Live - Galatians 2:19-21

A final sermon in a series from John 11:25

lub-dub...lub-dub...lub-dub, goes the heartbeats of the heart. When you hear this sound, you know that the person is alive. When you are exercising your "lub-dubs" go faster, when resting, they go slower.

Most of us spend much of our lives in a resting state, regarding the heart beat. There is a need for the heart to be pushed a bit, so exercising is good. However, constant pushing from exercising will wear out the heart. Just like with any muscle, there has to be moments of rest for rebuilding. Too much rest and the heart doesn't retain the strength it needs to last the long haul.

Because of Jesus I have "lub-dubs" that can be heard in the soul. Being alive in Christ means there will be times of fast "lub-dubs" and slower "lub-dubs". The soul needs to be strengthened through faster "lub-dubs", but it also needs time of rest. Just like the heart, too much fast and we'll wear out, but too much slow, and we'll never reach our potential.

Yesterday, we ended our series from John 11:25 with looking at the concept of "live" (not "ly-ve"), and what it means to be alive in Christ. Here are some applications to choose from to use this week...

1. When one is sleepy, they might "slap their face" to wake them up...maybe you need to figuratively slap your soul so that it will wake up!
2. Make a list of the things you enjoy most about being a Christian - be as minute as possible
3. Make a list of things you would like to do, in your mission to serve and honor God.
4. Pray that God would make you excited and be moving "for him" so that your soul-beat would be creating faster "lub-dubs".
5. If you are finding yourself in a continual "resting" state, regarding your Christian walk, pray that your attitude would be different, so your "walk" would pick up the pace.

Imagine wanting to go see a concert and the singer not put on their best performance. Maybe their notes are great, but there is no vibrancy or energy in their performance. You'd naturally be disappointed, as you paid for the ticket. As God looks down at you, do you think He might be disappointed with you if you weren't showing any vibrancy in your life after Christ paid the price for you?

Let's be alive for Him!

Looking forward to God's surprises for me!...