August 25, 2024 // How Do I Live this Life?

Welcome to Walk in the Truth podcast.

How do we know where to find answers to the toughest questions in life?

While the simplest answer is the Bible, where do we start this search and how do we discover

this truth?

Today, in this teaching podcast, John Metter, lead pastor of Cross City Church, takes a

specific text of the Bible and helps us find truth for the life we're searching for.

I am so glad that you're here today and I ask you to take your Bible and turn to the

book of Galatians today, Galatians chapter 2.

Galatians 2 · chapter mention

I'm going to talk about one verse in the whole message today, Galatians chapter 2, verse

Galatians 2:20

20.

How do I live this life?

You know, over the last few weeks we've been asking some pretty important but pretty basic

questions.

A couple of weeks ago I asked the question, who am I and who are you?

And we looked at Romans chapter 14 to answer that question of who we are from the perspective

Romans 14 · chapter mention

of Jesus Christ himself.

Last week, the why question is what we dealt with, with Philippians 1, 21, one of those

great passages of scripture that talks about the why that we're here on the planet.

And this week we're asking the question, how do I live this life?

That's Galatians chapter 2, verse 20.

Galatians 2:20

You know, you direct your life every day based on the questions and the answers that come

from those questions when they're basic questions like who am I and why am I here and how can

I live this life?

But this is probably one of my favorite messages that I've ever preached before, simply because

I've preached it probably six or seven times over the last 20 years or so, because I think

it's such a basic explanation of how you live the Christian life.

You know, it's a supernatural life, it's an abundant life, it's an incredible life, but

sometimes as Christians we lose sight of how is it that we actually live this life?

What is it that makes the difference day in and day out?

Or how is it that I can live life in such a way that's different from what I was before

I came to faith in Christ and different from the way the rest of the world is?

What does the Bible say about how that life is lived?

Well, I found the answers all in one single verse, Galatians chapter 2, verse 20.

Galatians 2:20

I'm going to ask you to stand as I read that verse today, Galatians chapter 2, verse 20,

Galatians 2:20

and I will have it on the screen as well, but you also have a way to find the page number.

It will be on the screens as well if you have a Bible that's in your seat back or you find

it at the doorways when you come in.

Galatians chapter 2, verse 20.

Galatians 2:20

Paul is writing about the Christian life and he's really harkening back to his personal

conversion experience, his salvation moment, 10 years before, and he's explaining it.

And here's what he says about that life in verse 20.

He said, I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ

lives in me.

I have been crucified, which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God

who loved me and gave himself up for me.

Now that's the bulk of all I'm going to share today, just that verse there.

So I'm going to read it twice, all right?

Instead of a long passage read once, I'm going to take a short passage and read it twice

because I want this to sink in.

By the end of the message today, hopefully you'll be able to see and remember each phrase

of this text.

It says again, I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but

Christ lives in me.

And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved

me and gave himself up for me.

Let's pray together.

Father, I want to thank you so much for this verse and for the power and the truth that's

in it.

And Lord, for the explanation of how we live this life you called us to, I pray today that

every person in this room will grasp the power and the truth of these words.

We ask this in Jesus' name.

And everybody said amen.

Amen.

Go ahead and have a seat if you would.

You know, Jesus talks so much about life that you've got to ask questions and you've got

to find out why he talks so much about life here on the planet and how we live that life.

You know, Jesus wasn't here just to talk about heaven, even though he spoke widely about

heaven.

We have so many descriptions of what heaven looks like and what it will be like that we

can have a great anticipation for that day.

But Jesus also came to bring us a different kind of life here and now.

He didn't just call us to be saved for eternity and skip the years between the day we came

to faith in Christ and the day eternity began with us.

He came to give us a different kind of life here and now.

Sometimes we get frustrated with why am I not any more different than I was a year ago

or two years ago and why do I struggle sometimes with trusting God and allowing God to do all

these powerful things that he wants to do in my life?

And I think the answer is going to be found in this verse that we looked at today.

But before we get there, I want to spend a few moments talking about life as Jesus saw

it.

Let me give you some words of Jesus.

John chapter 10 verse 10, Jesus is speaking about the thief that comes to rob and kill

John 10:10

and destroy.

But then he contrasts that with that thief by saying, I've come that they may have life

and have it abundantly.

It's that abundant life we're going to talk about today.

He didn't just say I came that you might live a little while longer until eternity, but

I've come that you have a quality of life, a supernatural element of life that I can only

call abundant life.

Or Jesus in John chapter 11 verse 25, when Lazarus was raised from the dead by Jesus,

John 11:25

of course, Jesus command to Lazarus come forth and he came out and he went on from that moment

and said, I am the resurrection in life.

Not only referring to eternal life forever and ever, but the fact that he, when he's

in our lives, is the resurrection in life for us.

And then in the big stone that we have in front of our commons area is John chapter

John 14:6

14 verse 6.

I'm so glad it's there because when people come into this building, they're going to

know where we stand and what we believe.

And people that come into this building for various kinds of events, school events, local

community events.

And of course, when you come to worship the Lord, I want you to see these words on that

stone as you walk in that front door.

I am the way and the truth and the life.

No one comes to the Father but through me.

That's a different kind of life.

Not just eternal life, but while here on the planet, the quality of life, the abundant

life, the supernatural life, Jesus promises that to us and yet we often struggle on how

we do that.

Well today I want to give you three decisions that you and I can make and three decisions

that Paul actually made that allows us to have this abundant life, this supernatural

life in a way that he intends for us to have.

You know, decision making is a really, really big deal in your life.

It's a really big deal.

I mean, we often talk about when we talk about our marriages, we often say, at least we should

say and I've said this before, the best decision I ever made short of my salvation was to marry

my wife, Kim, 46 years ago.

By the way, last week I said something about our marriage and I said we've been married

47 years apparently because when I got home, she said, we have not yet been married 47

years.

And my thought was, well, we're going to get there, aren't we?

I mean, aren't we going to get there?

She was just real precise, that's all.

Best decision I ever made in my life.

Sometimes we say, the best decision I ever made in my life was to move in this direction

or to take this job or to buy this house.

Decision making is a big part of our lives.

You make once for all kinds of decisions.

You make day by day kinds of decisions.

You even make moment by moment decisions and those decisions alter the direction of your

life.

Sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse.

But what I want to talk to you about today are the decisions that you can make day in

and day out that you have the life Jesus is talking about.

And the first decision is the once for all decision.

The once for all decision.

Notice the first part of Galatians chapter 2 verse 20.

Galatians 2:20

You need to keep your text open to that verse throughout this message because we're going

to go back to this verse over and over again.

We're going to walk through it phrase by phrase.

Paul said, I have been crucified with Christ.

Now Paul is talking about a past event that he made or that he made a decision about sometime

in the past.

And we'll talk about that in just a moment.

But if you know Paul's conversion experience, you know it happened on a highway.

It happened on the road to Damascus.

Paul whom we know as Saul before he came to faith in Jesus was a religious person, a member

of the Sanhedrin and he had a zeal for God as Paul later said in the book of Romans,

but not in accordance to knowledge.

In other words, he had a zeal that surpassed his understanding of who God was and what

God was asking of him.

In fact, this man who was known as Saul was so far off track that he was religious but

angry and frustrated to the point of being a religious terrorist.

And he would prosecute and persecute members of the way, that is those who began to follow

Jesus Christ.

Until that day he had a personal encounter on the road to Damascus.

And Jesus said, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?

And of course, if you read the book of Acts, you'll see that account of his testimony

three separate times as he told it over and over and again.

But a personal encounter with Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus helped him understand

that he was wrong, that he was needy, he was moving the wrong direction, he was actually

hostile toward and living against God.

And God convicted Paul on that day and he personally believed the Lord that day.

And even though God from before the foundation of the world knew that he would reach out

and touch Saul's life, Saul didn't know it until that day and he made a once for all

decision to put his faith and trust in Jesus.

And the reason we know that is because everything he did from that day on was different from

what it was before.

He became a follower of Christ so much to the point that they renamed him Paul and we

know him as the Apostle Paul.

God always makes this personal to you before you make this once for all decision.

He always becomes very real to you, more than a character in a book, more than a historical

figure, more than a famous religious leader that people talk about all the time.

Jesus becomes extremely personal to you when you come to the place of putting your faith

and trust in him.

Because you're not committing your life and you're not trusting in someone who's a religious

figure.

You're not trusting someone that's a historical figure.

You're not trusting someone that you don't know.

It's a personal encounter.

One of my favorite stories that I heard some years ago when I was in seminary actually

was a friend of mine whose name was Johnson Lee.

He was from Korea.

And he came over.

I had to find a new life here and in his struggles he was seeking out who God was.

And Johnson Lee tells me this story.

He said one day I was driving from Dallas, Fort Worth area to Oklahoma City and just

as I got towards Oklahoma City he said I'd been debating about whether Jesus was real.

I'd been debating about how I was to commit my life and what I was supposed to do with

my life.

And I came to a sign that said Johnson Road, the exit just ahead.

At that moment I saw that sign.

I wasn't getting off there.

I was going on towards Oklahoma City but the Lord spoke to me and said Johnson, I'm here

to meet you at this intersection.

And he said I pulled off the highway, I parked the car and I had a personal encounter with

Jesus Christ that changed my life.

From Johnson Road, Johnson Lee came to know Jesus.

Now it may not be that you come to know Christ on a road named after you or named the same

name as you but reality is somehow Jesus makes himself real to you.

Where you can put your faith and trust and confidence in him and make the wants for all

decision.

And what Paul is saying now ten years after that when he writes to the church at Galatia

he's saying I have been crucified with Christ.

He's referring to that once for all decision on the road to Damascus.

And now it's past ten.

Something happened to me on that road to Damascus and I'm defining it for you right now.

I was crucified with Christ.

I have been crucified with Christ.

Literally the wording in the original language would read I have been co-crucified with Christ.

But in the sense of the thief on the cross who was next to Jesus but in the sense of

Paul said he was in Christ when Christ died on the cross.

I have been co-crucified with Christ.

What happened to the cross that makes that so powerful?

Well it was about Jesus laying his life down.

And Jesus laying his life down not only for the sins of all mankind but for you and for

me and for Paul and for Johnson Lee and for everyone else in this room that has come to

faith in Jesus.

In John chapter 10 verse 11 Jesus said I'm the good shepherd.

John 10:11

I'm the good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.

Or in John chapter 15 verse 13 Jesus said greater love has no man than this and he laid

John 15:13

down his life for his friends.

A personal act of sacrifice so that you and I could have a personal relationship with

God through Jesus Christ.

Of course if you know me one of my favorite passages is Isaiah 56 verse or 53 verse 6

which talks about the personal sacrifice Jesus made for us.

All of us like sheep have gone astray.

Each of us to our own way but the Lord had caused the iniquity of us all to fall on him.

I love to tell the story of this passage like this.

Let's just say for just a moment that this is God up in eternity and he's looking down

upon heaven let's just let this hand represent your life.

And let's also let this book that I have in my hand represent a record book of your life

and we'll put it right on you because you're responsible for all the sins and all the good

things and bad things in your life and it's on you.

Now let's let this hand represent God coming in the flesh in the form of Jesus Christ.

He walked and lived this perfect life on this planet and died on the cross.

Isaiah 53 verse 6 simply says all of us like sheep have gone astray.

Isaiah 53:6

Each and every one of us have done that.

Each of us to our own way the scripture says but God laid on him on Christ the sin of us

all.

And what that says is that our sin is no longer on us but on Christ and he paid for our sins

and he purchased for us the salvation that we have.

He dealt with our sins in every way.

And not only did he deal with it but he rose again the third day and stands at the right

hand of the Father and calls us to a walk with him after our sins have been removed

and forgiven.

Are you grateful for that?

Are you grateful for what happened on the cross?

So what happened on the cross was that Paul said I have been crucified with Christ.

I was there when Jesus Christ died.

He saw me.

Even though he died long before I was born he saw me.

He knew me.

The same thing is true of you.

What was true of Saul who became Paul is true of Jonathan Lee.

He became a believer in Jesus true of you when you put your faith and trust in Jesus

Christ.

You see what happens theologically is this.

Positionally Christ died for us.

Experientially it takes effect when we accept his death in our place.

He died positionally two thousand years ago.

He died positionally ten years before Paul put his faith in Christ.

But practically it takes effect when we look to Christ and put our trust and faith in him.

That's why Paul says I have been crucified with Christ like the execution of a will.

It's written at one moment.

It's enacted at another time.

And the death of the one who wrote the will makes it available for all who would come

and receive the benefits of that will.

And that's what Jesus Christ did when he died on the cross.

So here's Paul talking about what Jesus did on the cross and putting himself in that same

place.

I have been crucified with Christ.

Now I want you to look at the image of a cross for just a few moments.

And I want you to think about a person who's nailed to the cross.

In this case it's a likeness of the person of Jesus Christ.

But when you look at the cross notice that the man is only facing in one direction.

Notice that he's not going back.

And notice that he has no further plans.

Now of course Jesus Christ superseded all that.

But when you come to that once for all decision where you give your life to Jesus Christ,

you've been crucified with him.

And you're only facing in one direction.

And you're not going to turn back.

You have no further plans except the plans that he gives you.

That's what it means to be crucified with Christ.

And sometimes God puts us in a process that prepares us like Paul was in a process that

prepared him for that moment of meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus.

And sometimes it's pretty frustrating.

Before we come to Christ we may have to face a lot of failure and a lot of heartbreak and

a lot of disillusionment and a lot of disappointment in our own lives or our religion or something

else.

But at some point we become so empty and so hungry.

At some point we become so distant from any idea of where we need to be or who we are

that we're actually desperate.

Just like Paul was on the road to Damascus.

And when he reveals himself to us we're ready for that once for all decision which says,

I see that you died on the cross for me.

I see that you loved me enough to give me this eternal life.

I will give my life to you.

I have been crucified with Christ.

Amen.

Amen.

Until you say surrender, until you say I give up, then you've not been crucified with Christ.

So Paul says there's a once for all decision that every person needs to make and that once

for all decision for him is phrased, I have been crucified with Christ.

The second decision that's so important to your life is what I would call the daily decision,

the day by day decision.

You notice the second part of Galatians 2 verse 20 says this, it is no longer I who

Galatians 2:20

live but Christ lives in me.

You notice that Paul says the I is removed out of my life.

It's no longer I who lives, the I is gone.

Where's the I?

The I was crucified with Christ, put to death.

Now it's true that when we come to faith in Jesus, past acts of sin and the effects of

sin are done away with.

Once you come to Christ, you are forgiven forevermore.

Somebody say amen.

Amen goes right there, right Richard?

Amen.

Sin is dealt with completely.

Judgment is dealt with completely.

The separation that was existing between yourself and God is completely removed when you make

the once for all decision to put your faith in Jesus Christ.

Sin is removed.

There is therefore now no condemnation for those of us who are in Christ Jesus.

Shame is gone.

All those things are gone when you put your faith in Jesus.

Paul said it like this in Galatians chapter 3 verse 3 for you have died and your life

Galatians 3:3

now is hidden with Christ in God.

But here's what most of us don't know.

And here's what most of us need to be reminded of when it comes to the daily decision to

live for Christ.

It's true that I've been crucified with Christ.

It's true that all those bad things have been removed.

But day by day I also need to remember that I have been set free from sin.

I've been set free from sin.

In Romans chapter 6 verse 6, Paul makes this explanation of what happens to salvation.

Romans 6:6

It's powerful and most of us miss this.

I'm going to explain something to you today that I believe is a key for us knowing what

it means to walk by faith.

He says knowing this that our old self was crucified with him in order that our body

of sin might be done away with so that we would no longer be slaves to sin.

You see that phrase done away with?

In the original language that word refers to something being neutralized or disengaged.

You know when I died with Christ on the cross I kept the old body that I had.

I mean I had the same personality I had before then, the same body I had before then, the

same desires I had before then, the same thoughts, the same temptations that I had before I came

to Christ.

But what's changed is my body of sin has been neutralized, disengaged.

What is that supposed to mean?

Here's what it means.

Some of you know that I have an old pickup truck that I love very much.

1992 Ford F-150 4x4, 4 inch lift, 5 speed, two tone blue.

It's gorgeous.

I mean I bought it for $1300 about 8 years ago and been spending all my time trying to

renovate that truck and man I love that truck.

In fact it's got 220,000 miles on it, the original engine and the engine and transmission

work great except for one little thing.

When I'm driving that truck and coming off the highway and I downshift the third gear

and I take my foot off the gas, sometimes the third gear pops out of gear into neutral

and no matter how I push on the gas it will not go forward again until I re-engage the

transmission.

In other words the power of that engine will not move it forward because the transmission

is disengaged.

I'm going somewhere with this.

When you came to faith in Christ you may still have the same temptations in front of you.

You may still have the same thoughts you had before.

You may have the same tendencies or addictions even that you had before but now because of

the cross the power of those things have been disengaged from your life and no matter how

powerful it is it will not propel you forward unless you allow it to.

In other words all this is so that you would no longer be slaves to sin.

I'm saying all this to help you know you can make a day to day decision to continue to

live for Christ and everything that was needed at the cross to give you that power is available

for you day by day by day.

Sin that you did yesterday you don't have to do today because of the power of the cross.

Sin that engulfed you before you came to Christ you do not have to live that way because of

the power of the cross.

It's done away with.

It means sin can't master us anymore.

It means that sin can't overwhelm us anymore.

It means no matter what your mind wants no matter what your body wants you do not have

to give in to the acts of sin that you've been saved from and delivered from.

Some years ago Major Ian Thomas writing about the Christ life which is a term that used

to describe no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me make this statement.

He said I can't do it referring to the Christian life.

I can't do it.

He never said I could.

He can do it.

He always said he would.

In other words I don't have the power to live the Christian life by myself but Christ lives

in me now.

And since Christ lives in me now I can do this through him.

Many of you know I played basketball in college and growing up my favorite basketball player

was Dr. Julius Irving otherwise known as Dr. J. Man what a basketball player that guy was.

Not only was he a great basketball player he was a great jumper, great leaper and some

of the moves he made were unbelievable.

So I wanted to be like Dr. J. I know I was never going to be Dr. J but I wanted to be

like Dr. J. I would practice his moves that I saw on television.

Before we had YouTube tutorials and before we had all these things I would just watch

a movie made and I would memorize it in my mind.

I would go on the basketball court and try to do that amazing palming of the basketball

taking it behind the backboard back around and putting it in the goal.

No matter how hard I tried to do that I never was able to accomplish anything close to Dr.

J.

One day my dad watched me do that over and over.

He said son the only way that's ever going to happen is if Dr. J came and lived inside

your body.

That's the only way.

And he was right.

The only way I can live the Christ life is if Christ comes and lives inside my body which

He has done in the power of the Holy Spirit.

That's how you do that.

You don't do that because you're good at living the Christian life.

You don't do that because you practice living the Christian life.

You do that because you've made a dirty decision to be indwelt and be filled up with the Holy

Spirit Christ in you.

That's why Paul said Christ in you is the hope of glory.

That's how you glorify God by allowing Jesus Christ to dwell in your life.

So you have to have that dirty decision where you know I can be my worst enemy.

But the best thing that ever happened to me was I have been crucified with Christ and

it's no longer I who live but Christ who lives in me.

Some of you have heard of Dr. J.

Harold Smith a previous pastor of a church I pastored in Tennessee and he was a colorful

character.

He pastored in Fort Smith Arkansas.

J. Harold Smith was popular because he kind of said things like they were.

And one night he had a full page ad taken out in the Fort Smith Arkansas newspaper.

Because he was a controversial character and because he sometimes had people that opposed

him then what he said in this newspaper ad was pretty tantalizing.

He said on Sunday evening at a certain day he said I'm going to name the name of my biggest

enemy since I've moved to Fort Smith.

Some of you know I've had a lot of controversy he said.

Some of you know I've had a lot of enemies but I'm going to name the biggest enemy I've

ever faced while at Fort Smith Arkansas.

Of course on that Sunday night everybody showed up because everybody wanted to know who is

that enemy.

Packed house and he said the man who is my biggest enemy is in the room tonight I'm going

to name him and everybody kind of set off the edge of their seats and looked around

and thought maybe it's that guy or that guy.

But finally Dr. J. Harold Smith said the biggest enemy I have is J. Harold Smith naming himself

putting his hand on his chest.

He said but when I learn to die to myself that's when Christ lives through me.

And when you learn that you have a big enemy in your life and it's not outside of you but

it's inside of you and you die to that.

And the greatest one in your life Jesus Christ can live in you and live through you.

You see that's the Christ life.

That's the Spirit-filled life.

That's the empowered life because you're no longer living for yourself.

In Romans chapter 5 verse 10 Paul says this for if while we were yet enemies we were reconciled

Romans 5:10

to God through the death of His Son much more have Him been reconciled that is after what

He did on the cross have Him been reconciled we shall be saved by His life.

We are redeemed from His death but we are saved day by day by His life the fact that

He's alive and He's not on the cross anymore.

Where is He?

He's in your life.

He's in your heart when you put your faith and your trust in Jesus Christ.

The daily decision to get up and say today I'm not going to live for me I'm going to

live for Christ.

Paul said for I've been crucified with Christ therefore it is no longer I who live but Christ

lives in me.

And then the next part of this passage says the life that I now live in the flesh I live

by faith in the Son of God.

And that's what I call the moment by moment decision.

The moment by moment decision means that not only have I made a once for all decision to

follow Christ not only a day by day determination to die to self so that Christ can live in

me but moment by moment trust Him by faith for how to live this life.

Look at what Paul says in that first line the life I now live.

I used to live one way but now at this point I'm living a completely different way not

as a religious performer not through my self effort.

I was zealous but in the wrong direction but the life that I now live is not a new leaf

it's not a new chapter of life it's a brand new life it's not Paul anymore it's no longer

I who live but it's Christ who lives in me.

You said the life that I now live in the flesh in other words I've got the same body on the

outside but I'm very different on the inside.

If some of you were hoping that you would look different after you came to Jesus I hate

to disappoint you it's a real bummer but if you were ugly before you came to Christ you're

gonna be ugly now too after you come to Christ.

It won't make you taller or shorter it won't make you skinnier or stronger.

The coming to faith in Jesus Christ means you're brand new on the inside.

It's not plastic surgery it's heart surgery where he transforms us from the inside out

and that's what Paul's talking about in 2nd Corinthians chapter 5 verse 17 if any man

is in Christ he's a new creature the old things passed away behold new things have come I

look the same Paul said I to you might seem the same but inside I'm a completely different

person and that lets me live a completely different way.

The life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God.

I want you to zero in on what I'm about to say this is going to be important for us.

What does it mean to live by faith in the Son of God?

He's describing this life that's different from what he was before.

He's been crucified with Christ it's no longer he who lives but Christ who lives in him and

now he's going to explain how he lives this now life in the flesh by faith in the Son

of God.

Faith is the key that gets you places that you can't go without faith.

Faith is the key that allows you to move into ways of behaving ways of thinking ways of

dealing with temptation way of speaking ways of handling what happens to you that you can't

get in without the key.

Recently we finished our Generations project in November of 21 and one of our staff members

Chris McElroy came up to me one day and gave me a master key a really large key and he

said faster now you have a key to every room in the house every room in the building.

That's pretty powerful right there I can go in any room I want to if it's locked or not

doesn't matter it's a master key it gets me everywhere.

Let me just tell you something the key of faith in your life gets you everywhere you

need to be and gives you everything you need to have to live the Christian life but it's

the key of faith and you've got to use the key to get in.

It's not that God has locked these things away from you it's not that he has held back

power from you it's that you haven't exercised the faith that says I believe what he said

and therefore I'm going to walk in that power the key of faith.

He said I live this by faith in the Son of God.

Let me define this faith is a moment by moment decision not to take matters into my own hands

but to yield my life to Christ.

You see it doesn't work unless you make a decision not to take matters in your own hands.

You can say all day long well I want to yield to Christ I want to yield to Christ and then

you take matters in your own hands because you're still capable of you still have a body

you still have feelings you have thoughts in the brain you're just like you were before

except you have a new heart and a new allegiance to the Lord.

So faith is that moment by moment decision not to take matters into my own hands but

to yield my life to Christ.

In other words you have come to the place don't miss this where you believe him more

than you believe you.

Where you believe what he says about your situation than you believe your feelings.

Where you believe what he says rather than what somebody else says or whether you thought

what you thought about something.

A few years ago we were doing an interview with a lady in our church in Tennessee and

she had a phenomenal way of expressing her faith it was just one of those one of those

people that just knew how to express their faith in a way that was so powerful.

I said we were doing a video of her talking about how she walked by faith and she said

some things that were quite quite amazing.

She said I've learned that my day to day existence with Christ has a lot to do with asking a

question when I come to a place of difficulty.

She said when I get angry when I get fearful when I get frustrated when someone disappoints

me I ask this question what is it I'm not trusting Christ for that makes me feel this

way.

When I have a tendency to make the wrong decisions I ask myself what I'm not trusting Him for

that I think I need to take into my own hands that decision-making power.

She went on and on and she kept saying in every aspect of life when I take a step back

from me and start to trust Him with those moment by moment decisions that's when He

gives me the power to do what He really wants me to do.

The life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God just trusting Him

more than I trust me trusting His Word more than I trust anything else that's how you

walk moment by moment with Him.

That's what it means in Proverbs where it says trust in the Lord with all your heart

and lean not on your own understanding acknowledge Him in all your ways and He will make your

pathway straight.

I live by faith in the Son of God why would I do that why would I yield to Him moment

by moment why would I have that dependence on Him why would I do that and look at the

last line I live by faith in the Son of God who loves me and gave Himself up for me why

would I make those decisions because the Jesus who went before me in death and resurrection

calls me to follow Him and this is the way I follow Him the one who loves me the most.

I can promise you this you will never be loved like Jesus has loved you.

You will never have anyone in your life who cares the most about your best interest in

Jesus you will never ever have anybody that can go before you like Jesus can go before

you you will never have anybody in your life that has more wisdom than Jesus Christ has

for your life therefore why not make the moment by moment decision that says I live by faith

in the Son of God who loved me and who gave Himself up for me.

Someone said like this we spend a lot of energy remembering our sin and our failures that

Jesus spent a lot of love saying we could forget and leave all that old stuff behind

and say I have been crucified with Christ it is no longer I who live but Christ who

lives in me and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God

who loved me and who gave Himself up for me.

That's how you live the Christian life with His power.

Just a few moments I'm going to ask you to respond to decisions today we've been talking

about decisions haven't we?

The once for all decision the daily decision the moment by moment decision you probably

need to make one of those decisions in your life today if you've never made the once for

all decision let me tell you we would love to help you push your faith and trust in Jesus

Christ to be your Lord and your Savior.

We have decision stations that are positioned at the back of our services and worship centers

you leave today you can see someone standing behind that desk and you can see that banner

that says decision station stop by and say I need to make a decision today.

Maybe you need to make a daily decision when you wake up in the morning in the middle of

the morning when you wake up and you think about your day say you know today I'm going

to yield myself to the God who loves me and who gave Himself up for me.

And then in the heat of the moment the moment by moment decisions that say I'm going to

back off and I'm not going to respond to my fear to my panic I'm going to trust Him and

what He says.

Watch what God does with that.

Secondly we would love for you to stop by the decision station.

Second invite is if you're a guest today we would love for you to come to the guest reception

center just outside the center exit doors here across the hallway.

I'll be there personally to greet you and appreciate you being here today.

Thirdly come back next week it's going to be a phenomenal week as we answer one more

critical question that very few people ask and I'm going to answer it next week I'm going

to tell you next week what it is as well.

Let's stand together as we have a word of prayer.

Lord I am so grateful today that we have a how in living the Christian life that is tied

completely to You.

I thank You so much that Jesus is alive and in us.

Thank You for the power of the Holy Spirit.

Thank You for Paul's testimony that helps us know how he lived this life and how we

can live it.

Father today help us make those decisions day by day once for all and moment by moment

to follow You.

Be with every person in this room today.

I pray that what's been said today would be personal to them and their heart and their

circumstance and their situation.

Lord be with them this week in a special way in Jesus name.

Amen.