Corrie Becker.
Psalm 116:15.
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants
God’s ways are higher than our ways.
We glory in strength and power, but God thinks differently and works differently.
We frown on death and weakness but God uses it for His Glory. The cross does not appeal or make sense to the natural man, even as Christians we would rewrite the script, but God’s ways are higher than our ways and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. (Isaiah 55)
The Lord chose not to grant Paul’s request when he prayed that his thorn, that was a torment to him, should be removed.
2 Corinthians 11:27-30.
I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn? If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness.
HEALING AND MIRACLES ARE FOR GOD'S GLORY.
John 2:11.
What Jesus did here in Cana of Galilee was the first of the signs through which he revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him.
John 11:40-44.
Jesus said to her, Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?
But we need to look at all Scripture and not just the ones we find appealing to us. We will see that God does things very differently to the way we do. Isaiah 55:8-9. For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.
God’s ways are higher than our ways.
2 Corinthians 12:7-10.
Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.
Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. PAUL WAS CHOSEN TO SUFFER FOR THE LORD.
Acts 9:15-16.
But the Lord said to Ananias, Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.
God’s ways are higher than our ways.
1 Corinthians 1:25-29 For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength. Brothers and sisters, think of what you were when you were called.
Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth.
But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.
God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things, and the things that are not, to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him.
Nick Vujicic
GOD'S GLORY IS OVERLOOKED TODAY BY SELF CENTRED CHRISTIANITY.
Much of the modern day gospel is inspired by Satan.
Satan was the one who wanted to be like God, in his pride he wanted to be exalted.
The true Gospel has God and His glory at the centre, the false apostate gospel has man and his wants and desires at the centre.
The reason why there is so much sin in the Church and sin in the lives of Christians is because we have not seen Him, we have not seen His Glory. We have looked at His Word and instead of seeing our sin and how selfish and wicked we are, we seen a promise box of all we can get and how we can escape hell.
Much of the “Modern day gospel” is about God running around doing things our way and granting our every whim.
GOD'S GLORY MUST BE OUR MOTIVATION WHEN WE SUFFER.
1 Peter 1:7.
In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith, of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire, may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.
John 21:19.
Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”
JESUS CAME FOR GOD'S GLORY, HIS SUFFERING AND TERRIBLE DEATH WERE FOR THE GLORY OF GOD.
John 17:4.
I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do.
THE CROSS IS OFFENSIVE AND FOOLISH TO MANY.
1 Corinthians 1:18-23 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise;
the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe.
Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles.
EVERYTHING WE DO MUST BE FOR GOD'S GLORY.
1 Peter 2:12.
Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
2 Corinthians 10:31. So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.
GOD HAS A DREAM, HE HAS A PLAN.
Habakkuk 2:14.
For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.
SATAN HAS A DREAM, HE HAS A PLAN
2 Corinthians 4:4.
The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.
WHAT IS YOUR DREAM, WHAT IS YOUR AGGENDA
There are only 2 roads and we choose which 1 to take.
Matthew 7:13-14.
Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.
A. Worldly pleasure.
The 4 lane highway or broad way to destruction.
Worldly pleasure.
2 Timothy 3:1-5.
But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.
People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive,
disobedient to their parents,
ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people.
B. Human intellect.
Romans 1:18-22. The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse. For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools
C. Good works.
Will you say to God “I’ve lived a good life”? Luke 18:9-14.
To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everyone else, Jesus told this parable: Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: God, I thank you that I am not like other people robbers, evildoers, adulterers or even like this tax collector.
I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get. But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, God, have mercy on me, a sinner. I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.
D. Religion.
There are prophets, miracle workers and those who have cast out demons will not all go to heaven
Matthew 7: 21-23.
Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles? Then I will tell them plainly, I never knew you.
Away from me you evildoers!
D. Religion.
Will you say “I believed in God”?
James 2:18-20.
But someone will say, You have faith;
I have deeds. Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds.
You believe that there is one God.
Good! Even the demons believe that and shudder.
You foolish person, do you want evidence that faith without deeds is useless
D. Religion.
Will you say “I have my own religion”?
Galatians 2:21.
I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!
If we could be righteous through any other religion, Jesus died for nothing.
We do not reach Christ through righteousness, we reach righteousness through Christ!
There are only 2 roads.
The narrow road of grace.
John 10:7-9
Therefore Jesus said again, Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep. All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them. I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved. They will come in and go out, and find pasture.
John 14:6.
Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18.
Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death, so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope. For we believe that Jesus died and rose again, and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage one another with these words.
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