Clutter-Free Christianity: What God Really Desires for You - Softcover

Jeffress, Robert

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1400070929 ISBN 13: 9781400070923

Verlag: PRH Christian Publishing, 2009

Inhaltsangabe

Your greatest desire is to please God, but with each passing week, your spiritual to-do list grows longer. As you strive to fulfill a never-ending inventory of requirements for being a godly parent, spouse, voter, employee, and more, you feel increasingly disconnected from the God you’re trying to serve.

When did the Christian life become so complicated?

It’s time to cut through the clutter and get to the heart of what it means to please God. In this liberating look at the core principles of faith, Dr. Robert Jeffress reveals the truth about what God really wants from you–and what He wants to do for you.

Through solid biblical teaching and practical insights, Dr. Jeffress points you toward a revitalized faith centered on becoming more like Jesus in action, attitude, and affection. You’ll learn how to partner with God in the process of spiritual transformation as you choose to follow Christ in forgiveness, obedience, trust, contentment, service, and prayer.

Through a renewed focus on experiencing the kingdom of God right now, you’ll find your to-do list shrinking and your spiritual life deepening. It all comes with embracing Clutter-Free Christianity.

Includes a Bible study guide for personal growth and group discussion

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Dr. Robert Jeffress is the senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Dallas, Texas, a Fox News contributor, and an adjunct professor at Dallas Theological Seminary. He is the host of Pathway to Victory, a daily radio and television program reaching over 195 countries. Dr. Jeffress is the author of more than twenty-five books, including Clutter-Free Christianity, When Forgiveness Doesn’t Make Sense, and The Divine Defense.

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Imagine your employer announces that in two weeks you’ll be moving to Vienna, Austria…forever. How would you react? Although you’ve seen pictures of this beautiful city, you know very little about it. Because of your limited knowledge, you’d probably try to find out everything you can about Vienna before you left. What language is spoken? What’s the temperature like?What clothes are most appropriate?


You’d want to obtain or update your passport, secure any other necessary travel documents, and purchase your airline tickets. You’d have to decide what items you want to move with you and which ones to leave behind. You’d arrange to sell your house here and purchase a new one over there. You’d want to exchange your dollars for the proper currency.


But it would be unimaginable to do nothing and simply adopt the “I’ll go with the flow” philosophy. Sure, you might be able to rationalize your lack of preparation with thoughts such as:

• “Maybe at the last moment,circumstances will change and I won’t have to go.”


• “I’ll wait until I get there to see what it’s really like.”


• “I doubt Vienna is any different from where I live now.”


Failing to prepare for your journey would be unwise and could result in some disastrous consequences. If you know you’re going to make a long trip, you certainly want to be ready for it.


Whether you realize it or not, you will one day take the journey of a lifetime to a foreign land you’ve never seen. Although your departure time is unknown to you, the hour is already fixed on God’s calendar. At a moment known only to Him, you’ll leave everything you own and everyone you know, and you’ll stand alone before God.He will decide your eternal destiny: heaven or hell. If you wait until that moment to prepare for the journey, you’ll have waited too long.The preparations you make in this life will determine how you spend the next one.


Admittedly, this is a sobering thought for anyone, but especially when we’re reminded of our mortality. Last year I turned fifty. This milestone event in my life wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. It was worse! Don’t misunderstand. I enjoyed all the attention from family, friends, and church members. My congregation held a huge birthday party for me, complete with skits about their aging pastor.Diapers andMetamucil were among the most frequent gifts. It was all great fun.


But after the celebration ended and the humorous cards had been read and discarded, I was left with this stark realization: Without any doubt, I have more years behind me than in front of me. Sometime in the next twenty to thirty years, I’ll meet the invisible God about whom I’ve taught and with whom I’ve sporadically communicated.


And when that moment arrives, all of my theological speculations will be meaningless. I’ll see God as He really is. The only thing that will matter is whether or not my preparation for eternity has been adequate.


Realizing how little time I have left before my inevitable departure has led me to ask myself the simple question, What does God really want from me? In my mind, that question has moved from being theoretical to critical.
The stakes are too high for me to get it wrong. It’s really the only question that matters. In my twenties and thirties, I thought about this question occasionally, but now I awaken in the middle of the night wondering, What must I do to please God?


I can already hear some of you shouting back the stock answer: “Robert, you of all people should know that there is nothing you can do to please God. Just trust in Christ as your Savior, and everything will be okay.” I’ve preached that message for years, and I still believe it—to an extent. But let’s be honest.When you look at the whole of Scripture, can you honestly say that the only thing God wants from us is a willingness to accept our free ticket to heaven? Again, the stakes are too high for us to be wrong.


At the outset, let me affirm that I definitely believe that salvation from God’s eternal judgment comes through faith alone in Jesus Christ. We can do nothing to merit God’s forgiveness. “For by grace you have been saved through faith…not as a result of works, that no one should boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9). Those words are more than just an evangelical mantra; they are the bedrock of the Christian faith.


However, an honest search of Scripture reveals that God is interested in more than our justification—our right standing before Him, secured by Christ’s death and guaranteeing our entrance into heaven. How do I know that? Consider Jesus’s exchange with an attorney who might have been experiencing his own midlife crisis. Perhaps on the morning after his fiftieth birthday, he saw a crowd standing around Jesus and decided to take advantage of the opportunity to speak with the rabbi who was gaining renown throughout Israel. “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” (Luke 10:25).


Whenever I’ve taught on this particular passage, I’ve always claimed that this was an insincere question from someone trying to trap Jesus into contradicting the teaching of the Pharisees. After all, Luke emphasized that
the question was meant to “put Him to the test” (verse 25). Maybe the lawyer was fulfilling his assignment from the Pharisees to trick the Lord and destroy His credibility.


Or maybe this lawyer—feeling the signs of his own mortality— thought he might do his assigned job and, at the same time, seek the answer to a question that kept him awake at nights. Regardless of the lawyer’s motivation, notice Jesus’s answer. He affirms what the lawyer already knows to be true. Interested in eternal life? Then:
You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and will all your mind; and your neighbor as yourself. (verse 10:27)


What’s the essence of a right relationship with God? What does our Creator desire from us more than anything else? A heart fully devoted to Him and a heart that loves other people as much as we love ourselves. Simple. Not easy, but simple.


We’ve all have heard our share of fallen-preacher stories, but one that came across my desk recently takes the cake. A prominent church in our denomination had been searching for a pastor for three years. After an exhaustive hunt, the pulpit committee proudly presented the candidate to the church.The first few weeks, the new pastor wowed the congregation with his flamboyant oratorical skills. The crowds began to build almost instantly.


However, a month after arriving at his church, the new pastor submitted a one-paragraph resignation.The reason? A local newspaper had uncovered the truth about this man. His résumé was filled with bogus degrees. Not only that, he’d reportedly embezzled nearly $200,000 from a previous church. And the IRS had been after him as well. When confronted about the negligence in the pulpit committee’s research, one member responded, “We were swayed by his unusual ability to communicate the gospel.”


Communicate the gospel? What gospel? The gospel that says you can receive your “get out of hell free” card and then live however you choose?


The gospel that teaches you can be forgiven by Jesus without ever following Jesus?


The stunned members of this church were probably left asking, “How could such a thing...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: PRH Christian Publishing
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2009
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1400070929
• ISBN 13: 9781400070923
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 208
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: SC; https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/; ; CL MODESTO LAFUENTE 41; Madrid; Madrid; Spanien