When you think your life is worth more then others, you do not know love. ~Tauriel, The Battle of Five Armies
Jesus expressed his love for us not only by sacrificing his life on the cross but by the sacrifice he showed in his life daily. He could of come down as a grown man, taken up an earthly governmental throne and demanded praise. But he didn’t he came humbly, lived humbly and put others before himself.
Jesus didn’t think his life was too valuable to sacrifice, so how can we?
Sharing God’s love with others is when we put others first, show them honor and respect. Show them they are valuable.
That’s what Jesus did. He put our lives before his own, because we are valuable to Him.
One of the greatest life lessons I’ve learned was that I’m not above anything or anyone.
Years ago I worked at the church I grew up in, as an administrative assistant. The senior pastor helped me learn this lesson by the way he led.
He always said that he was not above anything, even down to picking up a gum wrapper off of the ground. Yes there were janitorial staff, but he was there so why wouldn’t he.
Photo by Forest Simon on Unsplash
He modeled this everyday, he was always willing to stop whatever he was doing to help someone and he never shied away from helping set-up or tear down, he was always the last to leave and the last to eat.
I’ve applied this lesson everywhere in my life, by seeing myself as there to serve, in the workplace, in my home and in life. When I see an opportunity to help, I help. This has helped me to not become bitter or resentful more times then I can count.
Jesus considered himself a servant. So how can I consider myself above Jesus.
When you see opportunities to serve or help, look at them as opportunities to shine Jesus.
Years ago I made a choice to drastically change my life and gave my life back to Jesus. The one thing that has been consistent in these past years is that my heart cry to God is “Thy Will be Done.”
I tried life without God and I screwed it up royally.
But when I made the choice to follow Jesus and made Him Lord of my life. I now ask Him what he wants, instead of what I want.
Every time I choose to trust God and follow His lead. He provides abundantly more than I could of imagined. The path to get there can sometimes feel uncertain, strange or even impossible, but God always provides.
There have been so many times in the past years that His way has proved better then what I would’ve chosen.
He has moved my husband and I all over the country, to multiple jobs, unemployment and through some rough financial patches. One constant reminder that God’s will is the better choice is my husband!
That’s right, I let God choose my husband!
My track record with picking boyfriends for myself was terrible, just ask my friends.
But when I choose to let God take the lead, I stopped dating and waited for God to bring me ‘the One’
I know it sounds crazy, but it worked.
My husband is the perfect partner for me and God has truly blessed me with little surprises in him that I didn’t even know I wanted or needed in a spouse.
It’ all because I said to God “Thy Will be done”
What has God been asking you to take a step of faith in?
One single day can pull us from the depths of despair.
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I love Anne of Green Gables. One of the expressions Anne uses often is that she’s “in the depths of despair.”
I have to be honest, I’ve always thought she was being over dramatic, until one summer when I struggled with depression. I’m generally an optimistic, joyful, happy person, but I could not shake this funk. I tried talking to God but to be honest I was kind of mad at Him. Until one day when when I choose to forgive Him.
Yes forgive God.
It was not that God had done anything wrong, it was that I didn’t like the answer He had given regarding something I was asking for.
That single act pulled me from my depression, when I choose to let go of my expectations and trust God’s timing.
For many people, myself included. We can be angry or dis-enthralled with God because He doesn’t give us what we want, in the timing we expect it to happen. We do this more than I think any of us would like to admit. But the key to freedom is to let go of the things He asks us to. It doesn’t mean He doesn’t want to bless us with the desires He’s placed in our heart, it means He has something better or maybe we aren’t ready for what that blessing entails.
Not giving our dream over to Jesus is like staying in an old dilapidated house beyond repair because it has memories and nostalgia. When God is saying I have this perfect house over here, and we can build better, happier memories.
That’s the power of forgiveness, it can pull us from the depths of despair in one moment.
What are you holding on to that’s keeping you in the depths of despair?
Trust that God has something better for you, and let go.
Something a friend of mine taught me is that we are all different parts of the body of Jesus.
You may have heard this many times.
But he explained it that since we are all different parts, different aspects of God expressed though all of us. God is so vast that it takes all of humanity to express Him. We each reveal Him in different ways.
Some show God’s relentless love and compassion for humanity. Some show His willingness to stop everything, to show love to the poorest soul on the planet, and some show unrelenting faith by forgiving endlessly.
All you need to do is look at the many varieties of flowers or trees to see just a small glimpse of how complex God is.
All of creation cries out to glorify God and we are part of that creation meant to express Him.
We as Christians are all the body of Jesus and we have all of Him but some characteristics of Him are stronger in you then they are in me. That’s why we need each other. To be the hands and feet of Jesus together!
How many times have you wished you could have a fresh start, a clean slate?
You can, when you accept Jesus sacrifice you get a clean slate, he wipes away all your past mistakes and starts you fresh and the best part is you an have a fresh start everyday.
From the moment you choose to follow Jesus, you can have a fresh start.
Jesus died so that we would not have to be bogged down by your past mistakes. So that we wouldn’t have to feel guilt, shame and condemnation.
He came to set us free.
Jesus makes us new in him. We die to our old ways, our old habits and our old mindset and take on his mind.
You don’t have to be what you used to be you don’t have to be restrained to your past you can be set free.
The enemy will taunt us with our worst fears to discourage us from becoming who God has intended us to be.
The Return of the King movie depicts this when Aragon uses the seeing stone to fight Sauron by claiming his identity as the heir to the throne. Sauron replies by trying to scare him with the death of Arwen.
The enemy’s biggest weapon is fear. Fear of what if, of what might happen. But you can’t put your trust or your faith in what if.
You can put your faith in Jesus and draw your strength from your identity in him.
The enemy can’t have a hold on you, if you don’t let him.
We fight fear with truth. The enemy says you are ugly, God says you are beautiful. The enemy says you are weak, God says he will be your strength.
The truth of who God has made us to be is our strongest weapon, but we have to know it to use it.
When we die to our selfish desires and let Jesus live through us we become like him. Read the scriptures about Jesus, know who he is and what he said and did. Isaiah 61 is one of my favorite passage describing what Jesus came to do and be. Read it and let the Holy Spirit teach you who he made you to be in Jesus.
It’ amazing the difference of negative influences on our lives verse positive influences.
If we let people tell us lies and influence our every decision.
We can be old and almost dead if we let the wrong person speak into our lives. Like Grimmer Wormtongue with King Theoden in Lord of the Rings: the Two Towers.
I’m sure that King Theoden’s demise was slow and over time as he let Grimmer lie to him about his friends and family, slowly till the point where Grimmer was making all his decisions for him.
We can become like this too, if we allow the wrong influences to be the predominate voice in or lives.
Photo by Victoria Heath on Unsplash
But that doesn’t have to be true of us.
We can choose who we allow to have influence over us. We have a choice of who we listen too, what we watch and how we let those things affect us.
If we let the Holy Spirit be the predominate influence in our lives. He is always with us and always has something encouraging and uplifting to say. Even moments when he correct us can be encouraging.
A few years ago when my now husband and I ere first dating. I was in a book store and the Holy Spirit corrected me in how I was acting towards my him.
That moment was one of the most loving and intimate moments I have ever had with God. Even His correction is loving.
Trust God.
Listen to the Holy Spirit about the influences in your life and trust that if He asks you to give something up that He has something even better to replace it.
To all God’s holy people in Christ Jesus at Philippi, together with the overseers and deacons:
Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
I thank my God every time I remember you.In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joybecause of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now,being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart and, whether I am in chains or defending and confirming the gospel, all of you share in God’s grace with me.God can testify how I long for all of you with the affection of Christ Jesus.
And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight,so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ—to the glory and praise of God.
It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill.The latter do so out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel.The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains.But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice.
The book of Philippians is a letter written to the believers in Philippi. Paul addresses them as old friends saying how he longs for them and prays for them.
This reminds me of the church community I grew up in. Even though we live far from them now I still feel a connection to them and always will. I still care for them deeply, pray for them and desire for them to grow closer to Jesus. Just as Paul does for the church in Philippi.
This is how we should feel about all believers.
When we meet other believers there is an instant bond, a connection we feel when we meet that binds us together.
There are so many things that divide us as believers, but shouldn’t we all have the same prayer as Paul for all believers.
God was in the gentle whisper. He speaks to us in many ways and one way is through others. Whenever I read this verse it reminds me of the scene in The Nativity Story when one of the ladies in the village where Mary lives tells the village kids this story.
She’s teaching them the different ways God speaks us.
God speaks to us through our surroundings, through nature, through visions and dreams, through others and he speaks directly to us. (more about how God speaks to us)
Often people think that God doesn’t speak to them because they didn’t hear a loud, booming audible voice. But don’t you think we would all be a little freaked out if that was the only way he spoke to us.
God desires a deep intimate relationship with each one of us and to do that he whispers to us, but we have to listen.
A movie recently came out about Bart Millard of Mercy Me’s life called I Can Only Imagine. Bart’s dad was horrible to him as he was growing up and he left as soon as he graduated high school, to pursue his career in Christian music but just before his band made it big, he went home to patch things up with his dad and God answered both their prayers. Bart returned home which was his fathers prayer and his father had accepted Jesus and he finally had the dad he always wanted.
God answers our prayers but sometimes the timeline doesn’t always happen when we think it should.
My mom raised me as a christian but I decided to abandon God for 6 years in my early twenties and live life the way I wanted.
This broke my moms heart. She prayed years for me to return to my faith in God. She watched for years as I made stupid, selfish choices all in the name of finding what I thought would make me happy.
But what I found instead was disappointment and a constant longing to feel loved, accepted, valued and wanted.
By worldly standards I had what appeared to be a good life on the outside, a good job with consistent promotions and a long term relationship. But in reality I had a job that pulled me away from friends and family and an emotionally abuse dependent relationship.
I was miserable trying to find happiness on my own.
Eventually I hit rock bottom and decided to give my life back to God.
Keep praying for your family and friends, continue to love and support them and always keep the door open for them. You never know when they will make the decision to change their life.
I had the pleasure of meeting Pastor Henry Convington and his wife Annette of I Am My Brothers Keeper in Detroit, Mi years ago. So I was excited to learn more of their story when I saw the movie Have a Little Faith.
Pastor Covington life was a great example of the complete transformation that Jesus makes in our life. He was a drug dealer and addict until he hit his rock bottom and surrendered his life to Jesus.
Jesus is always there for us and he wants to take care of us but we have a choice. We can choose to live however we want and ignore him or we can choose to follow him and trust him to take care of us.
Pastor Covington hustled for what he thought he wanted and it almost cost him his life. But when he turned his life to Jesus instead of taking from people, God gave him the opportunity to give to others.
Don’t be afraid to do what God has asked of you, trust that he has you taken care of and will never fail you.
Paul was in prison when he wrote the book of Philippians, but he didn’t let it affect his witness. Instead he used it to witness to the guard and the other prisoners. And his boldness encouraged the believers outside to spur on the gospel further and more passionately. God uses our circumstances, no matter how bleak to reach people.
My husband and I recently went through some rough financially patches, but each time God used it to draw us closer together, closer to him, and to help us see what’s really important in life.
God has been working me towards the goal of writing this blog for a long time, but in the process I wrote and trashed half a book, wrote a second book and have two failed ministry launches to get me to the point of realizing what my ministry would be and how he wanted me to do it.
This blog and having a career as a writer has been a dream for a long time, but God had to take me through a process to make me who I am today, to prepare me to do this the right way. Along this long path I’ve picked up skills that we’re much needed to make this a success and (I’m still learning) but I wouldn’t of had the drive, the desire or the knowledge without going on the journey that he took me on.
Just because you may have failed at what you know God has called you to, doesn’t mean that he isn’t going to use that experience to teach you how to succeed in what he’s called you too.
So keep pursuing the dream God has placed in your heart and don’t be discouraged, we all fail, but it’s how we fail that matters.
We are supposed to be different, so that people can see our witness in our words, our actions and reactions. We are to lay down our lives for Jesus as he did for us.
Sounds impossible, but it isn’t.
I can’t tell you how many times I didn’t want to get out of bed and go to work, like I’m sure many of you have too. But I did it anyway.
But just because I started my day off rough doesn’t mean it has to stay that way.
I’ve found that using my drive to work as a time to fix my eyes on Jesus makes a big difference by the time I get to work. I usually have worship music or sermons from podcasts playing as I get ready in the morning and on my drive to work. I call it Driving with Jesus. I ask Jesus to teach me something and He always does. Sometimes He uses a song or a sermon, and sometimes He uses people walking on the street or the landscape of my drive.
But He always changes my perspective and attitude by the time I get to work, if I let Him give me a perspective change. See many of our problems and issues stem from just seeing the problem from our own earthly perspective. But when we allow Jesus to show us His perspective He changes our view of things.
Photo by Anika Huizinga on Unsplash
When you surrender your life and your day to God he changes your perspective and transforms your mind to see like He sees and think like He thinks. So let Jesus drive and enjoy the passenger seat of life’s road.
If we have found encouragement, comfort, love, tenderness and compassion from Jesus.
Then we are supposed to bring joy to Him by being liked minded with Him, by sharing that same love with others, by following the Holy Spirit, by humbling ourselves and valuing others above ourselves.
If you haven’t found these things in Jesus, then I ask have you been seeking Him?
We cannot be these things to others if we do not first know them from Him. Its hard to give out what you haven’t received.
Seek God, learn His character, know His words and His actions. If we know Him we can tell others about Him, but if we don’t know Him how can we expect to show others.
These statements have been used and abused to justify our selfish desires.
Abiding in the vine, in Jesus, changes you. It changes your wants, your desires, and the way you think. If we abide in the vine, we abide in the love of God. Jesus’s desires become our desires.
So that keeping his commandments is out of love, not status or achievement.
Abiding in the vine is about, literally growing as a branch to reach out and grow fruit. If we are each a branch then how many could we reach.
We are stronger when we abide together in the vine to bear fruit.
It great to have alone time with God but we draw so much strength from gathering together too.
Abide in the vine that is Jesus. Abide in his love and you will bear his fruit.
Think about it this way. Has being poking at, people pointing fingers at you, being teased, being told you are wrong, or protesting ever convinced you that you are loved by God. Then why would we think that it would convey that to anyone else.
Did Jesus do anything of those things? No.
When people met Jesus, they changed their ways by their own decision. The tax collector gave back the money he stole with interest and Jesus never asked him to. Jesus didn’t throw rocks at the woman who was going to be stoned for adultery, he defended her.
Jesus causes people to change their ways just by being love. It’s the love of God that causes people to choose to change, not condemnation.
Isn’t that what brought you to God?
His love and forgiveness.
We are not meant to be judge and jury. We are meant to show God’s love.
The Christmas Candle is a timeless movie. It illustrates how God wants to and will bless us, just that it may not be how or when we want it.
But if we put our trust in God and look for him in everything we can see past our expectations and find what he wants to bless us with.
It may not be what we thought it would be or happen how we thought it should. But how, when and with what he does bless us will be more and better then if we had tried to do it or get it on our own.
He is always there for us and he wants to bless us with the desires of our hearts. We may just not understand what he’s doing at the moment.
Christmas is a time of hope and tradition but it also has discouragement and loss. Its a time when we hope for the things we desire, be it a gift, relationship restoration or a new relationship formed, and traditions that we hold dear to our hearts. But we can be come discouraged when things don’t go as planned or we don’t get what we had hoped for. That’s when we ask him for his perspective and let him change our view of what may seem like hopelessness, but in truth his blessing is right around the corner.
Our worship should be ingrained in us, so much that everything within us cries out to God. Every fiber in our body should be yielded and shout out to him “you are HOLY.”
King David danced because he wanted everything within him to praise God. “Who decided that reservation is worship? God gave his everything for us. Why shouldn’t we do the same in our worship?
Photo by David Calderón on Unsplash
What will happen if you lift your arms. Will the world end?
If you jump for joy, will the ground fall out underneath you? No. God gives a firm foundation.
If you dance for joy. Will God turn from you in shame? No, he will dance with you!
Surrounded (fight my battles) by Michael W Smith may be the simplest lyrics ever written but they are powerful. The song talks about our times of struggle when we feel a heaviness, no way out, surrounded by nothing good or positive. We fight with praise. We fight by rejoicing in Jesus, the only one who is always constantly there for us, always fighting for us.
Over and over again has such power in it because it reminds us that we don’t fight with anger, hate, malice and judgment.
We fight with love, joy, peace and patience.
That’s why when we feel surrounded, we fight by giving praise to God.
We shift our focus to the one who fights for us, so that we can allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us and to show us the true perspective.
When I was in Honduras, we were working at a Christian school that also hosted youth nights. One night when we were praying before one of the youth nights a mob came to both of the gates of the fenced in facility and tried to break down the gates.
Our pastor told us what was going on and our response was not panic or worry but to pray. We trusted that God had brought us there to make an impact for Him and that He would protect us and He did.
As we were praying the Holy Spirit showed showed me a vision of the compound surrounded by 30 foot angels guarding and protecting us.
Not for one moment did I feel fear or worry because I knew God would protect us. The mob eventually dispersed and we were able to have the youth night.
God always provides for His children when we turn to Him.
So no matter where you are, what your doing, or how hopeless you feel you can always count on God to be there for you.
God doesn’t see us the way we see ourselves, he sees us as beautiful messes. He see the beauty he created us to be, that is bogged down by the baggage we choose to carry with us. We are the ones that choose to walk around carrying all our hurts and pains, lugging around the baggage of our past.
Photo by Tommaso Pecchioli on Unsplash
But his burden is light.
God doesn’t want us to carry all that around with us. He wants us to lay it all at his feet.
Baggage can be many things worry, anxiety, past hurts and pain. It’s anything that holds us back from exseding the joy, love and love that come from knowing Jesus.
One of the secrets of our marriage is that we don’t carry our baggage with us. My husband and I both go to God first before going to each other or anyone else, when we realize that something bothers us.
We ask God, why? Whether it is something someone said or did or even our own mode or attitude that we know is not from him. We go to God first and ask what the root cause of the pain is. Then after we’ve sorted it out with God we go to each other or the person that hurt us and talk it through, if necessary. Many times we’ve worked things out with God and don’t even need to talk to the other person.
We don’t have to walk around with all the hurt and pain of our past or even our present if we lay them at the foot of the cross. He is always with us, always accessible and always wants to help us.
Next time you feel someone poke an old wound or make a new one go to God first and find freedom.
Why do we keep trying the same temporary fixes to fill the holes inside us and expect different results?
We all have times when we want to escape, from work, school, home, kids spouse. Everyone needs a break sometime.
But is what we run to really helping? Or is it just a temporary fix, like putting tape on a busted pipe it may work for a moment but eventually the pipe is going to burst again, and if we keep using tape it’s never going to solve the issue.
The lyrics of the song Chain Breaker by Zach Williams describes the cycle we go through in life so often searching for the solution but never finding the answer in the same process.
But there is a better way, a better life.
God is a chain breaker he made a way for us to be free to not feel tied down but to find joy and peace in our homes, in our work and in our families.
He is the way.
When we go to him, when we need rest, he lifts us up, he takes our fears our worries and our frustrations when we give them over to him.
If we grip onto the chains that our strangling us he can’t remove them. We have to surrender them over to him so he can remove them.
The first exegetical (which simple means using the whole text and in context) sermon I ever preached was on Psalm 150, the last of the psalms. It cries out the heart of the book of psalms Praise HIM, no matter what, no matter how you feel, Praise HIM.
Praise HIM everywhere in every way, all the time. With singing, with instruments, with dancing, with focus and undivided attention.
Praising God isn’t about the perfect song or if the band is on key, or if you sit, stand, kneel, dance or jump about. It’s about your heart.
Worship is about God, not us.
Are your words and your actions reflecting God? Are you shining glory on him? Are you taking time to solely focus on God, thanking him, praising him and giving him the glory? That’s what he deserves.
The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Romans 8:15-16
The intimacy of calling God “Father” is the privilege we get when we come into the family of God.
Unfortunately sometimes people see God as this big dictator in the sky ready to strike us down when we do something wrong.
But nothing could be further from the truth.
We are invited in and adopted into God’s family. He is seeks a deep intimate relationship with each of us to the point of calling him Daddy!
The God I know is loving and kind, sweet and generous.
He doesn’t look down at us like slaves to be bossed around, living in fear of our master. But as his beautiful children.
He is our Abba, Daddy and he wants to nurture and help us grow in a safe loving environment, just as any father does.
We get to call him Daddy, so seek him out as a child and look for that loving embrace of our heavenly Father.
Seeing God in the happy times is easy, but when we feel like we’re in the midst of a storm it’s hard to focus on what’s really important.
JESUS!
When we fix our eyes on Jesus he lifts us up.
Like Peter walking on water in Matthew 14:22-33. Peter walked on water but as soon as he took his focus off of Jesus and onto the storm around him he began to sink. It wasn’t until he cried out to Jesus, that he was lifted back up.
God gives us choices and He’s always there to help us, but we have to ask. We have to let Him in and trust His solution.
Sometimes it’s a simple answer and sometimes it’s going to take some faith. Trust that Jesus will provide even when we don’t see the immediate result.
IF you look for Him in everything in your life He will shine thru.
How do you act, speak, think when your alone? Is it the same way you are in public, at work, at church?
Would you be ashamed to share who you are at home or what you do?
Does who you are change depending on where you are? Or who your around.
If we have Jesus living in us and we are living by the guidance of the Holy Spirit we should be the same person whether we are alone or surround by thousands.
When you look at people, look at them through the eyes of the Holy Spirit. Ask Him to show you how He sees them.
Each one of us is a part of the body of Jesus, so we all matter. Every person on the planet is given the opportunity to be a part of the body of Jesus.
Therefore we all are important!
There is not a person on this planet that isn’t important to God.
So why do we treat each other with so much callus and disregard?
Everyone matter to Him, so they should matter to us.
That may sound overwhelming. But if you have the Holy spirit guiding you its not as daunting as it seems.
Kindness can go a long way. Like the small things, opening a door for someone, even something as simple as a smile (even when you think you’re having a bad day) can go a long way for the person you are kind to, you never know it could be the worse day of their life and you made it better just by being kind.
Trust the Hoy Spirit and let Him lead you to be a light to someone, you never know the difference you could make till you try.
Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross!
Even Jesus didn’t consider himself equal with Father God when he came to earth as a human. He could of been born to the highest king in all the world, He could of come as an adult.
But instead He choose to come as a baby, to a young girl and her fiance with no notary or status.
He choose to start with humble beginnings.
He never demanded to be worshipped, glorified, honored or respected.
He simple came to serve us in love, to do what we couldn’t, to live a sinless life and then die falsely accused the death of a murder.
All to give us the opportunity to have right relationship with Father God. To not have to earn anything, simple to let Him live through us and He gave us the Holy Spirit to guide us. Jesus did the hard part.
We need to stop striving and start surrendering, to let Him work through us, not us work for Him.
Light even in the darkest place will help you see, if you look for it.
Have you ever closed your eyes in a dark room and been able to see better when you opened them.
If we stay in the dark, we will get used to it and think that this is how life is.
But if we seek out the light and look for more, you will find the light and eventually leave the darkness behind.
God gave me a vision a long time ago of him walking in dark woods with no path, but as he walked the footprints he left behind illuminated to guide me where he wanted me to go.
We can find the light if we look for it.
Jesus is always with us waiting to be the light, to guide us even in the darkest places.
Close your eyes and ask him to show you the light, to show you the steps he wants you to take.
Seeing God is everyday life is about asking him to speak to you through and in everything.
One of my favorite quotes from The Lion King is when Rafiki says “You can either run from your past or learn from it”
One the greatest gifts God gave us was choice.
We have the choice to choose our actions and reactions.
You can choose to let things in your past dictate how you act, speak and interact with others or you can make a conscious choice not to let your past determine your future.
The amazing thing abut Jesus sacrifice is that it gives you a fresh start.
Every moment of everyday you can choose to allow the Holy spirit to guide to be made new in Jesus or you can choose your own selfish desires.
God is all around us, he created everything and if we take the time to slow down and look and listen he speaks to us through his creation. Sometimes it’s through nature and sometimes through people. No I’m not crazy.
I’ve just found that if I take the time to ask God to teach me something, he often does it through his creation.
When I first made the decision to turn my life back to God I became an intern at my church. At the start of the internship we went on a retreat to a beautiful lodge in the woods. Once we got settled we each took sometime to be alone with God. I decided to take a walk in the woods.
Photo by Matthew Brodeur
I was walking down a slight hill, having to watch where I was stepping because there was no path.
As I walked I noticed all the dead leaves and broken branches. I asked God where he was when I had turned away from him, when I had let so many of the dreams he’d given me die.
He explained that even though I had chosen to ignore him, he was there the whole time for every bad decision and wrong choice, but he helped guide me from some major pitfalls, just like I was avoiding stepping into some deep holes in my walk in the woods.
Photo by Sérgio Rola
On my return walk back up the hill God showed me all the plants that were growing up through the leafs. He explained that even though I had chosen to ignore him for so long he had planted seeds along the way and that they would grow and produce now that I had turned back to him.
Photo by Andreas Vendelbo
God will use the circumstances around us to teach us if we simple take to the time to acknowledge him and learn.
Paul is in prison as he writes these words. What a bold prayer. He could of prayed for protection, but instead he prays that he will boldly continue to preach the gospel, the very thing that put him in prison. He offers up his life so that it may be used for God’s glory whether that be his life or death.
Where does this boldness come from?
He not only hands over his life, but he is rejoicing in his imprisonment.
How do you get to that point in your relationship with Jesus, where you are willing to sacrifice everything for him to be glorified?
It’s by knowing the character of God, by knowing who he is and who he’s made you to be, by knowing his love for you and through you. His love, his sacrifice builds confidence.
Some may say that was in the bible, try doing it now.
But there are people living this way now. A present day example of this is in the book Heavenly Man by Paul Hattaway. Heavenly Man is about Brother Yun, the Pastor of an underground church in China. This book will stretch and strengthen your faith more then you can believe. Brother Yun sacrifices everything to witness to those around him. He’s beaten he’s abused and imprisoned for preaching the gospel, but he rejoices in his suffering and preaches even to the guards and inmates that attack him.
What lengths are you willing to go to for sharing the gospel with others? Would you sacrifice your life?
