partners in Christ

Do you have room in your heart to partner with others who are in Christ?

I believe one of the things that we miss out on is a true and genuine partnership with other believers. Partnerships are huge and I am not just talking about business partnerships. I am talking about partnering with other believers to encourage them, pray for them, and be there every step of the way.

So if you consider me a partner, welcome him as you would welcome me. (Philemon 17)

As believers in Christ, we share the same experience in Christ Jesus of being saved.

Too often, our relationships with other believers reflect tolerance and not a partnership.

Now let me ask the question again. Do you have room in your heart to welcome other believers warmly?

I feel convicted when I ask myself that question because I don't know if I truly do that. I know that I need to make room to welcome other believers. We go through a lot as believers and we are all brothers and sisters in Christ who must be there for each other. We can't take what we experience together for granted.

We need to treat other believers as parters in God's grace and love, not just fellow workers. Let your common interests in Christ and your common feeling of gratitude for Christ's love knit you together with others.

good citizens

How we view, respect, and listen to those who are in authority is actually something that is very important for Christians. It's a soft world now, I have to be honest with you. One misuse of a word and you offend someone. If you say something out of context, it has the ability to blow up all over social media, or even through your friend groups.

It's everyone. I get offended, you get offended, we all do.

We have to start understanding that part of our Christian responsibility is to be good citizens.

Remind the people to be subject to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready to do whatever is good, to slander no one, to be peaceable and considerate and always to be gentle towards everyone. 
(Titus 3:1)

As Christians, our first allegiance is to Jesus as Lord, but we must obey our government and its leaders as well.

Christians are not above the law. Obeying the civil law is only the beginning of our responsibility.

I have tons of respect for the people who respect the government and just keep their mouth shut. When people won't stop whining about it, they don't have my respect.

There are plenty of Christians who think that they are above the law. You know what that does for unbelievers who see that? It totally turns them off from the idea giving their lives to Christ. There is a certain gentleness component that relates to not being above the law that people are attracted to. If we respect rulers and authorities, and have something totally different about us, unbelievers are going to want to know more.

I fully believe that the way we view our rulers and authorities has a direct correlation to the impact that we have as believers and followers of Christ. My encouragement to you is to be respectful and to always be ready to do good.

Whether you like what is going on with our government or not, be ready to do good, slander no one, and be peaceable, considerate, and gentle towards everyone. THAT is the key to witnessing to more people than you can imagine.

lift MY eyes

Some of the very best lessons are the most simple.

The late great Kobe Bryant once said that he was the greatest because he was obsessed with the basics.

I believe that sometimes we forget the simplicity of life in an extremely complicated world. There are simple things that we can do on a daily basis to make our selfs feel good and to love others. I really want you to think about all of the things out there right now that are existing just to bring us peace, health, longevity, etc.

There are crazy diets, hot yoga, goat yoga, pure barre, zen, beyond zen, etc. You also have Instagram Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat, Tik Tok, etc. I promise I am not dissing those things because there are tons of benefits from those. I am just proving a point that we often look to things that we came up with as humans to help us.

Where does our help truly come from?

I lift my eyes to the mountains-
where does my help come from?
MY help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
(Psalm 121:1-2) 

When was the last time you looked up and asked the Lord for help? Actually no...let me ask that again. When was the last time that you looked down at your phone for help? Yes. That seems more realistic!

We probably look to our phones for help 3,4,5,6, or 7 times a day. If not more.

Subconsciously we look to our phones and other things for help. When we don't have anything to do, get bored, or need a break, we took to our phones for help. We rely on other things to fill what we are missing.

I am not just talking about your phone either.

We can look straight ahead, to the left, to the right, and we can ask people for help. We sit at our desks and look at our computers for help.

If I am can be completely honest with you, I believe the last place we look for help is up. It's the most inconvenient for us because we don't an answer right away. If we look anywhere else, we do. I can google any question and get the answer I need...but when I want to know figure out how I can be fulfilled, I have to look up. When I want to figure out how to be a better person, I have to look up. When I want to figure out how to love others better, I have to look up. That is true help. Our true help comes from the Lord.

I challenge you to look up today, tomorrow, next week, next month, next year, and forever. Looking up allows you to get rid of all distractions because what else is up there that is going to distract you? Nothing!

It's 6:45 in the morning right now and as I keep typing this, I just keep looking up every so often. Yeah, there is a ceiling right above my head, but I feel fulfillment when I look up because like I said there is nothing distracting me. When I look up I envision Jesus up in heaven looking down on me with open and loving arms...telling me that He will help me through all things both now and forever.

elder rules

An elder is a person who is valued for wisdom and holds a position of responsibility and authority in a Christian group. 

I don't believe that we are all called to be elders of the church, but I do believe that we should have the same standards as they do. It's like an executive board for a large corporation...all the employees should follow the same rules as the board does, but they might not ever get that opportunity to be on the board.

These positions of authority are things that we should strive to be a part of. I don't feel like I know enough to be an elder in a church, and I feel like my life is not what an elders life would look like. But I want to be like an elder and have wisdom that can help people.

There was one thing in particular that I came across this morning when I was reading Titus 1 about qualities elders should have.

An elder must be blameless, faithful to his wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. (Titus 1:6)

What stuck out to me was this: not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. 

There are parts of me that like some of the things of this world that I know I really shouldn't. Sometimes I like to have wild thoughts, I like to listen to rap music, and sometimes I oddly enjoy thinking as the world would want me to and not God.

I don't like to admit that, but I just have to be honest. I wish I didn't think that way, or enjoy those things. I really don't. I know those things can make me feel a little wild instantly. Whereas with God, I know I have to be patient and sometimes I am not the most patient human.

The point is...to be someone who others look to for wisdom, encouragement, and love, you have to rid yourself from the ways of the world. It does't matter how much knowledge you have of the bible, the popularity you might have, or insanely good habits, if there is a part of you that is open to being wild and disobedient you are cheating yourself out of fulfillment.

So don't cheat yourself. Honestly, I feel like I cheat myself daily.

If you are someone who still has a part of you open to being wild and disobedient, I promise you aren't alone. I am right there with you. I don't like that I am like that, but I also know that I am not perfect.

I would love to not be open to that idea and I hope you feel the same way. Let's commit to relying on God to fulfill all our hopes, dreams, and desires. Let's be believers that people turn to for wisdom, encouragement, and love.

It's not going to be easy, but it's going to be worth it.

Pslam 119

I was on Psalm 119 this evening, I opened my bible, saw it was 176 verses and wrote down that I was going to read it tomorrow. I thought to myself...there is no way that I am reading all of those verses right now.

As soon as I saw there were 176 verses there was also a part of me that told me I need to read that tonight.

Here I am...sitting here having a boxing match in my head about what I should do.

I knew that voice in my head that told me to read it was the Holy Spirit...and the voice that told me just to put it off was my worldly self. I am a really big believer that when you do something you don't want to do at all, and then do it, you're going to be fulfilled. (when it comes to your faith and work ethic) There are things I don't want to do all the time that I don't need to do.

Let me ask you this question. How many times have you felt like you should read your bible and you don't you feel like it?

It's probably 90% of the time. It's something we have to go out of our way to do. It's usually not on everyones 'to do list.'

Here I am...sitting here writing this post about a small decision that lead to me being fulfilled. Psalm 119 is incredible, and it really was awesome to read, but I believe what I got out of tonight is to listen to the voice in your head telling you what is really right to do. The voice that often goes against your own agenda...

Do what you don't feel like doing and you'll reap the rewards. Take the away from this post tonight.

The 10 extra minutes it took to read Psalm 119 was all it took for me to be sitting here feeling extremely fulfilled and grateful for the word of God. 10 minutes of MY time given to God and I can't put it into words how I feel.

How much time are you willing to give to feel fulfilled? Because you don't have to give that much. God is so good!!!

the last days

Whenever I know that something is the 'last' it creates a sense of urgency in me. When I knew it was the fourth quarter of a basketball, it created a sense of urgency that it was time to win. I remember really getting into the show Friends right before they took it off of Netflix. I remember watching it the moment they took it off Netflix. I hadn't really watched much of Friends up until I knew they were going to take it off, so I was happy that I created a sense of urgency to watch as much as I could.

In 2 Timothy, when Paul references the "last days" he is revealing his sense of urgency. The "last days" began after Jesus' resurrection when the Holy Spirit came upon the believers. The "last days" will continue until Christ's second coming. This meaning that we are living in the last days. Knowing that, we should make the most of the time that God has given us.

There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God - having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people. (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

Yikes. There are a lot of things in the list, and maybe some of those things describe yourself right now. Maybe, they describe some of the people that you spend your time around. If there is any part of you that is tied to anything in those verses, rid yourself. Pray that your heart begins to change. It's hard, there are a lot of things on that list and we are all sinners. Recognition is the first key ingredient to change.

If you find yourself surrounded by people who fit those descriptions, have nothing to do with them. Pray for them, but having nothing to do with them. Because most of the time, we become who we spend our time with. Whether we say that we are self-controlled and disciplined or not. If you keep spending time around people who are living in the way, you will become that.

Some might say...love everyone...love everyone...still love them. Don't not love them for some reason. Just having nothing to do with them. Don't get caught up in what they do or what they try to make you do. It hurts to say, but honestly sometimes, no matter how hard you try, some people are not going to change.

Pau's descriptive list of behavior in the last days describes our society-even, unfortunately, the behavior of many Christians. Check your life against Paul's list. Don't give into security's pressures. Don't settle for comfort without commitment. Stand up against evil by living as God would have his people live.

You might be a little upset about this post, thinking that I am telling you all to not be friends with some of your friends. But if you really strive to have an amazing relationship with Christ and feel like you want to honor him all in that you say and do, you might have to put your foot in the ground and commit to spending time with people who are always going to be uplifting, encouraging, and helping you in your pursuit of Christ.

We have the awesome ability of choice. It's up to us. We can choose who we are going to spend our time with. Are you more focused on what will last forever, or the days that keep you from reaching your full potential? It's really up to you.

I am here for what lasts forever. Who is with me?

My prayer is for everyone. We all want what will last forever. Eternity is written on our hearts, we just have to cut off what is holding us back and go for it.

no short cuts

I believe in order to get where you want to go, you cannot take short cuts. You will never accomplish your goals if you take short cuts. 

This relates to our relationship with Jesus. We have to embrace the suffering we go through in order to get to what we are promised. We can't just experience eternity in heaven without going through some things here on earth. Things that we are going to have to go through. Life isn't easy. There is no way around suffering other than a relationship with Jesus and embracing the fact that as believers of Christ Jesus, we are going to go through a lot of difficult things. 

"Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets entangled in civilian affairs, but rather tries to please his commanding officer. Simarly, anyone who competes as an athlete does not recieve the victor's crown, except by competing according to the rules. The hardworking farmer should be the first to recieve a share of the crops. Reflect on what I am saying to you and the Lord will give you insight to all of this." (2 Timothy 2:3-7)

I don't really know a ton about soldiers, but I do know that they are going to do whatever their commanding officer tells them. Sometimes that is going to battle. No matter if the soldiers think they are going to win or loose, they are going to do what their commanding officer commands them to do. They can't really say no unless they want to take the coward's way out and just give up. 

As an athlete, if you don't compete by the rules, you not only loose the respect of everyone, but you cannot win. Every sport has rules and guidelines that you must follow that makes it all fair. It should be a natural inclination for athletes to follow the rules because typically, athletes are very competitive and want to win. In order to experience that feeling of victory, you just have to accept the fact that there are rules to follow. If you have kept up with the sports world lately, I am sure that you say the Houston Astros cheated when they won the World Series. They have lost the respect of everyone. Their bad decision making changes the entire MLB and every person of that organization has lost respect. As an athlete, you just have to embrace the rules that you have to follow.

The hardworking farmer must make sacrifices for his crops. It takes a significant amount of time to have a plentiful harvest. This might mean a little less family time, a little less time with friends. Generally, the farmer is going to have to make a sacrifice. For that sacrifice, the farmer should take the first share of his harvest in order to provide for his family. The farmer can't sacrifice all his time, to just turn around and sell his crops to make money and forget about the family. There are no short cuts. 

Take it as you will, but to get where we want to in life, we can never take short cuts. Anybody who has taken a short cut and continues to do so won't have my respect until they embrace the suffering. For those out there who are suffering, join with me and all the other believers who are also suffering. God is faithful and will never fail us, only strengthen us, to make us the very best versions of ourselves. Remember, we aren't going to suffer all of the time! God is so good and life is so amazing! So when we have those speed-bumps in the road, embrace it because you are going to get to the other side and become a better person because of those things.

One more thing: 

Reflect on what I am saying to you and the Lord will give you insight to all of this...

This is the perfect example of the work of the Holy Spirit. The Lord wants us to reflect on his words and he will gives us insight. If it wasn't for the Holy Spirit giving me insight to what I read and reflect on, I wouldn't have a blog. Every time I reflect on what I read, I am given insight to what I want to write about to encourage you all.

Let that be encouragement for you to really reflect on God's word. Don't just read it to say you did for the day.