Every day pray that everyone you know will either become a Christian or influence others to become a Christian, and please share this online book with others - www.areyousureyouaresaved.com
Worship music - Please click the links and sing along if you know the words (You can also click skip ad to go straight to the songs) -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gogDg34Z8V0&list=PLp-FxGoPHms3Sv_33hVzU-p1-yZ4I82eL
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05hhZ0oFEIk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WxLA1NX9gxY
For Wednesday evening services, the Lord has lead me to do a Bible study for practical Bible verses in Matthew. Please come back to these Bible lessons in order to review them and learn them. Whenever we have learned the meaning of Bible verses and think about them throughout each day, we will be in perfect peace (Isaiah 26:3). Not only that, but when we are in a situation in our daily lives and are tempted to sin, we can think back to what we have learned from the Bible and say to ourselves, "The Bible says to not do what I am tempted to say, think, do, and/or desire right now, so I am going to refuse to give in to this temptation." This is what Romans 12:2 means, and it says, "And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God." This is also the pattern that Jesus used when the devil tempted Him to sin in Matthew 4:1-11.
Chapter 11
THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO MATTHEW
Matthew 11:28-30
28Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. 29Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. 30For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
Jesus offers us rest from not being able to resist the temptations to say, think, and do things that God hates. These are known as sins. Some examples of sins are - lusting (Matthew 5:28), having sex before marriage (Galatians 5:19), getting drunk (1 Corinthians 6:10), practicing homosexuality (Romans 1:26-28), thinking bad thoughts about others (1 Corinthians 13:1–7), talking bad about others (Romans 1:29), lying, and stealing), and saying and doing things that you think might be sinful (Isaiah 30:21; John 16:13). Other sins are being impatient (getting back at people who did wrong to you, getting upset or flustered when you're waiting on someone because you're ready to leave to go somewhere, for example), unkind (not helping those who have physical, mental, emotional, financial, or spiritual needs you come across), envyous, bragging, or being proud of your mind, body, accomplishments, and/or your possessions; thinking that you're better and more important than others, being rude, insisting on your own way, being irritable and/or resentful, rejoicing at wrongdoing, keeping count of people’s sins, having improper or dishonorable behavior, blaming people for having evil desires or intentions behind what they do, not thinking the best of people, not trying to cover people’s faults and instead expose the wrong they did to make them look bad in front of others (The descriptions that are underlined do not apply to possible false teachers – explained in much of chapter 5 of this online book - www.areyousureyouaresaved.com), not continuing to forgive people who sin against you and expecting that God will work everything out right, and being quick to believe someone did wrong without looking for evidence that they may be innocent (1 Corinthians 13:1–7).
We have to have the desire to stop saying, thinking, and doing what God hates (This is known as repenting.), but unless we become a Christian by asking Jesus into our heart, believing that Jesus is our Savior, or trusting Jesus' death on the cross and His shed blood to erase our sins and let us into heaven, etc., we won't have the power or ability to resist temptations. As a result, we won't be at rest. We are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-27), and we are designed to have a personal relationship with Him. If we haven't been saved from our sins through Jesus, we will never be at rest and experience the purpose of life. (Chapter 39 of this online book - www.areyousureyouaresaved.com gives a summary of the purpose of life.)
Matthew 11:29 supports the previous two paragraphs, because the rest Jesus gives isn't a rest of inactivity and an invitation to be lazy. Jesus is saying that once we are victorious over sin, we should take His yoke upon us and learn of Him, and this means begin to follow (imitate and obey) Him. For instructions on how to follow Jesus, see chapter 39 of this online book - www.areyousureyouaresaved.com
If you have prayed or made a decision to become a Christian, but you have been having trouble with sin, please follow this website - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/makingsure
If you have not prayed or made a decision to become a Christian, you must be willing to repent "from this moment on and for the rest of your life" before you pray or make a decision to become a Christian (This concept is explained in these websites - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/theanswer and http://chriswaug5.wix.com/nocontridiction). If you are willing to live this way for the rest of your life, please follow this website - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/howtogotoheaven
If you have prayed or made a decision to become a Christian, but you are not sure that you are really a Christian (Hebrews 11:6, Matthew 21:18-22, 1 John 5:14, and Hebrews 11:1), you need to be sure - please follow this website - http://chriswaug5.wix.com/howtogotoheaven