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...