would you be willing to tell your friend they have cancer?

Imagine someone tells you you need chemotherapy. And that this life-saving chemotherapy is going to heal you.

But you have no idea that you have cancer. 

Would you let them give you the IV?

Would you take a medicine with the side effects of losing all your hair, and having extreme nausea, weakness, or possibly even worse symptoms if you had no reason to?

It would make no sense. Maybe you could try it once, but as soon as you felt the first round of effects you'd quit because there was no reason you'd ever endure that kind of suffering for no purpose.

That's what happens when we present the message of salvation without acknowledging our sin and guilt.

A gospel that doesn't show us our sin and sentence is not the whole Gospel.

We cannot neglect the truth of God's Word: we have all sinned. And whoever does not believe is condemned already. John 3:18

None of us our righteous- no, not even one. Romans 3:10

Yet when you go out and meet a stranger and ask them what they think will happen when they die, almost all of them say they will go to Heaven. Everyone thinks that they are good enough to go to Heaven because they are good people.

They have no idea whatsoever that they are sick.

The Great Physician is useless to them, because they have no idea that they have terminal cancer.

If only they knew:

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 3:23

and that:

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him. John 3:36

If you knew that you were destined to die because of the cancer you brought upon yourself, you would understand that you desperately needed the medicine to live, and you probably wouldn't hesitate to take it. You would be thankful someone told you before it was too late!

The short term effects of the chemo would be worth the end result, and you would be grateful for the chance to be healed, wouldn't you? If you didn't believe you were truly sick, you'd never feel the need to be healed.

Jesus came to heal the sick, not those who are well.

And when Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Mark 2:17

He came to bring good news to those who are poor, brokenhearted, and in captivity.

The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, because the LORD has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; {Isaiah 61:1, Luke 4:18}

But please listen- if you don't know you have a need for a Savior, you are lost. 

15 “‘I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing, not realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined by fire, so that you may be rich, and white garments so that you may clothe yourself and the shame of your nakedness may not be seen, and salve to anoint your eyes, so that you may see. 

19 Those whom I love, I reprove and discipline, so be zealous and repent. 20 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. 21 The one who conquers, I will grant him to sit with me on my throne, as I also conquered and sat down with my Father on his throne. Revelation 3

Realizing that you are wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked on your own is necessary to understanding what your Savior has done for you. You must understand you are naked so that you realize you need clothing!

To pretend that we are something when we are nothing is a fool's game.

For if anyone thinks he is something when he is nothing, he deceives himself. Galatians 6:3

To avoid telling people they have sinned against God is to lead them straight to Hell. To not tell them of their sin is to not tell them they have cancer and will die.

We cannot neglect to share the whole Gospel. The truth is that you and I both have gravely sinned against God, and His wrath abides on us because we have broken His law. We have lied, stolen, coveted, hated, and set up idols of worship in place of the one true and living God.

And we will stand before Him in judgment. There is no question that we must all give an account to God. {2 Cor. 5:10}

The question is, will Jesus take your place on that day, or will you stand condemned because you didn't believe? He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no man comes unto the Father except by Him. {John 14:6} He stood in our place- He took our punishment, so that we could live. The Father's will was to crush Him so that we could be saved:

Isaiah 53:
10 Yet it was the will of the LORD to crush him;
he has put him to grief;
when his soul makes an offering for guilt,
he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days;
the will of the LORD shall prosper in his hand.
11 Out of the anguish of his soul he shall seei and be satisfied;
by his knowledge shall the righteous one, my servant,
make many to be accounted righteous,
and he shall bear their iniquities.
12 Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many,
and he shall divide the spoil with the strong,
because he poured out his soul to death
and was numbered with the transgressors;
yet he bore the sin of many,
and makes intercession for the transgressors.

Why did Jesus die?

To bear our iniquity. To bear our sin- the righteous one died to make many be accounted righteous!

4Surely he has borne our griefs
and carried our sorrows;
yet we esteemed him stricken,
smitten by God, and afflicted.
5But he was pierced for our transgressions;
he was crushed for our iniquities;
upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his wounds we are healed. Isaiah 53

His crushing was necessary because we sinned against the Holy God.

But praise the LORD, by his wounds we are healed!!! By taking our punishment, He brought us peace with God!!!

Though He was perfect, He willingly laid down His life as the sinners deserved and satisfied the legal requirement of death because of sin. Because of OUR sin. He fulfilled the law, and defeated death itself.

And that is the Good News, my friends!!!

That's what the world needs to know- there is only one way to be saved, and it is through the name of Jesus.

12And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among menc by which we must be saved.” Acts 4:12

Do the people in your life know this? Your friends, your co-workers, your family? Do they know they  are sick and wretched because they have sinned against the Holy God, and that they are condemned if they do not repent and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ?

That's what we are called to share. And we cannot wait another day to obey the Lord's command:

15And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. 16Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. Mark 16:15

It is more important that they know the painful truth than they perish without the knowledge they were ever sick.

We must love them more than we love what they think of us. WE must love them enough to tell the truth, and we have faith in the Lord enough to obey His command.

We must share the whole truth with them, so that they too can be saved from the wrath of God.

When I fear to share the whole truth, I have to remember- 

In the end, what they think of me means nothing, but what they think of Christ means EVERYTHING.

He is the Good News of the Gospel.

He alone can heal us.

He alone can save us from the wrath of God we deserve.

the most important video you will ever watch

This is the most important thing you will watch on video:

Oh friends, I want to live in this truth. I so want to be what God wants me to be- His love is overwhelmingly good, and I am so undeserving of it. I love Him so very much. He is so very good, and  the more I know Him, the more I see how much I am not good.

Truthfully, the last few weeks have been pressing on me. My heart keeps going to places I'd never expect, in a hard {and good} way. I can only tell you from my own experience, but Jesus has been so very good to me to lead me to places where I didn't want to go, and hold my hand and walk me through it all.  I wrestle with fear and anxiety on a daily basis, but I know it isn't from God. He is so kind to give me peace when I seek Him. Every single time, He is faithful, yet so often I forget to do it. 

I want Jesus to be at the forefront of everything I do in this life. I am so sad to see how selfish I am, and how much I cling to my flesh and the ways I know and love, but I know that the things He has prepared for me are so much better than my silly plans and fleshly pursuits. I long to walk in Him in these few years I get to live, and oh, how I long for the same for you. 

Before we know it, our short days will be over, and what will we have left? It is on that final day that we will fully understand what Jesus has done for us. I want to rejoice with all my heart that I ran the race well on that day. Oh, that we would walk in Him and have faith in the work of Jesus on the cross while there is still breath in our nostrils...

Oh, friends. I want to give up all of this world for the pearl of great price. 

The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field. Matthew 13:44

walking through the gospel: study list and resources

start here: what is the gospel? how can I experience it?

resource links- read more on:

an introduction

the 12 week plan

week 1: the Bible

week 2: God, Eternal and Loving Creator

week 3: man, sin, and the fall

week 4: Jesus, God in the Flesh

week 5: the perfect sacrifice

week 6: the free gift of salvation: {part 1} {part 2}

week 7: believing and following Jesus now: {part 1} {part 2}

week 8: the Holy Spirit, our gift

week 9: grace upon grace: when we stumble

week 10: the transforming power of the gospel

week 11: seeking God's will in our lives

week 12: walking through the gospel: walking in joy with an eternity mindset

who is your Jesus??

Oh my goodness, I've never cried so much before 7 in the morning.

This video is such an amazing way of presenting the Gospel.

It's about our Jesus and is worth every minute of watching....

{ht: tim challies blog, sermon/voice by John Piper}

the call to experience the gospel for yourself

These Gala apples are amazing:

They are tangy, a bit earthy even; soft, yet crisp. Moist and delicate, the sweetness of these apples lingers on your tongue after each bite. Nothing else tastes quite like these apples. They are incredibly good.

….

Can you imagine tasting one of those apples right now?

If so, why do you think that is?

You can accurately imagine- you understand exactly what I’m describing- because you’ve experienced those things before.

Imagine if I told you about the apple, but you had never had one before. You have never tasted something tangy, or something sweet. I could describe the apple to you in hundreds of different ways, but you wouldn’t really understand what I’m talking about until you take that first bite. You know what I mean?

Experience allows us to understand descriptions. We frame the meanings of words given to us by what we have experienced in real life. Your body has to have tasted “tangy” for me to truly be able to communicate what tangy means to you. Once you’ve experienced “tangy”, you know what it means.

Much like the apples, you have to truly experience what the Gospel means in order to fully understand it. My words can’t give you the true experience of the Gospel.

We can define it, we can explain it- we even walked through it step by step for 15 weeks. But do our hearts truly understand what the “gospel” means?

We can talk about it for days, but the power of the Gospel doesn’t truly come through words alone. Explaining it doesn’t give you the experience. The true power of the Gospel is found in the very depths of our soul.

The truth of the Gospel is this: God the Father, in His infinite wisdom, created the world, sent His Son to die for the very people who sinned against Him. His mercy redeemed those whom He chose for the purpose of bringing glory and honor and praise to His name.

We exist for the glory of God. Not for our own sake, but for the name of God to be made great.

God is the center of our world- our lives- because He is God.

In our sinful rebellion, we left God behind and sought after ourselves and our own pleasures. Every single one of us. All of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. {see Romans 3:23}

Standing in horrific pride against the Creator of the UNIVERSE, we desired to make our own name great. We desired to serve ourselves in this time on the earth.

We rebelled against God, and we deserve to be separated from Him. For eternity. Who can stand before the very God of all, who is Holy, Just, and Truth, and demand that we deserve anything in light of what we’ve done? When that final day comes, could you possibly stand and say “God, why are you so unjust to send me away to be separated from you from eternity?”

Would you dare to demand that you deserve a second chance?

We cannot even stand on our feet without God willing it to happen. Who could say anything in response to Him?

Oh, we are so full of sin and pride.

But God still loved us.

Why?

Not because of any redeeming quality we had.

He loved us because He is merciful.

He created us, He wrote the plan of salvation before the foundation of the world, for His glory. Not for anything else.

If you feel a welling up of resistance in your chest to that statement, you are feeling the very thing we all need to be redeemed from: pride.

God is GLORY. God is HOLY. God is JUST.

He is the Alpha, and the Omega. The beginning and the end.

We are nothing but dust. We have nothing in light of Him.

And yet in the most incredible way, He lowered Himself to our status and came in human form to live as we do, so that we could be rescued from the very sin that condemned us to eternal separation from God.

Jesus came and fulfilled the laws of God, and sacrificed Himself- a spotless Lamb- and defeated the power of sin and death through His resurrection- so that we could be made new- so that we could be made righteous like Him. So that we could become His sons and daughters.

Do you see it? Do you understand?

You are desperately in need of Jesus. You have nothing to offer God. He is EVERYTHING.

God doesn’t need you to do anything for Him. You need Him.

The Holy Father has provided a way for you to fellowship with Him again. You could never be good enough or moral enough to get there on your own. No amount of singing His praise, of being good to others; no amount of following of the Bible, no amount of offering thanksgiving will ever bring you to salvation. You cannot offer God anything in exchange for His grace.

Matt Chandler says it so well in the Explicit Gospel: “If everything is God’s, you have nothing to give him that he doesn’t already own. This means that you cannot put him into your debt. And this means, alternately, that God owes no man anything. Our very existence has been gifted to us by his grace.”

You have nothing in comparison to His glory.

And yet He offers you everything.

Can you lose your pride, and admit that you are vile and desperate, and in need of a Savior?

That’s what you have to do to truly understand the Gospel.

You have been given a chance to be a child of the one true and living God.

Jesus gave up Himself, so that you could be a chosen one.

Friend, if you understand this, you cannot help but worship Him.

He is Glory, the one unchangeable, unshakeable,the undeniable God.

Do not reject Him. Don’t.

You have one chance in this life you’ve been given. You have one life to live.

You’ve been given the gift of redemption. You have been given a chance to be saved from the consequences of your pride and sin. A chance you don’t deserve in any way, shape, or form.

Will you accept the gift of salvation? Will you give your life to Christ?

The Gospel is the Good News. The news that God has redeemed you if you have faith in Him. If you confess with your mouth the Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Confess that the Lord is God, and you are not. Confess that you are broken and desperate, and in need of a Savior. Tell Him. Tell others. Believe that HE has risen from the dead and conquered death so that you might understand His power.

Nothing on this earth is more important than this.

No one- nothing- but Jesus can redeem you. He did it. For you. Because He loved you.

When you believe this is true, your heart is forever changed.

Your life will forever change. You will truly understand the Gospel, and you will worship Him- your heart will live for Him. And you won’t be able to explain it, but your heart will change in ways you could never change yourself.

You are a creature made to glorify the God who redeemed you. You can choose to glorify and serve God in this time on the earth, or you can choose to glorify and serve yourself here. But I have to warn you, if you choose yourself, you will not spend eternity with God. You can’t. You must have faith here and believe in Him on earth to receive the gift of salvation. One moment after death is too late. There are no do-overs.

Whom will you serve here?

No serving two masters. It’s you or Him.

Will you choose to be His?

And will you do it with all of you? Every single part of your life- He requires it, sweet friends.

Give it all back to Him. Nothing held back.

That is the power of the Gospel- the story of a merciful God giving life- to the dead.

A heart that once was as hard as stone- a heart that served itself- becomes transformed into a new creation. A heart of stone becomes a heart of flesh when it is filled with the power of the Spirit of God. He has done it in me, and I can tell you it’s unlike anything you’ve experienced on this side of Heaven.

There is no one- no author, no song, no experience in nature- nothing that speaks into my soul like His Spirit does. I can’t describe how powerful His presence is in my heart. There is no one- not one single thing on this earth that arouses my heart to worship like His Spirit. He is worthy. Oh, how He is worthy.

Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty! He is great in power and in might, and there is no God in Heaven or earth besides Him.

Will you serve Him with your life?

Choose today.

Live for Him today.

Nothing else matters.

 

walking through the gospel: walking in joy with an eternity mindset

source

This is our final week of Walking Through the Gospel! Can you believe it? :)

This week we're talking about a crucial part of a believer's life: walking in joy with an eternity mindset.

What does that really mean though?

It means we can walk daily with Him in great peace and with joy while looking forward to what is to come in eternity. Because we know who God is, we remember what Jesus did for us, and how the Holy Spirit helps us, we know that God is GOD.

He is fully capable of taking care of us, and He is more than trustworthy. He is God, sweet friends!

When we know who He is, we realize that we cannot do anything outside of His power. Nothing is out of His control. From Him and through Him and to Him are all things!

Whatever you are walking through in your life right now, He knows every detail. If you're going through an awful trial or a time of great blessing right now, He knows what is happening and He knows what will happen.

walking in joy

That's how we can walk in joy: we know that God is fully in control of our lives and that He is working for His glory and our good.

Joy comes when we relinquish control.

When we live for God, whatever He brings is what He brings. It's what He wanted.

Isn't that freeing?

And even better, when we trust Him, when we let Him take the reins {not that He isn't going to anyway}, and stop worrying about what will happen next, we can be free to focus on the present, and we can do it with joy!

Philippians 4:4-7 4Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

What has God put in your path today? How will you accept it? With joy or with anxiety?

Every. Single. Day. is a gift from God. We can focus on today, and when we keep our eyes on Jesus, we can move to the next day, and the next day, and the next day with Him, until we get to the other side of this life. Eternity with God!

If you are a believer, it helps to think of this life as a marathon- one that requires endurance to the end so that you might receive the prize:

1 Corinthians 9:24-25 24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. 25Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable.

Hebrews 12:1-2 1Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Do you feel weary in your race? Are you slowing down...wondering why God has hidden His face from you? Do you feel like God doesn't really care what happens to you?

Isaiah 40:27-31 Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, “My way is hidden from the LORD, and my right is disregarded by my God”? 28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. 30 Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; 31 but they who wait for the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.

If you are growing weary in your race right now- don't give up!

Seek Him- tell Him you are weary, that you need His help to continue following Him. Wait for Him to do it. Trust in His Word. He promises to help you- to give you strength when you seek Him.

When you feel tired, cry out to Him, and give thanks to Him for what He has done. He knows what is happening- He knows you. He planned everything long, long ago:

Isaiah 25:1 O LORD, you are my God; I will exalt you; I will praise your name, for you have done wonderful things, plans formed of old, faithful and sure.

God can give you strength to face each day with joy- even the hardest of days. It's not as much a smile on your face as it is a deep heart happiness- it's knowing that God's got this. Really though, this kind of joy cannot even be described. It doesn't make sense to the mind.

I think He wants us to rejoice in who He is and what He has done for us, in spite of our circumstances and trials. And that deep faith- believing in the promises of God- produces hope, which brings us this inexpressible joy that this life is not the end.

Eternity lies ahead of us.

walking with an eternity mindset

It's so, so important that we keep that in mind.

Whatever our situation, God has called us to live for Him in this life we've been given.

He calls us to obey His Word. To follow Him with all of our hearts. To love others like ourselves. To preach the Gospel to the nations. To run the race with endurance.

It isn't as complicated as we'd like to imagine- He wants us to live our lives fully for Him.

And He's empowered us to do His will with His Holy Spirit.

When we follow Jesus, we do what He says.

We will mess up. We will sin. It's not a pretty or easy transformation to become more like Jesus. {In fact, the longer you walk with Him, the more sin you will see and repent from in your heart.}

It's hard to become like Him, but at the same time it is so easy because of what He did on the cross!

If you aren't walking with God, please, please realize that it's the most important thing that you'll ever do.

We have no promise or guarantee of how long this life will last. If you've been putting off a relationship with God, please realize there may be no tomorrow for you.

Oh, hear this: God loves you. He redeemed you by spilling the blood of His precious Son.

Don't reject Him. Don't harden your heart today.

If you don't follow God's Word- if you don't seek after God- chances are, you aren't a follower of God.

If God's Word isn't changing your life, you're not experiencing what you should be.

I can't tell you what you are or aren't by any means, but take a deep look within your heart. You know what is true. And if you can't see it, ask God. He will show you.

There are no perfect people other than Jesus, so we all experience ups and downs in our walk with God. But if your spirit is consistently dry, and you rarely pray or read God's Word {even if you go to church and work in Sunday School}, you are missing out on knowing the one true and living God.

Now is the time to seek Him. 

Not later.

Don't let the stirring in your heart go to the wayside.

Go and sit today and pray for God to show you. God hears the cries of His people. He knows your heart, your sin, your struggles. He wants to be your God. He is jealous for your heart- don't let your job, your school, your spouse, your busyness, or even your parenting role get in the way.

You have a call on your life- one to bring God glory with everything you do.

Don't chase after yourself. Chase hard after God- His joy is so much better than we could ever imagine.

And we haven't even talked about what will happen in eternity!

When we seek after Him- when we give our lives to Him in faith, believing His Word is true, that His Son has defeated death and sin, and that we have the Holy Spirit, our lives will be changed.

The outcome of our faith is a royal inheritance: our salvation and life in eternity with God in Heaven:

1 Peter 1:3-9 3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, 7so that the tested genuineness of your faith—more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ. 8Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, 9obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

Our faith will be tested. Will it stand? Will it result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus returns?

Do you love Him even though you haven't seen Him? Do you rejoice in who God is? Do you know Him? Does He know you?

He is able to change your life. He is able to see you to your final day- to complete the work that He began in you:

Philippians 1:6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.

If there's one thing you could take away from this series, it would be this:

You have one chance to live for God on this earth. Love Him with all your heart- seek after Him with everything you have. Even if it means losing everything that you know. He is more than worth it. Seek Him as if life depended on it, because it does.

And to those of you who are already walking with Him, Jude encourages you:

Jude 1:20-21  20But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, 21keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.

He will return for His people. He is coming back, and we don't know when.

My prayer is that we will be faithful until the end. Don't let sin overtake your life and cause you to live apart from God. You can't be a follower of God if you don't follow God.

Hebrews 12:12-14 12Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. 13But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called “today,” that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. 14For we have come to share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

Those warnings keep us awake, keep us seeking God, don't they? They don't give us cause to fear- they remind us of what our purpose is here on this earth.

We can believe with great confidence that God is able to keep us from sin and able to present us blameless at the end. He chose us before the foundation of the world!!

He set us apart to be adopted in Christ as part of His will! He has even promised to give us a guarantee of our inheritance, the Holy Spirit:

Ephesians 1:3-14 3Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, 4even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love 5he predestined usb for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, 6to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. 7In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace, 8which he lavished upon us, in all wisdom and insight 9making knownc to us the mystery of his will, according to his purpose, which he set forth in Christ 10as a plan for the fullness of time, to unite all things in him, things in heaven and things on earth. 11In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will, 12so that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be to the praise of his glory. 13In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, 14who is the guaranteed of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it,e to the praise of his glory.

This is the very essence of the Gospel. God redeeming the broken- changing lives. Taking sinners and making them His children, making them blameless before God, and freely giving them salvation and life with Him and eternity!

How could we possibly not want to give Him all of us???

Oh, Lord, we thank you for your gift. You are so, so good to us.

HE can do it. In fact, He already did.

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.  Jude 1:24-35

If you want to share a testimony of what God has done in your life, please do in the comments!! I love, love, love to hear what is happening in your life!! God is so good!

Also, if you have any lingering questions, I would love to try to answer them! You can email me at mandy @ biblical homemaking.com if you have anything you'd like to share or even a prayer request! I've said it before, but the community of sisters here is incredible- it is such a blessing that we can share with each other and encourage each other over the internet!

an introduction

the 12 week plan

week 1: the Bible

week 2: God, Eternal and Loving Creator

week 3: man, sin, and the fall

week 4: Jesus, God in the Flesh

week 5: the perfect sacrifice

week 6: the free gift of salvation: {part 1} {part 2}

week 7: believing and following Jesus now: {part 1} {part 2}

week 8: the Holy Spirit, our gift

week 9: grace upon grace: when we stumble

week 10: the transforming power of the gospel

week 11: seeking God's will in our lives

walking through the gospel: seeking God's will in our lives

Have you ever wondered what God's will for your life was?

I know I have.

It's such a challenge to walk by faith when it comes to our lives. Where do we live? What do we do? Do I go this way or that way? What is the most important thing for me to do in this life I've been given?

Those are questions I think we all face.

When we walk with God, we know His desires for us because of His Word. We are given specific direction- He spells out us His will for us right there in the Bible.

Here's just a small list of what we know about God's will for us:

1. He wants us to love Him with all of our hearts.

The most important part of walking with God has nothing to do with where you live or what job you take, or how many times you should volunteer, or how many kids you have. Your first priority in your life is to love God with every. single. part of you:

Matthew 22: 37And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38This is the great and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

2. He wants us to love people like we love ourselves.

Jesus very specifically says to love other people like we love ourselves- just like the commandment God gave in the Old Testament. We are to treat the needs of others like they were our own needs. We are to bear others' burdens like they were our own to bear. 

It's something we cannot do alone. It's way too overwhelming on our own!

When we love God with all our heart, He show us specifically what we can do to help those around us through the guiding of His Holy Spirit.

I always like to hear specific real-life stories of the Holy Spirit at work, so here's one example of what it has looked like for me:

I read a craigslist ad the other day, and this lady was venting in detail about her ex-husband in the ad. It was random, and usually I would go on, but for whatever reason, my heart started hurting for her. 

It was really aching- I felt like crying for this lady who had been so obviously hurt by a man. I couldn't shake the feeling. I felt like God wanted me to email her. The next morning I sat down and wrote her an email, telling her what I felt God was laying on my spirit- I told her that I think He wanted me to tell her He loved her.

I felt like a crazy woman sending an email like that to an anonymous address, but I did it. I couldn't not do it. It was heavy on my heart.

Minutes later I get an email back from the lady.

She says thank you for the sweet email, and how it made her smile.

Phew. :) Thank you, Jesus.

Another minute later I get a second email from her. She writes to me, "it's so funny that you picked that exact moment to email me... I was just in the middle of a crying breakdown because my ex was still being mean... I think I needed to read your email. Thank you."

Then came the goosebumps. And the tears.

God knows what He is doing, sweet friends. I felt like the Holy Spirit was heavy on me to pray for and email this girl. He had a reason for me to do it. And at the exact moment it was needed, He wanted me to share His love with someone else. He does some crazy stuff!! :D Listen to Him if you feel His Spirit telling you to do something. :)

He will guide you and show you how to love others. I can guarantee it. It's His will for you!

3. He will provide for all of our needs.

It's so easy to lose sight of loving God and people when we get busy taking care of our daily cares, but when we hear Him telling us to do something, we know that He will provide the resources to do it.

If you hear His voice whispering in your heart to have children- of your own or to adopt, He will provide the means for you to take care of them. You don't have to worry about it.

We don't have to worry about anything- God already knows our needs. When we are His, He will take care of us. We can trust in Him! All we have to do is seek after Him {see #1 ;)}

Matthew 6:31-33  31Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

4. He will give us the desires of our hearts when we seek Him.

When we trust God with all of us, He not only specifically directs our path and provides for us,  He also grants us the desires of our hearts.

Psalm 37:3-5 Trust in the LORD, and do good; dwell in the land and befriend faithfulness.b 4 Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the LORD; trust in him, and he will act.

When we delight in Him, He meets our needs and gives us what our hearts desire.  But here's the catch- it doesn't mean that God just gives us whatever thing or circumstance we happen to desire at that moment.

When we seek after God, our heart wants God more than anything. Our hearts want God to do what He wants, not what we want for ourselves.  We long to please the one true and living God more than anything else.

When we seek the will of God for our lives, and trust in our God to do what He wants, He will change our hearts to line up with His. He will literally give us the desire of our hearts. God is so cool- when you walk with Him, He will change your desires to line up with His own. And then He fulfills that desire!

John 15:7 7If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

Isn't that the craziest thing? Walking with Jesus is so much better than you can ever imagine. He is so much God, that He turns our very hearts to love and wish for the things He wishes for us. And then He gives us the things we long for!

5. He wants us to walk in joy and thanksgiving with Him.

No matter how our life turns out- when we seek after God, we know that what He gives us is what He desires for us. The God that created the entire universe can be trusted with our circumstances.

He wants you to take joy in what He gives {or sometimes doesn't give} you, and His will is for you to give thanks in all situations:

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 16Rejoice always, 17pray without ceasing, 18give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

It always comes back to having your eyes set on things above. When your hope is in God, you know that no circumstances are out of His control. Nothing surprises Him- He is in control of it all.

Knowing those very things changes our perspective- trusting in God allows us to rejoice and be thankful even when we don't know why things are happening to us. We just know that we can trust in Him, and His purposes, because we know all things work together for the good of those who love God- for those are called to His purpose {which is you, the believer}.

We like to make life really complicated. :) But it's really simple: seek God with all your heart. Love Him with everything, trust Him, and His will be done in your life. No worry, no fear, no anxiety is needed.

Trust in Him. He will guide your path.

He promises.

next week {our last one!}: 

walking in joy with an eternity mindset

{download the worksheet}

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previous posts in the wttg series:

an introduction

the 12 week plan

week 1: the Bible

week 2: God, Eternal and Loving Creator

week 3: man, sin, and the fall

week 4: Jesus, God in the Flesh

week 5: the perfect sacrifice

week 6: the free gift of salvation: {part 1} {part 2}

week 7: believing and following Jesus now: {part 1} {part 2}

week 8: the Holy Spirit, our gift

week 9: grace upon grace: when we stumble

week 10: the transforming power of the gospel