Graceland Christian Church

Being Obedient To The Holy Spirit

Being Obedient To The Holy Spirit
 
Obedient means to willingly follow and submit to God's authority and will as expressed by His Word. This involves "actively" listening to God's instructions and responding positively, aligning one's will with His. God still speaks today as loud as He ever did through His Word - the Bible, and His voice - the Holy Spirit. The problem with Christians (not all) is that they do not position themselves to hear His Word, and when they do hear it, they refuse to obey it because of the cost of following. I want to encourage you today to be obedient to what you hear in your spirit, stop looking or thinking of what you will lose in the natural. Following the Holy Spirit's directions in life often hurts the flesh for a season but the end results will always be beneficial! Stop wandering what it would be like if you obeyed God and step out in faith and you will see results. If you want to be successful in life, the key is to be obedient. God knows what He is doing in you, trust His Word. We will never see the fulness of God's plan for our lives unless we trust and obey. When we obey God, the windows of heaven open and God pours out His blessings to show us His favor.

God Predetermines The Events Of Life

God Predetermines The Events Of Life
Predetermine = 1. To establish or decide in advance. 2. The belief that God, before the creation of the world, decided the eternal destiny of every one of His children. Unlike natural parents, God is able to bring to pass everything that He has planned for each of us, "if" we give Him something to work with! There's a song called "What if", it says - "what if the door swings open to all I've been praying and hoping for, what if fear didn't keep you from trying?" God will put a vision or a dream in your heart and give you faith to pursue it, but like Joseph and everyone else, God never shows us what's in between the promise and the promise land. It takes faith in His will to receive the promise! Today, we will be praying for the graduating seniors, praying they will hold on to Jesus and His will for their future, that they would trust Him with all their hearts and never let His hand go!

Are You Prepared?

Are You Prepared?
 
Prepared = To keep yourself ready for upcoming events. Jesus tells us in His Word that distressing times are coming to this world and we have been witnessing these things in our generation. In our natural life we can be good about preparing for upcoming events such as having company, weddings, going to work or school, etc., but when it comes to things that we have no control over such as temptations, sudden tragedies, etc., we have been given specific instructions through God's Word as to how to be ready. We live in a sinful world where troubles are guaranteed to come our way. Jesus taught us that we can be ready to overcome and have victory over all the temptations, troubles, and lies that the devil throws at us! Being prepared eliminates fear and worry in the Christian life. Praise Jesus that we can have His peace in this troubled world.

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?