"I beseech you you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, [which is] your reasonable service." Romans 12:1

Somehow we got it all wrong. Nowhere in God's Word do we find a mandate to stop living. In fact, it tells us just the opposite. we are to become "LIVING sacrifices." One of the greatest hindrances to the success of the gospel in the lives of the lost is dead christianity, a life style that says, "I have given up my life in the world and am now merely waiting for death to come and take me home." How absurd! Christ wants us to get out there and show the world what real living is. He came that we might have life and have it "more abundantly!" When the lost look at our life, there ought to be a reflection of a living and vibrant Savior. Look at the life of Christ; He may have avoided the cross had he not riled up the dead heads (Scribes and Pharisees) with his love of life and love of people. Religion for them was defined by what was given up, not by what was gained.

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life. And I dwell in the house of the Lord forever." Psalms 23:6

I don’t think I am alone in saying that the 23rd Psalm is one of my favorites. There are many beautiful images presented there concerning God’s love, provision and care for us, his sheep. He is the good shepherd who provides for all our needs tends to all our wounds, and eventually brings us into His eternal presence to abide. The Psalm is indeed a wonderful reassurance of His provision and protection; but have you ever thought about another aspect in that Psalm that is found in the very last portion, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow (pursue) me all the days of my life…”

This is probably the most amazing thing in this Psalm! God is portrayed as the pursuer, as a shepherd out looking for the wayward sheep. How many times have I been in that situation, wandering from the fold of God? I am afraid that it is far more times than I care to think about. Yet, God has always been in pursuit of me! He has been the one to take the initiative to find me where I am and bring me back to where I belong. His love pursues me and His mercy finds me. What an awesome God He is!

"So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female he created them. THem God blessed them..." Genesis 1:27,28

Did you ever notice that the very first thing God did after the creation of mankind was to BLESS them? Isn't it wonderful that God wants man to enjoy His blessing? In fact, he made it His priority. The very first emotion of man and the very first interaction with God was one of blessing (happiness). In what way did He bless them? He gave them the earth as a possession (home) and promised them children to fill it up. He gave up some of His own sovereignty, delegating governmental authority of the earth to them. They had dominion over the whole creation. It's a beautiful picture isn't it? So, what happened?

Sin came into the world through disobedience and mankind fell from blessing, dominion and power, to the state in which we find ourselves today. If we are not in Christ Jesus, trusting in His finished work at Calvary, we are in a state of cursing rather than a state of blessing, and we are under the dominion of Satan.

It doesn't have to be that way, though. All we need do is to trust in the restoring blood of Calvary. In an instant, God will remove the curse of sin and place us right back under His blessing. Just a simple prayer acknowledging our desperate state of sinfulness, our repentance from sin, our need for forgiveness and then giving our lives to him, acknowledging Him as our Lord (our sovereign king) and our Savior. have you done that?

"THen JEsus said to His disciples, 'If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me. '" Matthew 16:24

Every Christian has two conflicting desires,1) to live for Christ and serve Him or 2) to live for self, indulging in sinful desires. It takes faith to live a spiritual life in a carnal world, to deny the desires of the body in favor of simple obedience to God's Word. In fact, Jesus said it was just as if we were dying upon a cross ourselves. To live for Him, he said, one must, "deny himself, and take up his cross daily...(Luke 9:23)[notice there are no other options].

Peter reminds us that if we are in Christ, we are only sojourners and pilgrims in this world. We do not belong to it, we're just passing through. He further reminds us that we must, "..abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul" (I Peter 2:11). War is used as a verb by Peter probably because it was the strongest word he could find to express what the battle is like. In a war someone must die. In this war, it must be us.

It's okay though because God gives us this promise through the Apostle Paul: "For if we have been united together in the likeness of his death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of his resurrection. Knowing this, that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be done away with that we should no longer be slaves of sin. For he who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him" (Romans 6:5-8).

"But he said to me, 'My grace is sufficient for oyu, for my power is made perfect in weakness.' Therefore i will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me." 2 Corinthians 12:9

Being a Christian is not about strength, but weakness. Those who are saved are those who have realized their need for salvation. God becomes our strength through our weakness; this is how He receives glory. Here's a good poem:

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not shouting "I'm clean livin'."
I'm whispering "I was lost,
Now I'm found and forgiven."

When I say.... "I am a Christian"
I don't speak of this with pride.
I'm confessing that I stumble
and need Christ to be my guide.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not trying to be strong.
I'm professing that I'm weak
And need His strength to carry on.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not bragging of success.
I'm admitting I have failed
And need God to clean my mess.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not claiming to be perfect,
My flaws are far too visible
But, God believes I am worth it.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I still feel the sting of pain.
I have my share of heartaches
So I call upon His name.

When I say... "I am a Christian"
I'm not holier than thou,
I'm just a simple sinner
Who received God's good grace, somehow!

Jesus said unto him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. THis is the first great commandment. And the second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Matthew 22:37-39

Brother Sam reminded us today in his sermon that we cannot serve God with passion until we love him with passion; and if we love him with passion, we will love others passionately as well. Martin Luther King made this comment concerning the actions of the good Samaritan: Others looked at the injured man by the roadside and asked the question, "If I stop to help, what will happen to me?" The good Samaritan looked at the injured man and asked, "if I do not stop to help, what will happen to him." That is the way God would have us view others. That's what he meant by loving others as ourself.

"Blessed is the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the lord hath promised to them that love him. James 1:12

To understand this verse, we must first understand the two key words: temptation and endurance. Temptation, simply put, is anything with a potential to draw us away from Christ. This could be a the lusts or desires of the flesh, the pride of life, or even grievous trials such as sickness and disaster. temptation appeals to the flesh and has its purpose to divert the flesh so as to also draw away the spirit of man from the spirit of God.

Endurance is the interpretation of a Greek word which means "to remain behind" or to remain unchanged. That which endures is that which is unchanged and unmoved after the storm passes. True endurance is not only remaining in place, but remaining undiminished and undeterred.

So this verse is telling us that happiness comes to the man(or woman) who will meet temptation (in whatever form it takes) head on, but remains stoically unmoved and solidly unchanged by it. The only way to do this is for Christ to dwell in us and to be rooted and grounded in His love (see Ephesians 3:17).

"Phillip said to him, 'Lord show us the Father, and it is sufficient for us.' Jesus said to him, 'Have i been with you so long, and yet you have not known me, phillip? He who has seen the Father; so how can you say, 'Show us the father.' John 14:8,9

We all look forward to the day when we will finally see God face to face; yet, the irony is that we will never see him in the by and by if we don't see recognize Him in the here and now, in the flesh and blood of our existence. Show us the Father, indeed! Open our eyes that we may see Him today in the faces of the people we encounter and in the wonders of His creation that surrounds us.

"And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who had been called according to his purpose." ROmans 8:28

Have you ever heard the word synergy? It is a word that means when two or more things are working together, the result is far greater than merely the sum of the individual contributions. Each component is strengthened by the interaction of the other components until each component is stronger than it would be on its own. For example , if two or three threads are bound together, the result is a tensile strength exceeding that of the sum of the two or three threads individually. Synergism achieves a result that could not be otherwise achieved.

Romans 8:28 has always been one of my favorite scriptures. It is even more so now that I have begun to understand the real promise. I have always thought this scripture simply meant that everything is working together in God's plan to achieve a certain outcome for the good of all those who love God. I often used the illustration of a tapestry being woven together, each thread adding its color and beauty to the completed picture.Well, that is a part of it, but I believe that it means far more than that. I think Paul is also talking about synergism; the end result being more than the sum of all its components! In other words, all things are working together in a synergistic manner so that they are all working, not simply toward an outcome, but for an outcome that exceeds the sum of all the individual events. the good that will one day come to those who love and trust God is far above anything that he or she could ever imagine! That is God's synergism.

"Trust in the lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge him and he shall direct your path

Trust is a hard thing to do, isn't it? Especially when we are really in a jam and the one we are called to place our trust in is someone we cannot see, feel, hear or touch. Have you ever played that game where you are asked to close your eyes and fall backwards into the arms of people you cannot see? That's a good example of faith. As tough as it is to do, God's word promises us that if we trust in the Lord, He will "direct" (or make straight) paths for us. In the Hebrew that literally means that He will "straighten out your life."

Do you need your life straightened out? You can't do it yourself! Trust in the Lord with ALL your heart. Fall back into his arms.