Sunday Morning, August 5, 2012
scriptures: Romans 5, 1 Corinthians 10
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NOTES
Approach the word as a conversation with your soul. The things that you are in God, you need to be everyday. You have to be consistent. Your job is to serve.
Like a person getting into shape. It hurts at first. Those who always stop when it first hurts, never get past it. The same is true if we never stay consistent during the same tests.
Sometime situations come to you. They are tests to see if you know what you need to know. Are you going to be consistent in Christ in the struggle or hard time?
You may get a different test than someone else because that is the thing you need to work on.
Romans 5:1-4
Many people don’t really have peace, especially in their relationships with God. He would rather you have peace through a trial, than to have comfortable situations without His peace.
Christians have access to God, power to stand. I can stand because of the grace He gives me.
In heaven, there won’t be mood swings. There will be consistent praise.
Can you say that every week you have energy to praise God, you’re ready to do what God likes?
Do you glory when times are hard, when things didn’t go your way? Are you praising God?
Do I give God praise even when people do me wrong? Can you be what you’re supposed to be when the heat is on?
If you say you had a bad week, then the question is were you bad this week? Did you do right and praise God in the midst of the week?
One of these days, things are going to happen. Someone you know will die, or get very sick. How will you handle it when the pressure is on? God will use situations or people to test you.
Do you want to be stronger in God? Or do you want to be untested?
If you have someone trying help you be right in Christ, thank God for it. Don’t take correction as something to avoid, but as something God uses to make you better.
“I’m sorry” does not mean that you are changed. You would do the exact same thing the next time the situation comes. That is not enough. God is looking for repentance, change.
If you act wrong in a test and realize that its wrong, then experience lets you know that you need to do something different the next time the same situation occurs.
You cannot blame people that you keep failing the same test. God used the ungodly to test the nation of Israel. The same may happen to you. What are you going to do?
1 Corinthians 10: 1-14
Consider a situation where many people heard the same bible study, the same instructions.
All of the Israelites that God brought out of Egypt heard the same instructions, but not all of them pleased God. Many of them listened to the listen, but got up and played games, not improving themselves.
Use this as an example for us not to lust after evil things, idolatry, fornication, complaining, etc.
This situation that you face is not because you are uniquely tested. God has given us the ability to choose to do right in the face of a test. If something went wrong, God allowed it. But He also said you can escape the temptation. If you don’t choose to escape, then don’t blame God!
It might be a phone call when you know you are about to do something wrong. Do you decide to ignore the invitation to do something good because you want to continue your plans to sin? If so, then that is not God’s failure.
You can’t blame being “not a Christian” on someone else or a situation. You have to make a commitment to be saved.