Category: Christian Living

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Christian Living

Walking with Christ is worth it even if no one else walks beside us.

close up of a person's feet as they are walking as a symbol of us determining if we will walk with JesusSo I ended my previous post about walking with Christ with these words:

This life can be (and will be) a struggle, but God will be with you as you walk a difficult path due to difficult people. Keep pressing on with Him. Working with Him and walking with Him is worth it!

Though Jeremiah had a God-given purpose and was living in the very center of God’s will, he became frustrated because people would not listen to him and had turned against him. He was growing tired of the struggle of living for God while seemingly getting very little in return.

You might also find yourself in that place at some times in life. You may be thinking, “That’s where I am right now.” Though Jeremiah did complain to God about the situation, he followed up his complaint with some powerful words which tell us that even though he was frustrated, he did think that serving God was more important than his own discomfort. He was frustrated, but he knew that he wanted to serve God more than he wanted to be popular and more than he wanted to have an easy life. He said:

But if I say I’ll never mention the LORD or speak in his name, his word burns in my heart like a fire. It’s like a fire in my bones! I am worn out trying to hold it in! Indeed, I cannot do it!
I have heard the many rumors about me…. Even my old friends are watching me, waiting for a fatal slip….
But the LORD stands beside me like a great warrior! Jeremiah 20:9-11

Jeremiah understood this truth:
Walking with Christ is worth it, even if no one else walks beside us.

Walking with Christ is worth it, because doing so will change our lives and it also has the power to change someone else’s life.

Let me end with an example from the Gulf Coast after Katrina had come through. One of my fellow church members was working with an organization to provide grants to people who needed assistance. One man came in and during his interview, he shared this with my friend:

“My entire life, I have been so bad to God. But ever since Katrina, He has been so good to me. Volunteers are rebuilding my house, God has provided for my needs through church people from other parts of our country, and I have a restored relationship with God. All of the loss and devastation that happened to me through Katrina was worth it for me to have a right relationship with God.”

Isn’t that what we want to hear someone say as a result of our involvement in their lives? That someone who was hurting is now healing? That someone who was Lost is now Found? And that it is due to them watching how you live your life as a ministry to them?

It is true that God has called you to a difficult task – to live for Him and be His hands and feet in the midst of difficult people (sinful people, of which you also are one), but He has a plan for using you to make a difference in the peoples’ lives that He has placed around you.

Let us be encouraged by what Jeremiah discovered, that though God has called us into a struggle of ministering to difficult people in difficult places, we are loved by Him and He is our great warrior, our mighty champion.

Let us not worry so much about how God might bless our lives, but let us consider how we might use our lives to bless the Lord, our great champion.

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Christian Living

Living in the center of God’s will can be a tremendous struggle.

a photo of a dartboard with a dart in the center symbolizing us trying to live in the center of God's will

My previous post was titled You Were Placed Where You Are For A Specific Purpose. Today, I want to share a little bit more about that idea, because sometimes our perfect obedience to God’s will puts us in the midst of a tremendous struggle.

So often, we seem to think that if we are in the center of God’s will, then everything will work out just right for us. But then we wonder what is wrong with us, because though we are striving to live for God, everything is NOT working out just right in our lives. If this is where you find yourself, wondering why you are struggling so much in the midst of serving God to the best of your ability… know that you are not alone and that you are in good company. Because that is exactly where Jeremiah found himself.

Jeremiah was told that God created him for a specific purpose. But when Jeremiah started living out that purpose, he felt frustrated. So frustrated in fact that he complained to God about it (have you ever been there? maybe you are there now?). Here is what he said about living and speaking for God and what it “got him in return” regarding respect and favor with others:

O LORD, you deceived me, and I allowed myself to be misled. You are stronger than I am, and you overpowered me. Now I am mocked every day; everyone laughs at me. When I speak, words burst out. “Violence and destruction!” [are the words You have me] shout. So these messages from the LORD have made me a household joke. Jeremiah 20:7-8

Jeremiah was tired of being in the center of God’s will, because he learned that it doesn’t always mean it will be easy, comfortable, safe, or peaceful. He was tired of the struggle. Maybe you are too. We live in a fallen world with sinful people all around us (and we ourselves are sinful, too). And all of this can make life very difficult, even when we are living for God… even when we are in the center of His will.

So Jeremiah learned what Jesus later says – that he is in the midst of unhealthy people who need healing (or rather a Healer) brought to them. That is the message that you have for others in the midst of this difficult and unhealthy world — That we are a bunch of sick people and we need a Savior. This is your message. This is your purpose.

Based on the words of the Bible, I believe that each of us who are Christ-followers are called to be like Jeremiah, which means that we will constantly struggle to help people who are far from God to begin to have a vision for what life can be like with God in control.

God has a plan for you, a purpose. You are special to Him and you are loved by Him – and you are to carry His love to the spiritually unhealthy people around you with the hope that God will use you to transform one person. Because even if your message and your life only transform one person – isn’t it worth it? For how do you weigh the value of someone’s eternal soul?

This life can be (and will be) a struggle, but God will be with you as you walk a difficult path due to difficult people. Keep pressing on with Him. Working with Him and walking with Him is worth it! Jeremiah found this to be true and says so in the next few verses. (Which I will share with you in my next post, but if you can’t wait that long, then go read Jeremiah 20:9-11.)

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Christian Living

You Were Placed Where You Are For A Specific Purpose

Esther was the queen, but she had never let her nationality be known. Her cousin Mordecai was outside the palace and Esther felt he was making a scene by mourning in sackcloth and ashes. She sent a message to ask why. Here is basically what was said between the two of them:

Mordecai: “The reason that I am in sackcloth and ashes is that your husband (the king) has decreed that all of us who are of our nationality should be put to death in the near future.”

Esther: “That’s too bad. I am sorry to hear it. I didn’t know about it. But I can’t do anything about it because I have not been called into the king’s presence for a month, and the law says if I go without being summoned, I could die.”

Mordecai: “Do not imagine that just because you now live in the king’s palace that you will escape the death penalty that all of us are under. Realize that if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance will still arise for the Jews from another place. And who knows? Maybe you have attained this position of royalty for such a time as this?”

Esther: “I understand what you are saying and I agree, so go and assemble all the Jews in the city, and fast for me for three days. I will do the same thing. And then I will go in to the king, which is against the law; and if I die, I die.”

Mordecai tells Esther that if she kept silent and did nothing, it wouldn’t really matter, because deliverance would still come from another source. Mordecai realized that the hand of God is always moving and he places us in specific positions for specific purposes. He knows that Esther is on the throne for a purpose.

Esther did not accidentally win a beauty contest. She was not accidentally the one who became queen. She is there for a very definite purpose, and God has been arranging this all the time. He is prepared for this event. God knows what is coming. That is why we can trust Him.

Esther could have given in to her fears and said: “God, my desires are that I just keep living in the palace and what I want is for You to work without using me. I want You to bend your plans to my desires.”

But instead, once Esther saw the truth that Mordecai revealed to her, she basically said: “God, you have a desire for me to do something which I am scared about – I may even die because of attempting it. But so be it. You’ve placed me here for this exact moment. I will bend my desire to Your will.”

I love the opening words of the poem, God Knows

And I said to the man who stood at the Gate of the Year:
“Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.”

And he replied:
“Go out into the darkness and put your hand into the Hand of God.
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way.”

So I went forth, and finding the Hand of God, trod gladly into the night.

We can trust God. When we put our hand in His hand, He has the power to hold us up for His purposes.

And He has a purpose for you. God has placed you in this time in the history of this world for a specific purpose. He has placed you in your position in your family for a specific purpose. He has placed you in your business for a specific purpose. He has placed you in your community for a specific purpose. It is to lead the people in each of those areas into a deeper knowledge of who God is as they watch you boldly live for Him.

He has plans for you to impact your mission field – your family, friends, co-workers, and neighbors.

Will you meet the challenge that He has purposed for you, in spite of your fears?

Just like Esther, you were placed here FOR SUCH A TIME AS THIS!

a graphic of a clock with the words "for such a time as this" reminding us of our specific purpose for life

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Christian Living

Sorry For the Month Long Hiatus! Maybe I Need More Conviction.

Im-Back-But-Where-Have-I

Yeah, Where HAVE I been? I’m not quite sure… It seems like the first month of 2016 has disappeared in the blink of an eye. Am I losing my mind? Ha!

My last post was on January 1, explaining that I was going to cut back just a bit on my posting this year, but I certainly didn’t plan to go a whole month without posting anything.

Instead of posting, I ended up spending a lot of time catching up on some relationship-building, especially with one good friend who was back in the States for the month. I will say that it was quite nice to be off of social media for the month. I think breaks like that can be quite healthy as we change up our routines and get off the “fast-track.” But my friend has headed back south to another country, and my life is getting back to its normal routine. Therefore, it’s time to get back into writing and sharing some of my thoughts. So here goes…

When Was The Last Time You Were Convicted?

I’m not talking about being convicted by the justice system of our nation (which doesn’t require a heart change). I’m talking about being convicted by God Himself – a conviction that causes deep repentance in your heart and mind.

“Conspicuously absent today in many churches is conviction concerning sin…. The average believer says, “Yes, I trust Christ.” But he has no real conviction of sin in his life at all. It is absent in contemporary church life. It is seldom that we come forward with tears – convicted of our sin before a holy God that cannot accept us as we are….

“Someone has said that the modern pulpit has become a place where a mild-mannered man gets up before a group of mild-mannered people and urges them to be more mild-mannered…. No wonder the world has passed by the church. We don’t need reforming; we need to be regenerated. We need to be born again.”

These two paragraphs by J. Vernon McGee remind us that we need convicting. I’m not sure what sin or sins you have been struggling with lately, but pray to God that you would see your sin as He sees it. Ask Him to help you be truly heart-broken over the ways that you do not imitate Christ.

May we truly know the conviction of the Lord that leads us to repentance and into more holiness.

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Christian Living

Your Choice To Obey Jesus Costs Others A Lot

If-we-obey-God-it-isIf we obey God it is going to cost other people more than it costs us, and that is where the sting comes in. If we are in love with our Lord, obedience does not cost us anything, it is a delight, but it costs those who do not love Him a good deal. If we obey God it will mean that other people’s plans are upset, and they will ridicule us with it — “You call this Christianity?”
     We can prevent the suffering; but if we are going to obey God, we must not prevent it, we must let the cost be paid.
–Oswald Chambers

To obey Christ will cost you your life. Take up your cross, deny yourself, die to yourself, and follow Jesus. But when you willingly choose to do so, it becomes a pleasure and a delight to obey and serve this great One who offers abundant life in the midst of self-death. But… those around you who haven’t made that same decision will also be affected by your decision and it will cost them something as well. As Chambers tells us, though it pains them, it is beneficial (even if they can’t see it) because it is through that pain that God may open some of their eyes to their need for Him. Live for Him today (and this weekend) in such a way that it makes a difference not only in your life, but also in the lives of others.