Losing My Life

    When we decide to follow Jesus, we are basically enlisted into the Lord's army. An army is a very good metaphor for the Kingdom of God. If we thought of it that way, Christianity would take on an entirely different meaning. That would mean that we would actually have to be dedicated followers of Christ willing to risk it all.     When you are in the army, all the troops move with one purpose in mind. Some are assigned to lead, while others follow-- but all are honored for their service. All soldiers will suffer in the line of duty and some will even lose their lives for the cause. While civilians live day-to-day just hoping for change, the troops are the ones who are actually out there making a difference.     It is our duty to work together as Jesus' army to accomplish His purposes on earth. An army that is busy fighting amongst itself is not a successful one. We have to be united to make a difference in this world. Some are called into leadership,...

    It is easy to look at our lives and see everything that is going wrong. We focus in on how things aren't looking the way we believe they should be and we get upset about it. In other words, we put our energy into all the things we can't change. Whether our analysis is Biblically correct or not, we have to let those things go.     If we are carrying around the frustrations of the things we cannot change we will have a very hard time being successful in what Jesus wants us to do. We cannot hear what Jesus is saying because we are tuned into the wrong station. Instead of worrying about the things in life that we have no control of, give it to Jesus. Don't waste your energy trying to do a job that was never meant for you. Pray about it and give over the situation to His hands.     This can be very difficult, especially when the things you want to change are having a direct affect on your personal life. But Jesus always sorts things out on our behalf and...

    There are difficult seasons that come in life when we begin to doubt God. Is everything He said true or not? It can be a great challenge to lean on His promises without seeing any hard evidence that He will come through. That is why it is called faith-- trusting and knowing without seeing. The Lord strengthens our faith in Him through difficult circumstances where we absolutely have to rely on His promises to get our blessings.      When those times come, remember that Jesus Christ is a God you can trust. He is always true to His word and physically cannot lie. Remind yourself of all the times He came through for those in the Bible, for people in your life, and even for you. He is always on time to deliver His promises even though in our minds we may perceive Him to be late.      Human beings are flawed and ignorant in the grand scheme of things. We should always trust His word and His timing above our own. I encourage you today to wait...

    We all know that one guy (or girl) who thinks they know it all and have it all together. The ones who see themselves as above everyone else and look condescendingly down on others. We may hate that guy, but at some point or another we are all that guy. We all think of ourselves more highly than we ought from time to time. Maybe it's in a specific area where you feel particularly gifted. But what does Jesus say about all of this?     Jesus tells us that those who exalt themselves will be humbled. In other words, if we act as if we are a big deal, it will be proven that we are not. But if we live a life humbled by the grace of Christ, we will be exalted. We need to remember that it is by His strength and blessings alone that we are where we are. If we lose sight of that an begin to think that somehow it is our doing, we will be humbled.      Keep in mind that spiritual principles oppose earthly principles. In the world, we need to prove how g...

    Life is filled with more than meets the eye. For those of us who believe in Jesus Christ, we know that faith itself is the assurance of things unseen (Hebrews 11:1). But are we aware that there are more than just angels of light out there in the unseen? Satan is just as present as Jesus. He is defeated, yes, but waiting for his eternal imprisonment on earth and wreaking havoc in the meantime.     Remember, you have an enemy who wants to bring you down with him. We have to recognize that there are more than just good spirits out there so that we don't accept anything claiming to be spiritual. Those evil spirits will pose as pure ones. They are deceiving just like their father, Satan-- who himself is the father of lies. Don't take things at face value because evil spirits are sly. They often mix truth with lies to confuse you and gain your confidence.     Be careful not to be sucked into the lies of the enemy. It is a dangerous web that leads us away ...

    Why do we insist on going through life acting so helpless? Do we not recognize what we have available to us through Jesus? Jesus has already provided everything we need to live victoriously when He died on that cross. Along with our souls He purchased much, much more. All we have to do is to receive those gifts, just as easily as we received the gift of Jesus and His salvation.     We are told that if we believe, we will receive what we ask for in prayer when using the name of Jesus. So all we have to do when we need something is to pray for said gift to operate in our lives using the name of Jesus, and receive it because it has already been provided. That is one reason why it is so important to read your Bible-- to know what He has promised you.     Remember that you were meant to live a victorious life through the power of the Holy Spirit. If you act helpless, you will become helpless. God helps those who help themselves. All you have to do is bel...

    Sadly, it is a common misconception that Christians cannot have fun. That Christians aren't allowed to do anything that might be considered "fun" and that our faith is one full of restrictions. Well, I make it a goal in my own life to prove that idea wrong. I believe that Christians should be having more fun than those who do not know Jesus!     You see, it isn't about what we give up, but what we gain. When we follow Jesus, our desires begin to change naturally as we seek Him. As a result, we start to seek out things to do for fun that do not have negative consequences. You may have enjoyed going out and getting smashed on a Friday night, but there are always consequences that go with those types of decisions. The beauty of a life with Jesus is that you don't desire to do those things anymore. You may find you still drink, but have lost the desire to overindulge.     That is just one small example, but the point is that following Jesus does not tak...

    We know that the first and most important command is to love God with all we have in us. If that is what He deems as the most important thing in life, don't you think He values that and would want to keep Himself our main focus? Think about this in the context of prayer. We are also told in the Bible that if we ask anything in His name and believe it, we will receive it. But it is only if it is in the confines of what He has promised and what is in His will for our lives. But what about your heart in that prayer?     Have you ever prayed for something that you knew was the Father's will, but it wasn't happening? Well what if it wasn't about that? What about your heart behind the prayer. Is the thing you are praying for going to lead you away from Jesus? Jesus doesn't want to be our means to an end-- He wants to be our everything! He wants to give us the desires of our heart and to answer our prayers, but He also doesn't want to lead us away from Himself. ...

Matthew 22:1-14   Jesus also told them other parables. He said, “The Kingdom of Heaven can be illustrated by the story of a king who prepared a great wedding feast for his son. When the banquet was ready, he sent his servants to notify those who were invited. But they all refused to come! “So he sent other servants to tell them, ‘The feast has been prepared. The bulls and fattened cattle have been killed, and everything is ready. Come to the banquet!’ But the guests he had invited ignored them and went their own way, one to his farm, another to his business. Others seized his messengers and insulted them and killed them. “The king was furious, and he sent out his army to destroy the murderers and burn their town. And he said to his servants, ‘The wedding feast is ready, and the guests I invited aren’t worthy of the honor. Now go out to the street corners and invite everyone you see.’ So the servants brought in everyone they could find, good and bad alike, and the banquet hall was f...

    As we grow older, our responsibilities seem to pile up. Sooner or later, most of us begin to question how we can handle all of life's demands. It is easy to feel overwhelmed and to believe that it is impossible to accomplish all that life requires of us in some seasons. But I want to remind you that it isn't about what we can do--it's about what He does through us.     The Bible doesn't tell us that "nothing is impossible," but rather that "nothing is impossible without God ." We were never meant to face this world alone or in our own strength. It is even impossible to do all the things God asks of us without His help. When we are born again and filled with the Holy Spirit, Jesus' Spirit resides in us. He lives in us and works through us on our behalf, if we will only allow Him to.     Do not let the circumstances and demands of life steal your fire. The only way to stay at peace is to give up whatever you've been trying to do on your...

    It is considered normal in many Christian communities for one to say things like, "I am nothing! I am just a lowly sinner, the worst of them all. I am not worthy. I can't do anything right." Well, I want to challenge that. Yes, it is true that we are unworthy of God's gift of His son, His love, grace, kindness, mercy-- the list goes on and on. But remember that Jesus is a game changer.     Yes, we are unworthy, lowly, sinners in our flesh, but when we accept the free gift of God's son we are reborn into a life of worth. If you haven't accepted the gift of Jesus because of your "unworthiness," frankly you need to get over yourself. The gift has already been given regardless of your worth and to not accept is just plain stupid. That's like refusing a free car because you have no money to purchase it! So when we do accept Jesus, His perfection covers our imperfections. Now, we are seen by the Father through the lens of His son.     If you li...

    Many of us have had that friend who had a beautiful, authentic conversion to Christianity, experienced God's love and power personally in their life, and then.... nothing. They up and left Jesus for the things of the world, hardly stopping to look back. It's baffling to watch those who you have loved and worshiped God with walk away so suddenly. If you haven't had friends do this, maybe its you. It is a very sad thing indeed to walk away from all that is good and perfect for a few moments of earthly pleasure.      I should clarify-- it is one thing to have a lame experience of superficial Christianity and to want nothing to do with it. That describes many, many people. Many Christians have turned away from the person they thought was God only to recognize the real Jesus later in life. But to have experienced a genuine, life-giving relationship with Jesus Christ only to leave Him the moment something looks more appealing? That's a beast of its own. Sadly, ...

    American culture teaches us that we control our own destiny-- that it is in our power to control if we are successful or not. Americans also have the highest rated individualistic mindset over all the other cultures in the world, according to Hofstede's culture study, meaning about the same thing-- that it is up to us to make things happen for ourselves. You see it in our work environments and governments. You have a medical issue? Take care of it without any national aid. You have a personal issue and bail out on work? It's accepted because you took care of yourself first. Every man for himself. How does that translate into our Christian lifestyles? I think it can create some conflict when compared to Biblical truths.     The first issue is that we think that it is on us to control our futures. Life is what we can make for ourselves and work for. However, when we turn our lives over to Jesus we are supposed to hand Him our futures! He actually ends up giving u...

    When do you feel like you need God the most? For the majority of us it is when we have the most difficult circumstances come up in our lives. We draw closer to God when tragedy strikes and we have nowhere left to turn to, no other options. But what about the times when things are going right? It is sad that those are the times when we often neglect Jesus the most.     The truth of the matter is that we need Jesus just as much today as we do tomorrow. If we were to actually live in that reality, our lives would look a lot different. If we could draw near to God through the blessings and the pain we would end up more blessed! When we draw away from Him is where we run into issues, no matter what circumstances may look like at the moment. We are our own problem when we behave this way.     Do not use Jesus as a means to get you through the hard times you are facing. Praise Him in the storm and out of it; pray in the storm and out of it. We serve a God ...

    I have spoken a lot lately on the topic of doing good even when no immediate benefits come out of it, or when we are persecuted. Today, I am going off a similar thought. It might be some time before we are rewarded, but do not be mistaken-- we are rewarded for living for Christ.     Every time we do right by God and live by His commands, we are planting seeds for ourselves. Seeds, as we all know, produce some sort of harvest if you keep nurturing them. How does that relate to Christianity? Keep planting and watering seeds of righteousness-- keep doing good-- and you will see a blessed harvest. However, we cannot have the attitude that if we do something righteous one or two times God owes us. God loves a steadfast devotion to Him and His ways just like a plant loves consistent water and sunlight. That is when you start to see big results in your life!     I encourage you today to never grow tired of planting those good seeds so that you will always ...

    When someone in your life pushes you away, what is your natural reaction? Rarely is it to draw closer to them. Normally, we push back. When that happens to me, I often think that if someone doesn't want to be around me I don't want to force them into it. However, there is no denying that it hurts to be pushed away by someone you care about. I say all this because I believe that Jesus has a similar attitude towards us.     Jesus tells us that if we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us. Likewise, if we push Him away, He won't ever force Himself on us. He is a perfect gentleman. Of course His heart yearns for each and every single person on this earth to be saved and to love Him, but He will never force that on anyone. He wants our hearts and He knows that to have our pure and undivided love that means that we have to choose it.     If you are feeling far away from Jesus today there is a simple solution. Draw in towards the lover of your soul and ...

    We are taught through our whole lives to study, study, study, but what about putting that into practice? Many people are great at studying and learning, but the whole "doing" thing has them baffled. What difference does Christianity make in the world when we simply learn the principles? Whose life can we touch by simply telling them about Jesus? It's not enough.     For lives to be changed, even our own, we need to get out there and start doing. We can't spend our whole lives in the nest learning about flying and watching others do it. At some point, we need to jump off the ledge and spread our wings. When that time comes in your life, as it does for all of us, are you willing to jump or will you have to be pushed? Unfortunately, if we refuse to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit into the next chapter, He will push us forward. Personally, I would much rather move on my own.     Think about your own life. Are you at a point where you need to step...

    It is so easy to be overwhelmed by our circumstances in this life. Oftentimes our problems look too immense for any type of solution. But God is faithful and true to His word and His ways are beyond our ways. He is never going to let us down or leave us in a mess with no way out. If you are having a hard time standing firm in your faith in the face of opposition, remember the God whom you serve. Remember that you belong to Him and He is always with you. With Jesus you can walk through the fire and come out unscathed. Isaiah 43:1-2 But now, this is what the Lord says— he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel: “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze. (NIV) Matthew 28:20 Teach these new disc...

    The apostle Paul is one of the most admired characters in the Bible. He is a remarkable model of the life of faith that we are called to. But while He was on earth, He went through many trials and persecution despite his incredible faith and righteousness. We are told that the same applies to us. We will suffer for Jesus Christ if we are living a righteous lifestyle. How will you handle it?     The trick is to be able to praise God in the storms of life. Even when things look bleakest, to be able to stand and say, "God is good" is the true test of our faith in Him. We have to be able to recognize that bad things that happen to us are a direct result of our enemy who wishes to stop us. The more righteous of a lifestyle we are living, the more we have a target on our backs. But remember that it is all worth it in the end.      When times of persecution come, will you be able to stand firm like Paul and Silas when they were thrown into jail? In...

    I write often about the radical lifestyle of following Jesus. It isn't something to be taken lightly, but a responsibility and a privilege. So on that note, I want to ask you a question-- do you trust fully in God's plan for your life? Not your plan, but His. Because if you do then you should have no other plans set in place in case His doesn't work out-- no backups.     Like I mentioned the other day, when we feel like we are losing control of our lives and there are too many unknowns, we tend to take the reigns away from God. The same is to be said for when we plan for God's plan not to work. We make conditions on our perfect and Holy God. "Ok Jesus, if you don't do this thing you said you would by this date, I will have to find another way." Maybe you're out of a job and relying on the promise that God will provide everything you need. In your mind, you may feel like time is running out and all you can see are your circumstances-- bank stateme...

    When the Holy Spirit was sent to us on earth, it made Jesus readily available to all. Now He lives in us, not among us. When you are a born again Christian, you now have Jesus dwelling inside you. How does that affect your daily life? Do you realize that you are a reflection of the one you carry with you everywhere you go?    Sadly, that doesn't mean much to a lot of Christians. Instead of using Jesus as an instrument of love, hope, and salvation, they use His name as a weapon. They spend their time boycotting instead of praying for Jesus to change hearts. Telling others that the God who IS love, hates them. Letting others know that they will go to hell for their decisions, instead of lighting the way to heaven. Let me be clear: this is wrong! No one wants to believe in a hateful, unforgiving God. I certainly don't. That's why I follow Jesus.     Even if you aren't the one openly boycotting on street corners, be careful of the image of God you are g...

    How many times have you chosen to do the right thing and seen no immediate results? You keep doing exactly what the Bible instructs you to do and yet, nothing seems to have changed in your life. We all have been there. Living in an instant gratification society can make us impatient with our God. In the times that we begin to question if doing good is really doing us any good at all, ask yourself: Is Jesus who He says He is?     A simple reminder that rarely do we see the results of a righteous life immediately. The Bible talks over and over again about how we plant seeds. If you've ever tried to grow something you'll know that it takes time. You have to continuously nurture that seed until it has grown enough to actually produce a harvest. Some plants take longer than others, but if you give up in the middle of the process, you'll never get the fruit of the tree at all. Our faith is the same way.     If you feel as if the seeds you have plante...

    Countless times we are so fixated on our past, or the things we can't change, that we are unable to move forward in life. We let ourselves be consumed with those things instead of fixing our eyes on Jesus Christ. Let me tell you, moving forward is a huge part of the Christian faith-- but if you struggle with letting go, you are not alone.      Often Jesus puts us in a situation where we cannot go back and we cannot move forward without trusting Him. He tests and perfects our faith in this way. Many characters in the Bible went through this exact thing! When the Lord led the Israelites out of the desert, they came to a place of testing. The Egyptians were zeroing in on them and the red sea lay before them. They couldn't go back and they couldn't go forward without a miracle. After they all blamed Moses for leading them away thinking this was the end, the Israelites were chastised by the Lord. He told Moses to lead the Israelites forward by dividing the r...

    Most people in the United States refer to themselves as Christians, but only a percentage of those people actually live it out. If they did, the world would be a very different place. You should be able to tell someone's faith by the way they live their life. It should be obvious to us, and yet that isn't the case for many who identify themselves as "good, Christian people." How seriously do you take your faith? Is it just another small part of your life, or does it define it?    Jesus should be the defining issue of our entire lives. In the end, what difference does it make if we called ourselves "Christians" and went to church on Sundays? We don't make it to heaven based on our church attendance record. What does make a difference is our hearts and how we actually walked out our faith in our everyday lives. You might be fooling other people about your faith, but you will never fool Jesus.     If the end came today, what would your heart say abo...

    Yesterday I wrote about confidence in the Lord and how that relates to courage. Part of our confidence is in the all surpassing power of our God. Therefore, we do not have to walk in fear any longer. I believe that is a huge part of walking with confidence. The other part of it that I wanted to talk about today is confidence in our role in the body of Christ.     We waste a lot of time in this word wishing we were someone that we aren't. We get jealous and distracted from our worth in Christ because we are looking at someone else instead of Him. I want to remind you that we are made in Christ's image-- not man's. You shouldn't be exactly like the people around you because you carry a unique piece of Jesus that they do not. A unique calling that others do not. Live confidently in that reality.     Realize that the whole point is for us all to be different yet united with one mind and one heart. We work together as a team to accomplish Jesus' will for...

    They say it's important to have confidence to make it in this world, although the confidence they refer to is in yourself. Those of us who follow Jesus know there is nothing in us worth being confident in without Him. Without Him we are nothing but sinners, but His blood covered our sins and has made us whole again. We should be confident-- but in the Lord instead of ourselves.     What does godly confidence look like? I think a large part of that is having no fear. When we have God, the creator of the universe, who should we be afraid of? Man? Satan? Death? No. He has already conquered them all. What about fearing our own mistakes? Well, the Bible says that nothing can separate us from the love of God-- that includes us. We can't make mistakes that He won't forgive as long as we are truly repentant of it. He sees our hearts and He meets us where we are. He makes us new and clean even when we are a sinning wreck. Be confident in that.     Tomorrow I...

    Where is your heart? We all would like to say that our hearts belong fully to Jesus, but for most of us it isn't the case. Our hearts belong to our husbands or wives, our friends, our children, our passions, our possessions, etc. All Jesus wants is our whole hearts to belong to Him. It doesn't mean we can't love our friends and family; it simply means that He comes above all else.     Take a second to think about this: if you lost it all today-- everything in your life that you love-- would you still be able to make it? Would you still love God when all was said and done? I pray that are all able to say yes someday. Job went through this exact thing. It was all taken away from Him, but when He remained steadfast in His love of the Lord, He got back everything and more.     Give Jesus your heart today and don't take it back just to give to someone or something that will just break it. He will never leave us heartbroken and empty like any other worldl...

    When things in life aren't going the way we expected or wanted, it is often a temptation to want to take over things for ourselves. When we feel out of control, we do everything we can to get it back. It is our fleshly reaction to push away the very solution to our every need.      It's difficult to take the leap of faith and let go of your life as you know it, but when we give our lives up to Jesus completely, it actually frees us. We get our peace because it isn't up to us anymore. When we let Jesus take over our lives it makes it a lot harder for us to screw things up! Why do we think that we know better than God anyway? We want to take over when we feel He isn't doing a good enough job,  but the truth is He is always working perfectly in our lives if we just let Him.      That means letting go of your family, job, friends, possessions, future, etc.-- everything. It might sound scary at first, but it should actually be a comfort...

   Yesterday I started talking about being on the other side of giving-- how to graciously receive. I have broken receiving down into two primary mistakes that we make in doing so. The first of which is taking advantage of those that give, meaning, taking more than appropriate and burdening the giver. We are never supposed to be a burden to others. The second primary mistake people make in receiving is to not receive at all.     I know many who think they are being "gracious" by not accepting a blessing from someone else. More specifically, when you try to give to someone like Jesus has put on your heart, and they refuse to accept your gift. This is wrong as well. Why would we ever not want to receive a blessing from God? The biggest blockade I see is pride. Pride can become an obstacle to accepting help or gifts from others in your life. To prevent this, we all need to recognize that the design of Jesus' church is that we are interdependent. Wh...

    We've all heard sermons and teachings about the importance of giving, yet not many leaders in the church seem to cover the topic of receiving. We know that it s hugely important that we give and give abundantly to those around us. We use what God has blessed us with to bless those around us. But what happens when you're on the other end of that blessing? When God uses someone else to bless you? There are two big mistakes when it comes to receiving-- those who take too much and those who won't receive at all. Let's start with the former and finish with the latter tomorrow.     We all know those people who will try to get anything they can out of others. Free food? Let me stuff my pockets for later. You're buying? Let me order the most expensive thing off the menu. Is that attitude really exhibiting the characteristics of Jesus? No. Jesus was no beggar and no taker. He wasn't one to take everything He could get out of others and we shouldn't be either. O...