A New Life in Christ

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The Key to Living for Christ is Dying to Self and the World

Romans 6:4
We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.

The Living Dead
1. Dead people aren’t enticed by cravings that come from the world.
2. Dead people can’t be moved by what their eyes desire from the world.
3. Dead people aren’t controlled by the desire for worldly prominence and worldly ambition.
4. Dead people are controlled by the Word of God.

When Eve was tempted we see these four components.
Genesis 3:1,6
4. "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was 1. good for food and 2. pleasing to the eye, and also 3. desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it.
What the Apostle John has to say about these 4 things.


1 John 2:16
For everything in the world—the 1. cravings of sinful man, the 2. lust of his eyes and the 3. boasting of what he has and does—comes not from the Father but from the world.

1 John 2:15
Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.


From this scripture we can conclude that a person who genuinely receives the fullness of God’s Love won’t be interested in having their heart filled by anything else.
However if a person is lacking in love from God they will pursue worldly fulfillment. They will seek out worldly things to fulfill their hearts.
When Jesus was Tempted
We see these four components again.

1. Cravings
Matthew 4
1Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. 2After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. 3The tempter came to him and said, "If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread."

4. Bringing into question God’s Word
Matthew 4
5Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. 6"If you are the Son of God," he said, "throw yourself down. For it is written:
" 'He will command his angels concerning you,
and they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.'"

2 & 3 Eyes & Worldly Ambition
Matthew 4
8Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 9"All this I will give you," he said, "if you will bow down and worship me."

Romans 6:11
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

Living Sacrifices
Romans 12:1,2
Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.
2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

Paul, a Living Sacrifice
1 Corinthians 15:31
I die every day—I mean that, brothers—just as surely as I glory over you in Christ Jesus our Lord.

New Creations in Christ
2 Corinthians 5:17
17Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!

John 3:3
In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again. “

The Kingdom of God being a present tense reality.
65 times in the NIV Kingdom of God appears. 9 Times it’s speaking about a future kingdom. 54 times it’s speaking about a present tense reality, relative to the time it was written.

Born of Water and the Spirit
Born of Water speaks of Natural birth as well as the birth into the kingdom of God via repentance, symbolized by water baptism.
Born of the Spirit speaks of a life controlled by the Spirit of God.

The way to joyfully die to your old life is to take up the life that is truly life.
We must receive spiritual information about the kingdom realities all around us.
These kingdom realities will transform our lives by altering our wills so we desire what God desires.

Our desire coming in line with His causes us to make society altering changes to the region starting with our own hearts and then spreading out into the community and ultimately to the uttermost parts of the Earth.

Let’s be Like Apostle Paul
Galatians 2:20
20I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.


Jubilee Family Church

Bud Avants; Missionary to Burma Tailand

Bud Avants our missionary to Burma Thailand was with us in service today. He ministered from the heart with a tremendous amount of grace and authenticity.

To listen to this message please CLICK HERE.
Click here to see his ministry to us at Jubilee Family Church. Be prepared, his ministry is very powerful.

Jubilee Family Church

Self Centered or Christ Centered?

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Two Paradigms of Living and Thinking

Paradigm - a philosophical or theoretical framework of any kind.

There are a multitude of ways these two paradigms, Christ centeredness and Self Centeredness manifest themselves in our lives.

When Christ is Lord He rules our lives.

Jim Elliot a man who was Christ Centered (End of the Spear)–
He is no fool to lose what he cannot keep, to gain what he cannot lose.

To watch a 2:28 video about Jim Elliot CLICK HERE.

1. A person who’s Christ Centered is thinking about kingdom advancement.

Matthew 11:11,12
11I tell you the truth: Among those born of women there has not risen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he. 12From the days of John the Baptist until now, the kingdom of heaven has been forcefully advancing, and forceful men lay hold of it.

I believe God’s more concerned about your availability than your ability but He does empower you with his ability when we violently surrender our lives to him. This empowerment makes us more valuable to the Lord in the sense that we have a greater kingdom influence in the world.

2. Christ Centered people are Thinking about the development of others or the development of self for others.
We should be the best we can be for the Lord so when he calls us we can bring the best sacrifice we can. We want to be as valuable to the Lord as we can be.

"It is one of the most beautiful compensations of life, that no man can sincerely try to help another without helping himself." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

We go from empowering communal time with the Lord to sacrifice and back to the Holy Spirit for a “recharge”.

Luke 5:16
But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.

Hebrews 5:7
During the days of Jesus' life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.

3. Finances
1 Timothy 6:17-19
17Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. 18Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. 19In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life.

We’re commanded to take temporal wealth and convert it into “coming age treasure” through giving.

This allows us to take hold of the life that is truly life. This implies strongly that there is a false life.

The false life that comes from a servitude to money.

Matthew 6:24
"No one can serve two masters. 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 both God and Money.

People serve money because their identity is in the things of this life. The more toys or things they can amass around themselves the more successful they feel.

For the believer their identity should be in Christ. From communion with Christ comes life and fruit as well as productive and effective ministry.

4. For a Christ Centered Individual Fulfillment is Found in Doing God’s Will and Work

Fulfillment for the Christ Centered life
John 4:34
"My food," said Jesus, "is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.

5. Self exaltation or Legacy?
One other key thing that you see with people who have Christ at the center of their lives is they are focused on leaving some kind of legacy for the next generation or generations to come.

Legacy - something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past

A person with a kingdom paradigm will want to develop others in the faith who can replicate the spiritual DNA they are carrying.

2 Timothy 2:1,2
1You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others.

1. Jesus
2. Paul
3. Timothy
4. Reliable Men
5. Others

Very often self centered people abort their own ability to leave a legacy because they put all their energy and thought into themselves instead of those around them who are potential ambassadors for the next generation.

They can also abort their ability to leave a legacy by careless acts of sin. These acts can embitter the next generation causing a hardness to resist the possible impartation.

We also must try and learn the love language of the potential legacy person so they know you are preparing them for something. Many children become embittered toward their parents because the parents don’t know how to communicate their love and intentions for their children.

The importance of a legacy.
Imagine if 3 generations of people before you had progressively left an inheritance for the generation following.
Each family member took the inheritance and made it bigger.
The financial legacy easily illustrates the spiritual legacies we can leave for our spiritual children.

Who do you leave a legacy for?

1. Willing/Called
2. Humble
3. Faithful
4. Submissive
5. Gifted

Deuteronomy 7:9
Know therefore that the LORD your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commands.

How many people will be at your funeral?

Take some time to reflect on what percentage of your heart Jesus has captured and dedicate some time to deal with the areas of your heart that may still be outside the Lordship of Christ. Let him rule and reign all of your thoughts, attitudes, actions and ideas. Make it your ambition to violently surrender your life at the feet of Jesus like John the Baptist. You must become lesser so he can become greater. Why don't you pray about it?

Love,

Pastor Tony

Jubilee Family Church

Praise Report for Janet

Janet Howard called me today to tell me that her cholesterol had dropped to 240 and over all, her blood numbers had dropped over 1000 points.

Praise the Lord!

Jubilee Family Church

The Greatest Need of Mankind

To be Reconciled to God
To download this message in .mp3 format click here.
Reconciliation – the act of restoring to friendship or harmony.
The heart and Nature of God can be seen in the story of the Prodigal Son.

Luke 15:20
So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
These 5 components of God's character are seen in the story of the Prodigal Son.



Longing
Looking
Running
Hugging
Kissing

We're called to have a relationship of intimacy with God. Intimacy can be defined as into - me - see.


Song of Solomon 1:2
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth— for your love is more delightful than wine.
Psalm 2:12a
--Kiss the Son, lest he be angry

God Wants our Hearts

Deuteronomy 4:29

But if from there you seek the LORD your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.

Who’s Jesus interested in?
Luke 5:30-32
"Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and 'sinners'?"
31Jesus answered them, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. 32I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance."

Things that lead us to turn away from a life of Sin and turn to God

1. Anointed Preaching
Acts 13:24
Before the coming of Jesus, John preached repentance and baptism to all the people of Israel.

2. God’s Kindness
Romans 2:4
Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God's kindness leads you toward repentance?

3. Gentle Instruction
2 Timothy 2:25
Those who oppose him he must gently instruct, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth,

4. Godly Sorrow
2 Corinthians 7:9
yet now I am happy, not because you were made sorry, but because your sorrow led you to repentance. For you became sorrowful as God intended and so were not harmed in any way by us.

A. Godly Sorrow or Worldly Sorrow
2 Corinthians 7:10
Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

5. It’s God’s patient will for Men and Women to Repent
2 Peter 3:9
The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
Reconciled Through Death Saved through Life.

Scriptures on Reconciliation
Romans 5:10
For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!
Reconciled through Christ’s Death, made holy and free.

Colossians 1:22
But now he has reconciled you by Christ's physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation—

John 8:31,32
31To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, "If you hold to my teaching, [hold fast to My teachings and live in accordance with them] you are really my disciples. 32Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
God’s reconciliation of us, gives us the ministry of reconciliation.

2 Corinthians 5:18
All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation:

2 Corinthians 5:20
We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ's behalf: Be reconciled to God.

Implore – means to beg or beseech.

Jubilee Family Church