Everything Starts with Faith
Did you know that you can please God? We often talk about the various commands and regulations that God gives, and we talk a lot about the good things God gives us. But have you ever considered the ways you can please God?
The first thing Hebrews 11:6 tells us is that we need faith to please God. Those who do not believe in God cannot please Him.
There is a difference between having a true relationship with God and performing religious tasks without faith. We don’t have to earn a relationship with God because it is something He gives us freely. Those who have faith can please God, not because we have to, but because we get to. When we have faith in God, our hearts are changed, and we begin to desire to please God through our words and actions.
Hebrews 11:6 also tells us that God rewards those who seek Him. This doesn't mean God will give us whatever we want in life, but rather, it means that those who genuinely seek a relationship with God will find it.
And in this passage, God Himself is the gift we receive!
How to Save Your Life
Jesus willingly sacrificed everything for the sake of the world. He took the punishment of our sin and wrongdoing so that we could know God intimately, for all time. And when He rose from the dead, He made it possible for us to have a close relationship with Him.
Jesus made a way for us to know Him, but we have to choose whether or not we will follow Him.
“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake and for the sake of the Good News, you will save it.”
Mark 8:34-35 NLT
What does it mean to take up our cross?
For Jesus, the cross was a literal object upon which He suffered and died. It was a physical weight that also symbolizes the spiritual heaviness He bore.
The cross also represents the suffering and surrender we all choose to endure for the sake of knowing and obeying Christ.
The apostles viewed ...