CIY: Something Bigger

I haven't posted anything for the last couple of days because I am at this big conference known as CIY. What's weird is that a lot of the ideas I've had over the past couple of months sort of reflect what is being talked about here. I hope to post some things on it as soon as I've had time to reflect and ponder what has been talking about. The theme is "Something Bigger". It talks about how God takes small things (such as myself) and makes them bigger beyond recognition.

I'll keep in touch. Peace and grace be to all of you. Pray for all of us here and pray that we will have understanding.

Loving Your Enemies Just Like Your Friends

Even as a leader of TNT I have troubles with this... Of course it doesn't really show in the group itself because of the love I have for everyone in the group. I know we all have trouble with this because it is human nature to have some feelings of "dislike" towards another person. But here's the thing. Our human nature is sinful. We are naturally sinners. Let go of human nature and live by the Spirit! The Spirit is of the next world while our human nature is of this world. Live for the world to come friends.

Jesus called us to do this very thing as followers of Him.

But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold form them your shirt. Give to everyone who asks you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you have them do to you. Luke 6:27-31 NIV

Jesus did this through out His whole time on this earth. Even though He lived as we do now, He set an example for us to follow. He lived a blameless life from the time He was born to the time He ascended into heaven. He also provided us with a contrast of the two lives (life by the Spirit and life by sin) in the same chapter of Luke.

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and to lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High. Luke 6:32-35

Jesus did the most remarkable act of loving an enemy when He was up on the cross... He forgave the men who crucified Him... Honestly I don't know if I can ever live up to that by myself but I know that with the Spirit any of us could do it. We can love our enemies even the ones who threaten us with terrible things...

Jesus said, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing." Luke 23:34 NIV

We sometimes lose sight of the cross. We forget sometimes what happened before Jesus was on the cross to lead up to Him being crucified. He loved the teachers of law who were against Him through His whole ministry. We need to keep sight of these things and live in the Spirit in order to follow in His footsteps and to take up our cross.

But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:44-45

Pray on this my brothers and sisters, for you as well as for me. Remember the cross!

Grace be with all of you

The Best Way to Spend Life

I've found that there is only one really good way to live life. That way is to follow Jesus with all your heart... Now there is about one thing I never thought I would talk about on this blog... and that is death. I have been doing a lot of thinking today and I've realized that I need to with this post.

There is one key thing as a Christian that I know: Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Light. He is the key to our salvation. By believing in what He did on the cross we are saved. Well He died on the cross for us right? Because of Him dying on the cross He saved our lives from what we were going to suffer otherwise...

This idea comes up for me... If our lives were saved by Jesus don't we owe our lives to Him? (This is sort of the idea of a life debt but it works) If we owe our lives to Him, our lives are not ours anymore... Therefore we are sort of obligated to do what He tells us to do... But if we know Jesus personally and we read His word then we don't feel "obligated" to do things for Him... We do those things out of love as well as obedience. Mostly out of love. Honestly my life has never been better then when I decided to live entirely for Him! He blesses those who do.

Live for God! It's a blessing!

The Spirit is the Answer

My brothers and sisters in Christ I have found the answer to my last post. The Spirit is the whole reason for Peter preaching at Pentecost. He is also the whole reason for us to preach in the name of His Son to this day. The Spirit takes away all of our earthly problems and makes their burden light. Here's another comforting thought... The Spirit prays for us!

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God's people in accordance with the will of God. Rom 8:26-27

Living in the Spirit is the answer my dear family in Christ! If we live in communion with the Spirit we will live a righteous life, as Jesus did. Jesus also gave us one last commandment before He left us. Love one another. If we love one another we are following the law because it does no harm to a neighbor. Live in the Spirit and show an outward extension of the grace given to you. And Paul writes...

And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh. Rom. 13:11-14

Pray a lot on this my brothers and sisters. By the Spirit's power, which is not ours but God's, we can accomplish great things for His kingdom.

What is Stopping Us?

I read a couple of weeks ago in the book of Acts the second chapter about Peter preaching at Pentecost and the story just blows me away. The beginning of the chapter talks about how the disciples themselves were filled with the Holy Spirit and ends with three thousand people believing in Jesus and being saved! It goes on to say that they "were devoted to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship."

These people that became the first church gave up everything because of their beliefs. They sold their possessions and shared the money with the other believers... The thing that just gets me is the number of people who were saved in a single day. Three thousand!


This raises one question for me... What is stopping us from doing the same sort of thing? By us I mean the church of today. Personally that three thousand people saved covers way more then just the people I know and worry about every day. There are people I know that need the Lord and I can't seem to get them to listen to me. I just don't get what is stopping us my brothers and sisters in Christ.

Is it fear, doubt, worry, life or are we just too busy? God is beyond all of that. Since God is beyond all of that, why can't His work be beyond that too? We all need constant prayer so that we, the workers, can help God make the differences He needs to make. We have (in some cases) become a sleeping church. Wake up my brothers and sisters! We need to be well aware of what He wants for this day and age.