I have been crucified with Christ. My ego is no longer central. It is no longer important that I appear righteous before you or have your good opinion, & I am no longer driven to impress God. Christ lives in me. The life you see me living is not mine" , but it is lived by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me & gave Himself for me. (Gal. 2:20 Message)
I am learning & I admit sometimes struggling with always letting God have control of everything. I think I've come a long way but I know I still have a long way to go. As humans we rationalize why what we do is alright. Maybe we think we have reason to be mad at somebody, want to get back at somebody, put our priorities before Gods, or many other things. Maybe it's that one little area that we're not ready to let go of. It could even be our finances, job, family, or a habit that we have. The bottom line is that when we made Jesus Christ LORD of our life, we gave up control. In today's society we are taught that we have rights, to stand up for ourselves, & to not let people take advantage of us. Gods word teaches us to yield to His will even when that is difficult for us. If we are Christians & we are called to be different than the world, putting Gods will & putting others first is a great way to show Christ. If we will let go of our ego & realize that our life now belongs to Christ, God will be able to do great things with us. We will probably walk around a lot happier as well.
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Monday, November 11, 2013
The Good Part
But only one thing is necessary, for Mary has chosen the good part, which shall not be taken away from her (Lk. 10: 42 NASB)
In the NASB version, it says Martha was distracted. She was running around trying to do all of these things (which was distracting her) & she was missing the main thing. She was distracted by activities & was missing Christ. How many times do we do that? Mary realized what (who) was the main thing & she was sitting at His feet listening intently. I think today we so much need to get away from the hecticness of the world & just sit at the Saviors feet & listen. Don't talk, don't be distracted, just fix your eyes on Him & listen to His voice. You might be thinking that would be nice if you just had time to do that. I think we might be amazed at how much time we had if we just sat & listened to our Lord & Savior. Today I got the opportunity to sit everything aside & just spend the day with my kids. I couldn't have spent my time any better today. Before I did that, I took time to just get away with Christ which set everything on the right track. I spent the evening enjoying time with my wife & kids. I didn't do a thing off of a to do list today but today I did the more important things. I want to encourage you to find time especially during this season to remember the main things.
In the NASB version, it says Martha was distracted. She was running around trying to do all of these things (which was distracting her) & she was missing the main thing. She was distracted by activities & was missing Christ. How many times do we do that? Mary realized what (who) was the main thing & she was sitting at His feet listening intently. I think today we so much need to get away from the hecticness of the world & just sit at the Saviors feet & listen. Don't talk, don't be distracted, just fix your eyes on Him & listen to His voice. You might be thinking that would be nice if you just had time to do that. I think we might be amazed at how much time we had if we just sat & listened to our Lord & Savior. Today I got the opportunity to sit everything aside & just spend the day with my kids. I couldn't have spent my time any better today. Before I did that, I took time to just get away with Christ which set everything on the right track. I spent the evening enjoying time with my wife & kids. I didn't do a thing off of a to do list today but today I did the more important things. I want to encourage you to find time especially during this season to remember the main things.
Sunday, November 10, 2013
Fully Persuaded
Being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised (Rom. 4:21 NIV)
Here it is talking about Abraham believing that God would do what He had promised him. By visible circumstances, Abraham had every reason to give up & think that he must have heard God wrong. At the age of Abraham & Sarah's age, Gods promise seemed impossible. That's what God delights in, doing the impossible. But we have to stay in faith. We have to believe God can do the impossible. God is bigger than the medical report, financial report, or relationship that seems forever broken. God can revive the country that seems like it's too late. But we have to remain faithful. We have to keep praying & believing. We have to keep working. When the world says "give up" remember that God says Get up". I choose to believe God. His track record is a lot better.
Here it is talking about Abraham believing that God would do what He had promised him. By visible circumstances, Abraham had every reason to give up & think that he must have heard God wrong. At the age of Abraham & Sarah's age, Gods promise seemed impossible. That's what God delights in, doing the impossible. But we have to stay in faith. We have to believe God can do the impossible. God is bigger than the medical report, financial report, or relationship that seems forever broken. God can revive the country that seems like it's too late. But we have to remain faithful. We have to keep praying & believing. We have to keep working. When the world says "give up" remember that God says Get up". I choose to believe God. His track record is a lot better.
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Take it captive
We demolish arguments & every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, & we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. (2 Cor. 10:5 NIV)
This verse has two great thoughts that hit me today & that I needed to be reminded of. The first one is about demolishing arguments that go against God. One phrase I was reading about the other day was "godless chatter" . I have heard a lot of godless chatter lately. As people talk about things it reminds me of the importance of a "relationship" with Christ. I was probably first introduced to these types of "arguments" in college with my philosophy instructor. He would ask all of the questions about whether God really exists or not & give all of the reasons he thought that He didn't. Since then I have heard a lot of those similar arguments from people who do not believe God exists. When asked to explain why I believe He is who He says He is, I keep going back to that relationship. The more I have gotten into Gods word & spending time with Him in prayer & watching Him work in my life & so many others, I have no doubt that I serve a risen Savior, Jesus Christ.
The second thing is taking every thought captive. This is one I can have trouble with. I'm a thinker & if I'm not careful, Satan sneaks in lies to me & allows me to run them over & over in my mind. This verse reminds me to take each thought captive & to kick out the junk that comes in. When I allow the junk to enter in, it keeps me from working like Christ intends just like any foreign substance that is introduced to a machine. Do not let the junk take root. If it doesn't agree with what God says or what God says about you, then it is a lie & has to go.
Today know that those arguments can't stand up to God & His word. Also kick out the junk before it has a chance to get in. Stay in Gods word & both of these things will come much easier.
This verse has two great thoughts that hit me today & that I needed to be reminded of. The first one is about demolishing arguments that go against God. One phrase I was reading about the other day was "godless chatter" . I have heard a lot of godless chatter lately. As people talk about things it reminds me of the importance of a "relationship" with Christ. I was probably first introduced to these types of "arguments" in college with my philosophy instructor. He would ask all of the questions about whether God really exists or not & give all of the reasons he thought that He didn't. Since then I have heard a lot of those similar arguments from people who do not believe God exists. When asked to explain why I believe He is who He says He is, I keep going back to that relationship. The more I have gotten into Gods word & spending time with Him in prayer & watching Him work in my life & so many others, I have no doubt that I serve a risen Savior, Jesus Christ.
The second thing is taking every thought captive. This is one I can have trouble with. I'm a thinker & if I'm not careful, Satan sneaks in lies to me & allows me to run them over & over in my mind. This verse reminds me to take each thought captive & to kick out the junk that comes in. When I allow the junk to enter in, it keeps me from working like Christ intends just like any foreign substance that is introduced to a machine. Do not let the junk take root. If it doesn't agree with what God says or what God says about you, then it is a lie & has to go.
Today know that those arguments can't stand up to God & His word. Also kick out the junk before it has a chance to get in. Stay in Gods word & both of these things will come much easier.
Find Rest
Come to Me, all you who are weary & burdened, & I will give you rest (Mt. 11:28 NIV)
Anybody in need of rest? I know sometimes I feel like I'm stuck on the merry-go-round & can't get off. It's just race from here to there, fight this problem then that problem, jobs, kids activities, & how do we keep up. Then there's church activities, & other activities that others deem as important for us to do. Where does it stop? I would like to say that even Jesus took time to get away from the work & the crowds & get with His Father. He needed it & we need it so that we can get recharged to be effective in our life for Christ. The other cool thing is that if you are feeling burdened,you can go to Him leave that burden there & lighten your load. Or maybe the battle you're going through has been a long hard fight & you just need that refreshment that only Christ can bring. Go to Him, leave the burden there, get rest, & come back ready to do His work again. It's alright to feel tired sometimes, just don't give up. Before you do that seek Christ for refreshment & restoration
Anybody in need of rest? I know sometimes I feel like I'm stuck on the merry-go-round & can't get off. It's just race from here to there, fight this problem then that problem, jobs, kids activities, & how do we keep up. Then there's church activities, & other activities that others deem as important for us to do. Where does it stop? I would like to say that even Jesus took time to get away from the work & the crowds & get with His Father. He needed it & we need it so that we can get recharged to be effective in our life for Christ. The other cool thing is that if you are feeling burdened,you can go to Him leave that burden there & lighten your load. Or maybe the battle you're going through has been a long hard fight & you just need that refreshment that only Christ can bring. Go to Him, leave the burden there, get rest, & come back ready to do His work again. It's alright to feel tired sometimes, just don't give up. Before you do that seek Christ for refreshment & restoration
Monday, November 4, 2013
Good Overcomes Evil
Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. (Romans 12:21 NIV)
Occasionally, you can feel like evil is coming against you. I don't about you but when that happens to me I can have the tendency to want to fight back. I feel like it was unfair & something needs to be done about it. Today I was reminded of the soloution. The real way to fight back is to fight back against evil by doing good, showing Christs love, & living the life He has called us to live. If we fall into acting like the people or things coming against us, we fail in our calling to demonstrate Christ. As I think back to the story of Christs crucifixion & all of the evil that came against Him that day, He gave us the example to follow by showing love to the very people who brought the evil & brutality against Him. We didn't deserve His love but He gave it to us anyway. People sometimes will not deserve our love but we're called to do it anyway. It's hard today. There's lots of evil in the world but Gods love is stronger & Hes already overcome the evil. That fight has already been won. So God has given us the key to victory, now it's just up to us to follow the example.
Occasionally, you can feel like evil is coming against you. I don't about you but when that happens to me I can have the tendency to want to fight back. I feel like it was unfair & something needs to be done about it. Today I was reminded of the soloution. The real way to fight back is to fight back against evil by doing good, showing Christs love, & living the life He has called us to live. If we fall into acting like the people or things coming against us, we fail in our calling to demonstrate Christ. As I think back to the story of Christs crucifixion & all of the evil that came against Him that day, He gave us the example to follow by showing love to the very people who brought the evil & brutality against Him. We didn't deserve His love but He gave it to us anyway. People sometimes will not deserve our love but we're called to do it anyway. It's hard today. There's lots of evil in the world but Gods love is stronger & Hes already overcome the evil. That fight has already been won. So God has given us the key to victory, now it's just up to us to follow the example.
Sunday, November 3, 2013
Are you talking to me
When the angel of The Lord appeared to Gideon, he said, "The Lord is with you, mighty warrior. (Judges 6: 12 NIV)
I don't know about any of you but I can't say I've felt much like a "mighty warrior" this week. As a matter of fact, I remember saying this week that I was tired of being the bug. Sometimes you just have times where it feels this way. As the week went on I also remember telling myself I wasn't supposed to be feeling that way. However sometimes you do & there's no point in denying it because God already knows it anyway. But even in those times it's important to remember how God sees you & that through Him you are what He says. After all, He created you. So if the Creator of the universe says that I'm a mighty warrior then I'm a mighty warrior. Gideon was a mighty warrior, not because of his ability but because of God with him. Now the neat thing is today that if we are Gods child, not only is God "with" us but He's now "in " us. How much better is that. As you go out this week, even if you might not feel like it, declare it everyday. Wake up & say I'm a mighty warrior because God said so. We need some mighty warriors to step up & spread Gods word. The world is battling against us spreading Christs message so it's up to the mighty warriors to stand strong!
I don't know about any of you but I can't say I've felt much like a "mighty warrior" this week. As a matter of fact, I remember saying this week that I was tired of being the bug. Sometimes you just have times where it feels this way. As the week went on I also remember telling myself I wasn't supposed to be feeling that way. However sometimes you do & there's no point in denying it because God already knows it anyway. But even in those times it's important to remember how God sees you & that through Him you are what He says. After all, He created you. So if the Creator of the universe says that I'm a mighty warrior then I'm a mighty warrior. Gideon was a mighty warrior, not because of his ability but because of God with him. Now the neat thing is today that if we are Gods child, not only is God "with" us but He's now "in " us. How much better is that. As you go out this week, even if you might not feel like it, declare it everyday. Wake up & say I'm a mighty warrior because God said so. We need some mighty warriors to step up & spread Gods word. The world is battling against us spreading Christs message so it's up to the mighty warriors to stand strong!
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