The Word
Sunday Bulletin-21 January 2024
Pastor Brian Chua | Jan 21, 2024
“And those who are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.” Galatians 5:24
Beloved Saints of God,
Our desire & pursuit of materialism and self-gratification constantly asks, “What is there for me?” Every ministry call, job opportunity & business deal seems to ask, “What will I get out of it?” The wall of selfishness that we build between God and us becomes a mirror blocking our need for a window. It is like living in a house of mirrors where we see ourselves and nothing else.
After Satan tempted Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, they ate the forbidden fruit. But why? Eve saw that the fruit was good and pleasing and it would make her wise. So, she ate some of the fruit and gave some to her husband, and he ate it (Genesis 3:6). What was in it for them? WISDOM. The knowledge of good and evil became their pursuit, not the will of God. Fixing our eyes on self always limits our vision to the visible and our future. Without seeing the invisible, we will never do the impossible. As a result, we cannot see God because our eyes are fixed on the “FRUIT”, not the ONE who created and supplies the “FRUIT”. We begin to worship the creature and created things instead of God, the Creator.
In selfishness we believe we possess the knowledge of good and evil. However, our view of self is so short-sighted that we see a distorted image of who we really are. Adam and Eve thought that in eating the fruit their hunger to know would be satisfied. Instead, just the opposite happened. Shame and embarrassment became a wall of selfishness, creating a barrier between themselves and God. Adam and Eve felt apart, alone and ashamed. Instead of eating out of the abundance of the Garden of Eden, they would toil the earth, striving hard only to exist without the presence of God. The cry of selfishness is always, “I want” instead of “I give.”
In God’s presence, we see His face and thereby know our identity by the BLOOD of the LAMB. We have a divine purpose and destiny in Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Father God sees us for what we can become. We see now. God sees our tomorrows: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” Jeremiah 29:11 NIV.
WHEN WE ARE SO FULL OF SELF, NOTHING OF GOD IS FOUND IN US.
UNLESS WE DIE TO SELF, WE CANNOT LIVE FOR CHRIST.
OUR GREATEST ENEMY IS “SELF”, NOT SATAN.
Shalom in Jesus’ love,
Pastor Brian Chua