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He Gave Himself for Us
Titus 2:13-15

Look at the beginning of verse 14, "Who gave himself for us…" Of course, the "who" is speaking of Jesus Christ.

• We see this same truth reiterated in other passages of Scripture:

1. 1 Thessalonians 5:9-10; Galatians 1:4; Romans 5:8; Ephesians 5:2;
2. 1 Timothy 2:6

It is a simple truth, yet so deeply profound - He gave himself for us. It is a truth we can forget in the busyness of life. We can take it for granted and fail to really appreciate it. Nobody forced Jesus to give His life, not even the Father. He willingly, of His own free will, chose to lay down His life for you and me. He said, "No man taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself." John 10:18

So real was His free will that He said to Peter, "Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?" Matthew 26:53

Yet, He gave Himself for us! Isn't that amazing and incredible? Jesus Christ hung on that cross, giving His life as a sinless sacrifice for you and me. Why would Jesus do this? Have you ever thought about that? This text explains why.

He gave Himself for us: That we might be forgiven of all sins. vs. 14a

1. 1. The word "redeem" means "to ransom." How do you ransom somebody? You must pay a price.
2. The Bible says that Jesus redeemed us from all iniquity. • "Iniquity" simply means "a violation of a law, wickedness."
3. What is the penalty for violating God's moral law found in His Word? Romans 6:23 states that "…the wages of sin is death." • So, in order for Christ to redeem or ransom us from all iniquity, what price did He have to pay? There way no way around it - death. • When Jesus died on the cross, our sins were imputed to Him. Our sins were put on His account. 2 Corinthians 5:19
4. The moment a believing sinner trusts Christ to save him, God takes the righteousness of His Son and puts that on the believing sinner's account. 2 Corinthians 5:21
5. Notice it says in Titus 2:14 "all iniquity." cf. Ephesians 1:7 • This means that at the moment of salvation we receive total and complete forgiveness.
6. In all other religions, the followers are trying to do something to earn their god's forgiveness, but in the gospel of Christ, God did something for us. He reached out to us in order that we might be forgiven.
7. In other religions, they have to keep working and working in order to earn forgiveness. They never know when they've done enough. But with the gospel of Christ, the believing sinner is saved and forgiven instantaneously because of Christ's finished and completed work.
8. We aren't waiting to be forgiven - we are forgiven. Why? He gave himself for us.

He gave Himself for us: That we might have purpose in this present life.
vs. 14b

1. We are cleansed and forgiven eternally at the moment of salvation, but it doesn't end there. In fact, it is just the beginning. God saved you for a purpose.
2. Notice, He purified us unto himself. God has cleansed us and completely changed our identity. We are new creatures in Christ. God has delivered us from this present evil world and translated us into the kingdom of His Son.
3. We are now unto God a "peculiar people." The word "peculiar" does not mean weird or strange. It means to belong especially to someone. • Illustration: This Bible is peculiarly mine. It is mine in a special way that is not true of anyone else. It may even seem strange to others. Why? It isn't their Bible.
4. We are peculiarly God's. What is the result of this? It should be that we are zealous of good works. God didn't just redeem you, forgive you, and then leave you and say, "That's it." God is interested in the out-working of His purpose in your life. Ephesians 2:10
5. God has bestowed His grace upon you so that His grace can now live through you in the form of good works. God wants you to be fruitful. Titus 3:14 • Through our good works we impact other lives with His grace. Titus 3:8
6. Are you zealous of good works? This is God's purpose for you in the present. God bestowed His grace upon you and placed it in you that He might do something through you! 1 Corinthians 15:10

He gave Himself for us: That we might have glory in the future. vs. 13

1. 1. Sometimes there isn't much glory in this life - there's pain, heartache, misery, trouble, trials, and hurt. You may do good works and evil is returned to you.
2. But God's plan in sending His Son to die for us involves more than just now, the present.
3. God has an eternal plan of glory for us in the future. • Romans 8:18; 2 Corinthians 4:17-18 • Praise God, as we live our lives for His glory on this earth, God has promised us a bright future! • God desires for us to live our lives "in time" in light of what He will do out there in eternity. This requires that we walk by faith, not by sight. Colossians 3:2-4

In Conclusion:
1. Do you see now why Christ gave Himself for you?
2. There was a plan and purpose.
• It starts with forgiveness, but it doesn't end there.
• God forgave you and cleansed you that He might place His life in you and give you purpose in this present life.
• Christ also gave Himself for you because God has an eternal plan of glory for you in the future, in the ages to come.
3. Do you know this Jesus who gave Himself on the cross for you? If not, will you trust Him and believe on Him today?
4. Christ gave His life for you, that He might give His life to you, that He might live His life through you.

Social Club or Army?

“The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. One the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds.” 2 Corinthians 10:4

No more playing patty-cake with the devil. No more letting him rule over your precious souls. This is war! And Jesus invites you to get into the action. He tells you that the violent—the “forceful” ones—will lay hold of the Kingdom. He is looking for young men and women—just like you—to join Him in the battle of the ages, to aggressively participate in the battle He started.
The Bible refers to the Christian life as being like a battle—a Holy war. But think about the Christians (and maybe even some youth groups) around you. Do they look like an army or a social club? There’s quite a difference:

Social Club or Army?

A Club Member…

• pursues a common interest
• consumes some free time
• gathers acquaintances
• passes the time to make the day fun
• considers preparation as optional to staying involved
• finds courage unnecessary

A Soldier…

• pursues a common mission
• dedicates a whole life
• gathers fellow warriors
• seizes the day to make the battle count
• considers preparation as crucial to staying alive
• finds courage indispensable

  Did you join or enlist?

  With the above contrasts firmly in mind, consider: When you became a Christian, did you join a club or enlist in an army? Before you answer, remember that in a club, people often have to be persuaded to stay involved. Or they have to be begged to come back. But in an army, the commander’s attitude is, “Please don’t come back unless you are ready to give your all.” (Jesus put it like this: “Anyone else want to leave?”)
  My point: Jesus didn’t give His life to start a social club; His church was meant to be an army. If this is the case, then we are to be soldiers, enlisted men and women of God. And certain key qualities of a good soldier will apply to our service in the Kingdom.

  A good soldier keeps his/her eye on the battlefield.

  As I’ve said, most Christians don’t realize there’s a real war going on. They view our struggle as purely symbolic. There’s nothing symbolic about 33 million of your peers caught in the current of MTV’s hypnotic spell. This isn’t a pretend war for the millions of teens out there whose parents divorce each year, many of whom claim to be Christians. The pain is real, and many of your friends and the kids you know at school (maybe even you) are the casualties of war. Their wounds range from the secrecy of emotional abuse, to the desperate loneliness of Internet addiction, to the misery of living under the same roof with parents who are strangers to them. There’s damage being done, and in many cases, real blood is being shed by teens who don’t realize the ways they are being attacked!

  A good soldier lives the code.

  Joining any branch of the military means taking on certain obligations. Soldiers know that upon enlisting, their lifestyles will change dramatically. They know the “code” before signing up, so it isn’t a surprise when their commanding officer insists they arise at 4 a.m. to exercise, do drills, and get to work. It’s all part of the package. They have no say over their way of life any more; they knew what was expected going into the deal. It is not an option to say to the commander, “Well, I really don’t feel like doing push-ups right now.” Even the thought is absurd.

  Joining God’s army includes a lifestyle that our loving Commander-in-Chief insists we live. When we become Christians, we declare our loyalty to the person of Christ and to the lifestyle He requires of us. Some who come to Christ do not show by the way they live their lives that they have truly enlisted as soldiers.
  As enlisted soldiers, we can’t silently vote on which part of the Bible we feel like living from day to day. As if God’s code (His Word) is up for debate! Soldiers go to church services every Sunday because we want to learn how God wants us to live. He is looking for the kind of commitment that says, “Even if I don’t understand why You want me to do it, I will obey.” But instead we tend to think, “If I only knew why, then I would do it.” We think that somehow God is plotting to keep us from fun. Strangely, we become wary of the greatest Lover of our souls.

  A good soldier finds his/her assignment.

  I’ve never met anyone who enlisted in the army just so he could go through boot camp. Instead, enlistees know that boot camp is just preparatory; it’s not the final goal. After this intense period of training, they anticipate being assigned to a mission that will make a difference in the world. There’s a place for them to plug into, and in doing so they will advance the cause of the army. They didn’t join in order to sit on the sidelines and watch the action from afar. They never intended to sit around and listen to generals tell stories about strategy and tactics. No, they want to make those stories.

  Too often Christians have been curious about the war, hoping to see the highlights from it, but unaware that they have a battle mission. This is evidence they have not truly enlisted. Every enlisted soldier knows he or she has a place to fill. Club members find jobs, hobbies, activities, and stuff to fill their time, but a soldier is fully engaged in his assignment.

  There is an assignment that only you can fill. People are waiting to be rescued until you find that assignment. Just as a team member says, “Put me in, Coach; I want to play!”, the soldier cries out to know his assignment. Christians who’ve enlisted for spiritual battle in a real war for real lives come before God with humble hearts pleading, “O Lord, show me my part. I want to be deployed into the battle for this generation. Please show me my mission.”

“Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.” I Timothy 6:12

(taken from a devotional from Ron Luce)

James 4:10

“Humble yourselves before the Lord,
and He will lift you up.”
James 4:10

Humbling ourselves means recognizing
that our worth comes from God alone.

I will praise You in this storm!

“In our lives there is bound to come some pain, surely as there are storms and falling rain; just believe that the One who holds the storms will bring the sun.”


All of us face storms in our life at one time or another. Some storms are big and scary storms that seem to last forever, others are small storms that just get us a little dreary and gloom. No matter how big or small these storms are, they make life difficult for us. Question is, why do we have storms in our life? Why does God allow these storms to come into our lives? Well, in the 1st place, no one, not even Jesus said that life would be easy. Life isn't easy, that's for sure. But another thing that we can be sure about is that God is walking through it with us.

It's very easy to praise God for the things He has done for us when everything is bright and sunny, when things just seem to be going the right direction. It's easy to praise God when we are not facing any difficulties in our life. Why wouldn't we praise God? I mean everything is going just perfect! But what about when we are facing tough times in our lives? Do we praise God in these storms? Even when it is so hard to, the answer is Yes. We praise God, because when God allows a storm to come into our life, He has a reason for it, and He will either calm the storm for us, or He will just ride through it with us. God will never leave us in the storm. So we will praise God, because we know that He is with us.

So why does God put us through these storms? There are 2 main reasons:

1.To change our stubborn thinking and mindsets, so that we can walk in His direction.
This can be seen in the example of Jonah. You see, Jonah was running away from God's calling of going to Nineveh to preach. He got onto a ship and then faced a violent storm. Well, it's a long story, but eventually Jonah was thrown overboard the ship into the sea as he is identified by the sailors for causing the storm as he has incurred God'd wrath. But well, that was not the end of Jonah. In Jonah 1:17, it says "But the Lord provided a great fish to swallow Jonah, and Jonah was inside the fish three days and three nights." Isn't this wonderful? God didn't let Jonah die in the storm. God was riding with Jonah through the storm, sending a big fish to help Jonah keep alive in the storm! Well, to cut the story short, after spending the time in the fish stomach, Jonah finally soften his heart to God's calling and went to Nineveh to preach against it, thus saving the entire city from God's judgment. You see, this storm that God puts Jonah through was obviously aimed at softening Jonah's stubborness against the calling of God. Aren't we like Jonah sometimes, refusing to listen to the will of God and thus facing a storm that God put in our life? I myself admit to this. But do not be disheartened, God put this storm in our life only for our own good, and He will ride through it with us.

2.To make us depend on His power.
Many a times, when we are so blessed and have lived a sunny life for too long, we get a little complacent and forgot God's blessing upon our life. We will tend to feel that we do not need God in our life anymore. When this happen, God will put a storm in our life to remind us that we still need to depend on Him as we are not as great we think we are. In Mark 4:35~41, we see that Jesus and his disciples were in a boat when a storm caught them. At that point of time, Jesus was still asleep. So the storm was really violent and the disciples got scared. So they woke Jesus up and Jesus rebuked the winds, calming the storm in the end. After that, the disciples were rebuked for having no faith because they were afraid. In this case, the storm was calmed. All that was intended was for the disciples to learn that they had to depend on Jesus and for them to realise their own state of faithlessness. I believe that before this, the disciples were probably thinking that they were mighty and strong in their faith. The storm made them realise their weakness and made them lean onto Jesus for help. This is true in our lives as well. Sometimes we will face storms in our life to make us realise that we are not as great as we thought we are and we eventually still need to go back to God for His strength and protection. But we do not have to fret, because God is in control all along and the storm will eventually be calmed.

In conclusion:

God puts these storms in our lives only for our own good, to make us learn, and that He is always looking after us, either by riding through the storm with us or by calming the storm in the end.

“May God give you... For every storm a rainbow, for every tear a smile, for every care a promise and a blessing in each trial. For every problem life sends, a faithful friend to share, for every sigh a sweet song and an answer for each prayer.”

I heart me ♥

You don’t have to travel too far around the world to discover very quickly that God loves variety. He’s made all kinds of shapes, sizes, colors, intensities; an incredible variety in our world.

Talking specifically about you and me, there are 3 verses in the Bible that say important truths about us:

Psalm 139:13 (Good News), “You (God) created every part of me. You put me
together in my mother’s womb.”
Vs. 14 (LB), “Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex!
It is amazing to think about. Your workmanship is marvelous.”
Job 10:8, “Your hands shaped me and made me.”

From these verses you can take some obvious principles:

1. I am unique. You are unique. There is nobody else in the world like you or me. There never will be. When God made you He broke the mold. You won’t find two people in the whole world who have the same footprint or fingerprint or voiceprint. Why did God make you different from every person who’s ever lived? Because He wants you to know how special you are, how much you matter to God.

2. We are wonderfully complex. You might say, ok define complex? If you check the dictionary definition, something complex is characterized by a very complicated or involved arrangement of parts, units, etc. The fact is we are so complex that many times we are a mystery to ourselves.

• Have you ever said something and later thought, ‘What was I thinking when I said that?”

• Have you ever felt a certain way and later thought, “Why do I feel thisway? What’s happening to me?”

• Have you ever been in a group and everybody reacted one way to a circumstance and you found yourself reacting in the exact opposite way to everyone else in the group? Inside you’re thinking, “What’s wrong with me?” There’s nothing wrong with you, you’re just unique.

3. We were shaped for a purpose! God created everything in the world for a purpose, the Bible says, including you.

• You’re not here by accident. You’re not just taking up space. God made you for a reason.

• You were designed by God and it was His idea. It’s not a mistake. You were planned before birth. God did not simply sit down at a computer and randomly access a bunch of components and threw them all together and out came you.

• The Bible clearly says that you were purposefully, personally and orderly planned and designed by God. Check this out: His loving hand made you exactly the way you are. You are you because God wanted you to be you. Isn't that awesome!

• Your uniqueness is what God wants you to offer to the world. He wants you to be special :)

So just tell yourself this:
God made me. God loves me.


Btw check out this song!!
Group 1 Crew-Live out Loud
here's the Youtube link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=220bES6hV-k
here's the lyrics link:
http://www.metrolyrics.com/live-out-loud-lyrics-group-1-crew.html
It's amazing and speaks about how amazing God created you and me :D

New Year, new challenges

A single word can be a powerful thing. It can be the ripple in the pond that changes everything. It can be sharp and biting or rich and soft and slow. Can you identify a single word that sums up what you want for yourself in 2009?

It can be something tangible or intangible. It could be a thought or a feeling or an emotion. It can be singular or plural. The key is to find something that has personal meaning for you. This is not someone else's word - this is YOUR word. One little word can have big meaning in your life if you allow yourself to be open to the possibilities.

New Year is the time to unfold new horizons and realize new dreams, to rediscover the strength and faith within you, to rejoice in simple pleasures and gear up for new challenges.

Take some time this week to think about your own word for 2009!

And in case you were wondering, my word for 2009 is give.

Wishing you a truly fulfilling New Year!!

Today

At the end of today, if it has been preoccupied with thoughts of enjoyment that might be coming, we will find that we have lost something valuable that will be gone forever. Today! In hoping to be happy about something in the future, instead of being happy right now, we are missing out. We often want more time, more money for that new purchase, a better job, better health. The list may be long. This is such a waste because there are probably many things to feel really good about each day. Unfortunately we are encouraged to dwell on things that we have yet to acquire. If we were bombarded with daily reminders of how lucky we are and how much we have to be happy about, we would retire at night with wonderful days behind us.

"No matter what looms ahead, if you can eat today, enjoy the sunlight today, mix good cheer with friends today, then enjoy it and bless God for it. Do not look back on happiness or dream of it in the future. You are only sure of today; do not let yourself be cheated of it." - Henry Ward Beecher

Our day should be free of other stresses and worries. An analysis of a bad event that has happened, or may happen, can be worthwhile in determining a course of action. Beyond that, to continue worrying about it is a completely useless waste of time and is harmful to our health. Worry does not help the future experience and could make it worse, and the past cannot be changed.

"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could, some blunders and absurdities have crept in. Forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day." - Ralph Waldo Emerson

So enjoy yourself today because it is not coming back.