Some worship thoughts for followers of Jesus Christ!

Tag: Jesus

Jesus Commandments

7. The Command “Do Not Lust”

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one part of your body than for your whole body to go into hell. (Matthew 5:27-30, NIV).

The sin of the heart is the most deceitful. It lies hidden in personal darkness building momentum – unless it is captured by the power of the Holy Spirit and confessed openly to Christ. King David’s lust for Bathsheba serves as a great example. It developed into deceit, covetousness, adultery, and eventually murder. Not to mention, an innocent child dying as the result of his lust-driven actions.

We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ. (2 Corinthians 10:5, NLT)

Jesus Commandments

5. The Command to “Be Reconciled”
“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled to them; then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5:23-24)

When we harbor anger or resentment of any kind in our hearts, or know that we have offended someone, or even suspect that someone in the family of Christ has “something” against us, our offering of praise is worthless. Our worship of Jesus is distracted and disingenuous. (1 John 3:15, Isaiah 1:14) It is when we put others before ourselves, we are worshiping Jesus. We must be reconciled with each other for our hearts to be free to focus on the only One worthy of our praise.

Jesus said, “But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23-24, NLT)

Jesus Commandments


4. The Command to “Shine”
“Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

We do not have a “works-based” faith. We are saved by Christ’s grace alone – “so no one can boast.” But, Jesus clearly says that the good works we do (by the Holy Spirit) bring glory to God. It is the very reason He gave us life. And it will continue to be our everlasting life’s work. We are not to cower in solitude and be comfortable by worldly standards, but by His grace and power shine to a lost and broken world.

Jesus Commandments

2. The Command to “Follow”
“Jesus called out to them, “Come, follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!” (NLT, Matthew 4:19).

Once we truly repent and throw off the shackles of pride and self-reliance, we must choose to follow Christ. It is a day to day, sometimes minute to minute, continuous struggle between the old self and the new, reborn self. In Matthew 16, “… Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. “ (Matthew 16:24)

What Would Jesus Do? (WWJD)” becomes our motto. Not merely a pithy slogan, it becomes the real guiding criteria by which we base all of our choices and decisions.

Jesus Commandments

1. The Command to “Repent”
“From that time Jesus began to preach, and to say, Repent: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17)

We all must repent to be part of the Kingdom of Heaven. In our Lord’s Prayer (Matt 6:9), Jesus teaches us that our deepest prayer need is for us to change. Repentance in the starting point of that journey. We need to stop praising ourselves and know that our Heavenly Father is holy. We need to get down from our thrones and put Jesus in His rightful place in our lives. We need to forget our selfish agendas and schedules, be emptied of self, so that God’s will can be done in and through us.

In Galatians 5, Paul says we cannot inherit the Kingdom of Heaven, if we do not live by the Holy Spirit’s power to lead and guide our actions. Pastor Rick Warren said this about our choices in life, “we either do God things or selfish things.” We live in a “sin-broken” world. We are affected by it everyday. We must surrender “our will” to allow the Holy Spirit to empower our lives. In King David’s awesome testimony of repentance he cries “The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.” (Psalm 51:17) We must repent to love Jesus.

For the Love of Jesus: A Study into the Commandments of Jesus Christ

Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). Jesus left his disciples with this final commandment. We call it the “Great Commission.”, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age. (Matthew 28:19-2, NLT) Jesus said Go! Make disciples of all nations, baptize them, and teach them “His commandments.”

Starting with the Book of Matthew, it is written that after Jesus commanded John to baptize Him, he was led into the dessert. From His temptations we learned that Jesus proclaimed “God is our provider. He is Holy and He is sovereign over all.” One could argue that Christ’s responses to Satan’s temptations in the dessert were His commandments. In my generalized summary of Christ’s responses, I believe Christ’s first response was “to live by faith in God.” His second response was “to trust in God’s word.” And His last response was “to worship God alone.” We are tempted in in the same way as Christ. There is no temptation we can not overcome, if we know His word. When Jesus returned from the desert He began His ministry and declared the favor of the Lord and His words are the food by which all Christians truly live and worship. I believe the most important of all His commands was given in John 13:34 “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” I believe if we all could just get our heads around that one, God’s Kingdom would come and His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

Keeping the commands of Jesus begins with recognizing and knowing them. The following are a collection of Jesus’ commands (taken directly from the Bible’s “Red Letters”, various translations) are presented, as best as I can manage, in New Testament order. My main goal is to help you along your worship journey with Christ. As you read through Christ’s quoted commandments, pray for God to help you understand, observe and obey them throughout your life.

Our Greatest Expectation

Like a child excited about the return of his father.Before the apostle John concludes His testimony in Revelation, the final book of the Bible, he writes in Chapter 22 verse 21 “20 He who testifies to these things says, “”Yes, I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”

As Christians, no ambition, no goal, no agenda should be desired above the glorious return of our King. It is our constant hope and our greatest expectation. All the work of the gospel is in preparation for this single event. We love one another enough to save each other from not participating in the ultimate reward of His return. It marks the end of earthly sorrows and the coronation of the Holy reign of our Prince of Peace. It heralds our joyous reunion with loved ones who have passed into His glory before us. But above all — our faith shall become sight and we will be in the presence of Jesus, the object of our life-long worship.

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