Rocks and Sand

"Everyone then who hears these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house of rock.  The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on rock.  And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not act on them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand.  The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell and great was its fall."-Matthew 7:24-27

I was reminded of this passage this week as we dealt with Hurricane Irene and the flooding and devastation that she brought.  When we build a house we want it to have a good and strong foundation because if it does not have a good foundation it will crumble and fall and we will lose everything.  It is the same with Christ.  Since we seek eternal life in the glory of God we need a good foundation which is Christ.  When we build our house (our life) in Christ and on Christ then we are built on the rock and have a solid foundation to weather the storms that life will bring.  However, if we build our house (our life) on sand, like money or fame or drugs or any other thing that is not Christ Jesus, then our foundation is shaky and weak and when the storms of life inevitably come we will be lost and we will lose everything.  Like Jesus says, it is "a foolish man who built his house on sand."  Who will you be today, will you be like the wise man and build your house on the rock of Jesus or like a foolish man and build it on the sand of the world?  "But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord," Joshua 24:15. Peace and God Bless

The Dojo of God

Yes that's right the dojo of God.  One of my favorite movies of all time is The Karate Kid, no not the one with Jaden Smith, but the 1984 classic with Ralph Macchio.  One of my favorite scenes is when Daniel and Mr. Miyagi walk into the Cobra Kai dojo and John Kreese, played by Martin Kove, is talking to his class of students.  He says, "Fear does not exist in this dojo does it? Pain does not exist in this dojo does it? Defeat does not exist in this dojo does it?" Now it goes on from there but I want to focus on those lines.  John Kreese is trying to get his students not to show mercy but I want to take it in another direction.  God has a dojo.  If we believe in Jesus as our Saviour then we will get to God's dojo.  It's a place where fear, pain and defeat truly does not exist.  It is eternal life in heaven with God.  When we get to heaven there will no longer be any fear because we will be with our Creator.  There will be no pain because He will take it from us and there will never be defeat.  We cannot lose with God.  We cannot lose when we get to heaven.  In the Bible when angels appear to people they say "Fear not."  I have no fear with Christ, I know that one day I will not feel pain because I am part of the body of Christ, and I will not be defeated by death but will live eternally with God in heaven.  Fear does not exist in God's dojo does it, pain does not exist in God's dojo does it and defeat does not exist in God's dojo does it? Peace and God Bless.

Luke 12:48

I know I said earlier in the day on Facebook that today's blog would be about 2 Timothy 2:11-13 but then I ran across this scripture on a twitter profile of an mma fighter that I follow and it kinda hit me that maybe this is what I should talk about today.  "From everyone to whom much has been given, much will be required." This scripture got me to thinking about what God has given us.  He gave us His Son, Jesus, so that we would be saved and could live eternally through Him and to glorify Him.  He gave us everlasting life but what is required to receive that? Belief in Jesus Christ, plain and simple.  It goes beyond that though, we have to let Christ live in us.We have to let Christ work through us and we have to let Him lead us.  Remember He is the way, not a way but THE way. In Christ all things are possible and in Him we can receive much, but remember He requires much in return.  James 2:17 says "So faith by itself, if it has no works, is dead." Christ calls us to have faith and to show that faith through our daily lives.  You can't just accept Christ and not let him live in you.  Always have faith. Peace and God Bless.

Distractions

As I sit here writing this I am getting ready to go to work, the tv is on and my phone will not stop ringing...ah, the distractions in this world.  There are many things in this world that can distract us from God and listening to and for God.  Whether it's the tv, the phone, or even work, we have to make time for God each day.  I don't mean penciling him into our already busy lives but stepping away from the business, stress and distractions of our lives and deliberately seeking God each and every day.  Make it a plan in your life to deliberately make time to pray, listen and go to God.  Peace and God bless.

If only my one heart...

If only my one heart
Was all you'd gain from all it cost
Well I know, you would have still been a man
With a reason
To willingly offer your life

What a great lyric from Sea of Faces by Kutless.  I love this lyric (and the song, and the band).  It makes me think though.  Jesus died for all of us, so that we could have eternal life and salvation from our sins but would He have given it all if it would have only been for one person?  The answer is an easy and resounding YES!  It's amazing but true that Jesus would have sacrificed himself for just one of us.  That brings an interesting question, what would you be willing to sacrifice for one person?  Would you give your life for one person?  It's easy to say yes, of course I would, but when you really stop and think it's not that easy a question.  Hopefully all of us can say yes I would for my spouse, children, parents, or relatives and hopefully for most of our true friends. But would you die for a stranger? What would you sacrifice for a stranger? Would you give your clothes, your food, your home?  Jesus died for strangers...true God knows all of us and Jesus is part of the Trinity...but Jesus didn't physically meet everyone He died for.  Jesus willingly gave his life for us.  I would challenge you to think about what you would sacrifice for a complete stranger and think in the context of what Jesus calls us to do.  "Then the king will say to those at his right hand 'Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.' Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? and when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?' And the king will answer them, 'Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my family, you did it to me.' Matthew 25:34-40.  Peace and God bless.

How do you serve God?

I had a very interesting and wonderful conversation today.  In it we talked about how fewer and fewer of our young people are feeling a call to full time Christian ministry and why that may be.  In talking about this I thought back to my childhood and teenage years.  I grew up in the church and recently made public my call to Christian ministry.  But thinking about my childhood and time in my church youth group I realized that the subject of Christian ministry wasn't talked about much.  As I became and junior and senior in high school the questions that I was asked were basically, "What are you going to be? Where are you going to college? What do you want to be after college?"  There were few questions about how what I was going to be or what I was going to do would truly serve God.  Not saying those questions were wrong but they got me thinking, should we be asking different questions of our young people?  When children get to high school they are guided by counselors to choose a path for their life based on test scores and grades.  We are asking 17 and 18 year olds to make decisions on what they are going to do with the rest of their lives when they haven't yet grown enough to know what to expect from life.  I think that maybe instead of asking "What are you going to do?" or "What are you going to be?" we should be asking "How will you serve God?"  Maybe when we talk to young people and they say, "Well, I want to go to college and become an accountant" we should ask "Is that what you feel God leading you to?" or "In what ways can you serve God in that career?" I'm not saying that everyone should go in to full time Christian ministry because we still need doctors, lawyers, accountants, car mechanics, pilots and every other vocation and career in the world but what we need to ask ourselves daily is "How do I serve God?"

Peace and God Bless

I created this blog as a place for everyone, Christians and non-Christians, to discuss topics that may range from favorite Bible verses to interesting questions to breaking news stories and newsworthy material.  I want to write about the things that I am thinking about and generate good and helpful discussions on these topics.  I want to caution everyone that some topics may be sensitive to some groups of people and to remind people that everyone is entitled to their own individual opinion.  Most of the topics discussed here will not have right and wrong answers, therefore I expect everyone to respect everyone's opinions regarding each subject.  I hope that many of you will enjoy this blog and interact with it.  Peace and God Bless.