"Big But!"

"But verily God hath heard me; He hath attended to the voice of my prayer." (Psalms 66:19) I honestly hate that song, but I love that God cares for me; He cares for me more than I care for myself! We really need to get something through these think skulls of ours; more importantly, we need to let God transform our way of thinking, because we seem to constantly go in the same directional pattern, it's all about me, myself and I. God loves you! You should really know that by now, if you truly are His child; and if you are, then you have got to know that He loves you regardless of what you have done yesterday, or today, or even what you will do tomorrow; He knows your heart, He has you all figured out, and He loves you just the same! Don't you think that it's possible that your idol might be none other than you? That might sound a little strange, but if you really think about it, we make idols to suit our pleasures and the things that we care about most. If God has called us to die to ourselves, then what is in the way of dong what God is asking us to do? We live in a culture that is constantly instructing us to do the opposite of humility and servitude, while God's word tells us that we need to put others first. More and more so called churches are also seeming to bend towards the ways of the world; you can see it in the way they raise money, or in the way they attract people into their fellowships; it's all about becoming a better you, doing this or that for you, or giving so that you gain the increase. It's not about you! I am sorry to inform you of that, but it's about Jesus Christ and what God has done to set us free from the bondage of sin and the slavery of this fallen world. I actually heard a little slip of the tongue this last Sunday, but I let it slide because it did not seem to be in context with the lesson; but it was said, "We are not God's slaves." Based upon the teaching in Romans 6:15-23, we are God's slaves, and we have been purchased with the blood of Jesus! We were slaves to sin, but we have a New Master, and we are no longer under the control of that old master anymore; the old master might think he still has control, and sometimes we tend to agree; but it's not true, and we need to come face to face with that reality... "We know that God's children do not make a practice of sinning, for God's Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot touch them. We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one. And we know that the Son of God has come, and He has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and He is eternal life. Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God's place in your hearts." (1 John 5:18-21) NLT