The Greatest Gift

"For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." -Romans 6:23
 
Have you ever seen the movie It's a Wonderful Life?  It has to be one of the greatest American movies of all time, released in 1946.

The film stars George Bailey, a man whose dire circumstances result in a depression so bad he makes up his mind to take his own life on Christmas Eve.  Just as he is about to jump off a bridge, George's guardian angel, Clarence Odbody, makes himself known to George and intervenes on his behalf. Clarence then takes George on a journey,  showing him the impact his life has had on others and how their community would've been vastly different if George hadn't been born. George realizes that his life has immense value, no matter his circumstances.

We are so blessed to live in a country where we can celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ as a national holiday. His birth, His death, and His resurrection made it possible for us to have the gift of eternal life.

"He is before all things, and in him all things hold together." -Col 1:17
 
When we receive this precious gift, when we confess our sins and believe that Jesus died for our sins, we then carry this same gift of hope, love, grace, truth, and salvation wherever we go. God sends us as His representatives to a hurting world where His life and hope are needed. When we realize Jesus is the hope of our salvation, and when we realize just a piece of the depth of his love for us, we realize how much we matter. Jesus wouldn't have given His life for us if ours didn't matter to Him.

Do you know for certain you have received the gift of Jesus' salvation? Ask Him into your life today if you aren't quite sure. The gift of His son Jesus is the best gift we can receive in this life, and is the best gift we can give to others.

Sweet Surrender

"Here is a trustworthy saying: If we died with him, we will also live with him" - 2 Timothy 2:11

What does it mean to surrender? In many contexts, surrendering has a negative connotation – one that implies resignation, abandonment, or defeat.  But, in the Christian sense, surrender is actually a good thing.  One definition of surrender means, "to give up in favor of another".*

When we surrender our lives to Christ, we give up our own way of doing things and favor His will over our own. In order for us to do this, we have to be able to trust Him.  Trusting in God’s love is the only way to experiencing the fullness of our new life in Him.

Before the Apostle Paul was a disciple of Jesus, he was a powerful persecutor of the disciples.  He was intent on stopping the spread of the gospel.  But, one day as he was on the road to Damascus he was suddenly surrounded by a bright light.  He fell to the ground and heard a voice say, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?" He was blinded for three days, but after this experience, he became one of the most fervent disciples, writing a good bit of the New Testament.  He surrendered to Jesus and the message of His salvation. (Acts 9:3–9)

There is something that happens to us when we let go and let God. When we trust Him - when we let Him take the wheel.  Even if we’ve chosen Christ in our hearts, we still need to relinquish our rights to Him.  As we recognize the depth of His sacrifice, we become ever more willing to do whatever He asks us to do so that others can experience His love. 

"For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God." -Col 3:3

Is there anything holding you back from giving God everything?  As a loving Father, He desires to bring us to the place of saying, “God, you can have it all for the purpose of Your glory revealed in me.” Ask God to help you surrender to His love today.

* http://www.thefreedictionary.com/surrender

Silos

"For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone." -Romans 14:7

Have you ever thought about the fact that your life matters? Sometimes we can get into the mindset that it's just us, all alone by ourselves, and that what we do doesn't affect other people. But, if you were born into this world, it took someone else to bring you here! Even if we don't think so, we have the ability to affect others, directly or indirectly.
 
My husband and I had attended a marriage conference where the teacher challenged us to remain faithful to the covenant, (or promise), we had made to each other - not just on behalf of our own family - but on behalf of our culture and the world at large. "We have a significant problem in America," he said. "If the family breaks down, the rest of society breaks down." (Paraphrased) This is a principle taught in modern secular sociology.
 
In American culture, we tend to think that our choices really don't affect those around us. We think of ourselves as silos. "Oh I can do that, it's not going to affect anyone but me," we say. But the fact is our choices (or lack of choices) do affect other people. We aren't really silos - we are more like trees, connected and interwoven amidst one another.
 
Jesus said, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in Me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from Me you can do nothing." -John 15:5 Trees and branches have root systems to gain nourishment. When we are connected to Jesus, He becomes our life source. We are all connected, through Him.
 
What if you are the one to help someone in need? If you don't step out, that person may never be helped! What if you are the one to free an entire nation, like Joseph? If he didn't pass the tests God gave him, he wouldn't have been in a position to help the entire nation of Israel during the famine. (Gen 41:56)
 
Even though we may not want to admit it, what we do affects our family, our friends, our cultures, our communities, our cities, our country, and the world. It's not something to make us afraid or feel bad, but it reminds us that our lives really do matter. Do you know that your life matters to others today?



God Doesn't Play Favorites

"Then Peter began to speak: 'I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism, but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.'" -Acts 10:34 & 35
 
All throughout the history of the world, things have happened that are less than ideal. People have hurt people and there have been wars. Class warfare, discrimination, and racism have existed and still exist today. In the Kingdom of God however, God plays no favorites. He loves each of us the same, much more than we will ever know. (Eph 3:17-19)

Sometimes we may think that God's blessing or approval is only reserved for "special people"; that it's based on God's criteria of random characteristics unbeknownst to us. But the fact is that each of us can choose to be one of God's favored ones, as we chose Him to be the author of the book of our lives. My husband and I always tell each other, "You're my favorite," because we've chosen the other, and we want them to know how much they are loved. 

From the beginning of the world, God gave us a gift. He gave us the gift of free will. Sometimes we use it to glorify Him. Other times, we use this gift of choice for selfish desires, and sometimes make bad choices. But, we can choose righteously. We can choose love over hate. We can choose freedom over bondage. And, we can choose how favored or close to God we want to be. The only thing separating us from God or bringing us closer to Him is our own will.

God instructs His followers to follow His example. He wants us to remain unconditional to those we encounter. There is no barrier between God and His love. Sometimes what exists between us and our sharing God's love with others is the fears, attitudes, and preconceived ideas we have that were passed down to us from others, or from things that have happened in our own lives. But, in the book of James He makes it clear that followers of Christ should not show favoritism, to anyone. "My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism." -James 2:1
 
As we come to realize just a little revelation of God's love for us, we realize how much we are loved and favored as His children.  We chose Him and love Him more. Do you know you are God's favored one today?

Love & Respect

“However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.” -Ephesians 5:33

Have you ever heard the phrases “men need respect”, and “women need love”?  I have to admit this idea was branded into my brain as a result of some amazing marriage coaching after my husband and I were engaged.  But it wasn’t until recently that these words jumped out at me as I was reading scripture –and how true they are!

We are all wired so differently – men and women, young and old, with different likes and dislikes, different desires and different motivations.  How could we best motivate and encourage each other if we knew what made the other person tick?

In the short amount of time I’ve been married, I’ve that what motivates me is different than what motivates my other half.  His love languages are different then mine.  In business and ministry, the same is true!  Some may be motivated by challenge, others, serving others.  Still, some are motivated by “getting it right”, and still others are motivated by the fun of it all.  But, at the end of the day, we do have two things in common – we need to feel loved, and we need to feel respected for what we bring to the table.

The picture of marriage and how we are to treat one another in the New Testament is quite different from some of the cultural expectations we’ve had about relationships.  Our culture says, “Serve me!” when we are called to serve.  (Matt 20:28) Some believe marriage is to “be served” when Christ said, “lay down your life for your bride.” (Eph 5:25) We think all our problems will end when someone comes into our lives to fix them for us.  Instead, it reveals our greatest inadequacies in being more like Christ, but the best way we can grow into becoming more like Him.

In all our relationships, love and respect are key.  How can you love and respect those you serve today?

Having the Grace for It

"But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace to me was not without effect. No, I worked harder than all of them - yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me." -1 Corinthians 15:10

Have you ever noticed that some things are far easier when God is with us? "God is always with us," you may say, which is true, but have you ever noticed God's favor on some activities and not all activities? Have you ever done something you knew God wanted you to do? Likewise, have you ever done anything you knew God didn't want you to do?

Sometimes what God wants us to do is confirmed by several things in our lives: God's word, the agreement of other trusted people in our lives, God's peace, and, most noticeably, God's active grace accompanying us. We understand the "noun" of God's grace to be His undeserved gift of salvation. But, the Bible also talks about His grace being actively with us to help us accomplish His work on the earth (a verb).

We may be gifted or feel called to do something. But it may not be the season for it. This is discerning God's timing. We may want to step out into something, but notice that we don't feel a peace about it. Other times, we may feel at peace about something we are doing that leads to a godly goal, seems easy, and moves forward in spite of obstacles. In these situations, we work hard, do our best and also experience God's supernatural grace to accomplish the task at hand. It may seem silly, but this grace happens to me in the buying and selling of cars I've owned.

When it relates to God's active grace, we need to be careful we don't step out into something that God has not called us to, or given us the grace for. If we misinterpret our direction, desire to do our "own thing", or stay in something for too long (the grace has lifted) we could experience consequences. We need to be sensitive to God's Holy Spirit in the timing of all of these things.

Do you feel God's grace in what you are doing? Pray that God would show you and give you the grace to accomplish all you are called to. He says, "For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." -Matthew 11:30


The Search for Significance

"Come and follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." -Matthew 4:19  

Have you ever felt insignificant?  Have you ever felt like nothing you did would matter to anyone else?  Conversely, have you ever felt valued?  Like, what you did really mattered to someone in this world?   
 
If you ever ask a young person what they want to be when they grow up, they'll likely say something like, "An astronaut!" "A fireman!" "A ballerina!"  "A rockstar!" Even from an early age, we're searching for significance.  We're searching to do something "cool" that makes an impact on others.   
 
Unfortunately, so much of our American culture today focuses on who is in the spotlight.  We confuse the spotlight for significance.  But, once we've tasted what it means to truly make a difference, the rest of the "fluffy stuff" just doesn?t matter anymore.  What matters is that our lives mean something to others. I heard a pastor tell a story once about a few unnamed people who made a difference in his church. A small group of volunteers wanted to make a backdrop for their stage with the words "There is hope in Jesus".  A man walked in the next Sunday with his mind made up.  He had decided that that day was the day he was going to end his own life.  He thought to himself, "I am going to go to church one last time.  And then, I am going to go home and end it."
 
The man walked into their church and looked at the words on the backdrop.  As the story was told, he observed the worship, he listened to the preaching, but when he got home that day, ready to do whatever he was going to do, all that he could think of was those words, "There is hope in Jesus."  Those words inspired him not to take his life that day.
 
Are you focused on making a difference in someone's life, versus just searching for success?  Success finds us when we make it a point to bless someone else.  Blessing can be in the form of words, an action, or a smile.  Who can you bless today?