Be Intentional About Pursuing God

WHY SHOULD WE FOLLOW GOD’S WORD (OR PURSUE HIM AT ALL)?

We follow God and His word because:

· We have an authority that holds us accountable - With the knowledge of God and His power, wisdom, and authority, we understand that He is the King of the Universe.

· God is worthy of our praise and thanks – We have been blessed through birth and all that is good in our lives, and we give thanks and praise to Him who knows us and loves us.

· There is an urgency to our pursuit of Him – Time runs out on all of us in this life and because we don’t know the date of our death, we take action sooner than later.

So the question is really this:  why wouldn’t we pursue Him?  He offers us too much forgiveness and grace—it isn’t reasonable to continue to ignore Him!

· Encourage each other to pursue Jesus and the Father—there are eternal rewards for doing so.

o Hebrews 10:24-25

o Hebrews 11:26

o Matthew 16:27

· Be Heavenly-minded in everything you say and do (words and behavior).  It will motivate you to live a pure life (1 Peter 1:16).

· Know that God loves you as you are.

· He is loving, forgiving, and patient. 

WHAT ARE GOD’S STANDARDS FOR US?

God has provided standards by which we should live and our goal should be to live as blamelessly as possible (Philippians 2:14-16a & Romans 12:2).  We all make mistakes, but we need to focus on God’s word rather than on what secular society says our standards should be.  Know that if you follow God, through the example of Jesus, that you will be forgiven when you ask and you will reap rewards in Heaven as a result.  This is what it means to become a Christian.

The Bible also offers warnings against any rebellion of God and His word (1 Samuel 12:14-15). God is patient, but there is a time when He draws a line in the sand when we continue in our sin.  His standards for living are for the benefit of all of humanity.

We rob the gospel of its power when we don’t confront the reality of our sin.  So, as Christians, these are the things we avoid:

· Sexual immorality

· Anger

· Lawlessness

· Blasphemy against God’s name and reputation

Going forward as a Christian pursuing God, the two most important commandments God gives us are:

· Love God with all of your heart.

· Love one another without partiality.

WHY DO CHRISTIANS PLACE SO MUCH EMPHASIS RECEIVING GOD’S FORGIVENESS AND BEING OBEDIENT TO HIS WORD?

Forgiveness from God is critical, because without it you cannot enter Heaven.  Faith (in Him and His promises) is what saves us, but we must also ask Him for His forgiveness in an effort to acknowledge our sin nature.  People whose lives are going just fine for the moment don’t really think about this, but when trouble and conflicts arise, we truly do need Jesus to find peace and harmony.  If your life is going well, do you understand God’s standards and how everyone, including those that struggle, could benefit from being obedient to God?

JESUS HELPS THOSE WHO STRUGGLE

Romans 8:28 says that God uses all things for good, even the bad things that happen that are not ordained by Him.  Satan, the father of all lies, wants you to abandon hope--but Jesus wants you to abandon hopelessness.  God has a special and unique purpose for each one of us.  How precious God’s thoughts are toward us!

· Make a choice to rejoice during the trials of your life.  When you rejoice and view trials as growth opportunities, you will have fewer aches and pains, fewer toxic emotions, better health, and better sleep.  Trials happen to make us stronger in every way. God sees our situation and hears our prayers.  He knows exactly where you are and He will answer in His time.  While you wait on God, spiritual maturity and wisdom in your life will grow.

· Sometimes the help we need is not the help we want.  Terrible mistakes have been made by all of us, but God asks us to bear the consequences.  During this time, His gift to us is a chance to start over.  We start over when we embrace Jesus in our lives.

· God’s forgiveness changes us.  But we must understand that we inherited the sin virus from Adam and Eve.  We cannot operate on the idea that all men are good and they just need a chance to prove themselves.  Man is NOT what God intended when He created the world.  Adam and Eve were destroyed by the serpent (Satan) and John 10 confirms this by saying “the thief comes only to steal and destroy,” and he did so with Eve when she allowed the serpent to deceive her.

· God offers us the GIFT of entrance into Heaven and we (as Christians) believe in His promises to humanity.  We respond with gratitude and humble hearts.  When we reject God (or the idea that God exists), we are saying that we want to handle our own lives without God’s interference, or without feeling guilty that we don’t believe what the Bible says about God and His plan for humanity.  We are then susceptible to believing that God never wants us to have dreams, goals, and fun.  These are lies that lead to more lies.  Believe that God wants the best for us and does not want anyone to perish in Hell.

· Throughout history, people have been blind and sinful.  It is such bad news when we think about God’s truth.  As blind and sinful people, we ignore God.  We have, over time, become unable to recognize the truth and how wrongly we think.  The other bad news is that people are so afraid of being accountable to a higher authority.  But in reality, God says we have 2 choices:

o Choice #1:   To believe that God doesn’t exist and that the bible is only a collection of optional religious ideas (i.e. no need for God).

o Choice #2:  to believe that God alone can handle all things, people and events (i.e. the result of which will be wholeheartedly following God’s word with the understanding that it is for our own benefit).

· Understand the lessons from Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount.  His teachings were life-changing for everyone who attended!  It was actually radical teaching for its time, and it is STILL relevant today.

o Topics Jesus spoke about:

§ What it really means to be blessed

§ Living joyfully and faithfully

§ Examining ourselves when we are angry or feel hatred toward another person

§ Avoiding self-righteousness in favor or God’s righteousness

§ How sexual immorality destroys unity with God

§ Avoiding revenge

§ The benefit of pleasing God vs. pleasing others

§ The importance of prayer and church

§ Financial purpose/how to handle money

§ How the Father can fulfill our every need

o Challenge:  Research the Sermon on the Mount.  The truth is that we are messed up and we NEED God—He is the authority on everything and He is superior to man in every way. 

§ The lessons in the Sermon on the Mount can be found in the Book of Matthew.  Jesus’ words are in red font.

· Being accountable to God helps us live meaningful and happy lives.  It assists in handling our struggles in life.  In our accountability, we transition from blindness to clear vision:

o We can see God’s goodness, which will eradicate our wrong thinking.

o We commit to consistently read the Bible--any hatred of God and His alleged interference in our lives will vanish when we read and respond.

o We can then understand our need for the goodness and grace of God (as well as His mercy and forgiveness).

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me.  For once I was lost, and now I’m found, was blind but now I see.

(from the hymn “Amazing Grace”)