Just a few thoughts...

This summer at church we're going to do this big Gospel challenge thing...It's like this 6-week Bible study basically. There are a few of us that are doing this study over Galatians with Keith, and it's been really amazing, so Keith is having us help come up with questions and write this big gospel challenge. It's really exciting!
There's been a lot that has helped me and is continuing, and will continue for probably ever...to understand better what the gospel really is and why I really do all these things that I do. It's helping me to look at my motives and what I really believe and know in my heart and what is just a fact in my mind but hasn't made it to my heart yet. There's a lot that hasn't really made it to my heart completely yet...But I'm a work in progress! :) ...and will always be...
So, we were told by Keith to come up with a few questions or quotes and stuff for each week of the big gospel challenge. So, I thought I would sort of share a few of them with you. I've just been thinking about a lot of this stuff a lot, and even though it's stuff I knew before it just hit me with a whole new light.
The first thing that I was thinking about is how we all just think of the gospel as the "ABCs" it's just how we become a Christian, it's the story and it's what we believe in... but really the gospel is everything, it should be the basis for everything we do. It's our "A-to-Z" not just our "ABC."
Our book about Galatians says: “The Bible is not just the “ABCs” but the “A-to-Z” of the Christian life” (pg. 2).
Something else that is on that same page, and is actually all an excerpt from a preface on Galatians by Martin Luther. He said, “The gospel shows us that our spiritual problem lies not only in failing to obey God, but also in relying on our obedience to make us fully acceptable to God, ourselves and others” (pg. 2).
If you think about our sins really we cannot sin without breaking the first 2 commandments. Every sin is an idol which we put before God.
“Romans 1:25 tells us that idols are not sinful things, but good and basic things that elevated into being ultimate things. We look to them for meaning in life, for covering our sense of insignificance, for developing a “righteousness” or worth” (pg. 57).
We do this because we don't really believe in our hearts that we are righteous in God's eyes. We don't really understand God's love for us and we're saying that God is not good enough for us and we need something else to make our lives worth anything.
One question in particular that I thought was really good to make people think is “Why does a Christian obey God?” (pg. 76) Usually people might say they obey God because it's what's best for their lives...or because they know their supposed to. Or because it will please God. But these are not correct. Infact, I believe that we cannot please God anymore than He is already pleased in us. The answer is that we obey him out of love. We see the love that He showed us through His son Jesus, and we respond to that love. Not because we have to, or we should, or because God will bless us if we do, but because we understand the love that He has for us and we want to respond to His love. When you love someone you want to willingly serve them, you feel joyful in doing things for them and showing them love not because you have to or you need to win their approval but because you love them...that is how we should be for God.
I was wondering a while ago...How do I make this new understanding of being totally loved and accepted and seen as righteous in God's eyes go from my head to my heart. We had a big discussion about it in our Bible study and the answer ended up being...by experiencing God's love. And we experience God's love by spending time with Him. And making Him a big part of our lives. Not just someone we think about before we eat, or before we go to bed or wake up in the morning or whatever, but someone we think about throughout the day and talk to. We spend all this time sending random text messages to friends...well what if while we were doing that we started writing "texts" or whatever to God. What if we filled that time with thinking about God's love and how he expresses it to us? The big ending question ended up being:
How much time do you seek approval from others in comparison to how much you think about God’s love?
Something else is that I've been thinking about John 3:16 and how we always think of just the verse that everyone knows...but we don't really ever truely think about it. I was reading it today when I was going over these questions and things and I thought it was just a really cool passage. the part that struck me the most was actually John 3:16-21:

"For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but has eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world throught him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because he has not believed in the name of God's one and only Son. This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what he has done has been done through God."

“But the more you know of his infallible fatherly lover, the more you are able to realistically face yourself, your flaws and faults. The more you see your sin, the more precious and valuable you find his saving love and grace” (pg. 78).