Ok, I have one question for you. Do you believe that an act of worship is heard better in your church sanctuary than in an alley in New York? I hope you say no, because that is not true. God doesn’t care where or how we worship; all He cares about is THAT we worship with the right intentions. One of the strongest Christians I know used to be a gang member, and he found Christ in a body shop garage. Again, it doesn’t matter if you’re in your house, in church, at the mall, or in a palace. God wants us not the building we are in. 1 Cor. 6:19 says “Don’t you know that your body is the Temple of the Holy Spirit which is in you, which you have of God? You are not your own.” That right there states that God lives in us not the church. Why do we even have a church building then if God lives in us and not there? Well the building is built for us believers to gather and worship God and share the good He has provided for us to others. God also promised us in 1 Cor. 5:3-4 “Even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. When you are assembled in the name of our Lord Jesus and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present,”. This verse further stresses the importance of having a church so believers can gather together. God promises that anywhere believers congregate, not only is He there in spirit, but as is His power! This is why group prayers is the most powerful action a Christian can partake in.
We must not be afraid of change; for that is what God wants. He wants to change us into the men and women that He made us to be. Just because you pray so many times a day, or you fast for so many days, or you read your Bible everyday does NOT make you a Christian. Those activities are only pleasing to God if your doing it for Him NOT yourself. If you do all those things so you can brag about how good of a Christian you are, then God is not pleased with your actions. In Matthew 16:24-27 Jesus tells us that, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done.” We must deny ourselves first, then take up our cross and follow Him. What you are doing by your boasting is making you look like the “super-Christian” yet doing nothing but hurting the image of Christ because your actions do not back up your words.
I’m not telling you to stop reading the Bible or do anything like that, because we do need to for our own growth. However, I am telling you to do that with a heart of worship. Allow God to change you with His words He has so lovingly given us. Allow God to change your life, so that He can better use you for His purpose He made you.
You cannot love both God and the world, you must let one go. God will raise the bar for you, and He will also raise you to meet His goal. God will always love you no matter what you’ve done or will ever do. In fact, He’s known you and every action you’d ever do before He created the World!! The world on the other hand hates you. It will lower the bar and makes sure you meet it. It will not love you unless you are filthy rich and live consistently in it’s evil changes. Even when the world does love you, it will only be for a few moments. Did the world not welcome our Lord and Savior with palm branches singing, “Hosanna!”? Did the world also not crucify the same Lord and Savior a few weeks after that?? The point is, you cannot serve both God and the world; and God will never disappoint you while the world will do nothing but disappoint you.
“If there is no God, then nothing matters; but if there is a God then nothing else matters.”
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