Come Alive (Audio)

Are you the type of Christian that prays for God to bless your plans, and asks God to be a part of the work your doing? Or are you the type of Christian that prays for God to allow you to be a part of His plans and the work that He's doing? Pastor Mark will be challenging us to stop thinking of God as an entity that simply comes along side us and blesses whatever we decide to do, like He's a genie that grants wishes or something. God is Almighty and all powerful, who has saved us from sin and death, we should have the reverence and awe to ask if we can be a part of what He's doing. We need to obey Him, not the other way around.

Do you choose to obey the Lord in forgiving others and loving your enemies? When God gives us a command in His Word, it's not a suggestion, it's an order that needs to be followed immediately. As Pastor Mark continues his teaching series through the book of 2 Samuel, he'll be reminding us that we are ambassadors for Jesus and what we do and say is a direct reflection on Him. If we proclaim to be Christians then we are in essence saying we are “little Christ's”, we are His representatives. Would you say you're properly representing the forgiving and loving nature of the Lord towards those around you?

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked, you will reap what you sow. This verse comes to life during our text today in 2 Samuel, as Saul is killed by an Amalekite that God commanded him to destroy earlier on. Today, Pastor Mark will be exhorting us to take God's commands seriously and when we play around with sin, it will eventually be our undoing. The Amalekites are a picture of our flesh nature that God commands us to completely destroy. Saul didn't obey God in destroying all the Amalekites, and he let the king survive. If Saul completely obeying the Lord, he would never have died a the hands of an Amalekite.

Today, Pastor Mark will be reminding us how although God is love, He is also a just and righteous Judge. God is holy, and in order for us to commune with Him and eventually have fellowship in Heaven with Him, we must have the righteousness of Christ within us. In our text today, Saul dies because of his sin against God. God lovingly tries drawing everyone to repentance, and often times gives multiple U-turns to get us in the right direction. There comes a point however, when God allows us to reap what we sow because He is just and is not mocked. We need to make sure we don't take advantage of God's grace!

Many people in the world believe in “karma”, they think that if you do something bad, it will return back to you. Today, Pastor Mark will be explaining how although karma isn't biblical, there is a spiritual law in place that say's we will reap what we sow. The Bible say's we shouldn't be deceived, God is not mocked, we will reap what we sow, weather it's deeds of righteousness that lead to life, or seeds of the flesh that lead to death. We can't continue to live sinful lives and not expect to reap the destruction that follows. God has given us commands so that we would be free from the consequences of a sinful lifestyle.

We are promised a victorious Christian life when we remain obedient to God's Word and remain in His will. Just as David was victorious in battle when he was obedient and walking according to God's will, you also will have victory when your submitted to God. Today, Pastor Mark will be challenging us to examine why we may be failing in our Christian walk in certain aspects. Chances are it's as simple as us returning to reading the Word of God and developing a stronger prayer life. Maybe there are certain shows and movies you should stop feeding your flesh. Perhaps there's some friends you need to walk away from.

Is there any aspect of your flesh that you refuse to put to death? God commands us to put to death the deeds of our flesh, and to be alive in Jesus! As Pastor Mark continues his teaching series through the book of 1 Samuel, he'll be explaining how the Amalekites are symbolic of our flesh nature. God commanded Saul to destroy all the Amalekites because they were too dangerous and would ultimately bring destruction to His people. Saul disobeyed the Lord and didn't completely obey His Word, and in the end it was an Amalekite that killed Saul. Whatever sin you may be keeping alive, be careful because it may be your undoing.

All things work together for good to those that love God and are called according to His purposes. This is a very popular Bible verse, and many times you hear it quoted as : All things work together for good. Pastor Mark will be reminding us that the second half of that verse is the most important! Everything will work out eventually for good, to those that love God. God is sovereign and ultimately in control of everything. So when a good opportunity is missed, or we are forced to change course, it's because God knows whats ultimately best for us. We need to lean not on our own understanding and trust in God.

The children of Israel had one major problem all throughout their history. They grew comfortable when God delivered them from their enemies, and began to worship idols. An acid test to see if you have any idols in your life is simply this: Is there any person or thing that has a greater influence over you than God does? God should have the preeminence over your life, and if there's a person that's causing you to neglect God's commands, that's idolatry. If money has such a hold on you that it causes you to be selfish and greedy, that has become an idol in your life. When you keep God first, you'll have fulfillment and true satisfaction.

All throughout the Bible we read about how God hates hypocrisy and vain religious rituals. The main group of people Jesus was continually rebuking was the religious Jewish leaders of His day. They said all the right things, they appeared to be godly on the outside. Jesus called them white washed tombs filled with dead mans bones, because they were spiritually dead inside even though they appeared righteous. Pastor Mark will be encouraging us to be honest and not revert to just speaking “christianese”, but to truly be genuine. There's a freedom that comes with being sincere. God simply wants a relationship with you!