Sheldon Men's Breakfast

Pray

After Josh asked me to bring the devotion message today I began to think about what to bring. God has been laying several things on me lately but one that continues to come up is just how hard.....impossible even for men…you and me to truly live holy lives.

God says we are to be holy as He is holy

We are to walk in the Spirit not the flesh

The more I chase Jesus the more I realize how evil, flawed, sinful I really am!

True Christians.....yes there are many fake Christians doing what appear to be godly things but are lost

Matthew 7:21-23

“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.”

I believe this is the scariest scripture in the Bible. False Christians

Church members

Leaders, maybe even deacons and elders and worship leaders pastors

Look at the works

Prophesy

Casting out demons

Wonderful works

Christian things but look at 23

I never knew you

Knew is from a Greek verb meaning to know absolutely

I have said and do believe we are to judge fruit....however it goes beyond that in our own lives men.

We have to allow God to judge our hearts to see if it is fruit or works

I say all that to get to what God laid on me for today

Since Matthew 7 is true…people believing they are good but are not.....believing they are saved but they are not

How do we know?

What do we need to look for

How can we be true Christians?

Hebrews 11:1

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

Faith Hope Love

Love is God’s love…sacrificial love

Romans 14 love for Christians....if it is not about salvation let it go....bit your tongue....shut up and move on…you being right is not nearly as important as someone’s salvation and growth in Christ!

We get so caught up in being right we miss the love

Instead of pulling and pointing people to Jesus we push them…drive them away because of our words and actions....that is not Love....God’s love drove Jesus to the cross while we hated him.....while we were enemies....Love....sorry will get off my soap box....Love as Christ loves you

Faith…what is Faith....11:1 is a wonderful definition …substance of things hoped for, evidence of things not seen

Faith comes from a Greek word that means credence, moral conviction, truth, assurance, belief

Substance comes from a Greek word that means concretely, essence, assurance

Things hoped for Greek verb to expect or confide

Lets look at 11:1 again

Faith....truth…moral conviction is the substance…concrete assurance of things hoped for .....expected.

What is our hope? What do we expect as Christians?

Romans 8:24

“For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?”

Jesus is our hope.

Forgiveness is our hope

The work of the cross is our hope

Heaven is our hope

It goes beyond that however

John 14:12-13

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”

Greater works than Jesus

That is our expectation because Christ said so

What works are in your life?

Are they greater than what Jesus did on earth?

What relationships through the love of Jesus have been restored?

What heartache and brokenness have you shone the light of Jesus into and have seen healed?

Faith....Why is it important?

Hebrews 11:6

“But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.”

Men this is eternal stuff here.

You and I must have faith. If we have faith our lives will prove it

How do we obtain faith?

Let’s look a t the last part of vs 6

Diligently seek Him

Greek means to search out, to investigate, to crave, demand worship to seek after

Men we diligently seek after lots of things

Hobbies

Lake time

cars/trucks

Music

sex with our wives

money status power

If I had a million dollars in my backpack sitting there by Logan and said all you have to do is complete the tasks on a list I give you most if not all of you would diligently seek to complete the list for something that is temporary and useless in terms of salvation

yet God gives us a list to work out our salvation and most ignore it

Men I ask you this morning to ask God to show you the answers to these questions

What do I search out?

What do I investigate?

What do I crave?

What do I demand?

What do I seek after?

Porn

Lust

Money

Pride

Hobby

etc etc etc

or

God

Holiness

Jesus

God’s Word

Prayer

None should perish but all come to repentance that is God’s heart and that is what we have Faith in

Lets pray