To Live is Christ, To Die is Gain (2)

What would you say consumes the mos of your life? Sense we are in the sports season, lets say ball. If sports are consuming your daily schedule, you would say “Ball is life” or “Hunting is life”, ect.

Philippians 1:19–30 ESV

for I know that through your prayers and the help of the Spirit of Jesus Christ this will turn out for my deliverance, as it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again. Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.

Romans 8:9-11 “You, however, are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you. Anyone who does not have the Spirit of Christ does not belong to him. But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.”

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

So here is the deal. Whatever it is that you put all of your energy in, whether it be a form of ball playing, or shooting sports, band, hunting and fishing, public speaking, working for FBLA, Beta, hobbies, future careers, jobs, whatever it is that you say consumes your life the most, we all work at these things. We strive to be all that we can be. When we perform, we give it our all, and if we fail, we go back to the drawing board and we practice even harder so that the next time we will not fail.

That is what it means to live for Christ. Every day that we wake up we put on the mentality of walking with the Lord. This means we allow Jesus to govern our actions, we allow Him to govern the content of our day (What we watch/what we say), how we treat people, and even how we think.

Seek first the kingdom of God… Above all we do, put Godly matters first.

“Be transformed by the renewing of you minds.” This means that we once had a mind that looked to pleasing ourselves. We thought “what will make me happy in this situation?” “How can I please myself?” But now we strive to please the Lord, and from that our happiness will come.

Is it painful at first? Of course. Change often hurts. It will be especially difficult when the world pushes you in one direction, but the Spirit prods you in another. That again is why Paul said in Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” We deny our fleshly desires, and we pursue what is good and holy. In ALL that we do. No matter the difficulty.

When you fail, you do not remain content with failing. You pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and try twice as hard to succeed in Christ the next time.

Some conversations we will fail, but regroup and

Cut out whatever you need to pursue a life of Christ. People, products (Clothes, makeup [vanity], Tobacco, alcohol [drunkenness], pleasures (TV, Music, Social Media).

This is what it means to live for Christ. If you need help, let me know.

Philippians 1:24 “But to remain in the flesh (Alive) is more necessary on your account.” Paul had the desire to leave this world and be united with his Savior, but he knew that it was the benefit of the world that he remain. He was the spiritual guide for this world, a light shinning in the darkness.

You are one in the same as Paul. You are the spiritual lights for those who are drifting in the darkness. You job is to shine your light so brightly that people might find their way home. That is, you life is to take on a manner that shows you are different. When the world goes left, you go right. If they down, you go up. If they zig, you zag, and people will take notice of you rising above the mess in this world, and they will look to you as a spiritual guide.

Don’t be a bad leader. I know that some people will look to you simply because they know you go to church. Jesus warns against being a poor spiritual guide. He says in Matthew 15:14 “Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.””

Philippians 1:27 “Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel,”

Let your walk be worthy to be called a Christian. Everyone who would claim to be a Christian, stand up. Now everyone who is leading a lifestyle worthy to be called a Christian keep standing, but all those who would say “You know I don’t think my life choices are really reflecting Christ right now” I want you to sit down.

— Why are you all sitting down? You have some work to do. You have some changes to make. You are a light. You have the Son of God alive within you, but your lifestyle is not reflecting that well. Walk the walk, talk the talk, that will be worthy of the gospel.

Philippians 1:29-30 “For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in him but also suffer for his sake, engaged in the same conflict that you saw I had and now hear that I still have.”

Know that when you pursue Christ you are going to attract people to the kingdom, but you are also going to catch a lot of heat from this world. Jesus was the greatest guide this world has ever experienced, and they hated Him so much they killed Him. Be courageous, be strong, and know that when things are getting difficult you are heading in the right direction.

Valentines Day banquet. Be there at 5, hangout a little afterwards.

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