A Crucified Life - - Answers The Call to Humble Oneself

 

    1 Peter 5:6

Humble yourselves, therefore, under God's mighty hand, so that in due time He may exalt you.

    To humble oneself is to choose to put ourselves under His Authority. It is good to humble ourselves, as God gives grace to the humble (Proverbs 3:34) . And we need His grace. 

    Who are the humble? The meek, the lowly in heart. They who put God first and themselves last. With Christ as our example of humbleness (Matthew 11:29), we place the cares of our lives into His loving hands. 

    We come to God in prayer and praise, in worship and tears, in thanksgiving and joy, bringing Him everything that bothers us, all that grieves us and whatever brings a smile to our faces or fills our mouths with laughter. We are ever aware that our very existence is by the mercy of God. 

    I read this book quite a few years ago titled I Am Third in which the coach had this plaque above his desk which read: Jesus first, Others second, Yourself third. That's my daily goal. 

    It isn't as easy as it sounds, though. Sometimes God allows us to go through the storms of life. Not because He doesn't care, but because He wants us to know that He will go through these rough waters with us. He will be with us in dangerous (fiery) situations. If He chooses to bring us through, we will get through, with Him. But, if He chooses our death instead, we will still be with Him. 

Job 13:15 Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him: but I will maintain mine own ways before him.

Isaiah 43:2 When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.

Philippians 1:20 According to my earnest expectation and my hope, that in nothing I shall be ashamed, but that with all boldness, as always, so now also Christ shall be magnified in my body, whether it be by life, or by death.

    The thing we need to remember is that life and death are not about us. Our life is to magnify Christ that He may be seen in us through our actions and heard in our words. The believer's death glorifies God in the same way. We submit with grace; we do not seek revenge against they who attack us, imprison us and kill us: for vengeance belongs to God (Leviticus 19:18; Deuteronomy 32:35; Romans 12:19; Hebrews 10:30). As Job says, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him."

CALLED TO HUMBLENESS  (what I listened to while I studied)

I Found God - Ben Laine

Beatitude - Jonathan Ogden

Defender - Rita Springer

You Are The Light - Andrew Word

Psalm 34:1-9 - Awona

Red Carpet - Chapel Co.

You're The Best - Ben Oribe

Rest In You - All Sons & Daughters

Simple 

Simple Truth - Ryan Ellis

Filled With The Light - The Halls

Altar - Emilie Weiss

He Makes Me Well - Allie Paige

Home - Splendor Tree

Seek & Find - Zach Winters

Holding Us All Together - Andrew Word

A Crucified Life - - Answers The Call to Serve Wholeheartedly

 

    Deuteronomy 10:12

And now, O Israel, what does The LORD your God ask of you but to fear The LORD your God by walking in all His ways, to love Him, to Serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 

    As you see, we show our fear, our reverence, our awe of The LORD our God by Walking In All His Ways; by loving Him. And by Serving The LORD our God with All our hearts and with all our souls: wholehearted love and service. 

    Our hearts are focused on working for The LORD at all times. We are ready to testify on what God has done and done for us. We are prepared to speak the gospel which has changed our lives for the better. Though the roads we walk are paved with sorrow and tragedy, grief and heartache, we have joy because we have Jesus. He is our Strength. We have The Spirit of God. He is our Wisdom. And so we travel these roads together. 

    Our souls are interwoven through the unique power of God's Holy Spirit: we are one in each other and in The LORD. We are able to walk together though our hands may never meet on this side of heaven. We come together in prayer, lifting each other's requests, desires and needs to our God, Who hears us pray. 

    But before we can be knitted into the body, we must first come to the cross, fall down on our knees, repent of our wickedness against God: repent of every sin that He brings to our remembrance and stop doing that sinful thing. We must believe that Jesus Christ is Lord, that God sent Him to die on the cross in our place; that He conquered death, hell and the grave once and forever and that He walked out of the grave. 

    We must believe this good news, this gospel of salvation through Jesus Christ before we die or we will be forever lost. There is no repentance in the grave. There is no righteousness death. There is only darkness and heat. And people who died in their unbelief. Good people. Bad people. Unrepentant people. 

    To serve God wholeheartedly is to serve God faithfully, preaching Jesus Christ to anyone who will listen and hear and turn away from sin by turning to God's plan of salvation from sin. 

    To serve God wholeheartedly is to remain in His Word daily, living moment to moment in Him that The Word of God would strengthen us as we go about our days, the days God has given to us. 

    To serve God wholeheartedly is to be in constant communication with Him. He hears the words of my mouth and He knows the meditations of my heart when my mouth and my heart are centered on Him and His Word. 

    To serve God wholeheartedly is to live the gospel of Jesus Christ which The Holy Spirit has written on my changed heart. The moment my heart was given to Christ is the moment God changed my selfish heart to a heart He could mold and form and write on. 

    To serve God wholeheartedly is to choose to Walk in all His Ways. I choose to submit to the Authority of The Word of God. I choose to surrender what was mine for what is His: my life, my heart, my soul, my mind; my time, my freedoms, my family. All that I have from God I give back to God, sometimes I have to do that everyday. 

    To serve God wholeheartedly is to turn my back on what the world sees as a priority and focus on God's priorities. God loves the people in the world but not their sinful ways. So, too, must the believer love people without embracing their wickedness.

    To serve God wholeheartedly is to take a stand on His Word, fully armed in His love and righteousness, and not back down when we are come against for our belief in The Name of The LORD Jesus Christ and everything that belief entails.

    I urge you to consider what God has done for you. I beg you, if you have not already, to surrender your hearts to God. Let The Light of God, Jesus Christ, shine into your hearts and open your eyes to see just how much God really loves you. 

     WHOLEHEARTED SERVICE - A Jesus Culture Playlist

Pursuit

Holy Spirit

Song of Solomon

I Need You More

How He Loves Us

Where You Go, I Go

Happy Day

Fill Me Up

We Stand

Surrender All 

A Crucified Life - - Answers The Call to Serve God With Fear

 

    Psalm 2:11

Serve The LORD with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 

    Psalm 119:120

My flesh trembles in awe of You; I stand in fear of Your judgments.

    Psalm 89:7

God is greatly to be feared in the assembly of the saints, and to be had in reverence of all them that are about him.

Hebrews 12:28

Wherefore we receiving a kingdom which cannot be moved, let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear.

Fear: reverent, godly caution

    To serve The LORD with fear is to revere Him, to honor Him, to adore Him above all. Above all kingdoms, above all thrones, above all other gods which try to distract us from The One God. For there is only One LORD God. His Name commands our attention. His Word demands our reverence. His presence is holy and by it demands that we are to be holy, too. 

    Having this godly fear within us makes us aware of just how much God really loves us. Having wrapped His Word in the frailty of flesh and bone, God sent Him to (1) Be born of a virgin; (2) Minister to the people; (3) Die on the cross (conquering sin); (4) Rise from the dead (conquering death, hell and the grave). 

    How can we not serve The LORD God with fear? How can we not come into His presence with rejoicing with trembling? We are so very thankful that He loves us so much! We are filled to overflowing with gratitude, so much so, that as God's holy people, worship exudes from our souls at all times. 

    Who is The LORD that we should give such fear and trembling to? Here is but a taste of Who The LORD our God is:

    Psalm 24:8

Who is this King of glory? The LORD strong and mighty, the LORD mighty in battle.

    Isaiah 9:6

For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His Name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

    Daniel 7:14

And He was given dominion, glory, and kingship, that the people of every nation and language should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. 

    Revelation 19:16

And He has on His robe and on His thigh a name written: KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.

    Come, let us worship The LORD our God. 

Serve God With Fear 

Learning To Be Loved By You - Melissa Helser/Cageless Birds

Glorious Day - Casting Crowns

LION - Elevation Worship

I Speak Jesus - Here Be Lions

Father, Son, Spirit - Jason Upton

Gratitude - Brandon Lake

Is He Worthy? - Chris Tomlin

One Thing Remains - Jesus Culture

Heart of Worship - Michael Bethany

A Crucified Life - - Answers The Call to Serve Christ

 

    John 12:26

If anyone Serves Me, he must follow Me: and where I am, My servant will be as well. If anyone serves Me, The Father will honor him. 

    To serve Christ is to follow Christ. To follow Christ is to know where He began His ministry and start from there. 

    The first place He went is to be baptized in the river-Matthew 3:13-17.

    Secondly, Jesus went into the wilderness to fast and pray for forty days, after which He was tempted by Satan three times-Matthew 4:1-10. 

    Thirdly, He evangelized, preaching the gospel of the repentance of sins and living a changed life-"Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand." Matthew 4:17

    Fourthly,  He encouraged people to join Him as He ministered to the people in the towns He traveled through-Matthew 4:19; John 1:35-51. He discipled men from various walks of life into the gospel of salvation-Matthew 10:4 (the disciples 12). 

    Fifthly, He ministered to the needs of the people everywhere The Father sent Him. All required forgiveness. Many required healings. Some were raised from the dead. As The Father spoke, The Son obeyed-John 5:19; 12:50. 

    Sixthly, He was arrested for treason and tried in a mockery of a trial; forced to carry His cross after being tortured, the weight of which He could not bear alone. He hung on this cross He had to carry and was buried in a borrowed tomb.

    Seventhly, He rose from the dead, having conquered death, hell and the grave. He received a new body in which He was unrecognizable to everyone who knew Him until He spoke or their eyes were opened to who was speaking with them.

    Ultimately, He ascended into the eternal presence of His heavenly Father. 

    Throughout His earthly ministry Christ retreated several times from the public eye to pray, to speak with His Father in private. To receive strength and instruction and loving devotion. Having Him thus as our example, we, too, should desire to get apart from the madding crowd and seek alone time with our heavenly Father. 

    We see that to serve Christ is to follow Christ. Come, let us serve Him together. 

CALLED TO SERVE CHRIST

I Will Wait For You - Shane & Shane

Spirit Break Out/Not By Might - Sean Feucht & Kim Walker-Smith

Belong To You - Here Be Lions

Strength of My Life - Vertical Worship

Yet Not I But Through Christ In Me - CityAlight

I Will Serve The Lord - Carman

Not My Will - Kim Walker-Smith

Where You Go, I'll Go - Jesus Culture 

I Am The Body of Christ (poem)

I AM THE BODY OF CHRIST

I am the body of Christ.

And I hurt. I know pain.

Excruciating pain from the whips on my back.

Heartache pain from the brokenness within and without.

Two extremes with no inbetween.

I am the body of Christ. 

And I smile. I know joy.

Unspeakable joy where words are not enough.

Cheer-filled countenance that shines from within.

Two extremes with no inbetween. 

I am the body of Christ.

What He suffered we will suffer.

He Who knew pain also knew joy.

He Who knew Joy also knew suffering. 

He Who knew suffering also knew heartache.

He Who knew heartache also knew compassion.

I am the body of Christ.

His hands. His feet.

His back. 

His eyes. His ears.

His heart. 

He is my Strength, my Hope.

He is my Faithful Witness.

He is my Joy, my sorrow. 

He is my Peace.

He is my Grace, my Provision.

He is my Everything. 

Because He's everything to me.