Thursday, March 17, 2011

Seeking Gods FACE

Seeking God…..to unite His people

Common causes fail to hold us.

Pastor King mentioned our common enemy.  Our adversary the devil would seek to get us to focus on him and all that he is doing.  Jesus made the case for focusing on Him…“only one thing is necessary.”  That one thing is vital.  That one thing supersedes everything else.  Seek ye first the Kingdom of God and all these things will be added unto you.”

One line in the Old Testament prayer for today guides us to the place of victory.  “Give us today a greater unity, one that grows from sharing a common love and hope.”  That’s it!  A common love for Jesus and common hope, a hope that is an anchor big and strong enough to hold us in front of the Lord in a place that is filled with h-o-p-e!

Jesus said: “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.”  NOT if you hate our enemy enough you will keep My commandments.  NOT if you love to fight for what is right…no, if you love ME!  WHAT IF we grew daily in our love for Jesus?  What would that do for our love for one another?  WHAT IF we, out of our love for Him, would pray for one another, defer to one another, submit to one another, give preference to one another, forgive one another and truly walked with one another?  What would our witness look like?  What would happen to those that see this kind of ‘practicing what we preach?’

I firmly believe that the opposite of loving one another is fighting over “who is the greatest.”  What happened to Peter on the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit fell on the disciples?  Peter, the one that was always prefacing his statement with the word “I” suddenly uses the word “these.”   He defends the rest of the disciples without wanting the attention himself.  He was not moving in self-centered pride but in humility speaking on behalf of his brothers and sisters.  AS A RESULT, 3,000 people turned over control of their lives to Jesus The Risen Christ.

John 17 records one of the prayers of Jesus and in verse 21 He prays “that they might be one……that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me.”  That oneness was to be like the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one!  And, as a result, people that were destined for Hell would see this incredible sight and “believe” that Jesus was sent to earth for them.

In verse 23 this oneness becoming more perfect in practice would make such a statement that the world would “know” that Jesus did in fact come to earth.  What is more incredible is the last ten words in the verse; “and didst love them , even as Thou didst love Me.”

Let us review:

• Fuss with other Believers and fight over who is the greatest and by doing so tell the world that Jesus did not come and that God does not love them.
• Grow daily in our love for God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  As a result, we grow in our love for His other sons and daughters ending in lost and lonely people believing and then knowing that God loves them and that they have hope. 

How do you vote every day with your life message?

Charles Daugherty

Serve The City