Jesus Is Not Part Of My Life

Notes

Our hope in this six-week series is that we'd ALL declare Jesus is no longer part of our lives.  In fact, Jesus does not want to be part of my life.  He desires that our testimony would be:  Jesus is my life!

Why do we so often 'compartmentalize' our faith, consequently, our lives?  Three primary reasons:

1. Control
2. Fear
3. Identity

When we live with a 'compartmentalized' faith, there are consequence, namely...

1. Joy is situational
2. Sin is cyclical
3. Testimony is sporadic
4. Exhausted is normal

If we'd go ALL IN with Jesus, we must be able to declare that we trust Jesus.  Here are two primary reasons we can trust Jesus:

1. He COMMANDED me to love ALL of Him with all of me! (see Mark 12:28-34)
2. He gave ALL so that I could have ALL! (see John 10:1-15)

Conclusion

1. Pray that God would give you an 'undivided heart.' (see Psalm 86:11)
2. Bring all of the pieces to Jesus

Verses

{Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. John 14:1 NLT}{That is why I am suffering here in prison. But I am not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust... 2 Timothy 1:12 NLT}{Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him... Job 13:15 KJV}{One of the teachers of religious law was standing there listening to the debate. He realized that Jesus had answered well, so he asked, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?”

Jesus replied, “The most important commandment is this: ‘Listen, O Israel! The Lord our God is the one and only Lord. And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

The teacher of religious law replied, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth by saying that there is only one God and no other. And I know it is important to love him with all my heart and all my understanding and all my strength, and to love my neighbor as myself. This is more important than to offer all of the burnt offerings and sacrifices required in the law.”

Realizing how much the man understood, Jesus said to him, “You are not far from the Kingdom of God.” And after that, no one dared to ask him any more questions. Mark 12:28-34 NLT}{“I tell you the truth, anyone who sneaks over the wall of a sheepfold, rather than going through the gate, must surely be a thief and a robber! But the one who enters through the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep recognize his voice and come to him. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. After he has gathered his own flock, he walks ahead of them, and they follow him because they know his voice. They won’t follow a stranger; they will run from him because they don’t know his voice.”

Those who heard Jesus use this illustration didn’t understand what he meant, so he explained it to them: “I tell you the truth, I am the gate for the sheep. All who came before me were thieves and robbers. But the true sheep did not listen to them. Yes, I am the gate. Those who come in through me will be saved. They will come and go freely and will find good pastures. The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd sacrifices his life for the sheep. A hired hand will run when he sees a wolf coming. He will abandon the sheep because they don’t belong to him and he isn’t their shepherd. And so the wolf attacks them and scatters the flock. The hired hand runs away because he’s working only for the money and doesn’t really care about the sheep.

“I am the good shepherd; I know my own sheep, and they know me, just as my Father knows me and I know the Father. So I sacrifice my life for the sheep.” John 10:1-15 NLT}{Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Romans 8:32 NLT}{As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Galatians 6:14 NLT}{Teach me your way, Lord, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. Psalm 86:11 NIV}{Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. 2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV}

Quotes

Mark Batterson : “We want everything God has to offer without giving anything up. We want to buy in without selling out. We’re afraid that if we don’t hold out on God, we’ll miss out on what this life has to offer. It’s a lie. God is not holding out on you.”
(ALL IN); Mark Batterson : "You can base your identity on a thousand things – the degrees you’ve earned, the positions you hold, the salary you make, the trophies you’ve won, the hobbies you have, the way you look, the way you dress, or even the car you drive. But if you base your identity on any of those temporal things, your identity is a house of cards. There is only one solid foundation: Jesus Christ. There is only one place in which to find you’re your true identity and eternal security: what Christ has done for you.” (ALL IN); Bob Goff : “He asks if we’ll give up that thing we’re so proud of, that thing we believe causes us to matter in the eyes of the world, and give it up to follow Him. He’s asking us, ‘Will you take what you think defines you, leave it behind, and let Me define who you are instead?’”
(Love Does); A.W. Tozer : “It is either all of Christ or none of Christ! Jesus will either be Lord of all or will not be Lord at all!”
(); Steve Timmis : “Following Jesus is a beautifully all-encompassing reality. There is no area of my life that is subject to God’s saving sovereign care. That includes my relationships, my affections, my emotions, my ambitions, my work, my leisure, my time, my money, my resources. You name it, and Jesus made it all, paid for it all, claims it all, and rules over it all. This is an altogether wonderful and liberating truth.” (I Wish Jesus Hadn't Said That); Louio Giglio : “When He calls us to glorify Him – when He demands our complete unadulterated worship – He is not being egotistical, rather He is simply being God. And He is doing the best thing He could possibly do for us in that He is causing us to stake our claim on the most beautiful and glorious One in all Creation.” (i am not but i know I AM); Thomas Chalmers : “The only way to dispossess the heart of an old affection is through the expulsive power of a new one.” (); Louie Giglio : “The cross of Christ is the place where trust in God is born. The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ is an act of kindness from a loving and trustworthy God, an undeniable demonstration of His goodness that we can cling to when our sight and understanding fail to make sense of the circumstances that surround us.”
(i am not but i know I AM);