God loves you. Do you love him back? If I could help change any one thing in the world, it would be this, for people who say they love Jesus to stop saying it and start showing it.

LOVE is a verb!

But don't get too far ahead of me. I'm not talking about you loving others. I'm talking about you first loving God. How would your life change if you stopped telling God you loved him and instead, started showing God you love him.

How do we show God we love him? Great question. And there's good news, Jesus answered this for us in John 14:15 when he said, "If you love me, you will obey my commandments."

I know...it's so much easier to just tell God we love him.
And I will remind you...Whoever told you that following Jesus was easy flat out lied to you!

Jesus said, "the gate is narrow and the way is difficult that leads to life, and there are few who find it."
Jesus said, "For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it."

So, how would you show God you love him? How are you looking for the "narrow" and "difficult" path? Or, are you simply caught up in culture? How about your life, is it going to be your life? Or, will you give you to Jesus?

These are very serious and important questions.
I strongly believe the reason the church is so ineffective is NOT because God has lost his power. But rather, because there are way too many posers saying one thing and living another! THIS MUST CHANGE! But first, YOU MUST CHANGE, I MUST CHANGE.

Hearing and obeying is a primary focus at New City Church. Might we become a people who confess Jesus as Lord? A people who read our Bible and then actually do what it says? What would God be able to do if his people actually lived everyday John 15:1-8?

I think making commitments are a good thing. They keep you accountable. But use wisdom, please don't make a commitment you are unable to keep. Therefor, think before you commit.

But do commit. Don't make general statements like, "I'll pray more?" What doe that even mean? Make a very specific plan on what you are going to do and for how long you are going to do it. Then, share your plan with someone you trust and start it immediately.

That's a good start for the week. Hang with me. Let's follow Jesus together and as we do, we will begin to look a lot more like him and a lot less like them.

Forward,
Pastor Matt