It's not going to be instantaneous

Picture this. God answering every prayer you ever prayed. Every miracle that you ever wanted to happen, God performs. Everything you ever ask of Him, he does.

If our faith was instantaneous like that, I don't even know if we could consider that faith. That would make our faith more of an absolute expectation.

You might know God to be a little humorous sometimes. His timing and the way he does things somehow always works out...even when we didn't think that there was any way that it would. I say God is humorous because I can almost look back at my entire life and laugh a little bit about how everything unfolded in a completely different way than I ever expected.

One of the things I can relate this example to the most is my career. When school was wrapping up last Spring I didn't really know what path I was going to take. I just wanted to serve people and make an impact in whatever way that I could.

There were two companies in the finance/insurance industry that reached out to me in the last two weeks of school. The first company that reached out, I was really caught off guard because I never pictured myself in this industry. That company reaching out to me really got me thinking that this sort of career might be the perfect fit...God got my wheels turning.

About a week after this happened, another company reached out. Northwestern Mutual. That is where I am now. When this fell into place I knew it was the perfect fit for me. I was waiting for a second sign from God to show me that this industry was for me, and through constant prayer, it happened.

There is a story in Mark chapter 8 where Jesus restores the sight of a blind man.

When Jesus was in the city of Bethsaisda, some people brought to him a blind man and begged Jesus to touch him in order to restore his sight. Jesus put his hands on the man and asked if he saw anything and the man said this..."I see people; they look like trees walking around." 

Then Jesus put his hands on the man again and he opened his eyes and could see everything clearly.

So why did Jesus touch the man a second time before he could see? This miracle was not too difficult for Jesus, but he chose to do it in stages, possibly to show the disciples that some healing would be gradual rather than instantaneous or to demonstrate that spiritual truth it not always perceived clearly at first.

See how this relates to our lives?

For me, it took two companies in the same industry reaching out. But that isn't the only time. There have been more times than not where God has been gradual in the process. I believe that is a huge key in our daily lives.

Spiritual truth is also almost never perceived clearly the first time. I have to re-read verses in my bible all the time just to try and make sense of them. There are still verses that I don't understand even though I have read them thousands of times. I have faith that someday I will understand them.

If we have the expectation that everything God does will be instantaneous we will often be disappointed. Everything is gradual. My prayer for you is that you begin to be patient in waiting for God to answer your prayers. Be patient in your perception.

From the inside

Something that is "defiled," is usually spoiled.

Did you know that we can be defiled?

"Nothing outside a person can defile them by going into them. Rather is it what comes out of a person that defiles them." (Mark 7:15)

What comes out of our mouths is so incredibly significant and important. As important as it is to have our minds and hearts right, what comes out is even more important. You could have heart of gold but if you say mean things to people and treat everyone like a jerk do you really have a heart of gold?

You might have a heart for serving others. But the words that come out of your mouth when you are around your friends or others doesn't align to what is in your heart then you won't ever come across as someone who has a heart to serve others.

If I don't talk about the things that I write in my blog posts, or my words don't align with the things I write on here would this blog be genuine? Not even close. Nobody would ever read it if what came out of my mouth was totally foolish.

Do you catch what I am throwing you here? What comes out of a person is what truly will define us.

It's like a famous athlete who is booed by the entire crowd. The crowd could be relentless in their pursuit of yelling at the athletes, but that shouldn't ever defile the player. What is being screamed isn't going to defile him or her. If the athlete reacts, yells back, or does something crazy, that is what will defile a person.

Yes, there are so many things in the world that distract us and try to get us off the right path, but that doesn't happen until we let it. It takes faith, and mental strength. It's like we have to shut off the noise.  Internally we have to know and understand what our true purpose is and not let what is external try to work its way in.

I am not trying to preach to you and tell you that as long as we are mentally strong nothing will get us off track. That'd be a little excessive.

The point I am trying to make with this post is that we will only become defiled based off of what comes out of us, not what comes in....I am not going to be spoiled based off of being around a group of people who talk about things I don't want to hear. I will be defiled if I begin to talk like they do.

I encourage you to watch what is coming out of your mouth and watch your actions. Pay close to attention to the things that you do on a daily basis. If you begin to notice that you feel defiled, pray for discernment in everything that you say and do.

Praying for discernment is one of my favorite things to pray for because it reminds me that I need to seek God when it comes to all the decisions I make, the words I say, and the actions that I take.

A lack of faith

I am going to be very brutally honest. The toughest part about my walk as a believer has been a lack of faith from some of those who are closest to me....

I haven't always been on fire for Christ. The desire, and willingness to grow didn't happen until my junior year of college. My priorities up to the point in my life weren't the worst, but God was never first and that showed through some of my actions. When I knew that I was committing these sins I felt bad every time but still continued to do it. The closest people around me knew this too because they were around me and knew almost everything about me.

They knew about the decisions I was making but didn't know how I felt in my heart before, in-between, and after. I struggled to share that because it was such a deep feeling.

When God really started to change my heart and my priorities began to change, I knew that I was done with that old self. I wanted nothing to do with it.

What I struggled with was that the closest people to me, still saw me for my old self...Then when I would get made fun of, or those old times would get brought up I was sick to my stomach. I couldn't handle it. I would totally take myself out of the situation when things like that were happening. It was some of the most helpless situations I had ever found myself in...

The most interesting thing to me was that others (who I wasn't as close to) would perceive me as who I was...not who I had been.

When this was all happening was about the time I started writing my blog and posting it all over my social media. I didn't start a blog to make me look good, I started to to encourage others that the key to fulfillment is simply getting in the word on a consistent basis because that is what I did and it worked.

Getting in the word changed everything about me and people who I wasn't as close to saw that, while those closest never did. I never really understood this because one of the things that really mattered to me was wanting my closest friends to know that I had changed.

This was always hard for me until I read the first couple verses of Mark chapter 6.

Jesus left there and went to his hometown, accompanied by his disciplines. When the Sabbath came, he began to teach in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed."Where did this man get these things?" they asked. "What's the wisdom that has been given him? What are are these remarkable miracles he is performing? Isn't this the carpenter? Isn't this Mary's son and and the brother James, Jospeh, Judaisms, and Simon? Aren't his sisters here with us?" And they took offense at him. Jesus said to them, "A prophet is not without honor except in his own town, among his relatives and in his own home." He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them. He was amazed at their lack of faith. (Mark 6:1-6)

The people from Nazareth, Jesus's hometown, had a lack of faith.

Jesus could have done greater miracles in Nazareth, but he choose not to because of the people's pride and unbelief. The miracles that he did had little effect on the people because they did not accept his message or believe that he was from God. Therefore, Jesus looked elsewhere, seeking those who would respond to his miracles and message.

Jesus said that a worker for God is never really honored in his hometown...or by the people closet to him. But that should never make our work any less important. A person doesn't need to be respected or honored to be useful to God. If friends, neighbors, or family don't respect your Christian work, don't ever let their rejection keep your from serving God.

What exactly was the purpose of this post?

To encourage you that it's okay if the people closest to you don't see the change in your heart. We shouldn't expect them to because they are close to us. It's also extremely important to understand that we are all made new. When God really changes someone's heart, we need to celebrate that and not just remember who they used to be and the decisions that they used to make.

Most importantly, your work is significant no matter who you are around. It's significant because it's the work of the Holy Spirit and the Lord changing your heart.

It's just like the last couple posts I have written. Tell your stories about how the Lord is been merciful to you to everyone...

Tell Your Story

We all have a story to tell and too often we don't tell enough people about it. I believe for those who have Christ ever-present in their life that the Lord has been good to them...in some sort of fashion. I've never really heard too many-believers talk about how the Lord has never done anything good in their lives. 

Think about the moment that you came to Christ and the way that you felt. Think about where you came from and where you are now. Think about that one time that the Lord was so good to you and brought you from the darkness into the light. 

Now have you told anyone that story? Or are you ashamed of who you once were and some of the details? 

On the other hand...you might be a little like me. You don't have a crazy story to tell about how God changed your life or a really intense thing that you have been through and you feel like your story isn't significant...I am here to tell you that anything that the Lord does in anyones life is so insanely significant. 

I have shared this before...but one time I was meeting with a pastor and he asked me to tell him my story and the first words out of my mouth were along the lines of...'I don't really have anything too big that happened to me that led me to Christ, I grew up in a Christian home and have been a believer since a young age.' He stopped me right away and told me to never be ashamed of that story and that there are so many people out there who would trade their story for that one all day. 

My hope with this post today is to encourage you to tell people about your story and how good the Lord has been to you. I guarantee that people will be amazed. 

I don't know why we don't do it more...There is no reason to be ashamed about where you came from and where you are now. People will celebrate that! 

You see it all the time. Stories about the Lord bringing the people with the craziest past to on fire Christians now. It's absolutely amazing! 

I don't know if you have ever heard this story before, but in Mark chapter 5, there was a man that was demon possessed. Jesus was standing off in the distance and the man who was demon possessed ran up to Jesus and fell on his knees. 

Long story short, they asked to be released into these pigs and then the man was free from being demon possessed. 

When Jesus was leaving after this awesome miracle...

...the man who had been demon possessed begged to go with him. Jesus did not let him, but said, "Go home to your own people and tell them how much the Lord has done for you, and how he has had mercy on you." So the man went away and began to tell in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him. And all the people were amazed. (Mark 5:18-20)

There are quite a few lessons from this story that we can learn. 

The first being that the demon possessed man ran to Jesus and fell on his knees. When was the last time you did that when you were really struggling with something? When was the last time that you really laid your heart out to God and told him that you were done being stuck in the rut? 

This man was demon possessed and he had no shame in doing this. Heck, there were portably a lot of people around too and he still had no shame! We should never be ashamed of what sins we have committed or what bad things we have done because Jesus has seen it all and knew that those things were going to happen before we were even born. 

The second and final lesson that we can learn is to tell others what Jesus has done in your life to transform you. Jesus clearly told the man to go tell others how much the Lord had done for him. Those direct words came from Jesus's mouth. Those words are meant for everyone. 

The man did just that and the people were amazed.  They were not focused on the fact that this man used to be demon possessed, they were focused and amazed by the fact that the Lord had mercy on him and saved him. 

Finally, don't be afraid to tell your story. Don't be afraid with what you had to go through for Jesus to really change your life. We are all made new and the Lord is so merciful to us. Share your stories.  You never know who you might encourage with what you have been through. 

Scattering seeds

I believe that one of the toughest parts about being a Christian is really having a desire to spread the gospel, doing something about it, and never really seeing the results or knowing if you made it impact.

No matter what great amount of faith you have in God it's still hard sometimes because we care about the people that we witness to and we want to see them come to Christ.

One of the times I struggled with this the most was two summers ago when I was in China. We had an entire basketball team, and 3 translators packed into a small hotel room in Kunming, China. It was the last night of the trip and we were saying goodbye to our translators and praying over them. We actually said words of affirmation to all of them as well. We loved all our translators to death. They were all believers except for one...Nick. Nick was really growing in his faith during our two week trip. I think we all believed that Nick was going to come to Christ that night. Everyone was crying, praying, and we felt like we were all going to witness it...Long story short, that wasn't the night he gave his life to Christ. He just wasn't ready yet. This made leaving the next day extra hard because I wanted to see Nick again someday and didn't know if I ever would. I remember telling him that I was going to see him someday in heaven when we hugged and said goodbye.

About a month later I get a voice recording text from Nick and he told me that he was now a Christian and was certain that he was going to see me again someday. I remember listening to that message over and over again with a happy heart and tears in my eyes...

You see, in that moment, I felt like we all had this thought in our hearts that we were going to be the reason that Nick came to Christ...But when it comes down to it, people aren't going to understand until they are fully ready themselves.

That is the first major point that I want to make as I write this post this morning.

Do not be discouraged when you don't see results from your encouragement. Jesus tells the parable of the four soils in Mark chapter 4. This parable should encourage spiritual "farmers"- those who teach, preach, and lead others. Farmers will always sow good seed but sometimes not all of it grows the way that they would want it to. Don't be discouraged because sometimes those who do not understand God's truth are simply not ready for it.

God reveals truth to people who will act on it, who will make it visible in their lives. When you talk with people about God, be aware that they will not understand if they are not yet ready. Be patient, taking every chance to tell them more of the truth about God and praying that the Holy Spirit will open their minds and hearts to receive the truth and act upon it.

Productivity is always in God's hand's. We sow the seeds but we are not the ones who make the seeds grow. I think to have that expectation that we can make the seeds sprout on our own is a little extreme...

Which brings be to my second major point of this post.

The final product isn't up to us.

"This is what the kingdom of God is like. A man scatters seed on the ground. Night and day, whether he sleeps or gets up, the seed sprouts and grows, though he does not know how. All by itself the soil produces grain - first the stalk, then the head, then the full kernel in the head. As soon as the grain is ripe, he puts a sickle to it, because the harvest has come." (Mark 4:26-29)

We are in charge of scattering the seeds all over the place. But whether it is night or day, the seed will sprout and grow and we don't know how...That is what the kingdom of God is like. We scatter the seeds but we can't control whether or not someone comes to Christ. That is all the magnificent work of the Holy Spirit. 

God promises that they harvest will be magnificent-the best fruit ever grown. Your witness may be weak and your efforts may seem to influence to few, but the Word of God is a powerful growth agent. 

Keep your eyes on the great harvest to come and don't let bad soil or weeds discourage you from faithful service and witness. 

No matter how badly we want to see people come to Christ because of the words that we say, we need to remember what Jesus says. It's never up to us. There will be an unimaginable harvest, we just have to help scatter the seeds. 

In a way, this should make things easier for you. Do you think farmers lives would be easier if they weren't the ones who had to harvest all their crops? 100%! Think about all the time they would save and all of the less worry that they would have. 

Keep on scattering seeds and there will be a harvest. I promise and so does Jesus. 

Correcting anger

How many times do you get angry everyday? I want you to really sit and think about that. When you get angry, what are you saying and what do your actions look like? Like anything, you have good anger and you have bad anger.

I've experienced both in my life that is for sure. There have been times where I have been really bad angry and times were I have been good angry. The times that were bad were not the best. I cringe even thinking about those times as I write this post. The times where I have gotten really really angry were experiences that I would take back every time. It was like something took over my body and mind because I had reached a breaking point. 

I write that like I am some sort of crazy person, but there were times where I would get really upset about something and I would show it. One of the times I think back of was a basketball practice during my sophomore year of college. I was out by half court tangled up with one of my teammates in some pointless drill and I was so fed up with him that I elbowed him in the nose and broke it.

There have been times where I was good angry. I was fed up and angry with the people around me but I used that emotion I had in me as motivation. That fuel was also used as motivation to prove others wrong. 

The times where I was the good angry were fine. I was at a point where I knew that I could either go crazy or use the anger and frustration that was built up to better myself. When I choose that route it worked 10 times out of 10 times. It also helped me build self-control. I didn't like getting crazy angry but sometimes that felt better...it was just a matter of being aware of what was really happening when I would experience that rage. 

Just so I don't sound like a rage monster, this anger I am talking about probably happened like 10 times in my life. 

What I hope to challenge you with today is to use your anger for good. Anger isn't necessarily a bad thing depending on how you go about it. You can use it very constructively and that is my hope for you today. 

In Mark chapter 3, Jesus heals a man's hand on the sabbath and there were plenty of people who were not happy about this at all. Especially the religious leaders of the time. Many of those leaders turned against Jesus and became his 'enemies.' They were jealous of his popularity, his miracles, and the authority in his teaching and actions. They valued their status in the community and their opportunity for personal gain so much that they lost sight of their goal as religious leaders - to point people toward God. 

Of all people, the Pharisees should have recognized the Messiah, but they refused to acknowledge him because they were not willing to give up their treasured position of power. When Jesus exposed their attitudes, he became their enemy instead of their Messiah, and they began to look for ways to turn people against him.

"Some of them were looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, so they watched him closely to see if he would heal him on the Sabbath. Jesus said to the man with the shrived hand, "Stand up in front of everyone." Then Jesus asked them, "which is unlawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?" But they remained silent. He looked around at them in anger and, deep distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, "Stretch out your hand." He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored. Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus." (Mark 3:2-6)

The Pharisees in this situation were specifically trying to find a reason to accuse Jesus and frustrate him. I bet there have been times in your life where you felt like people singled you out to try and make you mad. This happens all of the time nowadays...

Jesus didn't let that outside frustration get to him and he calmly told the man with the shriveled hand to stand up in front of everyone. This action by Jesus is encouraging as well. Jesus knew that there were people in that room who wanted to see him fail but he had full intentions of healing this man in front of everyone and he didn't do it in arrogant fashion. He was calm, cool, collected, and knew that God had a plan.

Next, Jesus asks a question and nobody responds to him. They were all silent. This angered Jesus because it wasn't a difficult question but he most likely knew that they weren't answering the question on purpose. They kept their mouths shut because they wanted to accuse Jesus and make him act out of character and he never did. 

I can just picture Jesus looking around in anger and distress and telling the man to stretch out his hand and healing him. In front of everyone who was trying to accuse him...but he had no fear and was obedient to God because he knew he had a plan. 

As soon as Jesus had healed the man's hand the Pharisees went out and begin to figure out how they were going to kill him. Now Jesus new this all along. He understood this was all part of the plan, but he did it anyways. 

God has such an amazing plan for each and every one of our lives and we so easily let anger throw us off the amazing paths that we are on. I encourage you to use the anger you have in a way that is obedient to God and encougraing to others. Because you know that there were people in that room who were encouraged by what Jesus had just done even though there seemed to be so many against him.

The next time the world wants you to be angry, encourage everyone with how you handle it. 

What's the bigger picture?

There is always a bigger picture out there. In this world where we can get almost anything we want at a touch of a button...there is a bigger picture. I am pretty sure that the average amount of times people switch jobs nowadays is 5-8 times. That is because everyone expects instant success. Our society has transformed out minds into thinking that just because we can get anything we want instantly think that we are going to be an instant success and as soon as something doesn't work we immediately start looking for another way to find success.

As soon as one bad thing happens, we panic and freak out. We think that this job or career isn't for us. We let one bad thing ruin all the good things.

Happy people see God's perfect picture. So how are you looking at your problems? Are you viewing them from the world's viewpoint? Or God's viewpoint?

If you want to be a happy person, you need to look at every problem from God's viewpoint. Happy people have a larger perspective. They see the bigger picture. When you don't see things from God's point of view, you get discouraged, frustrated, and unhappy.

No matter what is going on our lives, God is always working on his plan for you.

"I want you to know, my dear brothers and sisters, that everything that had happened to me here has helped spread the good news." (Philippians 1:12)

I don't know if you knew this or not but Paul had one really big dream and that was to share the gospel in the city of Rome. At the time, Rome was the most important city in the world. Paul was all set to do this, but God had different plans.

Instead of sending Paul to Rome to preach, God made him a royal prisoner of Caesar, who at the time was Nero.

As a royal prisoner, Paul was chained to a royal guard 24 hours a day for two years, and the guard was changed every four hours. Over the two years he was in prison, he witnessed to 4,380 guards...really let that settle in.

Paul could've had a prisoner-like mindset and just totally shut himself off and not done anything with the situation he was in but he didn't do that. He knew that God had a bigger plan, and that he could see this plan unfolding because he got to witness to many of the guards.

Another thing that Paul did while he was in prison was write. This was when he wrote the books of Romans, First and Second Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians.

We can learn an extremely important lesson here. When things in our lives don't go as planned, we should never get down or frustrated. We need to always remember God's bigger picture.

That is what Paul did and when he was imprisoned he wrote 7 books in the New Testament and he witnessed to over 4,380 prison guards. What are you doing when things don't go your way?

What's the bigger picture?