Losing My Life

    For most of us, it is so easy to look at others and see their faults. We can see the way this person is prideful or that person has a substance abuse problem, etc. When we see these things, we naturally want to fix them and bring them into the light. We think, "How do they not see this thing in their life and change it?" There is nothing wrong with helping someone to come to those realizations at the right time. However, the problem lies in the condition of our own lives.  Matthew 7:1-5   "Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging is the standard by which you will be judged. "And why worry about a speck in your friend’s eye when you have a log in your own? How can you think of saying to your friend, ‘Let me help you get rid of that speck in your eye,’ when you can’t see past the log in your own eye? Hypocrite! First get rid of the log in your own eye; then you will...

    Imagine the perfect significant other. What would they be like? Some things that come to mind for me are: loyal, putting my ultimate good above my fickle desires, paying attention to the details in my life, building me up, being patient with my imperfections, humble, self-sacrificing, unashamed and pure, and a love for me that never ends. Now imagine that perfect person loving you desperately through your whole life. No matter what you do or say, their love is always constant. It doesn't even stop when you ignore this person! They love you through it all. How amazing would they be?     You already have this person in your life. We all do! And His name is Jesus. He is always looking out for our good no matter what we want in the moment. He sees every single detail of our lives and cares about them all.  He always builds us up  to be the person He created us to be. He is the definition of perfection when we are imperfection. Although He is God, He came ...

   When we come to know Jesus, it is not the end of our spiritual journey, but rather the beginning. Some people feel they have their "get out of jail free card" when they get saved and never think of it again except to occasionally show up to church. However, Jesus has not called us to live that way!     We are supposed to work out our own salvation, meaning that we are supposed to draw near to Him and be transformed into His image, step by step. Our lives are not magically perfect when we accept Jesus. On the contrary, we have much adjusting to do. As we get to know Jesus, He changes our thinking to be aligned with His word. It seems too good to be true! But truly, we are transformed by our relationship with Jesus and not by our works.  Philippians 2:12   Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed--not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence-- continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling (NIV) 2 Corinthia...

    We are told in this life from the start that we need to plan for the future. It starts from childhood with, "What do you want to be when you grow up?" The question continues and when we finally get to high school we are supposed to know where we want to go to college, what we want to major in, and what we want to do as a career. Some people even go as far to plan what age they will be married and where they'll be living and how much money they plan to be making etc. This is expected in our culture, but the Lord's view is different.     James tells us that such planning is arrogant and presumptuous. How do we know where the Lord will have us in any amount of time? His plans for us are far beyond our mental capacity to understand. We should be looking at our futures with an open mind and heart towards where God might be leading us. His plans for us are good. Who would want to miss out on the best life can offer?  James 4:13-16 Look here, you who say, “Toda...

    The Bible tells us that if we believe, whatever we ask for in prayer we will receive ( Matthew 21:22 ). Why then, do we not always get it? Sometimes the answers to our prayers come in God's timing and we don't think they're being answered. But other times, it is because of the condition of our heart.     Let us consider a prayer for more wealth. What is our heart in this prayer? Is it so that we can live a comfortable lifestyle and do all the things we've wanted to do financially? In other words, is it to satisfy our own fleshly desires ? Or is it so that we can use our money to do the Lord's will and benefit His Kingdom? If the heart of your prayer is for the first reason, chances are God won't answer it. He will not grant a prayer that will bring us further away from Him. As in this example, the additionally money could lead you away from trusting God and onto trusting yourself and your ability to provide for yourself. It eliminates God from the equation...

James 2:19   You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that--and shudder. (NIV)     A lot of people take pride that they "believe in God." They think they're set for life for believing in this ambiguous "God." But the Bible is clear that believing that there is a god doesn't mean you're following Him. Satan and his followers believe there is a god. They even know Him by name! But they aren't going to heaven.     The only way to heaven is by declaring Jesus Christ as your Lord and savior. We are then supposed to follow Him with our lives! Just believing in His existence isn't enough. We are supposed to walk out His perfect plans and purposes for us. Jesus calls us to be devoted followers, not to be a people who just acknowledge Him. Acknowledgement is not living a true Christian life as described in the Bible. Romans 10:9   Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God ra...

    There will always be times in life when we will feel overwhelmed by an unpredicted turn of events. A loved one unexpectedly passes, you fall ill, a friend comes for a surprise visit, and the list goes on. In these times, I often feel completely out of control and stressed out. The unexpected doesn't come when we have free time! It comes when we are already consumed with other happenings of life.      This can be a work of the enemy to get us to lose our peace. He wants us to feel afraid and helpless because when we freak out, he has a foothold to do some damage in our life. But God uses these times to strengthen our faith in Him. When we are feeling out of control we have two options: give control to Satan or to Jesus. If we are not giving our lives into God's hands and trusting His plan, we are giving control to the god of this world. Who would you rather have holding your life together? James 1:2-4   Dear brothers and sisters, when troubl...

    Becoming a Christian means learning an entirely different way to live. The adjustment feels weird at first because we are learning to live by our Spirits and not by our flesh, as we had done previously. After our salvation we are perpetually in this process, being changed into the image of Christ. Naturally, we want to know how to do this! What does it look like to walk out life with Christ?     Unfortunately, there are a lot of churches that are living by the law and give half-Biblical answers to this question. They view scriptures through a worldly perspective and interpret them to mean something different than they actually do. People do this so that they can continue to live in their flesh, feeling justified by a verse taken out of context or interpreted incorrectly. This way of living is not only misleading, it is confusing!     When scriptures are misinterpreted, they won't align with the rest of the word. The Bible will never contradict itsel...

    We have all had days where nothing seems to be going right and you're irritable and any number of things are going wrong. What cheers you up on those occasions? For me, I have found one of the most satisfying things of all to be when others speak encouragement into my life.  Times like when a stranger says a few kind words to you, a friend calls you up just to see how you're doing, someone goes out of their way to make you feel special, etc. Those are the little things that keep us going when the days are hardest.     The Bible tells us to be an encouragement to one another. We should be cheering on one another as we run this race toward Christ Jesus, always pointing to Him. It is hard to go anywhere in life without people around you who love and support you! The biggest part of true love is leading each other back to where we should be going, not where we want to be going. Seek out those in your life who lovingly lead you to the truth where you will find ...

   It is easy to think that we need to concentrate on things in this life for them to succeed. For example, if I wanted to excel in school, it would only make sense that I put a lot of time and effort into it to ensure my success. The same goes for anything in our lives: work, family, relationships, etc. We think that to make a thing work well, we need to focus on it. However, this is not Biblical.     We are told to seek first the Kingdom of God, and everything else will be given to us. Everything! If we just focus on living righteously for our King and growing our relationship with Him, all other things will be handed over to us. It sounds too good to be true. The Lord knows our hearts, our needs, and our desires, and He will always take care of them. But He wants our whole heart engaged in Him first.      I am not saying that we shouldn't be putting effort into school or relationships or anything like that. I am simply saying that those good...

    When we become believers, each of us is made into a new creation! Our entire lives are made new. We leave behind our old ways and press forward toward newness in Christ. Sometimes in our walk of faith, we find we need to leave behind those who are hindering our walk with Christ. I am not saying that when we become believers we need to forget those in our life before. Quite contrary! If the people around you don't know Jesus, our goal is always bring more into His kingdom. But there are circumstances when we are not fit to do so or it is not to our benefit. 2 Corinthians 5:17   Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (ESV)     When we are young ambitious Christians, we are on fire with new life and wanting to spread the good news! However, living for Jesus is everything that comes contrary to our flesh and at first it can be a hard switch to make. When our friends are still living in dark...

    Have you ever looked down on the children around us? Depending on our frame of mind, they can annoy and frustrate us with their immaturity, naivety, etc. But in reality, Jesus told us to be more like them! A child is pure and innocent and has a heart uncorrupted by the lies of this world. Nothing could be more precious to our Lord! Luke 18:16-17 But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” (NIV) Matthew 18:1-4 At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” And calling to him a child, he put him in the midst of them and said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the king...

    It is very easy in life to judge people and events by what we see, when in actuality what we think we see may be completely false. Most of the time we only get a glimpse into a person's life or into a situation. There is no way to judge what the big picture is by that tiny puzzle piece! Plus, we make our own assumptions based on our imperfect opinions and perspectives. This is why the Bible warns us not to judge others.     When situations look hopeless, we need to trust that God is in control. He is the judge of timing and of hearts. Rarely are we able to see what He is putting together behind the scenes until He is ready to debut His work. It may look like nothing has changed on the outside, but He might be laying all things in place for a radical change on the inside. This is the way our God works!     In short, I would like to remind you who the righteous judge is. He gives and takes away-- all of His own accord. He knows the hearts of man and i...

    In American culture, there are certain ideas of body image ingrained into society. Whether it is the obesity epidemic plaguing the country or the unrealistic beauty portrayed by the celebrities in the media. Especially for women, there are always beauty ideals that we are trying to fit ourselves into. With the temptations of an unhealthy food market combined with the absurd representations of beauty, I felt it was worth looking into the word on this topic.      Striving to be healthy is a good thing! We should be conscious of what we fill our bodies with and do our best to maintain them well through exercise. Our bodies serve as a temple of the Holy Spirit. It would be a shame to cut our own life short by our unhealthy habits, and in turn cut our ministry short here on Earth. We are called to keep our flesh in strict discipline to live fully in the Spirit. However, this should not be an extreme! Paul tells us that training ourselves in godliness is of mor...

    In this world there is both evil and free will so consequently, there will always be those who stand in the face of truth. When we are confronted with those people in our lives, it is a challenge. We are tempted to defend ourselves and I even find myself questioning my stance. But if we are speaking the truth straight from scripture, there is no need to doubt or defend our argument! The word defends itself.     I have found it especially difficult, however, when people who previously walked in the truth have seemingly turned away from it and begun to question all that is right and holy. The Bible warns us that exactly this will happen! I just want to remind you today that we are not responsible how others react to the truth as long as that is what we are proclaiming.     So what does the Bible tell us to do when we are faced with those in opposition to Christ? We are to keep moving forward with our eyes fixed only on Jesus. Our personal relation...

    Day to day it gets really easy to get bogged down with all the stuff in our lives. Our jobs, school, family, friends, etc. With our busy lives, it is easy to get distracted and weighted down with the things of this world. It is scarily easy for us to shift our focus off of Christ. It is a choice we make daily.      I want to let you know that it is a conscious decision to follow Jesus with all our hearts. The world teaches us to put Him last, to carry our own burdens and "tough it out." But we have a more fulfilling life available to us! All we have to do is choose.      For some reason, we can tend to have a hard time trusting God with our lives. How ludicrous is that? To not trust your life with the One who designed it! But we can choose to relinquish all of the cares of this world to our Heavenly Father. He is far more capable of handling it than we could ever dream of.  Psalms 55:22   Cast your burden on the Lord, an...

   How serious do you take your faith in Jesus Christ? Is it an afterthought to your daily life or is it the consuming focus? Sadly, for many Christians, their faith in Jesus is just a small part of their lives. Certainly coming after their family, friends, money, etc. Ask yourself what comes first in your own life. Matthew 6:24   No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money. (ESV)     Living a life fully devoted to Christ means putting all else aside for His work in your life. It means going after Him at any cost. Does that sound radical to you? It should. Jesus wants your entire heart, not part of it. If you truly want to know Jesus, he wants all of you. You cannot get to know him fully when not giving Him your full heart.     How do we do that? By living by what His word says. By seeking the truth for ourselves. By doing ...

    When we are feeling ashamed, embarrassed, or guilty what is our first tendency? I can tell you mine is to run and hide. I want to hide my face from anyone for fear they'll find out I made a mistake. This is exactly what Adam does in the garden after sinning! God comes to walk with him and he hides! It is in our very nature to do so. Genesis 3:8-9   Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man, “ Where are you? ” (NIV)     However, this is the design of the enemy! Think about a herd of zebras. When they are together, they are safe. However, if one Zebra is hurt and fallen behind or has isolated itself otherwise, it becomes dinner to the lions lurking. The Bible tells us that our enemy is prowling like a lion and looking for whom he might devour. 1 Peter 5:8   Be sober-minded; be watchf...

    When we get born again, the word tells us that we are a new creation! We have accepted Jesus and His new covenant. He died as the perfect sacrifice for our sins. In taking this step into new life, we leave behind the guilt of our past and step into His marvelous plans for us. 2 Corinthians 5:17   Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (ESV)     After we have made the bold decision to commit our lives to Christ, we also commit to following His word. In the Bible, it tells us that we are to be baptized in spirit and in water as an act of obedience to our Lord. Jesus commanded that His disciples be baptized and even He Himself was baptized! If the pure and perfect Son of God Himself was baptized " to fulfill all righteousness ," why do we think it is not important for us? We do not get to pick and choose parts of the Bible to follow, and baptism is not an option according to Jesus. It is a...

    Is there anything our God can't handle? Is there any mess too big for Him? Would He ever lead us into a situation that was detrimental to us? Absolutely not! But why, then, do we still live in fear? Look into your heart and ask yourself, what are you afraid of ? Whatever it is, I promise you our God is bigger and has it right in His hands.     Whatever we fear actually reveals something about our hearts-- we don't believe God can handle it. That we don't trust Him! Shouldn't we be trusting our lives with the One who gave us life in the first place? Do not live in disbelief. Just a little reminder today of what the word says to us so many times-- DO NOT FEAR. 2 Timothy 1:7 For God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control. (ESV) Isaiah 41:10 Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (ESV) Deuteronomy 31:8 It is the Lord...

    When storms in life come do you panic? Do you blame God for the sufferings you have had to endure? I think it is time we challenge that outlook. We were created as children of the most high God. He is our Heavenly Father. Think of how the duties of an earthly father reflects on our Heavenly Father. A father is supposed to love his children, provide for them, protect them, discipline them, and teach them how to live fruitfully.      Our Heavenly Father provides those same things for us-- including discipline. That may sound harsh, but discipline is meant for our good. I'm sure we have all known someone with undisciplined kids. Most of the time they are destructive and extreme in their actions. They don't listen to reason and they manipulate people (mainly their parents) to get what they want. Doesn't watching that sicken you? I always think about the future of the child in the "real" world because the world won't put up with an ungrateful and manipulat...

    Because Adam willingly sinned in the garden, he both gave the ruling rights of earth to Satan and passed on the nature to sin to all of mankind. The Bible tells us that everything reproduces after its own kind; and because we all come from Adam, we all have that same nature to sin. 1 Corinthians 15:38-39   But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body. Not all flesh is the same: People have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another and fish another. (NIV) Genesis 1:25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. (NIV) [see also verses 11, 12, 21, 24] Romans 3:23   for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (NIV)     The nature to sin comes from Adam and not Eve because he was the one who knowingly rebelled against God. Eve...

Revelation 12:7-9   Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan,who leads the whole world astray.  He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.  (NIV) Revelation 20:10   And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever. (NIV)     As we talked about last, Satan is here on the earth awaiting the time when he will eventually be thrown into the lake of fire. As he's here, what is he doing? Our first look at Satan in the Bible is in the garden with Adam and Eve. After God created man, he gave him the world to subdue. He handed it over into Adam and Eve's hands and gave them specific instructi...

    Today I want to go into a story in the Bible that we are all familiar with-- the fall of Satan. I think that this is a topic that can be foggy. It is one of those staples of Christianity that a great many people assume you know about, so not many pastors teach on it. But this is something we need to be able to know and explain to non-believers. It is why our world is in the condition it is in today.     When Satan was known as Lucifer, or "morning star," he resided in heaven with God and the other angels. He led other angels in worshipping God in His very throne room. God created him in perfection and beauty. Ezekiel 28:12-19 “You were the model of perfection, full of wisdom and exquisite in beauty. You were in Eden, the garden of God. Your clothing was adorned with every precious stone— red carnelian, pale-green peridot, white moonstone, blue-green beryl, onyx, green jasper, blue lapis lazuli, turquoise, and emerald— all beautifully craf...

    Most of us have heard talk about "purity" in our Christian circles over the years. Most of the time, people use this term to refer to abstaining from pre-marital sex. Personally, I have rarely heard the term used outside of that context. However, in the Bible purity refers to much more than abstinence.     What is purity? The dictionary gives us this definition.  1. The condition or quality of being pure; freedom from anything that debases, contaminates, pollutes, etc.  Purity is freedom from anything that reduces quality or value (debases). When we think about it from a Jesus perspective, ultimate purity is when we are free from sin. Sin reduces our quality and value of life because it excludes Jesus. Jesus calls us to be pure so that we can live full lives, complete in Him.  Matthew 5:8   Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (ESV)     In Matthew, Jesus tells us that the pure in heart are blessed. Why? Becau...

    When I am faced with work to do, I often complain and grumble. I put off doing things I know I will not enjoy. I get frustrated with school and work and things that need to be done. I think of all the ways I could be better spending my time--including spending it with the Lord. When I finally have to get a job done, I admit that the manner in which I do it can be begrudging and half-hearted. Most of us can relate, I imagine. Work is work. We don't always enjoy it.     But today I challenge you to join me in trying to change that begrudging mindset. The Bible tells us that all we do is to be done for the Lord. We don't live under the dominion of our bosses or our teachers, but under Jesus. He is our King and we strive to do only what He requires and asks of us. That does not mean we should disobey and disrespect those who are in authority over us! We are called to live as servants to all, as Christ was for us. But we are first His servants. Maybe sometimes those...

    If you were to take some of your community of believers outside of a church setting, what would differentiate them from everyone else? Would anything about them stand out as different? If you didn't know them, would you recognize them as Christians? Now, take that one step further. Ask yourself the same question. Do you stand out among the people you interact with on a day to day basis? Do people in your workplace or at your school see you as different from everyone else?     If the answer to those questions isn't yes, then you may want to consider your heart towards Christ. Think about it this way… When you really love someone, it moves you to show them that love by how you act. In a healthy marriage, each spouse counts it a joy to serve the other. The husband may find joy in being able to provide for his wife because he loves her. And likewise, the wife may find joy in cooking and taking care of him out of her love. It is the same when we love someone in any ...