A Long Faith

“And behold, the word of the LORD came to him: “This man shall not be your heir; your very own son shall be your heir.” (Genesis 15:4 ESV)

So do you have what it takes to be a Christian? I doubt it! I know that on my own I don’t. Its only by grace that I have made it this far in my Christian life. It takes a certain amount perseverance and faith to trust that God is going to do what He says He will do. There is one character in the Bible that comes to mind when I think about perseverance, Abraham. The Lord came to Abraham when he was advanced in years and promised him a son, an heir. This is a great thing for a family especially back in those days. So if the Lord gave you a promise you would probably expect the result to happen pretty soon after don’t you think?

It would be twenty five years until the promise would be fulfilled. How would you react to having to wait that long for something the Lord told you were going to happen? What kind of attitude would you have? We know that for Abraham and Sara it wasn’t always easy because they tried to bring about the promise in their own way through the servant girl Hagar. Ishmael is the product of Abraham’s unfaithfulness to God. We may produce something on our own, but when it is not part of God’s plan, we will have to leave it alone and show God we can be trusted to obey Him.

Have you heard the Lord speak to you about an area of your life? How long has it been since you were given your promise? In what ways have you jumped the gun and tried to make things work on your own accord and failed to wait for the Lords timing? I have found that every time I do something according to the Lords will it goes more smoothly than I could have ever done on my own.

I know that the Lord has called me to serve Him as a minister to His people. The hard part is not rushing to make moves that God would not have me to make. Please pray that I would be patient and have an enduring faith like Abraham.

Live Long, Pray Hard, Die Well!

Return to Comfort

As I read through the gospel accounts I have found it very intriguing that the one man that God would reveal the nature of His son to would also be the same man who would deny even knowing Him. There is something else for you to think about Peter lived with Jesus everyday for roughly three years, they were close friends, and he saw the miracles Jesus preformed; even with all of that when Christ died Peter ran back to what was comfortable for him…fishing.

I don’t want to seem judgmental because to some degree we all may run from God back to some things that are comfortable to us (whether good or bad). A great thing we can take away from this is that even though Peter would deny Christ because he was gripped by the fear of man, he would be allowed to follow Him again. Not only would he follow Christ he would lead become a great leader in the church, bringing about the conversion of over 3,000 men on the day of Pentecost.

To encourage you today, Paul tells us “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.” (Romans 8:1 ESV) Take hope if you have been like Peter, repent of your sins and fully trust and love the Lord and He will restore you to life.

Live Long, Pray Hard, Die Well!

Loving God

“If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you.”
(John 14:15-17 ESV)

When Jesus spoke the multitudes would listen, but this time He was speaking to his disciples informing them of what was to come. He told them several important truths in these sentences. These truths can also be applied to our lives, the same way they were applied to the lives of the disciples. Christ specifically told them “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” What does it look like to keep His commandments since He came to complete/fulfill the Law? To answer that question Christ tells us, “And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:37-40 ESV)

This is not something that we can accomplish on our own or the nation of Israel would have been more successful at it. But Christ promises us a Helper who will give us the ability to accomplish many things. Only those who believe in Christ will receive this help, because it comes through God in the form of His Holy Spirit. He dwells in you and with you, so if you have God dwelling inside of you then how can you not have the power to accomplish things you set your mind to? Especially when it deals with the will of God you can do great things.

So what things can you do now that you know you are not by yourself and that if you are in Christ he is with you? What would you change to love God better? How would you put feet to the gospel, and love your neighbor as yourself? If you have some ideas feel free to share them and show the love of God with those around you.

Live Long, Pray Hard, Die Well!

First Things First

“But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

(Matthew 6:33 ESV)

For whatever reason I have starred at this verse for about a week thinking of what to say. It’s not that there is nothing to say, but rather so many things to say, and trying to figure out what is appropriate. I am not one who wants to rush into something to have it misconstrued as a prosperity gospel, because that is not what I am about.

What does it mean to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness? Well when we look at the context, the Lord is talking with his disciples who were becoming anxious about how they will provide for themselves. And His response is pretty much seek me and live according to what you are learning from me and all of your needs will be met.

This is not always an easy thing to hear. It makes it more difficult when the way He provides for our needs is not in the manner we would like to expect it to be done. But as long as we give ourselves over completely to Christ, who would refer to himself as the kingdom of God here on earth and seek to live according to His righteous standard he will provide for our material needs. This does not mean that we will not screw up from time to time; He does not say “Follow me perfectly, and all these things will be added unto you.”

So, what are you struggling with trusting that He will provide? Are you doing as He has told you to do by seeking to live the most righteous life that you can? If so then trust that He is faithful especially when we are not, He will provide. It may not come to you in the ways you want or expect but He always keeps his promises.

Live Long, Pray Hard, Die Well!

Let Your Light Shine

“No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light.” (Luke 11:33 ESV)

How often do you think about the condition of your Christian walk? For some of us it may never come to mind, while for others we keep vigilant to make sure that we are doing our best. Over the last month or so I have been working with the youth in my local church and have seen some things begin to emerge. The kids that have a relationship with the Lord seem to struggle with peer pressure much more than those who don’t.

However, it’s not just limited to kids I have seen it in adults also. Depending upon the situation we are in; some of us will act completely out of character. Why is that? The best answer I have been able to come up with is our fear of man. We all want to be accepted by others, to feel included in the crowd because it’s lonely on your own.

The Lord tells us that once we have a light we don’t hide it. So we should make a decisive stand to let our light shine no matter the situation. Because if there is something we are not comfortable we should voice that opinion. The Book of Proverbs is full of warnings about those we hang out with and our dealings with other people. We should have a higher standard for our lives and those around us.

Let the Holy Spirit shine through you and make the difference in your life so that others may see you and know that you have been with Christ. What good can you do in the darkness of others lives if you are diminishing the light you have in your own.

Pray and ask the Lord to reveal to you where you are hiding your light, and to give you the wisdom and courage to let it shine brightly for Him. It will not always be easy to take a stand and be the light in the darkness, but it was not easy for Christ to go to the cross and take the punishment for your sin! Which one would you rather do?

Live Long, Pray Hard, Die Well!