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MARK 12:28-33 Center Of The Universe

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Weve come a long way in our scientific discovery of our universe There is so much that we have learned about the planets, stars, and our solar system There was a belief years ago that the center of the universe was

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Center Of The Universe Regardless of what anyone thinks, we are not the center of the universe Everything does not revolve around us or our happiness God just wants me to be happy is probably one of the most self-centered things a person can utter

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Center Of The Universe Is that really all God is concerned with, is my individual happiness? Since what makes us all happy is different, then how could God keep up with it all? If that was all God wanted, then the Bible would read a lot different

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Gods Will What really is Gods will for us? Is it wrapped up merely in our happiness? Is following Gods will more or less important than seeking out my own individual happiness? God wants us to

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Gods Will 1. Love Him above all else Mark 12:28-33 Our #1 goal everyday should be to love God with all I have and demonstrate that love with how I live Our #2 goal should be to love others just like I love myself

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Gods Will 1. Love Him above all else When I do that, there is something that stands out about this attitude and mindset My focus shifts from myself to my God and others instead We cannot keep the greatest commands and be self-centered

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Gods Will 2. Keep His commandments From the beginning man has had the responsibility to keep Gods commands Deuteronomy 10:12-14 Deuteronomy 30:19-20 Sin is disobedience to His will (Js. 4:17; I Jn. 3:4; 5:17)

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Gods Will 2. Keep His commandments It doesnt matter if disobeying Him is what makes us happy Jesus said if we love Him, we will keep His commandments (Jn. 14:15, 21, 23) Christ & others taught obedience Matt. 7:21; Lk. 6:46; Heb. 5:9

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Gods Will 3. Please Him In All We Do Pauls prayer for the Colossians was that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God (Col. 1:10) Our goal is to please our God in this life, not ourselves

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Gods Will 3. Please Him In All We Do working in you what is well pleasing in His sight (Heb. 13:21) And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight (I Jn. 3:22)

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Gods Will 4. Live For Jesus Its safe to say that I live for my wife and kids In other words, I do what they want and try not to be selfish when making decisions Thats what Paul was getting at with Christ in Galatians 2:20

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Gods Happiness God does want us to be happy God also knows best how we can achieve real, true and lasting happiness Gods happiness is defined within His word Blessed = makarios (supremely blest; fortunate, well off; blessed, happy)

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Gods Happiness Gods happiness is based upon being the kind of person that God says we should be Jesus uses this word over and over in the Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:3-11) Happiness is a result of following Gods instruction

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Gods Happiness God told Joshua as long as they followed His commands that they would be blessed (Josh. 1:5-9) Psalm 1:1-2 Happy are the people whose God is the Lord! (Ps. 144:15) Psalm 146:5

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Mans Happiness Man has a different definition of happiness This is one that has been fueled by Satan; its a false sense of happiness This happiness has the root word of hap (chance) Its based upon ones circumstances

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Mans Happiness Paul learned about true happiness (contentment) in Philippians 4:11 Paul learned that true happiness does not depend upon ones circumstances There is a danger in this basis of happiness (Jud. 17:6; 21:25)

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Mans Happiness Happiness cannot be defined by each individual The way of a fool is right in his own eyes (Prov. 12:15) Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts (Prov. 21:2)

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Mans Happiness The problem with the thought that God just wants me to be happy is that God is the creator and definer of what true happiness is Satan convinced Eve that she wasnt content in the Garden of Eden because she lacked something

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A Man On A Quest The Bible is not without example when it comes to the quest for happiness A beautiful example of this is an example that we have looked at countless times Moses Hebrews 11:23-26

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A Man On A Quest If God just wanted Moses to be happy, then He would have left him alone instead of telling Moses to lead His people (Ex. 3 & 4) If Moses only cared about his own happiness, he would have probably stayed in Pharaoh's house