Today is my sisters Birthday... Happy Birthday Amanda! Tonight Is Also: SUNCOAST YOUTH GROUP!!! And YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS IT! We are going to have an incredible evening! We are also going to be giving you all of the details about our Sunsplash Trip (along with the permission slips) so make sure that you are here tonight! Youwill NOT regret it!
A Few Thoughts From Yesterday:
Brooke: You are Back with your thorough devotions!! I am so glad!! :)
Jessica M: That was a great video yesterday! Thanks for telling me about it... you want to hear the crazy part: Katie saw the exact same commercial on TV yesterday!!!
Jeff: Great Job! We had "song time" with Jeff Yesterday... you keep that up Jessica and I might let you join our "silly song club"
Grace: I am so glad that you are back on! Remind Kacey to do hers as well!!!!
Malory: I am glad that you like sardines... I will buy you a can of sardines the next time I see them... I did not know that you are a Tennessee Fan!! Cool! I am a Gator Fan! B)
Marvin: ... I love the new name... Marvino! I am picking you guys up for church tonight!
My Two Cents: WHO ARE YOU? I mean that with all due respect... but I just cannot figure out who you are?!?! :) But I sure am glad that you are on here with us!
Tyler: That was some good stuff yesterday. It was obvious that you got it!
John 12:20-26
20 Now there were certain Greeks among those who came up to worship at the feast.
21 Then they came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and asked him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.”
22 Philip came and told Andrew, and in turn Andrew and Philip told Jesus.
23 But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.
24 Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.
25 He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
26 If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.
This is a simple passage with just a few short key thoughts in verses 24, 25, and 26. I will explain the introduction to the story in verses 10-23 and then we will check out the application. So there were some Greeks who wanted to see and worship Jesus. They went to Phillip and asked him to get Jesus, so Phillip and Andrew went to Jesus to get Him...
In Verse 23, Jesus explains that the time has come that He is about to be glorified. Jesus is explaining that He will soon give His life for the salvation of Mankind.
Verse 24 is where it gets really really powerful! Think about this... Jesus gives an illustration of How someone can drom a grain of wheat and nothing will happen. BUT... GET THIS... when that grain dies then it can produce MUCH MORE "Fruit".
Here is the application: If we are going to produce all the "fruit" that God would have us enjoy then we must also DIE to ourselves and live for Christ. What does it mean to "Die to ourselves"? A better way of saying it would be to "kill the flesh". Let me explain... I have a sin nature and for some CRAZY reason, I constantly battle the flesh... For Example: When I get in line and someone walks in front of me and cuts in line... I think to myself... "who do they think they are??? I deserve better than that!! They should not make ME wait in line..." That is SELFISH! PRIDEFUL! and SINFUL! I must die to my sinful flesh.
We all should die to the sin in our life if we expect God to bless us with fruit!
What sin is in your life that you must confess and forsake?? DO IT TODAY! You will be so glad you did! :) God is Good! Die to yourself so that you can Live for Him!
Suncoast Youth Group
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Back from Guatemala15 years ago
26 comments:
HELLO!!!!!
one thing really sticks out to me in this passage and that would be the part in verse 24 when jesus talks about dieing to ourself(as pastor lee puts it). to me that means that means that alot of us need to think about what is first in our hearts. the answer should be God but most people the answer would be completely different.
tell amanda i said happy birthday!!
wow PL you wake up early....
To "die to myself", that sometimes is hard for me. Everything around us tells us "it's all about you", and "do what makes you happy", so when I think "die to myself", my flesh reaction is "What? and give up control of my life to somebody else?" , but then the Holy Spirit reminds me that God's will is perfect, and there is no other way to be completely happy then when I completely surrender my life to Him.
Yea...my 3rd day on!!(and 3rd one to comment)HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO AMANDA!Pastor Lee WHY did u spell my name wrong!!lol
So in this passage Jesus had answered Philip and Andrew saying "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified." In verse 24 it was hard for me to understand but I like the way Pastor Lee explained it and used examples and how we must die to ourselves.
I will c u all 2nite!!!
OH yeah and Pastor Lee I have never tried sardines I only know that I like to play the game!!! And by the way my name is spelled with 2 L's not one!!!lol
Did we figure out who my 2 cents is yet???
When I was reading this passage, the obvious jumped out to me. We live in a world that pushes everything contrary to how Christ tells us to live. We need to be willing to give up the ungodly things in order to truly experience the fulfilling and awesome Christian life.
Something that stuck out to me that wasn't as obvious was in the beginning of the passage. It says that Greeks came up to Jesus and wanted to see Him. These men knew about Jesus and made the effort to come and see Him. They were not the same nationality, so I would assume that they travelled to see Him. They were willing to sacrifice self to get to know Christ better. Am I willing to sacrifice to get to know Christ? What a challenge!
Hey Mallory- I spelled it right! By the way, you NEVER want to try sardines- DISGUSTING!!!! They taste so gross and you eat the bones-sick!!!! Glad you are on here!I hope to see you tonight!
ok Pastor lee but just in case you don't already know I cant sing as well as you and Jessica but ok.
This passage is Jesus talking about how it is time for him to be glorified and he uses a metaphor to explain what he is going to do. He said that if a grain falls on the ground and dies it will be alone but it will die for a good purpose to create more grain. This is similar to what he is going to do. He will sacrifice himself and him being the only one who can do this and die for all us us so that we wont have to suffer and go to hell. He came to this world having such an amazing purpose to die for all of us that was his only goal in life. This was a short passage but a meaningful one. The point of this passage was to tell the great thing Jesus came here to do.
Oh and I think two cents is probably Josh L. because he would do sum thing like that but I'm not sure it could be anyone. wow this is kinda cool we could use clues to figure out who the cull prate is by using modern technology and putting our minds together we can solve this mystery. We need a game plan salt life!!!
Okay I will tell her ! I don't know if I am going to go on the trip to Sunsplash still . And Jill said that she wasn't going . But Kacey is ! ( As far as I know anyway ! ) And the Gators are TOTALLY AWESOME !!
~ Grace ~
and tell Amanda that I said HAPPY B-DAY !!!
Thanks everyone who has wished me a happy birthday! It has been a great day.
Vs.26 was my favorite today. I read this morning in another devo book this thought...When we are serving God (helping in our church, having a good attitude at home, etc...) that is when we are most like Jesus. Father, Help me die to self so I can serve others and be like Jesus.
Man I can just see a hippie saying the same thing, but meaning something different. Anyways what jesus is trying to convey to us is that this life isn't that great. Yeah so we got ferraris, satallite T.V., A.C., rollercoasters, ice cream, computers, cellphones, the Iphone, Ipod, videogames, football, this list is practically endless. Think though this world also has a bunch of bad things like high gas prices, murderers, pets dying, bosses firing their hardworking employees, unfair lawsuits, teen pregnancy, just like the list of good things this list is also practically endless. Now think about heaven streets of gold, a new perfect body, meeting jesus face to face, an eternal utopia, seperation from any and all sin, so basically the perfect place to be, and that is what jesus wants us to strive for. Forget about the earthly things and begin to work for your heavenly rewards.
This is the soon to be former AZNpanda wishing you a happy day and inviting you to join us on a super-special wonderful wednesday night at church. be there or be not a circle.
Whoever is posting as anonymous today I think that you may be having some problems with that deduction of yours. You see yesterday I was at alex's house and did not have access to a computer since alex was using it at the time to play a game. Furthermore on saturday the last thing s/he said was "Everyone have a great and safe weekend, see ya sunday........" if that was me I would have put three exclemation marks instead of many dots. Also I do not wake up that early on a saturday since I would most likely be up all night till about 2 or 3 playing games both on the PS2 and the computer, therefore being unable to wake up at such an early time as 8:54 a.m. So on to our next piece of evidence we can approximate this persons age by looking at this statement posted on the 4th of july "How cool is it that I got the day off work for pastor Lee's birthday! Infact the whole company I work for closed today, ha ha". With this piece of evidence we can tell that "My two cents" is somebody with a job, and also if you look at their post time of 2:47 p.m. we can conclude they are not anyone that went to the freedom swim since most of our church started near the back and a little after 1:00 p.m. Now since I don't believe that most teenagers would reffer themselves as to work for a company, therefore this person is most likely to be an adult. Although there is not enough evidence yet to absolutely conclude that My two cents is an adult. If any of you want to look into this matter more a good place to start would be looking into what nationwide business' that are here locally were closed on the 4th of july in order to narrow down our search.
(: !HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMANDA! :)
F.Y.I. they don't work at walmart since walmart is always open except only on christmas.
In this passage Jesus is giving an illustration that symbolizes His death and our lives. He says that someone can drom a grain of wheat with nothing happening but when the grain dies it can produce all new fruits. This shows how Jesus died and saved us all and that we ourselves need to give all of our being to Him for fruit to come from our lives.
this starts out buy some Greeks wanting to see Jesus, so they ask philip and philip goes and gets andrew and they both go and tell Jesus that the Greeks want to see Him, wow thats confusing. then Jesus says it is coming close to the day that He will be glorified. He also says that we must die to flesh if we plan on glorifying God, which is so true because we can glorify God if we are covered in sin everyday. so really we need to die to flesh so that we can glorify God everyday and so that people can look at our lives and say something is different about them and maybe we can lead them to Christ, just by dying to our flesh.
This means that if you have pride than your life probably will not be that great. If you follow him you will be honored by jesus.
Ah salt life,
Dont be troubled by ones idenity.
I admit now it's a little fun. Dont go and cheat by looking at addresses pastor Lee. Im shure you guys will figure me out soon, I can tell by reading your comments you all are very smart.
(clue-I cant wait for the wilds trip)
For the devo
I was totaly getting it untill verse 24. Jesus went deep(for me anyway), I had to reread it and slowly I got it. I thought of a salmon. The fish swims to her eventual death only to spawn. If she did not swim to spawn and then die and serve her perpose, she would still die at sea anyway but without a cause(or in vain). We are here for a purpose or a cause. Jesus is teaching the crowd about his cause, and ours. Jesus is also telling us about the blessings that God has for us if we just give it all to him. This can be very hard for us in the world we live in, but sweeter is the reward. Press on christian, we can do all through Christ.
Once again sorry if it short the Cardinals-Phillies game is on. I always watch a baseball game before I go to sleep. I think that our hearts belong to Jesus first and formost and if we can't give God 100% then we need to think about whats limiting us from God. I know to some of us our valuables are first in our hearts, but God will have his way He always has and always will.
Ok i did not understand this passage at all i even read Pasto Lees thing but i have to say that i thought it was cool that Jesus said like so nonshacluntly well im gonna die for everyone so i can save amnkind i think thats cool.
SEE U ALL 2MARROW @ SUNSPALSH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NO! no one can join our "silly song club" sorry Jeff!
They just don't have the amount of talent like you and I Pastor Lee :)
I got out of these passages that if we I want to "see" Jesus I mean live a life for Him, than I need to prepare to be more like Him everyday!
While reading these verses I thought, will I hate my life on this world after I am gone? Will I follow him on the right path? Will I serve Him the way He has called me to?
It is hard to die. It is hard to hate my life in this world. It is hard to follow Jesus on the right path. Because so many things in my life come across and distract me and influence me in the wrong ways! It is hard to become a servant that God has called me to be in this world that has so much power! But I know that God knows this and that is why He says if we put Him first no matter what the cost or how people will think of us, than He will honor that!
I need to learn to show who I really am as a child of Christ by trusting all His promises above everything else! Because also if we die to ourselves God might have something in store for us that id greater than we could have ever imagined! :)
L. 4 .H >>>>>> Jess
Okay so, not gonna lie, this makes me feel pretty shallow.
I often think that if i mix in a little self indulgence with my materials and such that mixing God into it is good enough, when here it says to completely leave self behind.
i remember a long time ago we talked about being able only to serve one master and it reminds me a little of this.
Have you ever heard of a servant who tells their master "hold on im busy doing my own thing!"? Not me! To think its alright to try and "balance" the two is like having two faces; not the way i should be.
Here it says you must completely abandon your own desires to serve God and fully be a servant of Him.
So not only by common sense, but by Gods word i need to remember what its all about and that its definitely not about me.
i TOTALLY understand this...i wont write much cuz its basically simple...
1]we must die of ourselves...as christ did...verse 24 is sayin that if HE dies...he'll produce more"fruit" & they'll produce more fruit so on & so 4th
2]what stuck out to me was verse25
25 He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.
pick it apart & u get that he who loves his life(of the sinful nature) will LOSE it...but he who hates his life in this world(hates the sin etc) will get 2 keep his 4EVER!!!
it took me a 2nd glance 2 get that...i thought "y would sum1 who hates his life get 2 keep it?"but then i picked it apart
This kind of reminds me of the song So Long Self by Mercy Me. We need to leave our fleshly desires behind and life for God. That is how we will produce more fruit.
Also, we should hate the world. That doesn't mean that we should hate the people in the world, that means that we should hate the sins of the world. So we should hate the world, and love God! (:
Wow guys great job on devotions today!! 25 comments!! thats great!
He is about to be glorified.-meaning He will die for the sins of everyone and be glorified. Just like your example about dieing to the flesh i have the same problem like if someone does that to me I say(in my mind) WHAT!! they cant do that! Thats rude and inconsiderate! but i have to die to the flesh and just say (in my mind) I for like 10 minutes i need to get over it!! Like Jesus He hade so many people be rude and inconsiderate towards Him but He did'nt retaliate to them. All He did was die for them. (and raise from the dead for them)
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