"Take heart, for I have overcome the world." John 16:33
Everyday is filled with the ups and downs of life-- the excitements, the disappointments, the adventures, and the times that aren't as exciting. What we choose to do, and how we respond to these situations indicates the type of people we are on the inside.
Jesus said, "In this life, you will have trouble. But take heart! For I have overcome the world." John 16:33
Jesus knew that we would encounter disappointments. He knew we would encounter troubles, fears, and doubts. But he says, "Take heart!" because he has already overcome this life. And as we choose to believe this fact, we choose to live in the place he has called us to a place not devoid of sorrow, but where we know and live in a place of victory. In spite of trouble, in spite of doubt, God is there with us. We will encounter sorrow. We will encounter disappointments. And that is ok. But God didn't create us to live there. He created us to overcome, to rise above those circumstances, and let his light shine through us, in spite of it all.
"But those who wait on the Lord will find new strength. They will fly high on wings like eagles. They will run and not grow weary. They will walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31)
This is the life that God intends. This is the place where we are called to live. Even in the midst of our disappointing times, we can count on God to bring us through.
Is God's light shining through you, in spite of your circumstances? Choose to be a person who overcomes in spite of everything. Choose to let God's light shine through you. And rest in the fact that God is there, in the midst of it all.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
God's Heart for Us
“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness. I will build you up again, and you, Virgin Israel, will be rebuilt. Again you will take up your timbrels and go out to dance with the joyful.” -Jeremiah 31:3&4
When people think of God, they tend to think of Him in several different ways. Some think of God as a loving Father. Other people believe He is a dictator. Still others believe He is indifferent to us – as if he is too big and important to care what’s going on in our lives. Some of us choose to believe that God is good, but we haven’t yet believed it in our hearts. We often think of God the same way we thought of our fathers growing up.
Many people believe that God is angry – all the time! To them, God is a God of hell, fire, and brimstone – waiting to punish us with His iron-strong arm whenever they we something wrong. But, this idea is a fallacy – this is not the God of the Bible. God’s story is that of redemption – through sacrificial love.
Some may also argue that the Old Testament is full of God’s judgment and death due to His righteousness. But, if we do not first look at the reason He created us, His plan, and His unfailing story of redemption, we miss the big picture. God does not want people to suffer – in contrast, he wants them to know His love. For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. John 3:16
If you could imagine the most caring, loving father on this earth, that is God times 1000. So many times God gets blamed for the devil’s calamities. Too often He gets blamed for our own sin. Separation from God and His love wasn’t his choice – it happened in the garden, by our own. (Genesis 3) Too many times, God is misrepresented by those who say they know Him.
God’s heart for us is good. It says it in his word. It may not excuse us from negative or difficult things happening in our lives, but we should know God’s heart for us is to have peaceful, abundant lives filled with hope and promise because of our relationship to Him. And, most of all, God’s heart for us is to know His unwavering, unending, unfailing love.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. 1 Corinthians 13:3
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
No Respecter of Persons
Sometimes, rather unintentionally, we as the body of Christ can develop a "superstar" mentality. What I mean by this is that we have had a revelation of our identity in God, but it becomes a little warped. We think we are the best thing that's happened to this planet, and we are the ones who are called to "save the earth". We develop circles around who is the coolest Christian. Others who are not directly in our circle may feel as though we are better than them when they are around us. We may feel that we have something extra special to contribute to the body of Christ because of our gifts or talents.
But you do know what? God doesn't think this way. He loves each and every one of us the same.
God doesn't care whether you're Brittany Spears or Mother Theresa, a person who has heard God 1000 times or someone who would say they've never heard God personally - He loves each of us without measure.
The change in the equation happens when we choose to seek more after God, and we inherit more of His promises over our lives, due to our obedience and revelation of His word.
But, this choice on our behalf does not mean we ought to think more highly of ourselves. In contrast, becoming more like Christ is about dying to self, although it is the most fulfilling thing in the world to be used by Him. "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." -Gal 2:20
When we develop hierarchy of fellowship (not leadership) we can step into dangerous waters. Anything that tries to separate us or others from the love of God is not of Him.
"There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." Galatians 3:28
Let us all walk in humility as we seek to draw others toward a fulfilling, lasting relationship and destiny in Jesus.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Acceptance Precedes Performace
"Accept one another, then, just as Christ accepted you, in order to bring praise to God." -Romans 15:7
We have a performance complex in the world today. We tend to believe that we are accepted for what we do, not for who we are. Business works this way. Politics works this way. It's hard to focus on accepting the who versus the do, since in work situations the "do" is essential for success and profit.
But what about you and me? Are we only accepted for what we do or don't do in life? Unfortunately we will end up in depression or some other extreme behavior if we continue to believe this lie.
The truth is that God loves and accepts us before we do anything. This truth is often easy to forget. Many times in family life and upbringing, (although this should be an unconditional place of love and growth), love is based on our performance. So, as we grow up, we learn that as we do well, we get more love. But if we mess up or do the wrong thing (or things those people don't want us to do), love is withheld.
We must understand that acceptance precedes our performance. If not, we will become either gods in our own eyes if we meet those expectations, or else we will fall into despair because we are not perfect and cannot meet them. We need to instead strive to please the "audience of one," our heavenly Father himself.
Everyone wants to be loved for who they are. Do you feel loved for who you are today? Do you know without a doubt that God loves and accepts you for who He made you to be? Are you able to express this type of love (agape) to others? I pray that we will continue to realize how much our Heavenly Father loves us, in spite of and before anything we try to do to be successful.
We have a performance complex in the world today. We tend to believe that we are accepted for what we do, not for who we are. Business works this way. Politics works this way. It's hard to focus on accepting the who versus the do, since in work situations the "do" is essential for success and profit.
But what about you and me? Are we only accepted for what we do or don't do in life? Unfortunately we will end up in depression or some other extreme behavior if we continue to believe this lie.
The truth is that God loves and accepts us before we do anything. This truth is often easy to forget. Many times in family life and upbringing, (although this should be an unconditional place of love and growth), love is based on our performance. So, as we grow up, we learn that as we do well, we get more love. But if we mess up or do the wrong thing (or things those people don't want us to do), love is withheld.
We must understand that acceptance precedes our performance. If not, we will become either gods in our own eyes if we meet those expectations, or else we will fall into despair because we are not perfect and cannot meet them. We need to instead strive to please the "audience of one," our heavenly Father himself.
Everyone wants to be loved for who they are. Do you feel loved for who you are today? Do you know without a doubt that God loves and accepts you for who He made you to be? Are you able to express this type of love (agape) to others? I pray that we will continue to realize how much our Heavenly Father loves us, in spite of and before anything we try to do to be successful.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Embracing the Tension
"For we are God's handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." Ephesians 2:10
Have you ever felt tension in your life? There are negative tensions, like anxiety or worry, and positive tensions, like weight-training. According to Webster's online dictionary, the type of tension we're talking about means "either of two balancing forces causing or tending to cause extension".
In every life, there is a tension that exists between who we are now and who God is calling us to be. Switchfoot says it best in their song Dare to Move: "The tension is here, The tension is here; Between who you are and who you could be, Between how it is and how it should be." As Webster's indicates, tension produces our "extension".
If we aren't experiencing some sort of tension in our lives, the likelihood is that we've not yet come to the place of accepting Christ's calling to serve Him, in whatever fashion He has purposed for us in the here and now.
Tension isn't a bad thing; rather, it's a propelling force helping us to be better, and strengthening our faith as we progress. Just as the tension system in a weight machine helps us build muscle, God will put situations and people in our path to create tension to prepare us for the ultimate purpose He has for our lives. God doesn't want us to stay where we are; therefore He uses these people and situations to help us become more like Him. In tension our faith gets stronger.
If we are pursuing God's calling on our lives, tension will always exist. Why? We will always have a flesh part of us that will want to sabotage our potential in Him, (Gal 5:17) but God's redemption of our spirits and souls will always be creating the desire in us to do the good works God intends for us to do. Ultimately, we know we are being shaped for something. Our eyes look upward as we accept God's process for shaping us for His ultimate purpose for our lives.
Have you embraced the tension in your life?
Have you ever felt tension in your life? There are negative tensions, like anxiety or worry, and positive tensions, like weight-training. According to Webster's online dictionary, the type of tension we're talking about means "either of two balancing forces causing or tending to cause extension".
In every life, there is a tension that exists between who we are now and who God is calling us to be. Switchfoot says it best in their song Dare to Move: "The tension is here, The tension is here; Between who you are and who you could be, Between how it is and how it should be." As Webster's indicates, tension produces our "extension".
If we aren't experiencing some sort of tension in our lives, the likelihood is that we've not yet come to the place of accepting Christ's calling to serve Him, in whatever fashion He has purposed for us in the here and now.
Tension isn't a bad thing; rather, it's a propelling force helping us to be better, and strengthening our faith as we progress. Just as the tension system in a weight machine helps us build muscle, God will put situations and people in our path to create tension to prepare us for the ultimate purpose He has for our lives. God doesn't want us to stay where we are; therefore He uses these people and situations to help us become more like Him. In tension our faith gets stronger.
If we are pursuing God's calling on our lives, tension will always exist. Why? We will always have a flesh part of us that will want to sabotage our potential in Him, (Gal 5:17) but God's redemption of our spirits and souls will always be creating the desire in us to do the good works God intends for us to do. Ultimately, we know we are being shaped for something. Our eyes look upward as we accept God's process for shaping us for His ultimate purpose for our lives.
Have you embraced the tension in your life?
Monday, November 1, 2010
Do you know Jesus?
Do you know Jesus Christ?
If you don't yet, let me invite you to pray this simple prayer to ask Jesus into your heart:
Dear Lord Jesus, I pray and ask You Jesus to come into my heart. I confess that I am a sinner and I ask You to forgive me, and take away my sins. I renounce my past lifestyle and I ask You to make me new, by the cleansing of Your blood. I believe that You died on the cross for my sins, and that You were raised from the dead and are alive today. Jesus, I ask you to come into my heart as Lord of my
life today.
I believe today that I am born again and I am a new creation in Christ. I ask you God to take my life and use it for Your purpose and for Your glory.
Thank you Jesus for dying for me, and saving me from sin and eternal death. Thank you for setting me free.
In Jesus' Name,
Amen
Did you pray this prayer for the very first time? If so, would you let us know? From here, you'll want to commit yourself to prayer, reading the Bible, and finding a good local church where you can grow and experience more of God. We are so excited that you took this crucial step - God loves you so much and has an amazing plan for your life!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
True Love
"Out of respect for Christ, be courteously reverent to one another.
Wives, understand and support your husbands in ways that show your support for Christ. The husband provides leadership to his wife the way Christ does to his church, not by domineering but by cherishing. So just as the church submits to Christ as he exercises such leadership, wives should likewise submit to their husbands.
Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ's love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They're really doing themselves a favor—since they're already "one" in marriage.
No one abuses his own body, does he? No, he feeds and pampers it. That's how Christ treats us, the church, since we are part of his body. And this is why a man leaves father and mother and cherishes his wife. No longer two, they become "one flesh." This is a huge mystery, and I don't pretend to understand it all. What is clearest to me is the way Christ treats the church. And this provides a good picture of how each husband is to treat his wife, loving himself in loving her, and how each wife is to honor her husband."
Wives, understand and support your husbands in ways that show your support for Christ. The husband provides leadership to his wife the way Christ does to his church, not by domineering but by cherishing. So just as the church submits to Christ as he exercises such leadership, wives should likewise submit to their husbands.
Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church—a love marked by giving, not getting. Christ's love makes the church whole. His words evoke her beauty. Everything he does and says is designed to bring the best out of her, dressing her in dazzling white silk, radiant with holiness. And that is how husbands ought to love their wives. They're really doing themselves a favor—since they're already "one" in marriage.
No one abuses his own body, does he? No, he feeds and pampers it. That's how Christ treats us, the church, since we are part of his body. And this is why a man leaves father and mother and cherishes his wife. No longer two, they become "one flesh." This is a huge mystery, and I don't pretend to understand it all. What is clearest to me is the way Christ treats the church. And this provides a good picture of how each husband is to treat his wife, loving himself in loving her, and how each wife is to honor her husband."
~Ephesians 5:21-33
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