Half-hearted Commitments?

Half-hearted commitments can end in disaster.

2 Corinthians 11:2 For I am jealous for you with the jealousy of God himself. I promised you as a pure bride to one husband—Christ. 3 But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent.

Half-hearted commitments can end in disaster. I’ve seen it happen over the years, in areas of life ranging from sports to marriage, from friendships to business.
* All of us, at one time or another, have probably been hurt by others who have made half-hearted commitments.

Why is it important to walk in wholehearted, simple commitment to Jesus?
*Because the things we DO as Christians can easily become the focus of our faith.
*It is all too easy to end up committed to a Christian program or denomination rather than being committed to Christ. *Programs and churches can let people down.
**Jesus never does!!!!!

It’s all too easy to commit to following the Rules of Christianity rather than being committed to Christ.
* Following rules can become sterile and confining.
**Following Jesus is about Relationship not rules.
**Following Jesus brings freedom and life!!!
I’m not saying that you should neglect your commitments to your church, but what I am saying is that your commitment to Christ should be the drive for your life-long commitment to God!
*** When you become wholeheartedly committed to Christ, all other commitments you’ve made, become Enhanced and Noticeable.
*Revelation 3:16 But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!
*** BE COMMITTED!
“it is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. he makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights. he trains my hands for battle; my arms can bend a bow of bronze. you give me your shield of victory, and your right hand sustains me; you stoop down to make me great.” psalm 18:32-35

What is your current status?
*HOT – you are growing— your faith is growing your love for one another increases.
*COLD – you do not know God, no personal relationship.
*LUKEWARM – you are drifting-backsliding.

“So we must listen very carefully to the truth we have heard, or we may drift away from it.” Hebrews 2:1
***What barrier is keeping you and me from experiencing everything God has for Us?  Yes it is the Sin in our life!
*We need to change our tolerant attitude towards sin and stop making excuses for our sin and stop comparing our sin to others sin.
*We need to find out what disciplines best help us experience God?
1. Accept the BIBLE as your manual for living.
2. Make prayer a part of our everyday life.
“then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the head, that is, Christ” Ephesians 4:14-15

3. We need to go to the root, not the top:
*Put spiritual discipline in our life.
*Make prayer a part, talk to God -saying God I want to do this and failing does not make you a hypocrite, quit using that as an excuse, a barrier
*God is perfect, not me.
*Eliminate barriers in your life that prevent you from having a relationship with GOD.

BE 100 Percent SATISFIED WITH JESUS!
*It is not enough for Jesus to win your heart.
*Jesus has to be the satisfaction of
your heart!
**Yet, there are many believers who have never been satisfied with Jesus.
They’re always up or down according to their circumstances.

That is not a suitable bride for this bridegroom.  No, a certain beauty must
adorn His bride in order to attract Him: “So the King will greatly desire your
beauty” (Psalm 45:11). But what is this beauty?

*This beauty is beheld in God’s eyes; it is what Jesus sees in us that attracts Him.
The Holy Spirit says to the bride of Christ, “If you will lay aside everything,
forget all others and adorn yourself for Him alone, then He will desire your
beauty!”
This means no job, no person, no relationship can come between you!

I heard a godly wife say, “The more godly my husband becomes, the more
attractive he is to me.” Indeed, that is what a godly marriage is all about.
***And, likewise, the more you give yourself in entire devotion to the Lord, the more attractive and beautiful you become to Him.

“So the King will greatly desire your beauty . . .” (Psalm 45:11). What an
incredible thought:
Jesus will not be able to stay away from you! In fact, the Hebrew meaning of beauty here signifies a strong yearning and desire.
* In other words, Jesus will draw close to you—overflowing with desire for you!

I have been to many weddings in my lifetime. And there was never a groom who didn’t smile with delight at his bride, thinking, “She’s all mine!” Now that is the beauty I’m talking about. Our Bridegroom rejoices, saying of His
bride, “I’m the apple of her eye. She’d rather spend time with Me than with
anyone else. And that makes her beautiful to Me!”

Indeed, the bride of Christ has an inner beauty that makes her outwardly
beautiful. She is “. . . all glorious within. . .” (Psalm 45:13) because she is
devoted to her Bridegroom. He knows beyond any shadow of a doubt, “She is all Mine—devoted only to Me! She worships Me and is submissive(help in building a person up to be all God intended that person to be) to Me. I am the only One in her life, the sole focus of her attention. She makes time for Me, is overjoyed in My presence, and desires to be with Me continually.” What
beautiful devotion.

The Holy Spirit is the part of the Godhead that empowers us for service.

God is not asking us to live for Him. He is asking us to let Him live through us (Gal. 2:20).

The Christian life is not a changed life but an exchanged life. (Eph. 2:1-10).
This can only be accomplished when the Holy Spirit is leading and empowering us.

Lord help me daily to get on the alter as a sacrifice to You.
Lord true surrender is hard and at the times I don’t want to surrender– please give me strength to give it ALL to YOU.
I want to be “ALL IN” and committed daily.  In Jesus Name, Amen.