_JPG.jpg)
· Jesus went to Bethany, where Lazarus lived.
· A dinner was given in Jesus’ honor
· Martha served, while Lazarus was with those reclining at the table.
The party was to celebrate Jesus bringing Lazarus back to life
· Mary was so grateful to Jesus she didn’t feel like the party was enough of a thank you.
· So Mary took a pint of expensive perfume, she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair.
· The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.
The perfume was worth a year’s wages. If she made minimum wage today (7.25) it would be $15000 worth of perfume
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
· When was the last time you made a big deal out of being thankful to God?
· Mary’s gift was a gift of generosity, humility, and sacrifice
· She not only used a very expensive perfume, she physically washed his feet with her hair
· What Mary recognized was that: Worship starts with God’s love for us, not our love for God.
· We don’t worship God so that he will love us, we worship God because he loves us
· I find joy in giving people presents. But if you always gave presents to someone and they never said thank you, never gave you anything in return, never acknowledged you giving them something, eventually you’d stop giving.
· We love to receive from God, but what are we giving God?
· Love always gives
· You can give without loving but you can’t love without giving
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
· So how much do you love God?
§ Scripture says to love God with All of your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all of your strength.
§ This is impossible.
§ The fact is that we need God to help us love God.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Phil 1:9 I pray that your love will keep on growing and that you will fully know and understand how to make the right choices.
· This means that for the rest of your life you should be growing closer to God and understanding your purpose more, which will naturally make you make the right choices.
· Imagine going for a run with a box of twinkies. You would have to stop running to eat the Twinkie. In the same way, you have to stop loving and pursuing Christ in order to sin. When you are pursuing love, running toward Christ, you do not have the opportunity to wonder, Am I doing this right? Did I serve enough this week? When you are running towards Christ you are freed up to serve, love, and give thanks without guilt, worry, or fear. As long as you are running you are safe. As we begin to focus more on Christ, loving him and others becomes more natural
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Closing:
· We need God to help us be able to say “more than anything God I just want you, nothing else will do”
· If we love God we give because we can’t love and not give
· You can give without loving but you can’t love without giving
· What are you giving God? Your words? Your actions? Your time? Your love? Your praise?
Comentários