Graceland Christian Church

Are We Willing To Pay The Cost To Be A Follower Of Jesus?

Are We Willing To Pay The Cost To Be A Follower Of Jesus?
 
        The cost to following Jesus refers to the personal sacrifices, challenges, and potential hardships involved in dedicating one's life to Christian faith and discipleship. The cost to follow Jesus requires surrendering worldly things, relationships, and even our own desires so that our lives can line up with His plan and purpose. Matthew 6:24 says - No one can serve two masters. You cannot serve God and riches. Today, the modern church has lowered the cost of being a follower of Jesus Christ, these people want to be God's people and enjoy the benefits of being a Christian without a cost. When a person truly gets saved, they willingly allow God through the process of sanctification to prioritize things in their lives, meaning that we count the cost The new life that God gives us is of far more value than what we leave behind!

Be Careful Not To Fall Into The Devil's Trap

Be Careful Not To Fall Into The Devil's Trap
Careful means to be watchful, alert, cautious. From the beginning of the creation of human beings, God gave specific instructions as to what to do and not do. God knew that satan was on earth desiring to separate man from God. This is the devil's goal and he uses a very little three letter word called "sin" to do it. As God's children (christians) we have new given power and position in Christ to overcome the world, flesh, and the devil! Satan knows he cannot overpower the Spirit of God that lives in us, that's why he tries to get us to a place in the flesh, trying to fight a spiritual war through our own will power; this is one of his biggest weapons, we must always be careful not to fall into this trap. Galatians 5.16 says - Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. I love this fact! I'm thankful for God's Word reminding us that we can live victorious lives if we continue to abide in Christ Jesus, in His love, in His power, and in His protection from the traps of the enemy!

The Purpose Of The Resurrection

The Purpose Of The Resurrection
 
Purpose = A stable, generalized intention to accomplish something that is both personally meaningful and leads to productive engagement with the world beyond the self. To have a purpose given by God is to be deeply connected to what a person values and finds important in their lives, it involves a desire to make a difference or to connect with something bigger than ourself. This would definitely describe what Jesus did for mankind on the cross, leading to His resurrection which would change the world and give us access to eternal life! This life starts the moment we get saved. We get adopted into the family of God, therefore whatever belongs to Jesus belongs to us, but we as christians live far short of what is ours. There are many people who will pretend to celebrate the resurrection of Jesus today but don't even truly know the purpose or benefits that He died for us to freely receive because this only comes through a personal relationship with the risen Savior. Jesus rose again so that we also could rise with Him in newness of life! Happy Resurrection Day!

Are You Trusting God For The Supernatural?

Are You Trusting God For The Supernatural?
 
Supernatural = 1. Above, beyond, and far higher and greater than the
natural. 2. Of or given by God, divine or heavenly. No different than Jesus was totally dependent on His Father for the spiritual and natural things He needed and faced while upon this earth so should we as His children be totally dependent on the Holy Spirit who promised to provide for us our natural and spiritual lives. Of course, the spiritual must be of first importance but we must never forget that Jesus is also concerned about your needs and the cares of life here on earth. Today. I want to express the importance of "positioning ourselves" in Christ so that we can live and receive miracles in the natural (flesh) and our spiritual lives! Christians have a great advantage over non-christians, we must understand that it is non other than Christ in us who gives us victory. Just like Jesus was supernaturally risen from the grave so should we live our lives totally dependent on the Holy Spirit for every aspect of our lives. Just like Jesus, we win over the flesh, world, and the devil. Victory is ours!

The Benefits Of Taking Our Position In Christ

The Benefits Of Taking Our Position In Christ
 
          In the Bible, "benefits" often refer to the advantages, blessings, or positive outcomes that arise from God's favor and obedience to His commandments, this involves our spiritual, physical, and relational well being! One of my favorite scriptures is Romans 8:28 which says - And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God and are called according to His purpose. This scripture does not mean that when we have a problem that we make a visit with God and ask Him for something we need, it means that when Christ lives in us as believers we have a legal standing before God. Jesus said in John 14:14,
"If you ask anything in My name, I will do it". Wow! What a promise, if our life lines up with His will then we could ask anything in His will and He will do it! Far too many of us as christians are living in spiritual poverty when we could be living and enjoying the promises of God.

Take Your Position In Christ

Take Your Position In Christ
 
Position in Christ refers to a believer's legal standing before God, characterized by being declared righteous and forgiven through faith in Jesus Christ rather than a state of perfection or sinlessness. We "believers" have been placed "in Christ" so that whatever has happened to Christ has also happened to us. When Jesus died and rose again, so did we spiritually, and from that moment on, God will never see us as anything other than a new creation in Christ Jesus! It takes faith to know and stay in our position in Christ. We must remain steadfast, determined, and refuse to move off of God's Word (promises). Today, I want us all to realize that we are not "in Christ" because of our goodness or anything else we've done but it's all through faith in what Jesus Christ has down for us! Because of our position in Christ we can live with His joy, love, and peace!

Our Choices Determine Our Future Pt. 4

Our Choices Determine Our Future Pt. 4
 
Choices are a deliberate decision or act of will. When a person chooses to become a Christian, it is then that we have access to know what God's will is for us in every aspect of life. Think about this, we never have to make another choice based upon chance or luck, we can through prayer hear the voice of our Father saying to us personal things that no one else could have known. Making a choice to be a Christian and trusting God's Word (the written and spoken) will bridge the gap between our needs, desires, etc. and His abundant limitless resources. Wow, making one choice to follow Jesus with all our hearts changes our lives beyond what we could ever imagine, in this life on earth and most importantly giving us eternal life in Heaven!
It brings great joy to me to see true born-again believers choosing as Moses did to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin. There comes a time in everyone's life that we have to make a choice as to what we will do with Jesus, does He truly have total control of you life?

Bro. David Will Be Ministering Today

Thank you for joining us today. We hope you have a blessed week!

Our Choices Determine Our Future Pt.3

Our Choices Determine Our Future Pt.3
 
Joshua 24:15 says - And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourself this day whom you will serve. Anytime we see the word "if" in the Bible, there is a choice to be made. Many Christians don't take their choices seriously because they do not know the true blessings of making a choice based upon God's will or the serious consequences of making a choice against God's will. It's clear that the choices people made throughout Scripture and still today only have two different outcomes - life or death, heaven or hell, good or evil, blessings or cursing. For a true born-again believer, a follower of Christ, we don't have to worry about making the right choices, we just follow Him through prayer and the study of His Word. When Jesus said, "abide in My word", He meant to make a choice to live by its principle, practices purposes, and promises. This is a choice that nobody will ever regret!
As Joshua said, "Chose for yourself this day", the Lord our God we will serve, and His voice we will obey!

Our Choices Determine Our Future Pt. 2

Our Choices Determine Our Future Pt. 2
A choice is a deliberate decision or act of will. Choices are part of everyone's life. Survey shows that the average adult makes 33,000 - 35,000 total decisions every day! Wow, this seems impossible until you "choose" to think about it. Everything we do, say, or think about is a choice, from Adam and Eve until the present, man's choices determined their future. Adam and Eve had to make a choice when satan tempted them as to who was telling them the truth, this choice they made changed history forever. Do you believe they would have made the same choice "if" they would've took time and meditated on God's Word? How much prayer goes into our decisions? Have you sincerely thought about how your choices affect others, in the natural and spiritual realm? Remember Deuteronomy 30:19 - I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and our descendants may live. Verse 20 - That you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice. One of the biggest choices we make everyday is to make "quality time" for Him and to choose to trust Him with our lives!