I often ask myself...how do praise God with my abilities?
It it through my business? My relationships? Personalty?
"If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen." (1 Peter 4:11)
When we use our abilities as he directs, to help others, they will see Jesus in us and praise him for the help they have received.
There is your answer. We praise God by using our abilities as he directs us too. You might not see the long lasting impact that you will have, but I promise you that people will see Jesus in us and praise God when we do things the way that God would want us to.
My challenge for you today is to use your abilities as God would want you to. Praise God with your abilities today!
Tuesday, March 31, 2020
Monday, March 30, 2020
rise above
Before lunchtime today, I almost guarantee that something is going to happen to you that you didn't plan on happening. Someone is going to say something to upset you, you might see something online that fires you up, you could even have someone cut you off while driving to give you a little road rage.
How do you typically react to those things?
Everything I listed is not good. How do you react to bad things? Better put, how do you react to evil?
In a fallen world, it is often deemed acceptable by some to tear people down verbally or to get back at them if we feel hurt.
In God's kingdom, revenge is unacceptable behavior, as is insulting a person, no matter how indirectly it is done. Rise above getting back at those who hurt you. Instead of reacting angrily to these people, repay them with blessing.
"Do not repay evil with evil or insult with an insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit blessing." (1 Peter 3:8)
My encouragement for you today is to rise above. Take the high road when you're insulted and not so ideal things happen to you. Instead of snapping back, get back at them by praying for them and showing them love.
How do you typically react to those things?
Everything I listed is not good. How do you react to bad things? Better put, how do you react to evil?
In a fallen world, it is often deemed acceptable by some to tear people down verbally or to get back at them if we feel hurt.
In God's kingdom, revenge is unacceptable behavior, as is insulting a person, no matter how indirectly it is done. Rise above getting back at those who hurt you. Instead of reacting angrily to these people, repay them with blessing.
"Do not repay evil with evil or insult with an insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit blessing." (1 Peter 3:8)
My encouragement for you today is to rise above. Take the high road when you're insulted and not so ideal things happen to you. Instead of snapping back, get back at them by praying for them and showing them love.
Saturday, March 28, 2020
living the right way
Imagine living in such proper and right way that you encourage others who aren't believers?
I believe that too often, we compromise our conduct as Christians because we want to please worldly people. For some reason, it's easier to give in than it is to stand up for ourselves. It's first nature almost to make others feel important before you stand up to Christ?
This reminds me of my first year in college. If 10 guys on the team were talking about things that were not Godly, it was easier for me to join them rather than standing up for myself and being firm in my faith.
I'll never forget when I met with a mentor of mine at the beginning of my junior year and he had told me that his college experience was similar...when he really made a commitment to keep Christ the number one priority in his life...it made him different. He went on to tell me that later on...years down the road...a former teammate reached out to him and told him that he wished he would've been like him at that point in their life.
I'm a big believer in the fact that if you live such a way that is glorifying to God, people who don't agree with you are going to notice and you are going to have an impact. NO matter what they say about it. Because trust me, most of the time they will still hate on you, make fun of you, say things to bring you down, but deep down, they're struggling with something and they want what you have.
A huge part of remaining level headed is empathy. You have to understand that everyone is going through something and we are not perfect. We aren't even close.
I wear a bracelet on my wrist that has Romans 14:11 on it. That verse talks about how every knee will bow before God someday. My bracelet is a reminder that I am no better and no worse than anyone else. It's a reminder that no matter what, we are all going to bow before God. Whether you have lived a life that is right in the eyes of God or one that hasn't pleased God.
I want to you to picture someone in your head...I want you to think of that person that you know who is an on fire person for Christ. They are always doing the right thing. They're always happy, loving, caring, outgoing. Almost to the point where it seems a little annoying! I know for me, I could identify 10 of those people when I first started at Bethel and I honestly was a little annoyed with how good of people they seemed like they were! I just didn't understand what made them so happy. Now I want to become that person and I am encouraging you to do the same. If I could, I would get in front of each one of those people and tell them that I wish I would've understood where they were coming from when I was their age.
Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds. (1 Peter 2:12)
Peter's advice in that verse sounds just like Jesus' in Matthew 5:16: If your actions are above reproach, even hostile people will end up praising God.
There are lies that are spread about Christians everyday. I would also not like to say that there are probably people who decide not to believe everyday as well.
Attractive, gracious, and upright behavior on the part of Christians could show all the lies and rumors to be false and even win some of the unsaved critics to the Lord's side.
Don't write off people because they misunderstand Christianity; instead, show them Christ by your life.
The day may come when those who criticize you will praise God with you.
I believe that too often, we compromise our conduct as Christians because we want to please worldly people. For some reason, it's easier to give in than it is to stand up for ourselves. It's first nature almost to make others feel important before you stand up to Christ?
This reminds me of my first year in college. If 10 guys on the team were talking about things that were not Godly, it was easier for me to join them rather than standing up for myself and being firm in my faith.
I'll never forget when I met with a mentor of mine at the beginning of my junior year and he had told me that his college experience was similar...when he really made a commitment to keep Christ the number one priority in his life...it made him different. He went on to tell me that later on...years down the road...a former teammate reached out to him and told him that he wished he would've been like him at that point in their life.
I'm a big believer in the fact that if you live such a way that is glorifying to God, people who don't agree with you are going to notice and you are going to have an impact. NO matter what they say about it. Because trust me, most of the time they will still hate on you, make fun of you, say things to bring you down, but deep down, they're struggling with something and they want what you have.
A huge part of remaining level headed is empathy. You have to understand that everyone is going through something and we are not perfect. We aren't even close.
I wear a bracelet on my wrist that has Romans 14:11 on it. That verse talks about how every knee will bow before God someday. My bracelet is a reminder that I am no better and no worse than anyone else. It's a reminder that no matter what, we are all going to bow before God. Whether you have lived a life that is right in the eyes of God or one that hasn't pleased God.
I want to you to picture someone in your head...I want you to think of that person that you know who is an on fire person for Christ. They are always doing the right thing. They're always happy, loving, caring, outgoing. Almost to the point where it seems a little annoying! I know for me, I could identify 10 of those people when I first started at Bethel and I honestly was a little annoyed with how good of people they seemed like they were! I just didn't understand what made them so happy. Now I want to become that person and I am encouraging you to do the same. If I could, I would get in front of each one of those people and tell them that I wish I would've understood where they were coming from when I was their age.
Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds. (1 Peter 2:12)
Peter's advice in that verse sounds just like Jesus' in Matthew 5:16: If your actions are above reproach, even hostile people will end up praising God.
There are lies that are spread about Christians everyday. I would also not like to say that there are probably people who decide not to believe everyday as well.
Attractive, gracious, and upright behavior on the part of Christians could show all the lies and rumors to be false and even win some of the unsaved critics to the Lord's side.
Don't write off people because they misunderstand Christianity; instead, show them Christ by your life.
The day may come when those who criticize you will praise God with you.
Thursday, March 26, 2020
You are chosen
Some of you may have fallen victim to what is going on right now. You might be struggling with loosing your job, or having to take time off. You may feel like you have been chosen to suffer right now while others seem to be thriving.
By the time you are done reading this post today, I hope that you feel loved and as if you were chosen by God because that is exactly what has happened to us.
"who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood."(1 Peter 1:2)
Sometimes I wonder how God chose us...
It seems like we make our own choices right?
God alone originates and accomplishes our salvation because of his grace we do nothing to earn it. Being "chosen" in no way removes the necessity for people to choose to follow. The fact that God knows all events and decisions beforehand, even ordains them beforehand, does not mean that he forces the actions of his creatures or leaves them with no choice.
God's foreknowledge means that he took the initiative and chose people before they has done anything to deserve it.
Before you were even born, God has intimate knowledge of believers; he knew who would believe, and he knew them personally.
You are known by God the Father as a farther knows his children, expect that God knew about you from eternity past. God is not trapped in time-what he knows is from eternity past into eternity future.
Believers are chosen, but not against their will. When the time comes, they accept the gospel message.
You were chosen by God. Remember that today.
How should we act in moments like these? How should we operate? There are no simple answers to these questions. But what is certain is that we must depend on God and His provision over our lives.
By the time you are done reading this post today, I hope that you feel loved and as if you were chosen by God because that is exactly what has happened to us.
"who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood."(1 Peter 1:2)
Sometimes I wonder how God chose us...
It seems like we make our own choices right?
God alone originates and accomplishes our salvation because of his grace we do nothing to earn it. Being "chosen" in no way removes the necessity for people to choose to follow. The fact that God knows all events and decisions beforehand, even ordains them beforehand, does not mean that he forces the actions of his creatures or leaves them with no choice.
God's foreknowledge means that he took the initiative and chose people before they has done anything to deserve it.
Before you were even born, God has intimate knowledge of believers; he knew who would believe, and he knew them personally.
You are known by God the Father as a farther knows his children, expect that God knew about you from eternity past. God is not trapped in time-what he knows is from eternity past into eternity future.
Believers are chosen, but not against their will. When the time comes, they accept the gospel message.
You were chosen by God. Remember that today.
How should we act in moments like these? How should we operate? There are no simple answers to these questions. But what is certain is that we must depend on God and His provision over our lives.
Wednesday, March 25, 2020
hoarding money
What God has blessed us with and given us, we cannot just keep for ourselves. Especially our finances. We have to remember that the money that we have is God's. Yeah, we have earned it, we are taxed on it, but in the end, it's God's and we are called to be good stewards.
There is worthlessness in money, yet it's essential?
It's worthless for those to have money to never do anything with it besides hoard it and keep it all for themselves. That won't do any good because we can't take our earthly possessions to heaven with us. It's important to make sure we leave a legacy behind for loves ones, but we don't know when the day will come.
Imagine hoarding up all the money that you have and never doing anything with it while there are people out there who can't afford a meal, a place to sleep, or even a life to live. Did you know that by hoarding up money, that we have condemned and murdered the innocent one, the one who was not opposing you?
You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you. (James 5:6)
Let me explain:
The innocent were defenseless persons, poor laborers. Poor people who could not pay debts. People who didn't get the opportunity to work off their debts. Hoarding money, exploiting employees, and living self-indulgently will not escape God's notice.
Hoarding is something right now that is going on across the world. People want their TP! But now is not a time to hoard everything that we have. Sure there is a lot of uncertainty right now. There are people who are losing their jobs and others looking for new ones. But think of all the people out there who don't have the opportunity to work, or even the opportunity to find shelter. There is a bigger need to help than to hoard.
I am not trying to make you feel guilty, just encouraging you to be more mindful of ways that we can help. Maybe where you are located there isn't a huge need for you to help others, so think futuristically. There are always ways that we can help others rather than keeping everything for ourselves.
My challenge for you is to think about this question: Are you hoarding or helping?
There is worthlessness in money, yet it's essential?
It's worthless for those to have money to never do anything with it besides hoard it and keep it all for themselves. That won't do any good because we can't take our earthly possessions to heaven with us. It's important to make sure we leave a legacy behind for loves ones, but we don't know when the day will come.
Imagine hoarding up all the money that you have and never doing anything with it while there are people out there who can't afford a meal, a place to sleep, or even a life to live. Did you know that by hoarding up money, that we have condemned and murdered the innocent one, the one who was not opposing you?
You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you. (James 5:6)
Let me explain:
The innocent were defenseless persons, poor laborers. Poor people who could not pay debts. People who didn't get the opportunity to work off their debts. Hoarding money, exploiting employees, and living self-indulgently will not escape God's notice.
Hoarding is something right now that is going on across the world. People want their TP! But now is not a time to hoard everything that we have. Sure there is a lot of uncertainty right now. There are people who are losing their jobs and others looking for new ones. But think of all the people out there who don't have the opportunity to work, or even the opportunity to find shelter. There is a bigger need to help than to hoard.
I am not trying to make you feel guilty, just encouraging you to be more mindful of ways that we can help. Maybe where you are located there isn't a huge need for you to help others, so think futuristically. There are always ways that we can help others rather than keeping everything for ourselves.
My challenge for you is to think about this question: Are you hoarding or helping?
Tuesday, March 24, 2020
just ask
I have gotten everything I have ever asked God for. The things that I have gotten yet or haven't achieved yet, I haven't yet asked God for. Does that make sense to you?
...you do not have because you do not ask God. (James 4:2)
I believe that we forget the power in asking God for something. I believe it's inconvenient for most. I believe that we lack the patience that we need. I believe we don't have enough faith.
Some might say...if I ask God for something he might not hear me...or he won't give me what I want right away.
I can ask Siri anything and she will get back with me right away. She's quick.
We don't have patience because we can almost get anything that we want right away. Everything the world has to offer us is becoming more accessible and easier for us to get. Which makes it seem like God getting back to us is taking way longer than what it normally might seem like.
We also lack faith. Why? We fear.
Much of fear is rooted in doubt that God will be present.
I've come to learn that we have to be mindful in what we ask God for.
If I get down on my knees and ask God to give me a brand new Tesla, I most likely will not see one in the driveway when I go outside...On the other hand, one of the things that I write in my journal on a daily basis is for God to fulfill all of my desires. I find that on a daily basis he does. I still sin, my mind still wonders, but I know that by asking God to fulfill my desires he does that better than I could ever do on my own strength.
Another thing that I ask God for daily is to be impactful in at least one person's life. I most likely won't see this or know if I am or not, I just have to trust God that I am having an impact.
If you are feeling restless right now with what is going on in the world, ask God for peace. You are never going to feel it if you don't ask God for it. I am sure of that. If you want a medium-well cooked steak, you are not going to get a medium-well cooked steak unless you ask for a medium-well cooked steak.
My prayer is that we have the courage and the faith to ask God for the things that we want.
All we have to do is ask. Things won't happen if you don't ask. It' the same with with learning. You will never learn if you don't ask questions.
You will never get what you want if you don't ask God.
My hope and my encouragement for you is to ask God for what you want. Be mindful. But also remember to be patient, and have faith. If you didn't realize, God is pretty accessible. You can ask him anything, at any time of day. He's always there.
Most of the time, you are not going to get what you asked for right away. It might take days, weeks, months, or maybe even years for you to get what you asked God for. You just have to have faith that God is going to be faithful and never fail you. He never will.
I want you to look back at your life. Think about all the good and bad things that you might have went through. I promise that everything you have experienced has been for a purpose. Of all the mistakes that I have ever made, God was still faithful. He didn't fail me.
This pandemic is wild, but I cannot wait to see what happens when it's over. God will never fail!
Please, just ask, and you will have what you ask for.
...you do not have because you do not ask God. (James 4:2)
I believe that we forget the power in asking God for something. I believe it's inconvenient for most. I believe that we lack the patience that we need. I believe we don't have enough faith.
Some might say...if I ask God for something he might not hear me...or he won't give me what I want right away.
I can ask Siri anything and she will get back with me right away. She's quick.
We don't have patience because we can almost get anything that we want right away. Everything the world has to offer us is becoming more accessible and easier for us to get. Which makes it seem like God getting back to us is taking way longer than what it normally might seem like.
We also lack faith. Why? We fear.
Much of fear is rooted in doubt that God will be present.
I've come to learn that we have to be mindful in what we ask God for.
If I get down on my knees and ask God to give me a brand new Tesla, I most likely will not see one in the driveway when I go outside...On the other hand, one of the things that I write in my journal on a daily basis is for God to fulfill all of my desires. I find that on a daily basis he does. I still sin, my mind still wonders, but I know that by asking God to fulfill my desires he does that better than I could ever do on my own strength.
Another thing that I ask God for daily is to be impactful in at least one person's life. I most likely won't see this or know if I am or not, I just have to trust God that I am having an impact.
If you are feeling restless right now with what is going on in the world, ask God for peace. You are never going to feel it if you don't ask God for it. I am sure of that. If you want a medium-well cooked steak, you are not going to get a medium-well cooked steak unless you ask for a medium-well cooked steak.
My prayer is that we have the courage and the faith to ask God for the things that we want.
All we have to do is ask. Things won't happen if you don't ask. It' the same with with learning. You will never learn if you don't ask questions.
You will never get what you want if you don't ask God.
My hope and my encouragement for you is to ask God for what you want. Be mindful. But also remember to be patient, and have faith. If you didn't realize, God is pretty accessible. You can ask him anything, at any time of day. He's always there.
Most of the time, you are not going to get what you asked for right away. It might take days, weeks, months, or maybe even years for you to get what you asked God for. You just have to have faith that God is going to be faithful and never fail you. He never will.
I want you to look back at your life. Think about all the good and bad things that you might have went through. I promise that everything you have experienced has been for a purpose. Of all the mistakes that I have ever made, God was still faithful. He didn't fail me.
This pandemic is wild, but I cannot wait to see what happens when it's over. God will never fail!
Please, just ask, and you will have what you ask for.
Monday, March 23, 2020
more than ever...
The power of what you are letting come out of your right now is more important than ever before.
Every time you open your mouth you have the power to either speak light into the world, or speak darkness. I'm finding there to be a lot of both and not much in between.
"but no human being can tame the tongue. It is restless evil, full of deadly poison." (James 3:8)
Everyone is in one of two boats right now, you have either made a commitment to the opportunity at hand or you fell into the evil and negative trap that things are not going to get better. There really can't be an in-between.
Some of you might be thinking...if we can't tame the tongue, why bother trying?
We need to try more than ever right now to be careful about what we let come out of our mouths.
Even if we may not achieve perfect control of our tongues, we can still learn enough control to reduce the damage that our words can do.
It's better to fight a fire than to go around setting new ones! Remember that we are not fighting the tongue's fire in our own strength.
The Holy Spirit will give us increasing power to monitor and control what we say, so that when we re offended or perturbed, the Spirit will remind us of God's love, and we won't react in a super negative or hateful manner.
Right now you have an opportunity to be different than everyone else. Be mindful of what you say and how you react and I can assure you that you are going to make a huge difference in the lives of many people.
Every time you open your mouth you have the power to either speak light into the world, or speak darkness. I'm finding there to be a lot of both and not much in between.
"but no human being can tame the tongue. It is restless evil, full of deadly poison." (James 3:8)
Everyone is in one of two boats right now, you have either made a commitment to the opportunity at hand or you fell into the evil and negative trap that things are not going to get better. There really can't be an in-between.
Some of you might be thinking...if we can't tame the tongue, why bother trying?
We need to try more than ever right now to be careful about what we let come out of our mouths.
Even if we may not achieve perfect control of our tongues, we can still learn enough control to reduce the damage that our words can do.
It's better to fight a fire than to go around setting new ones! Remember that we are not fighting the tongue's fire in our own strength.
The Holy Spirit will give us increasing power to monitor and control what we say, so that when we re offended or perturbed, the Spirit will remind us of God's love, and we won't react in a super negative or hateful manner.
Right now you have an opportunity to be different than everyone else. Be mindful of what you say and how you react and I can assure you that you are going to make a huge difference in the lives of many people.
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