Sunday 010525
Don’t let me or my writings influence or scare you in any way, instead, allow me to be used as a vessel to open the Word, just a little bit, and hopefully, together we are going to read and study His Word, and let God teach us what He wants us to hear.
Our vision for this study is going to focus on what we have been told in the Bible and ONLY listen to what pertains to us, instead of us following an idea that rewrites the Word to fit our lifestyle.
The more we learn, we’re going to realize that it’s ONLY from our own effort that we put into a study that will allow us to take something useful away with us.
The verses we are going to study tonight:
Galatians 5:13; Genesis 1:26; Acts 16:31; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18; 2 Timothy 3:16-17; Hebrews 10:25; Luke 6:37; Philippians 2:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:17; 1 Corinthians 13:4-8; Galatians 5:13; Romans 12:1-21.
So, tonight’s lesson is on BELIEVING.
We should ask ourselves the question, are we free to believe in what we want to believe?
We are given free will that we can choose for ourselves what we want to do, but we haven’t been told that we are free to believe in whatever we want to believe in.
Galatians 5:13 ‘…My Christian friends, God has chosen you to serve him as free people. But you are still weak and human. So, you are not free to do anything that you might want to do. Instead, you must serve one another, because you love each other…’ EASY (Easy English Bible)
God has given us some freedom, so we are able to be free to move around but, we are warned that we are weak and human.
It is in this warning where we should become aware.
Our minds alone are so easily tempted and because of our weak minds, we can be lured away from what is ‘good’ and we can be turned towards that which is bad. It is our human nature.
From Genesis 1:26 we are told how we were made in the image of God, but we were only made in His ‘likeness.’
Genesis 1:26a ‘…Then God said, Let Us make mankind in Our image, according to Our likeness…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
On dictionary.com, likeness is defined as:
A representation, picture, or image, especially a portrait.
Beliefs are a choice that can be influenced by many things.
And now for a moment, I want you to think for yourself a little, how much of what has happened in your lifetime has influenced the way you trust and believe in something?
Just think.
How much of what has happened to the environment, has affected what you throw away in the trash every day?
How much of your past experiences affect the way you move throughout your daily lives?
Think of all the events that have happened in your lifetime that now make you live your life according to those events.
How much have individuals and society changed the way you think?
How much has your government changed your thoughts and actions.
The strength of our beliefs is often determined by our emotions, and by other people that we might see every day.
Preformed beliefs can also be created by years of social, family, and media influences, which can create mental templates that cause people to favor information that confirms their beliefs and disregard facts that contradict them.
Just in a normal 24-hour day, we change our daily lives to fit around this belief system that we have acquired throughout our lifetime.
So, is it then understood that when we open our Bibles, or we simply go to a church service we have already formed a conclusion in what we believe in, based on our past experiences?
Here are some things we can find in the Bible:
1-Believe in Jesus.
Acts 16:31 ‘…They said, believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
2-Put living for Jesus first in your life.
2 Corinthians 4
vs16 ‘…Therefore we do not lose heart, but though our outer person is decaying, yet our inner person is being renewed day by day…’
vs17 ‘…For our momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison…’
vs18 ‘…while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
3-Read the Bible.
2 Timothy 3
vs16 ‘…All Scripture is inspired by God and beneficial for teaching, for rebuke, for correction, for training in righteousness…’
vs17 ‘…so that the man or woman of God may be fully capable, equipped for every good work…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
4-Become involved in a local Bible-believing church and seek friendships with Christ-followers.
Hebrews 10:25 ‘…not abandoning our own meeting together, as is the habit of some people, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
5-Forgive others.
Luke 6:37 ‘…Do not judge, and you will not be judged; and do not condemn, and you will not be condemned; pardon, and you will be pardoned…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
6-Live your life with thankfulness, not complaining.
Philippians 2:14 ‘…Do all things without complaining or arguments…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
7-Pray all the time.
1 Thessalonians 5:17 ‘…pray without ceasing…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
8-Love others.
1 Corinthians 13
vs4 ‘…Love is patient, love is kind, it is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not arrogant…’
vs5 ‘…It does not act disgracefully, it does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, does not keep an account of a wrong suffered…’
vs6 ‘…it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth…’
vs7 ‘…it keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things…’
vs8 ‘…Love never fails; but if there are gifts of prophecy, they will be done away with; if there are tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away with…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
All these examples can and will strengthen our lives and our minds in the way that God wants us to live our lives.
These examples can also be portrayed as how God wants us to believe.
As we were shown in the first Bible verse in this lesson:
Galatians 5:13 ‘…My Christian friends, God has chosen you to serve him as free people. But you are still weak and human. So, you are not free to do anything that you might want to do. Instead, you must serve one another, because you love each other…’ EASY (Easy English Bible)
… we are told God wants us to serve one another.
It is much easier for us to serve one another if we put ourselves in a person’s place and we try and please them as we would want to be pleased.
Maybe a good way for us to believe what God wants us to believe is to put another person’s feelings before our own.
The entire chapter Paul wrote in Romans 12 is a very good example for us to follow.
Romans 12
vs1 ‘…Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship…’
vs2 ‘…And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect…’
vs3 ‘…For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith…’
vs4 ‘…For just as we have many parts in one body and all the body’s parts do not have the same function…’
vs5 ‘…so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually parts of one another…’
vs6 ‘…However, since we have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, each of us is to use them properly: if prophecy, in proportion to one’s faith…’
vs7 ‘…if service, in the act of serving; or the one who teaches, in the act of teaching…’
vs8 ‘…or the one who exhorts, in the work of exhortation; the one who gives, with generosity; the one who is in leadership, with diligence; the one who shows mercy, with cheerfulness…’
vs9 ‘…Love must be free of hypocrisy. Detest what is evil; cling to what is good…’
vs10 ‘…Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor…’
vs11 ‘…not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord…’
vs12 ‘…rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation, devoted to prayer…’
vs13 ‘…contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality…’
vs14 ‘…Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse…’
vs15 ‘…Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep…’
vs16 ‘…Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation…’
vs17 ‘…Never repay evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all people…’
vs18 ‘…If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people…’
vs19 ‘…Never take your own revenge, beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, says the Lord…’
vs20 ‘…But if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink; for in so doing you will heap burning coals on his head…’
vs21 ‘…Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good…’ NASB (New American Standard Bible)
I love y’all. Jesus loves us even more.
Love those next to you. Put yourself in their place and treat them with the same respect as to how you would want to be treated.
Keep studying your Bibles. Open them daily and read the amazing stories we have been promised.
Jesus, I pray that those ears and eyes, either listening or seeing this message today would be opened to the very fullest and allow Your love to come inside their lives and comfort them. Teach us Jesus. Protect us. We love You. Amen
InHIM. ><)))o>