Hebrews 12: 2 reads looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the Throne of God we should always have our eyes fixed on Jesus Christ he's the only one worthy of our devotion he's the only one worthy of our worship Jesus Christ is the only one worthy of our praise and our adoration he's the only one who should be right at the center right at the top of our priorities and
I want to encourage you today to pray with more intensity have a deeper hunger for God I encourage you to seek and Chase the presence of God with an urg y in the Book of Matthew 16:4 then Jesus said to his disciples whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me now let me ask you do you have the desire to follow Jesus Christ do you have a willingness to deny yourself of the temporary pleasures of this world I urge you to examine your heart and ask yourself
am I willing to take up my cross and follow Jesus now the cross was never meant to symbolize something easy or simple it symbolizes a place of pain a place of purging or Affliction but it also symbolizes salvation and hope it symbolizes the love of Jesus and the power of his blood the cross is symbolic of a place where flesh dies where sin is defeated and Jesus Christ wins and so we need to be mindful of the words of Jesus deny yourself take up your cross and follow Jesus Now 1 Timothy 4:8 says for bodily
exercise profits a little but godliness is profitable for all things having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come A True Believer of Jesus Christ will strive to live a Godly life but if you look at the world today godliness is not a priority for a lot of people godliness is not sought after by a lot of people today even in the church and you see the devil has clearly deceived a lot of people to believe one particular lie a lie that we can be righteous on our own the
enemy wants us to believe that we can operate independently the enemy has lied to People by telling them that they can live independently of God but this isn't true living in such a manner is called self-righteousness in the Bible the Pharisees and Sadducees opposed Jesus Christ so fiercely because they thought they were righteous they were self-righteous they were righteous in their own eyes and Jesus was a problem to this group of people because he taught about repentance he taught about righteousness according to God's standard not man's standard and so every True Believer of Jesus Christ
strives to live a Godly life a life according to the word of the Lord not their own personal standards now let me go further to clarify some of the Hallmarks of a True Believer a True Believer in Jesus Christ exercises practical faith meaning that they walk by faith and not by sight and Faith doesn't mean you ignore facts no faith means that you trust in God despite what the facts say A True Believer in Jesus Christ perseveres in prayer because prayer to a Christian is like blood to the body that's our Lifeline that's why the
Bible tells us to pray always and to pray without ceasing when our Lord Jesus Christ hung on the cross when he who was without sin was crucified he took our place as Sinners he literally carried the weight of the world the sins of every person who would ever live Jesus Christ paid the price for it all and satisfied God's Wrath and so when Jesus Christ who is the Son of God says no one can come to the father except through me he is telling us that he covered our sins he covered our shame and through
the shedding of his blood through his sacrifice we are adopted as children of God when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and savior Ephesians 1: 6 and 7 say to the praise of the glory of his grace by which he made us accepted in the Beloved in him we have Redemption through his blood the Forgiveness of sins according to the riches of his grace once again the Bible says in him in Christ we have been redeemed that means that the penalty for our sin was settled on the cross and my final scripture is Ephesians
1:13 it reads in him you also trusted after you heard the word of Truth The Gospel of your salvation in whom also having believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise dear friends from these few verses I've read do you see what God has done for us he has blessed us he has chosen us he has adopted us as his children he has accepted us and redeemed us and if that wasn't enough God has gone a step further and sealed us with the Holy Spirit how rich we are in the Lord and so
with all that we've learned from Ephesians 1 in mind let's express our gratitude to God for his loving kindness towards us so now let us pray father your word in Matthew 21:22 says if you believe you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer I thank you for such a promise a promise that you God Almighty the Eternal Father will answer our prayers if we ask and believe I'm thankful that you are an affectionate God a God who has an infinite wisdom and power I am grateful that in all your power and Glory you can
still take the time to hear and listen to our prayers for this privilege I Will Rejoice I thank you Lord Jesus for all that you do for the goodness and mercy that you've shown us as your children we thank you you're a God who is so good and so caring your word tells us that you have numbered the hairs on our heads because of your great love for us I thank you for loving us so strongly Lord I long to abide and dwell in your presence I desire to have close communion with you to be
in close fellowship with you Lord because it's only in you that I can be revived and refreshed in my soul Soul Holy Spirit help me to always live a life that gives God all the glory and all the praise I pray that I will have a demeanor which is humble and thankful for all that you've done for me I know Lord Jesus that you work within my circumstances you work even within the troubles I face and you deliver me I Rejoice today because of you my father you are an absolute control of everything every aspect
of my life is within your control so I choose to abide in you because that's where I'm safe I'm secure in your presence there's nothing that takes place in my life that you my God have not allowed to happen Lord I find strength in the understanding that the most high God is working all things together for my good I submit to your will King Jesus I yield to all of your ways although I may not know each and every detail about what will happen tomorrow or even today I will trust you my king I will
trust you with all my heart and I choose not to lean on my own understanding I choose to reverence you and to acknowledge you father in all my my ways you deserve all the glory you're a God who will make every crooked path straight and so I praise you the God of all creation a God who never sleeps nor Slumbers I will forever sing your praises and I'll adore your Holy Name Lord Jesus I Rejoice because you have removed the power of Sin from my life you have clothed me in your love and in your
grace you are the alpha and omega the same yesterday today and forever father I thank you for hearing this prayer it's in the mighty name of Jesus that I do pray and I give you thanks amen looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross despising the shame and has set down at the right hand of the Throne of [Music] God then Jesus said to his disciples whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me
for bodily exercise profits a little but godliness is profitable for all things having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come the Bible says in Isaiah 53: 3-5 he was despised and rejected by mankind a man of suffering and familiar with pain like one from whom people hide their faces he was dis despised and we held him in low esteem surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering yet we considered him punished by God stricken by him and Afflicted but he was pierced for our transgressions he was
crushed for our iniquities the punishment that brought us peace was on him and by his wounds we are healed [Music] but you are not like that for you are a chosen people you are royal priest a holy nation God's very own possession as a result you can show others the goodness of God for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light no one can serve two masters for either he will hate the one and love the other or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other you cannot serve God
and Mammon money possessions Fame status or whatever is valued more than the Lord [Music]
