God says I will never leave you nor forsake you. I am so thankful that God says never, and his never is his promise to me, praise his name!
Friday, January 20, 2023
Saturday, January 14, 2023
Living the Jesus Life
Living the Jesus life is about being a
disciple and making disciples, in all the ups and downs and all arounds of
life. Disciples are people. And people have problems, and pain, and everything
else. They need to see what your lived out faith looks like. How you deal with
life when you are forced out of your comfort zone. How you deal with stress
when life stresses you. How you deal with setback and loss and failure and
misery. How you handle success. How you handle rejection. How you get back up
when you’ve fallen down. How you handle all of life with your life. Your Jesus
life.
Now hold on a minute. Let’s not take Jesus out of this equation. You see, it’s not that Jesus expects you to handle all of these things perfectly well so as to set a perfect example for others. No, only Jesus is undefeated. Sometimes God will allow you to be defeated. But it is for God’s glory and your good. It reminds you of something. It shows the world something. It proclaims the Gospel, the aim of The Great Commission. We get defeated so that our defeat can shed light on Jesus’ victory. His victory for us. His victory over us. Sometimes it feels like I am failing as a disciple. But my Jesus is never failing me! None of my defeats can defeat my champion! Jesus is my eternal life!
People say that God will never give you more than you can handle. But that isn’t true. God will give you more than you can handle so you can hand it over to him. You learn to put yourself in his hands. And trust him, even when it feels like he is squeezing you. And you praise his name, whatever may come. Sometimes there is no answer but to look to your one true answer. Jesus Christ, the source of my life. All else may fail, and I may fail, but Jesus is not going to fail, and he is not going to fail me. I can win it all or lose it all, but Jesus is still my all in all. Psalm 73:26 says – My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Living the Jesus life is about being a disciple and making disciples, in all the ups and downs and all arounds of life. Because your life is a living witness to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Your life is part of The Great Commission!
Thursday, January 12, 2023
Correction is the Correct Way
If you never correct a child, they will never learn to accept correction.
Friday, January 06, 2023
The Gospel is not Good News
When Jesus said repent and believe
the gospel, he was saying that your whole life is about repentance. This is not
about beating yourself up all the time, this is about being honest with God. It
is a good thing when God helps you see a bad thing. Then you know you can take it
to him and ask him to cleanse you and help you deal with it.
Here is the question that you, and me, and everyone else who calls themselves a Christian, needs to address and answer. Am I living a rebellious lifestyle, or a repentant lifestyle?
An unrepentant person is someone who celebrates their sin instead of grieving over it. A repentant person knows it is sin, says it is sin, and deals with it as sin. The gospel is not good news for unrepentant sinners. It is good news for sinners who repent.
Hear me clearly. A repentant lifestyle isn’t about anxiously having to find every little thing you’re doing wrong every day. Repentance isn’t about making yourself miserable; it is about giving yourself to God! And confessing when you haven’t been giving yourself to God. Asking for mercy. Asking for grace. Living the truth. A truly repentant life is a life that is truly rejoicing and resting in Jesus. Hallelujah! The problem isn’t your sin. The problem is when you say it isn’t sin. And the problem isn’t when you struggle with sin. The problem is when you don’t or won’t.
Yes, I believe that some people are born with certain predispositions and powerful passions, but just because you are born with it is no excuse for doing it. God’s grace isn’t supposed to inspire you to wonder how much sin you can get away with, but how much sin you can get away from.
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