Crossroads Youth

2 Samuel 7:22 CEV  LORD All-Powerful, you are greater than all others. No one is like you, and you alone are God. Everything we have heard about you is true.

You see in the the bible, God warned that we were not to worship other gods before him.

Exodus 20:3-6 CEV  Do not worship any god except me.  4  Do not make idols that look like anything in the sky or on earth or in the ocean under the earth.  5  Don’t bow down and worship idols. I am the LORD your God, and I demand all your love. If you reject me, I will punish your families for three or four generations.  6  But if you love me and obey my laws, I will be kind to your families for thousands of generations.

Isn’t is funny (not really) how people will try to make their own heaven or god? There is only one God! The human race has tried since very early in history, to make a god of their own, a way to worship something, or someone, to achieve some sort of life or state, that would make their lives more complete.  David was praying to God when he made the statement above. He acknowledged that God was All powerful, he was greater than all others….others? Other who?

Other gods!

Many times Israel fell back into sin by doing this. They would create their own idols, and would worship them. They were failing at keeping the laws, so they decided that rather than serve the one true God, they would instead create a “god” that they could serve, on their terms.
God is sovereign. To break that word down, it means this; Sovereignty
The right of God to do as He wishes (Psalm 50:1; Isaiah 40:15; 1 Tim. 6:15) with His creation. This implies that there is no external influence upon Him and that He also has the ability to exercise His power and control according to His will. God does not want us to seek to do things on our own, he wants to be a part of our lives. Our free will often prevents this. Our free will leads to things that often take us away from God and often leads to us putting substitutions for his place in our lives.

There is only one way to God, through his Son Jesus Christ. Without acknowledging his place in our lives, we are simply trying to supplant him.

Maybe you are reading this and like me, have spent time being a good guy, or doing the right thing, and thinking this is good enough. We are not righteous, we can do nothing to earn our way “in”. This is an invitation only group. The wonderful thing about this group? You are all invited. Jesus said;

John 14:6 CEV  “I am the way, the truth, and the life!” Jesus answered. “Without me, no one can go to the Father.

There is no nirvana, no reincarnation (God made you in his likeness, why would he make us into something that was not his likeness later?) And, being a good guy, helping little old ladies across the street will only get you a merit badge in the Boy Scouts. none of these things will get you into Glory. We have to acknowledge first, that we have sinned, we all have fallen short, we cannot hope to please God without faith. Faith that his Son died on the cross at Calvary, to make a way that we could be reconciled to God. WE ALL have been far from God, by believing Christ died for your sins, and living your life as such, we are assured that we all have an inheritance in the Kingdom of God. Without God, without accepting that Jesus died on the cross for you, there is no hope.

If reading this and watching that video, sparked something inside you, a longing to really be connected to a God who loves you so much that he was willing to give his only son, on the cross so that we can be redeemed, then please, say this simple prayer.

“Father, I know that I have broken your laws and my sins have separated me from you. I am truly sorry, and now I want to turn away from my past sinful life toward you. Please forgive me, and help me avoid sinning again. I believe that your son, Jesus Christ died for my sins, was resurrected from the dead, is alive, and hears my prayer. I invite Jesus to become the Lord of my life, to rule and reign in my heart from this day forward. Please send your Holy Spirit to help me obey You, and to do Your will for the rest of my life. In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.”

If you decided to repent of your sins and receive Christ today, welcome to God’s family. Now, as a way to grow closer to Him, the Bible tells us to follow up on our commitment.

* Get baptized as commanded by Christ.
* Tell someone else about your new faith in Christ.
* Spend time with God each day. It does not have to be a long period of time. Just develop the daily habit of praying to Him and reading His Word. Ask God to increase your faith and your understanding of the Bible.
* Seek fellowship with other followers of Jesus. Develop a group of believing friends to answer your questions and support you.
* Find a local church where you can worship God.

I cannot wait to meet Jesus face to face.

John 8:4-11 CEV  Then they said, “Teacher, this woman was caught sleeping with a man who isn’t her husband.  5  The Law of Moses teaches that a woman like this should be stoned to death! What do you say?”  6  They asked Jesus this question, because they wanted to test him and bring some charge against him. But Jesus simply bent over and started writing on the ground with his finger.  7  They kept on asking Jesus about the woman. Finally, he stood up and said, “If any of you have never sinned, then go ahead and throw the first stone at her!”  8  Once again he bent over and began writing on the ground.  9  The people left one by one, beginning with the oldest. Finally, Jesus and the woman were there alone.  10  Jesus stood up and asked her, “Where is everyone? Isn’t there anyone left to accuse you?”  11  “No sir,” the woman answered. Then Jesus told her, “I am not going to accuse you either. You may go now, but don’t sin anymore.”

Though this woman was deserving of death, at least in the eyes of the Mosaic law, (she was only part of the equation, where was the man whom she had sinned with, without a conspirator, how could she have been caught in adultery?)<!–more–> She was brought up on charges immediately, in the hopes that this would move Jesus to some sort of action that would lead to his breaking the law himself, instead, he simply bowed down and began sort of writing in the dirt, nobody knows what he wrote, but he spoke as he wrote. Maybe he was writing the law so that they could see it, maybe he was simply doodling, who knows! In the meantime, the Messiah, had come to the aid of someone who did not know him, and showed something that this person probably had been devoid of certainly in her adult life, LOVE, not physical love, but <em>agape</em> love. This is the kind of love that we all say that we have for others, but really cannot show.

Agape love is defined as such;  The Greek word agape is often translated “love” in the New Testament. How is “agape love” different from other types of love? The essence of agape love is self-sacrifice. Unlike our English word “love,” agape is not used in the Bible to refer to romantic or sexual love. Nor does it refer to close friendship or brotherly love, for which the Greek word philia is used. Nor does agape mean charity, a term which the King James translators carried over from the Latin. Agape love is unique and is distinguished by its nature and character.

Though Jesus had yet to make that physical sacrifice, it very well could have happened there. You see, these men were ready to start throwing the stones (stones are a type of judgment). It very well could have been that some of those same men had been secretly meeting with this person, and committing the same sin that they had just caught her in. They may have been under the impression that by letting her go, they could some day be in the same predicament. no matter why they were so ready to kill her, the important thing is this, Jesus stood in the gap between her and her accusers, just as he does for us.

Satan has been called the accuser of the brethren, and yet, we have a defense.Just as this woman had a defense against her accusers. Jesus is that face of love, that person whom we are to emulate as Christians, those who are attempting to be Christ-like. The last couple of verses of that piece of scripture are very telling.

10  Jesus stood up and asked her, “Where is everyone? Isn’t there anyone left to accuse you?”  11  “No sir,” the woman answered. Then Jesus told her, “I am not going to accuse you either. You may go now, but don’t sin anymore.”

You see Jesus very well could have accused her and he would have been right to do so, but, instead, he showed Mercy, he was the face of Love. Just as a mother or father might chastise a child, Jesus said, go on now, but, don’t do it again. Very Simple. Walk it out.

Daily we are tempted with the opportunity to sin against God, and we have two choices obviously. We can do as our flesh wants, have our fun, or we can do those things that are pleasing to God. When we sin, it is imperative that we seek God, repent, and then go and sin no more.