IMPRESSING GOD
Mark 12:28-- And one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, and perceiving that he had answered them well, asked him, Which is the first commandment of all? 29And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: 30And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. 31And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these.
How do we show God, that we love Him with all our heart?
What must we do to IMPRESS Him?
(illustration) Remember when I was young, how I tried to impress my little girlfriend? I would show her how fast I could run. I would show her my muscles. Then when I was out of school, I would try to impress people with my car, or my job.
But let't look at how to impress our God.
1. WE IMPRESS GOD WITH OUR FAITH
Heb. 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him
God is impressed with our faith, if it is genuine.
(illustration) Charles Blondin's greatest fame came in June of 1859 when he attempted to become the first person to cross a tightrope stretched over a quarter of a mile across the mighty Niagara Falls.
He walked across 160 feet above falls several times, each time with a different daring feat - once in a sack, on stilts, on a bicycle, in the dark, and once he even carried a stove and cooked an omelet!
On one occasion though, he asked for the participation of a volunteer.
A large crowd gathered and a buzz of excitement ran along both sides of the river bank. The crowd “Oooohed!” and “Aaaaahed!” as Blondin carefully walked across one dangerous step after another -- blindfolded and pushing a wheelbarrow.
Upon reaching the other side, the crowd's applause was louder than the roar of the falls! Blondin suddenly stopped and addressed his audience: "Do you believe I can carry a person across in this wheelbarrow?" The crowd enthusiastically shouted, "Yes, yes, yes. You are the greatest tightrope walker in the world. You can do anything!"
"Okay," said Blondin, "Get in the wheelbarrow....."
The Blondin story goes that no one did!
If we have true faith in God, we will not be afraid to step out in faith.
Jesus illustrates to us , what great faith is.
In Luke 7,
Let's meet this man story, starting in verse 2. "A certain centurion's slave who was highly regarded by him was sick and about to die. And when he heard about Jesus he sent some Jewish elders asking Him to come and save the life of his slave. And when they had come to Jesus, they earnestly entreated Him saying, 'He is worthy for You to grant this to him, for he loves our nation and it was he who built us our synagogue.' Now Jesus started on His way with them and when He was already not far from the house, the centurion sent friends saying to Him, 'Lord, do not trouble Yourself further for I am not worthy for You to come under my roof. For this reason I didn't even consider myself worthy to come to You, but just say the word and my servant will be healed. For I too am a man under authority with soldiers under me and I say to this one to go and he goes, and to another come and he comes, and to my slave do this and he does it.' Now when Jesus heard this, He marveled at him and He turned and said to the multitude that was following Him, 'I say to you, not even in Israel have I found such great faith.' And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the slave in good health."
Great faith impresses God, and also
HUMILITY IMPRESSES GOD
James 4:6 But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble
1 Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you,
Phil. 2:3 (NIV) 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves
(illustration) I heard about a fifth grader that came home from school one day excited. She had been voted "prettiest girl in the class." The next day she was even more excited when she came home, for the class had voted her "the most likely to succeed." The next day she came home and told her mother she had won a third contest, being voted "the most popular."
But the next day she came home extremely upset. The mother said, "What happened, did you lose this time?" She said, "Oh no, I won the vote again." The mother said, "What were you voted this time?" She said, "most stuck up."
Now that little girl, had a few things to learn on humility
Faith, and humility impress God, and so does
SHOWING MERCY AND DOING JUSTLY
Micah 6:8 He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God
Treating people fairly, and mercifully , and with humility impresses God.
Hadn't you rather impress God, than your friends?
