I'm gonna try to make this a quick one..the notion to write always seems to hit me when I'm exhausted and it's time for bed. I wonder why that is, hmmmm??
When I woke up this morning I felt the cool air, I saw the sun...tonight I noticed the smoke from grill blowing with the wind and when the electricity went for some strange reason, I saw the moon making its way out....each of these things and so many more are part of God's awesome creation. Everday we see the sun, the moon, the sky, trees, flowers..all those wonderful things God created and yes many times we take it for granted....you think you know where this going? Do you think that I'm gonna fill up a post about the beauty of God's creation in the earth? Well, we could spend days writing and talking about all God created and how good it is, but thats not so much what this post is about. We see all those things outside of us, but we hardly ever see "us".
When was the last time you looked in the mirror and saw "God's creation"?
"For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them." Ephesians 2:10
WE ARE HIS WORKMANSHIP...do we realize what that means? The person we see everyday was created, was made, was developed by the awesome and mighty hand of God. So why don't we see that? Why do we only see the trash in our lives that we aren't satisfied with? Why is that we don't see Jesus? That is who we are supposed to be seeing right? I mean our earthly objective is to be like Christ...so why is that the last person we see when we look in the mirror?
So take a look in the mirror....go...do it now...not in the morning, not when you get done reading..but do it now because chances are if your like me, you won't do it later. What did you see? Did you see Christ? We were made, predestined to do the work of God...be like Him in the greatest possible way and we hold ourselves back so much...does God make junk? I don't think so. Go look again...look for Jesus in you...look at all those hangups in your life and do what it takes to rid that baggage because that baggage is not from God.
God doesn't make junk, we make it. So maybe if we can with His help get rid of it, then not only will we see Jesus, but hopefully someone else will too....
what about my life....
Ok..so what about my life? What about the situation that I'm in, that I used to be in, or that I will be in?? Why did my life turn out this way?
Alot us ask those questions or types thereof. Sometimes we ask them in times of despair, sometimes we look at our present condition and wonder why, and some of us seem to be stuck in it everday wallowing in our pity of why did the Lord give me this life to live?????? I did some random flipping in the Bible and thats how I got to this topic..
"However, each one must live his life in the situation the Lord assigned when God called him"
-1 Corinthians 7:17
Its easy for us to let life get us down, its even easier to stay that way...but did you catch a few big words in that scripture..."must", "live", "situation", "assigned"....there really isn't any room for doubt there. We have no choice than to live in our present situation, God has assigned it to us. So maybe we should be asking, "Lord, how can I best serve you through this?" Whether its a difficult spot in a marriage, a unfavorable job, or just a depression that won't seem to leave, we should ask ourselves...How can I glorify Him? Y0u see if your a Christian then Holy Spirit lives in you...did you catch that? I said if you are a Christian then GOD is living in you. So you see when we glorify God, then we are satisfied within ourselves....we complicate this notion. We think we have to do more, we think that everything must be wonderful, but thats not true. God is glorified in the rough spot of marriage when the partnerships holds firm and removes divorce from their vocabulary...God is glorified through the dead end job when we realize that we work for Him and not someone else...God is glorified in our depressed when we serve him instead of our own self-pity. We give Him glory in these things because we stand...we don't falter even though the time is tough...we stand.
Come on, take a look at your situation...it may not be the best, but there is life everlasting thats waiting! Thats where our minds should be, not on this place, but on the eternal...on the Kingdom. If we could only get our pea-brain minds to stop looking at the junk that this life has to offer and instead begin looking at how God's Kingdom will be affected, then maybe our outlook would begin to change.
So I present this challenge to myself and to the few of you who stumble upon this...look at life, not as your own, but Gods...look at your situation, not as yours, but as a specific place God placed you for His glory...look past whats temporary and look to eternity...and ask yourself, "how can I glorify God today?"
Alot us ask those questions or types thereof. Sometimes we ask them in times of despair, sometimes we look at our present condition and wonder why, and some of us seem to be stuck in it everday wallowing in our pity of why did the Lord give me this life to live?????? I did some random flipping in the Bible and thats how I got to this topic..
"However, each one must live his life in the situation the Lord assigned when God called him"
-1 Corinthians 7:17
Its easy for us to let life get us down, its even easier to stay that way...but did you catch a few big words in that scripture..."must", "live", "situation", "assigned"....there really isn't any room for doubt there. We have no choice than to live in our present situation, God has assigned it to us. So maybe we should be asking, "Lord, how can I best serve you through this?" Whether its a difficult spot in a marriage, a unfavorable job, or just a depression that won't seem to leave, we should ask ourselves...How can I glorify Him? Y0u see if your a Christian then Holy Spirit lives in you...did you catch that? I said if you are a Christian then GOD is living in you. So you see when we glorify God, then we are satisfied within ourselves....we complicate this notion. We think we have to do more, we think that everything must be wonderful, but thats not true. God is glorified in the rough spot of marriage when the partnerships holds firm and removes divorce from their vocabulary...God is glorified through the dead end job when we realize that we work for Him and not someone else...God is glorified in our depressed when we serve him instead of our own self-pity. We give Him glory in these things because we stand...we don't falter even though the time is tough...we stand.
Come on, take a look at your situation...it may not be the best, but there is life everlasting thats waiting! Thats where our minds should be, not on this place, but on the eternal...on the Kingdom. If we could only get our pea-brain minds to stop looking at the junk that this life has to offer and instead begin looking at how God's Kingdom will be affected, then maybe our outlook would begin to change.
So I present this challenge to myself and to the few of you who stumble upon this...look at life, not as your own, but Gods...look at your situation, not as yours, but as a specific place God placed you for His glory...look past whats temporary and look to eternity...and ask yourself, "how can I glorify God today?"
The Cell Door is Open...Leave
"The governor answered and said unto them, "Which of the two will ye that I release unto you?" They said, "Barabbas!"........"Then released he Barabbas unto them; and when he had scourged Jesus, he delivered Him to be crucified." -Matthew 17:21, 26
"Hopelessly stranded on death row, he wasn't about to balk at a granted stay of execution. Maybe he didn't understand mercy and surely he didn't deserve it, but he wasn't about to refuse it. We might do well to realize that our plight isn't too different than that of Barabbas's. We, too, are prisoners with no chance for appeal. But why some prefer to stay in prison while the cell door has been unlocked is a mystery worth pondering." -No Wonder They Call Him Savior
I read this passage in a book I'm reading at it really smacked me in the face. We always seem to look at Barabbas as a barbaric heathen murderer who should have died that day...but really we are no different that him and his freedom represents what Jesus came to do...to die, that we may live. We are all like Barabbas..we are barbaric, we are murderers in our heart because at some point we have harbored hate...we are thieves, idolaters, adulterers, blasphemers, and list goes on....matter of fact we are pretty down-right evil, and if you don't think that then I'm gonna step out and make you mad and say that you have never took a hard look at yourself. Without Jesus we are all evil before God, there is no good in us...but lets get back to Jesus. Jesus freed Barabbas and he has freed us, so why do we stay inside the unlocked cell with the shackels of the bondage of sin?? What are we scared of..we are alive through Christ, no longer a slave to sin, but a servant to Christ!
Jesus broke the chains, so why do we still hold on to them......we are alive, so LIVE....LIVE for Him, not for your husband, wife, children, boyfriend, girlfriend...there is such joy in serving the King and much despair when we serve oursleves....Serve Him today, live for Him and let Him live through you...your not lame with sin anymore, so take pick up your mat and walk, you are healed....act like it.
"Hopelessly stranded on death row, he wasn't about to balk at a granted stay of execution. Maybe he didn't understand mercy and surely he didn't deserve it, but he wasn't about to refuse it. We might do well to realize that our plight isn't too different than that of Barabbas's. We, too, are prisoners with no chance for appeal. But why some prefer to stay in prison while the cell door has been unlocked is a mystery worth pondering." -No Wonder They Call Him Savior
I read this passage in a book I'm reading at it really smacked me in the face. We always seem to look at Barabbas as a barbaric heathen murderer who should have died that day...but really we are no different that him and his freedom represents what Jesus came to do...to die, that we may live. We are all like Barabbas..we are barbaric, we are murderers in our heart because at some point we have harbored hate...we are thieves, idolaters, adulterers, blasphemers, and list goes on....matter of fact we are pretty down-right evil, and if you don't think that then I'm gonna step out and make you mad and say that you have never took a hard look at yourself. Without Jesus we are all evil before God, there is no good in us...but lets get back to Jesus. Jesus freed Barabbas and he has freed us, so why do we stay inside the unlocked cell with the shackels of the bondage of sin?? What are we scared of..we are alive through Christ, no longer a slave to sin, but a servant to Christ!
Jesus broke the chains, so why do we still hold on to them......we are alive, so LIVE....LIVE for Him, not for your husband, wife, children, boyfriend, girlfriend...there is such joy in serving the King and much despair when we serve oursleves....Serve Him today, live for Him and let Him live through you...your not lame with sin anymore, so take pick up your mat and walk, you are healed....act like it.
The Cross
The creation...the fall...the standards set...our inability to follow...THE CROSS
This is basically the simplest and most profound timeline of man. It started with Jesus (yep, He was there, you know that right?) and it ends with Jesus...it ends with God in the flesh on a cross, a piece of wood, a splintered oak. It ends with our sin, our punishment, casted upon a fleshly man who is fully God...
Its kinda crazy that God created this whole universe for us...for Him. We screwed up...and He fixed it! He didn't cast a magic spell, He didn't just make things perfect at the snap of a finger...no God sent himself in the image of His son...fully man, fully God...and with the most powerful name that will ever be spoken in this world...Jesus the Christ. Our redeemer! The only person who was able to provide the solution was God himself...by death...by wrath...by judgement.
Picture this...Jesus on the cross...for you, for me...He's beaten, he's tore down...people are screaming insults, blaspheming His name...patronizing Him..How do you think He felt..what do you think was going through His mind? All that pain, torment, ridicule....now imagine this, the sky darkens...not many hours ago He prayed so hard that blood came from His head, yet now He screams out, "FATHER WHY HAVE YOU ABANDONED ME!" This was the moment...this was the moment when the pain of the cross really touched Him...the moment when the Father had to turn from his Son. This is the part where Jesus had to drink the cup that he was referring to in the garden...the cup of death, the cup of wrath, the cup of judgement on the spotless Lamb. Isaiah 53 says it pleased God to bruise Him...that cup of death, of judgement, of wrath was intended for me, for you...but it pleased God to put His Son, to put Himself on the cross...it pleased God to crush Jesus for us...thats how much He loves us! Thats where it all ends and it begins again....the resurrection of the crushed Son is our last chance. He broke the chains of sin! No longer are we slaves to sin, but servants to God. Isn't that Awesome!
We have done nothing to deserve this gift...we will never repay Jesus for His sacrifice...but we can live for Him today. We can follow where He leads, we can say what He wants us to say, we can do what He wants us to do...God wants us in His kingdom, after all, He did die for it..
"Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed."
-Isaiah 53:4,5
This is basically the simplest and most profound timeline of man. It started with Jesus (yep, He was there, you know that right?) and it ends with Jesus...it ends with God in the flesh on a cross, a piece of wood, a splintered oak. It ends with our sin, our punishment, casted upon a fleshly man who is fully God...
Its kinda crazy that God created this whole universe for us...for Him. We screwed up...and He fixed it! He didn't cast a magic spell, He didn't just make things perfect at the snap of a finger...no God sent himself in the image of His son...fully man, fully God...and with the most powerful name that will ever be spoken in this world...Jesus the Christ. Our redeemer! The only person who was able to provide the solution was God himself...by death...by wrath...by judgement.
Picture this...Jesus on the cross...for you, for me...He's beaten, he's tore down...people are screaming insults, blaspheming His name...patronizing Him..How do you think He felt..what do you think was going through His mind? All that pain, torment, ridicule....now imagine this, the sky darkens...not many hours ago He prayed so hard that blood came from His head, yet now He screams out, "FATHER WHY HAVE YOU ABANDONED ME!" This was the moment...this was the moment when the pain of the cross really touched Him...the moment when the Father had to turn from his Son. This is the part where Jesus had to drink the cup that he was referring to in the garden...the cup of death, the cup of wrath, the cup of judgement on the spotless Lamb. Isaiah 53 says it pleased God to bruise Him...that cup of death, of judgement, of wrath was intended for me, for you...but it pleased God to put His Son, to put Himself on the cross...it pleased God to crush Jesus for us...thats how much He loves us! Thats where it all ends and it begins again....the resurrection of the crushed Son is our last chance. He broke the chains of sin! No longer are we slaves to sin, but servants to God. Isn't that Awesome!
We have done nothing to deserve this gift...we will never repay Jesus for His sacrifice...but we can live for Him today. We can follow where He leads, we can say what He wants us to say, we can do what He wants us to do...God wants us in His kingdom, after all, He did die for it..
"Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we did esteem Him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed."
-Isaiah 53:4,5
