"Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, for every good work. equipped"
--2 Timothy 3:12-17
A person sheared this with me, and I feel that I really need to shear this with others too. I hope you enjoy.
The central focus of the Bible is not a set of rules to try to live by. No, the central theme if the Bible is a person, Jesus Christ. If all you and I had needed was a knowledge and understanding of a certain set of sayings of principles for living , then Jesus would not have needed to come and certainly not die a gruesome death on a cross. Too many people are living a Christ-LESS Christian life, just trying to follow Some rules
Worship of Jesus Christ is much, much more than a set of feelings and set of rules. Worship is a lifestyle. It is a way of thinking about and responding to everything in your life. Worship is believing that God exists, and that what he calls you to do is worth doing. If you believe that God is wise and true, then you will take seriously what he says, and you will willingly do the things he says are good and right to do. You will not do them once, but you will do them again and again, day after day, even when no one is looking or asking what you are doing. You do it because you have an ongoing relationship with Jesus Christ who lives within you and He gives you the motivation and the power to please Him. That is worship of Jesus!
I think this is good, especially in response to what is posted on my page.
ReplyDeleteWe actually are talking about standing strong in your faith at youth group...so like living a Christ like example in everyday at school and stuff =) it is definitely a good thing to remember.
ReplyDeleteLOVE this!! I think this is a common misconception to all Christians, because so many people try to EARN their salvation. They don't quite grasp that Christ already did the work for them. When you live trying to earn your way to heaven, you start to live by a set of rules, and I've definitely done this in my lifetime.
ReplyDeleteThen my Dad, been a Christian for 34 years, told me about a discovery he made. He started to read the bible as though it was a drama. Which if you think about it, it is! It's the story of so many people, and the thing is that when you read the entire Bible, truly read it: you see that this drama points entirely to the star of the story, Jesus!
I don't think that the Bible was meant as another 10 commandments, just rules to follow. Christ died for us, because we couldn't possible follow rules perfectly. So much more glory to God! We can't work to save ourselves, only He can do that, with amazing grace.
This was a good reminder for me. I've been struggling with reading the Bible lately. I want to start reading it because it's God's Word and I want to know how to live a life that glorifies Him, not because I feel as though I have an obligation to.
Much love!
-Shea
When I realize that people are more worried about the rules of Christianity, they don't know Christianity at all. They know the ways of Judaism with a little bit of Christ thrown into the mix. It really is depressing.
ReplyDeleteThe hardest part is trying to reteach them our values. They made observations or conducted unguided studies. When it comes to observations, we can't do much their, since we can't cover up all of the hypocritical or law-keeping Christians that they will be exposed to. We CAN help with the study. I imagine, more oft than not, that people begin reading the Bible in the Old Testament. The problem is this: they are first and foremost learning the Jewish religion - our history. They accept the values they find there as the religion for Christians. They may find their way to the New Testament, where they should have began. By then, the learning and acceptance has already taken place. The major differences between Judaism and Christianity are lost on them, except for the fact that Christians have Christ and the Jews don't. When we see this, we must take it upon ourselves to guide them to the right path. We must set them free.