Trajectory; First Woodway

Nonbelievers are not ultimately chasing the things that believers are chasing. We are not supposed to be out of the world, but we need to recognize the tension there.

We should not invest ourselves fully in those who don't have the Lord. However, we should not fully withdraw from the world and surround ourselves with Christians if we have any kind of love for the world, in that we desire to change it. We are to be in the world, but we have certain needs as followers of Jesus that can only be met with other followers of Jesus. We have to serve each other and exercise spiritual gifts and encourage each other. Our identity needs to be interwoven with those who are following Christ.

We should be a community set apart in the world that is marked by Jesus. We need to be bound to other believers.

Verse 16 [Disclaimer, I have no idea where this is from. So there's that.]
Since God has pursued us and made us His people, we should be a people who DESIRE holiness and desire to live a life after the Lord. Because we have known God's grace, we should be empowered to pursue holiness.

Because of His work in our hearts, it should transform the things that we desire. It transforms the things we pursue, we want our life to be for His glory. We should want to be rid of sin, to walk away from those things in order to pursue Christ and know Him more fully.

Because of Jesus, we should be a different people. We need to be a people who aren't just living life with Jesus in addition, but who met Jesus and who's lives are on a different trajectory as a result.

Our ability to do more comes from the Gospel.

Rest on the Gospel. Know that your identity is now in Christ. You are a son or daughter of the Lord.

[Talking to myself.] Remember at Baby Ruths? Once you are a child of God, you don't cease to be. You are of God. You are Godly. It may come about that you stop acting like who you truly are (a child of God). When we mess up, when we deny Him, we aren't acting as a believer. But that doesn't change our identity, because He has claimed us and nothing we can do can change the truth of His words.

The Gospel has to mean something more than you going to heaven.
Jesus transformed us.
He brought us new life.
This is not your everyday story of change.

2 Corinthians 7:2-13

Verses 3 and 4
"...to die together, and to live together."
This phrase is very unusual. We would talk about this phrase in reverse usually, because we tend to live first and THEN die. Paul switches this on purpose (THAT'S A LITERARY DEVICE) our old lives have passed away. We're reborn into a new life together, as a group. That's what unites us. Our old lives are gone and now we pursue the same things and we are bound together for who we are.

As we experience Jesus individually, we are supposed to be coming together as one and interacting together. We should bond and be yoked together by this.

We SHOULD have deep, meaningful relationships with nonbelievers. To do otherwise would be to squander the gift we've been given.

When we are born into the kingdom of God, we lose ourselves. We lose our decisions and our own direction, because our lives become submitted to God and to one another. Our decisions are for the benefit of the church now. We can't continue living in our own little world, and we need to be seeking the greater kingdom.

***song: My Own Little World, Matthew West***

Paul is not saying to not be with nonbelievers, but he is telling us to be bound to believers. We have a new life with the people of God that assists us when we go into the presence of nonbelievers. If you spend time with those who are not building you up, you are constantly fighting the mental battle with satan of retaining your connection with God. You cannot go into the world unprepared, that's why we need the community of the Church.

Worldly grief is a lament that we have lost something in our life.
Worldly grief is not always bad, but it can be self-centered.
Godly grief is lament over the fact that our sin and the sin of other people has turned our attention from the One who deserves it most.

Our hearts should want Him above all else. Not only should we want Him, but we should want others to want Him, and we should pray earnestly that we can rebuke each other and point one another back towards the grace of God.

Do we have a genuine concern in the way that others are following the Lord?

[Frustration with the stress I was experiencing at that time]
At TCA I was totally focused on God.
At Vanguard I was totally focused on school and friends.
I'm trying to do both and it's not working.
Shemurrrr

[Talking to myself. Again.]
God deserves more of my time. At Baby Ruths we got so much work done, despite the amount of journaling we did. Work hard, and take 15-20 minutes to journal and spend time with God. Why does it feel like I would be more productive doing school for four hours as opposed to three hours and forty five minutes? Heck, it takes 15 minutes to go get icees. How much more could my day be impacted if I spent that time in prayer instead?

The way that you learn to submit and be obedient is the way that you reflect on His grace and kindness, and that stirs your heart; the obedience will come naturally. You must first love the Gospel.

Prayer

Seek FIRST the kingdom of God. Jesus very first prayed... That was His first response. And it should be. We need to spend time in prayer.

Why don't I have a quiet time? Because I'm not prioritizing God over school and sleep and friends. That's the problem. I need to set aside time for Him in my life. I've tried for so long to be consistent with that. Rawwrr.

I fall so short. I'll leave it at that. Of everything. Of my spiritual walk. I can't fathom the idea that Jesus should desire to still save the world despite the way we act. There's so much hypocrisy that I see in those who claim the Christian faith. I don't understand it. I don't understand it in myself. I don't want to change others; I want to change myself. Having the desire to change is not the act of change. I have to allow Christ to change my heart and my actions. The hearts there- but I have to be disciplined enough to put my faith into practice. I cannot simply go through the motions.

I think one thing that was misunderstood was me fretting about the world because the world is sinful and I can't change it. But that's not the case. I am well aware of the futility of changing most people. Not being able to change people does not make me fret. What does make me fret is spending time with people who are constantly making me fight against the devil. It's wearing me out haha. I can handle the world for so long, but I'm not getting the equivalent of spiritual intake that's needed for me to be at college.

But I digress.
Sometimes when we pray, God eliminates the trial. And sometimes He gives strength to get through the trial.

Without prayer, I'm only dealing with me and using my judgement to determine what's right.

Prayer prepares us to face temptation. Pray that we will not fall into temptation.

Satan dreads prayer. His one concern is to keep the saints from praying. He trembles when we pray.

Ask God to meet you at your point of greatest need.

Do the thing from Baby Ruths...
Wake up, and ask God to make me small. He is so great and big, and I need Him to make me small. I need to recognize His power and humble myself before Him each and every day.