Friday, October 30, 2009

The Living Cornerstone

How could he care about me?


1 Peter 2:4-10 You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor.

5 And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests. Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God.

6 As the Scriptures say, “I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem, chosen for great honor, and anyone who trusts in him will never be disgraced.”

7 Yes, you who trust him recognize the honor God has given him. But for those who reject him, “The stone that the builders rejected has now become the cornerstone.”

8 And, “He is the stone that makes people stumble, the rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them.

9 But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests, a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

10 “Once you had no identity as a people; now you are God’s people. Once you received no mercy; now you have received God’s mercy.”

The cornerstone of our faith is Jesus Christ, without him there would be nothing to believe in, there would not be any reason for us to have any hope beyond what the rest of the world has.

We are our own temple, each of us is the Lord’s house where he dwells, and each of us is the priest of our temples. Each of us has direct contact with God for the forgiveness of our sins, I don’t have to go to the old temple building and see a man that is supposed to be nearer to God than myself, I have the privilege of going straight to God.

1 Corinthians 6:19 Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?

Here is a quick Greek lesson. There are two Greek words for temple:

hieron (the sacred place), the whole building, including the courts where the sacrifice was killed;

naos (the dwelling of God), the inner shrine wherein God manifested Himself, and where, in the holiest place, the blood of the slain sacrifice was presented before Him.

All believers alike are now the dwelling place of God (and are called the "naos,") and priests unto God (Re 1:6). The minister of the New Testament church is not, like the Jewish priest , he is not admitted nearer to God than the people, but merely for order's sake leads the spiritual services of the people.

Christian houses of worship are never called temples because the temple was a place for sacrifice, for us the sacrifice has already been made, we go to church to worship, to fellowship with other believers and to work together to fulfill the great commission.

I am blessed, I am “a somebody”, I am one of God's chosen people and I have direct access to him. As a result, "you can show others the goodness of God" (Verse 9). I am blessed to have such a position that is totally undeserved.

Thank you Lord for my status in your family, help me to show others your goodness everyday!

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

I Am An Alien

I do not belong here.


1 Peter 2:11-12  Dear friends, I warn you as "temporary residents and foreigners" to keep away from worldly desires that wage war against your very souls. Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.

I remember those long car trips where it seemed that dad would never pull the car into the driveway and say "were home." I am ready for God to change my temporary resident status here on earth and I look forward to God saying "well done good and faithful servant!"

For God to be pleased with me when I arrive home I need to represent him well and live according to his word. He could take us home as soon as we become his child but if we stay here perhaps we will influence some other people to give up their earthly home to become citizens of a heavenly kingdom.

I need to live as an ambassador for the king of my permanent homeland.

Hebrews 11:13-16  All these people died still believing what God had promised them. They did not receive what was promised, but they saw it all from a distance and welcomed it. They agreed that they were foreigners and nomads here on earth. Obviously people who say such things are looking forward to a country they can call their own. If they had longed for the country they came from, they could have gone back. But they were looking for a better place, a heavenly homeland. That is why God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared a city for them.

Thank you Lord for making me a naturalized citizen in your kingdom, I pray that I will be your ambassador that will represent you well and convince other people to give up their citizenship here on earth.

Monday, October 26, 2009

We Need To Be Kind

Mercy can be difficult to pass on to others.


1 Peter 1:18-23  For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. 19  It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God.

22  You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.

23  For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.

1 Peter 2:1-3  So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. 2  Like newborn babies, you must crave pure spiritual milk so that you will grow into a full experience of salvation. Cry out for this nourishment, 3  now that you have had a taste of the Lord's kindness.

Since God paid a ransom to save us from our empty meaningless temporary lives, we are born again to an eternal life, so then we need to live for him.

We should look different from the other people that don't know Jesus, Peter told us to love each other deeply and now he shows us how that is supposed to be done, all we have to do is get rid of all evil behavior.

That doesn't sound so bad, when we think of evil we think of some pretty bad stuff, but Peter elaborates on what he calls evil and all of a sudden he is hitting us right between the eyes. He tells us to get rid of a list of our favorite sins: deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech.

Now that we have tasted the Lord's kindness and how well he treated us, we are supposed to treat each other the same way.

Ephesians 4:32  Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

Help us to treat each other with the same kindness that you offered to us. Thanks for showing us how to love our enemies so that there can be peace in our lives, peace that can only come through love.

Sunday, October 25, 2009

Our Love Should Look More Like God’s Love

Loving as big as God does.


1 Peter 1:17  And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time as "foreigners in the land."

18  For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And the ransom he paid was not mere gold or silver. 19  It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. 20  God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but he has now revealed him to you in these last days.

21  Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.

22  You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart.

God's perfect love does not give opportunity for him to have favorites; he loves us all the same no matter what you are or what you have done. Our love for each other is nothing close to the perfect love that God has, our love is slanted toward our perception of how somebody else treats us, or our love gets tainted with jealousy and pride.

We are to live in reverence for his holiness, not in fear of his wrath, we have already been spared his wrath when we accepted Christ as the ransom for our sin, now we live our lives with faith and hope because Jesus was raised from the dead we know that we will live again.

We have been changed when we accepted Christ as Lord and now we are to show love for each other "deeply with all our hearts." Our churches and this entire world would look so different if we all could strive towards loving the way that God loved us.

Thank you Lord for paying the ransom for my sins, God help me to be loving and forgiving, help me to love others more perfectly.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Faithfully And Joyfully Waiting

We will be taken away from the pain and misery of this world.


1 Peter 1:8  You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. 9  The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.

10  This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you. 11  They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ's suffering and his great glory afterward.

12  They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you. And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.

13  So think clearly and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. 14  So you must live as God's obedient children. Don't slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn't know any better then. 15  But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 16  For the Scriptures say, "You must be holy because I am holy."

I have never seen him but I still love him and trust in his promises but you already know that God's people have always been people that had to exercise faith. Thousands of years before Jesus birth God's people were exercising faith that the Savior of the world was on the way and now those that are looking forward to him coming again are still living on faith (verse 8, 13).

And besides waiting joyfully we are also to be waiting as obedient children (verse 13). Remember how you used to live to please yourself before you became a Christ follower? Don't go back to that way of life because we have been told to become holy! If we are truly Christ followers then he should become our example of what to do and say, whatever happened to the phrase "what would Jesus do?" maybe we are not concerned enough to ask anymore but it should be asked everyday in every situation (verse 13-16).

When Jesus returns to take me home I want him to find me faithful and becoming more like him each day.

Lord thank you for paying off my sin debt, help me to live by faith, knowing that you will take care of me. Help me to live each day growing in obedience to your word so that I will become more like you.

Thursday, October 22, 2009

Wonderful Joy Ahead

God will deliver us now and forever.


1 Peter 1:3-9  All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great hope, 4  and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. 5  And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.

6  So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you have to endure many trials for a little while. 7  These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

8  You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. 9  The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.

23  For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God.

I am so blessed, I didn't do anything to get eternal life, not a thing, it was taken care of for me because of "God's great mercy," (verse 3) his son Jesus was sent to die and be raised from the dead so that I can have eternal life.

Because of what Jesus did for me, I have a bright future, and that future goes far beyond the limits of this temporary assignment here on planet earth. I have a future that is full of hope, hope that the government cannot give me, and hope that my friends and family cannot give to me. My hope is in the blessings of an eternal inheritance, a priceless inheritance (verse 4), how could any value be placed on being in the presence of God for eternity?

It is just human nature to want to be comfortable and to have the easy life and it is hard to accept that the trials that we despise help to increase our faith, if my faith wasn't put to the test then my faith wouldn't be much. And if it were always bottled up inside of me, then my faith can not be seen by others, It can only be seen by others when it is exercised and when it is exercised then the rest of the world can see it. My future with God for eternity looks better and better every day with every trial that comes my way.

It is difficult to be truly glad and to think about the wonderful joy that is ahead (verse 6) but we have to realize that this life will quickly end (verse 23) and our new life will last forever.

Lord you have blessed me so much, help me to be thankful through the hard times and remind me of the hope that I have in you. Increase my faith and help me to put it into action so that the rest of the world can see it.

Romans 15:13  I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Your Mistake Is This

Jesus points out the problem.


Matthew 22:29 Jesus replied, "Your mistake is that you don't know the Scriptures, and you don't know the power of God.

I wonder how many times a day that Jesus could say this to me. I dig into his word everyday but that doesn't make me any kind of expert on how to live and how to avoid mistakes.

I see his power daily in the scriptures as well as in life all around me, but do I really understand that if God is on my side then who could be against me, if it REALLY sunk into my head and I really understood this would I live differently?

The church is supposed to be disciple making but instead we are turning out men that look just like the rest of the world, men that struggle with the same issues, everything from porn addiction to credit card debt to divorce.

Of course we live in the world and we have to struggle with the sin nature that we are all born with but through studying God's word and realizing his power in our lives every day we can be "more than conquerors" and we will become more like him.

Psalm 119:61,67,73 Evil people try to drag me into sin, but I am firmly anchored to your instructions. I used to wander off until you disciplined me; but now I closely follow your word. You made me; you created me. Now give me the sense to follow your commands.

Thank you for your word Lord, I will stay plugged into God's word everyday for it is powerful to keep me from temptation and disobedience.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Encourage Someone

Everybody needs some encouragement.


2 Cor 7:4-7  I have the highest confidence in you, and I take great pride in you. You have greatly encouraged me and made me happy despite all our troubles.

When we arrived in Macedonia, there was no rest for us. We faced conflict from every direction, with battles on the outside and fear on the inside.

But God, who encourages those who are discouraged, encouraged us by the arrival of Titus.  His presence was a joy, but so was the news he brought of the encouragement he received from you. When he told us how much you long to see me, and how sorry you are for what happened, and how loyal you are to me, I was filled with joy!

Paul’s life after his conversion to Christianity was always full of trouble and hard times. God encouraged Paul but he didn’t do so directly, instead he allowed other people to do his work, he encouraged Paul through the believers that Paul had already won for Christ.

Here in the second letter to the Corinthians Paul is blessed through a visit from Titus, here we see the first church visitation program in action, and according to Paul the visit was a great blessing for him. Titus was able to bring spirits up so that he was full of joy despite the awful treatment that he has endured.

It has occurred to me that maybe somebody would rather have a visit rather than being told that they were prayed for, sure prayer is the ultimate power to help somebody, but we are supposed to be Jesus hands and feet going and doing so that others will be blessed.

Help me to encourage somebody today Lord, there is a lot of pain and suffering all around, there is certainly no shortage of people that need to be encouraged.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

Broken Relationships

Nothing that some forgiveness can't fix.


"Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you" (Ephesians 4:32).

Freely handing out forgiveness is a strange concept for human beings, we all want to receive forgiveness, but don't ask me to be selfless and let somebody off the hook.

God gave us forgiveness so that we could have a relationship with him, our response to God's generosity should be to bring glory to God by displaying his goodness for everyone to see, and when we forgive we show people that we are truly thankful for God's kindness.

It is impossible to risk your life to make others glad in God if you are an unforgiving person. If you are wired to see other people's faults and failures and offenses, and treat them roughly, you will not take risks for their joy.
– John Piper

The question is do we lean toward mercy? Do we default to grace? Do we have a forgiving spirit?

Seeing and delighting in him is the goal of forgiveness. We could not delight in God if we didn't get to experience forgiveness, the whole point of forgiveness is so that our broken relationship with our creator could be restored. Our motivation for being forgiving people is the joy we have in a forgiving God.

So you don't want to forgive? What an awkward situation. How can we despise becoming what we enjoy most about God?

I must be willing to become more like God by practicing forgiveness.

Thank you for healing broken relationships. Help us Lord to bring people to you by offering to them the same gift that you gave to us.

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Following God Is Risky

How much risk is too much?


Luke 21:16  You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and relatives and friends, and some of you they will put to death.”

Jesus words to his disciples don’t sound very motivational, at the end of his ministry he is letting them know that things are not going to be easy, but God’s people have never been called on to take it easy.

We have always been called on to take risk, a life of ease and luxuries are probably not what the Lord has in mind for your life, and yet most of western civilization lives on the premise of staying comfortable and safe.

Why is there such a thing as risk? Because there is such a thing as ignorance. If there were no ignorance there would be no risk. Risk is possible because we don’t know how things will turn out. This means that God can take no risks. It is right to risk for the cause of Christ, and not to do so is to waste your life. -John Piper

Brave men and women of the Bible have been in sticky situations and have left the outcome of their circumstances in the Lord’s hands.

2 Samuel 10:12 Be strong and let us fight bravely for our people and the cities of our God. The LORD will do what is good in his sight.”

Esther 4:15-16 Then I will go to the king, though it is against the law, and if I perish, I perish.”

Daniel 3:16-18 O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.

Acts 21:13 “What are you doing, weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus” And since he would not be persuaded, we ceased and said, ‘Let the will of the Lord be done’”

In other parts of the world the church lives just like the people in the verses above, but most of us live in a safe, secure life style that looks nothing like God’s people lived in the Bible.

I believe that God is calling us to take risk for him, to step out and do what he calls us to do, something that we could not do on our own without his intervention. Because in risk we can see God’s provision and sustenance, so in leaving the secure safe place and taking risk we are showing God to the rest of the world.

King Xerxes knew more about God and his power after Esther took a risk, King Nebuchadnezzar was sure who the real God is after the Israelites came out of the furnace, if we follow the Lord and go where he leads and take the risk that he calls us to then he gets the glory when we provides.

But what happens when the people of God do not escape from the beguiling enchantment of security? What happens if they try to live their lives in the mirage of safety? The answer is wasted lives. -John Piper

Do you remember the time it happened?

Numbers 13:30-31 Then Caleb silenced the people before Moses and said, "We should go up and take possession of the land, for we can certainly do it." But the men who had gone up with him said, "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are."

Look at all the wasted lives that wouldn’t trust God and take the risk that they were called to take, thousands of wasted lives and years sitting in the desert instead of the promised land.

This is the promise that empowers us to take risks for the sake of Christ. It is not the impulse of heroism, or the lust for adventure, or the courage of self-reliance, or the need to earn God’s favor. It is simple trust in Christ—that in him God will do everything necessary so that we can enjoy making much of him forever. -John Piper

And now what about you? Are you caught in the enchantment of security, paralyzed from taking any risks for the cause of God?

I must step out by faith and do what the Lord asks me to do, even if it makes me uncomfortable, I must not play it safe.

Help us Lord to prove our faith by following you no matter what the cost.

Monday, October 12, 2009

Glory To God In Every Situation

Is Jesus important to you?


Philippians 1:20  For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die.

21  For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better. 22  But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ. So I really don’t know which is better. 23  I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. 24  But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live.

25  Knowing this, I am convinced that I will remain alive so I can continue to help all of you grow and experience the joy of your faith. 26  And when I come to you again, you will have even more reason to take pride in Christ Jesus because of what he is doing through me.

Living to magnify Christ is costly. This is not surprising. He was crucified. He was treated like a devil. And he calls us to follow him.  –John Piper

Nobody enjoys suffering and it can be very difficult to believe that suffering is a good thing, it can it even be a valuable tool to show us more of God's glory. In his book “Don’t Waste Your Life” John Piper says that suffering is part of God’s design in this world.

Suffering reveals the horror of sin for the world to see but it also contrast the beauty of Christ and the awesome hope that we have. How would we value the Lord’s mercy and value his love so much if we didn’t see a depraved, broken world around us that is the opposite of what we see in Christ? If everything in the world was so lovely then Christ wouldn’t be so awesome to us, we would take his benefits for granted, his glory wouldn’t be so great. 

We are supposed to value Christ higher than anything, according to the apostle Paul, Jesus beauty shines the brightest when he is found to be more valuable than health and wealth and even life itself.

For there is no greater joy than joy in the greatness of God. And if we must suffer to see this and savor it most deeply, then suffering is a mercy. And Christ’s call to take up our cross and join him on the Calvary road is love. -John Piper

We all have an organization chart in our heads that shows what is most valuable to us, the most valuable person or thing is at the top and we decide what we will cherish. Whenever something is of tremendous value to you, and you cherish its beauty or power or uniqueness, you want to draw others’ attention to it, you want them to see how wonderful it is. That is why Paul’s all-consuming goal in life was for Christ to be magnified, Christ was of infinite value to Paul, and so Paul longed for others to see this value. That is what it means to magnify Christ—to show the magnitude of his value.

If we only trust Christ to give us gifts and not himself as the all-satisfying gift, then we do not trust him in a way that honors him as our treasure. We simply honor the gifts. They are what we really want, not him. So biblical faith in Jesus must mean that we trust him to give us what we need most—namely, himself. That means that faith itself must include at its essence a treasuring of Christ above all things. -John Piper

How much value do I place on Jesus? Do I see him as the ultimate gift to fill my greatest need? Is he so valuable that I can die to my selfish desires and live to show off the extent of his glory?

Help me Lord to appreciate the awesomeness of you, help me to make you famous by showing your goodness and love to a hurting world, they need to see your glory and live their lives for you.

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Waiting For The Lord

It can be a lonely experience.


Ezekiel 16:1-2  Then another message came to me from the LORD: "Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her detestable sins.  

Ezekiel 20:1-3  On August 14, during the seventh year of King Jehoiachin's captivity, some of the leaders of Israel came to request a message from the LORD. They sat down in front of me to wait for his reply.

Then this message came to me from the LORD: "Son of man, tell the leaders of Israel, 'This is what the Sovereign LORD says: How dare you come to ask me for a message? As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, I will tell you nothing!'

Psalms 27:14  Wait patiently for the LORD. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the LORD.

It is a hurry up world that we live in, gotta go there, now it's time to be somewhere else. We want everything in an instant, everything from food to new toys to money.

King David stressed in the Psalms that he spent time with God every day. He would pray and meditate and sing praises and then he brought his request to the Lord. It is so good for me to spend time in God's word each day, meditating on what he is telling me through his word, praying and building up our relationship.

It is good to wait for the Lord but, as the nation of Israel found out, it isn't good to wait on him if your relationship with him isn't what it should be. If we are being disobedient children then you can wait all day long and the Lord isn't going to be a part of it. As the Lord told Israel through the prophet Ezekiel "How dare you come to ask me for a message? As surely as I live, says the Sovereign LORD, I will tell you nothing!"

Sometimes David waited for the Lord and he was very lonely, the Lord didn't show up. When we read through Psalms and we find David's relationship with God wasn't good because of David's sin then that's when David is crying out to God for him to come back to him. God doesn't reestablish their relationship until David confesses his sin and through repentance God does come back to a close relationship with David.

I will wait for the Lord each day and if I have broken my relationship with him I will not expect him to be close to me until I have confessed my sin.

Help me to always maintain a good relationship with you Lord. I want to be able to spend time each day waiting for you and relying on your strength and wisdom.

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

Appreciate The Blessings

Don't let them be wasted on you.


I have been reading “Don’t Waste Your Life” by John Piper, my blog will be based on my thoughts from his book.

Isaiah 26:8 “Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts”

Isaiah 43:7 “Bring all who claim me as their God, for I have made them for my glory. It was I who created them. ”

Psalms 90:14 Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the end of our lives.

Matthew 22:37 Jesus replied, “ You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.”

Revelation 3:16 But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth!

You see it happening everyday, somebody that has wreaked their life dies and you think to yourself “What a wasted life.” I wonder how many lives that we don’t recognize as being wasted actually are.

“The opposite of wasting your life is living life by a single God-exalting, soul-satisfying passion. The well-lived life must be God-exalting and soul-satisfying because that is why God created us.” –John Piper

We were created for God to receive glory in everything that we do and in everything that happens to us. If we live for anything else or for anybody else then we have lived a wasted life.

We should be living with a constant awareness of what he has done for us and it should affect our behavior as we go about living our everyday lives. Without his benevolence to us in sending Christ to die on our behalf we would have nothing. Every blessing that we have every comfort and luxury are from him.

We should desire to make God famous, we should be obedient, loving the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind, anything less that we give to him is a gross neglect and disregard for his blessing. We are called to treasure the act of love that God showed to us and appreciate it as the source of every blessing and comfort that we have in Jesus.

“If you refuse to see God in his gifts, they will turn out not to be gifts but High Court evidence of ingratitude.” –John Piper

Philippians 3:7-8 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ

Galatians 6:14 “Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.”

Without Christ death and resurrection we get nothing but judgment and condemnation, therefore everything that you enjoy as a Christian is owing to the death of Christ.

I need to trace all my joy and blessings back to the source, if I take the glory or if I give it away somewhere else then obviously I am not very grateful for the love that God has for me and the purpose that I am here for. I am here to give glory to God.

You are an awesome God full of love and mercy. Thank you for blessing me and giving me a place in eternity with you.

Friday, October 02, 2009

Are You Comfortable?

Are you wearing the snuggie of blessings?


1 Corinthians 15:30-31 And why should we ourselves risk our lives hour by hour? For I swear, dear brothers and sisters, that I face death daily. This is as certain as my pride in what Christ Jesus our Lord has done in you.

2 Corinthians 1:4-5 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us. 5 For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ

I learned in yesterday's post that God comforts his children and helps them with their burdens. In today's scripture I want to think about the fact that there are too many of God's children that are way too cozy.

I am asking myself questions like:
  • How much of my time should be spent doing something to make Jesus known to others?
  • How much do I do that has any significance for God's kingdom?
  • How much more kingdom work should be getting accomplished?
I am pretty sure that we are all guilty of being too comfortable, siting in the snuggie of our blessings to keep us warm, in my recliner in front of my TV, with my remote control, a kitchen full of food and beverages at my disposal. That's a lot of comfort!

How can I make a difference for the kingdom if I am sitting on the sidelines? God's plan isn't for me to stay in my comfort zone. We have been comforted not so that we can be comfortable, rather we are comforted and blessed because it is God's plan for us to pass it on to others.
"Comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable." - Finley Peter Dunne
Lord, help me to be wise in how I use my resources that you have blessed me with. I don't want to waste my time and your blessings, help me to use them to reach out to those in need, only then will I make a difference for eternity.

Thursday, October 01, 2009

God's Comfort Station

Paul was beaten and left for dead and yet he still wants to comfort others.


2 Corinthians 1:3-7  All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort. 4 He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others. When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.

5 For the more we suffer for Christ, the more God will shower us with his comfort through Christ. 6 Even when we are weighed down with troubles, it is for your comfort and salvation! For when we ourselves are comforted, we will certainly comfort you. Then you can patiently endure the same things we suffer. 7 We are confident that as you share in our sufferings, you will also share in the comfort God gives us.

What is your source of comfort? One of the blessings that we enjoy as God's children is that we have a source of comfort that can not fail. Through all the trials and persecutions that I may have to face, I have a Savior that has endured suffering far worse than I will ever have to stand up to.

It is easy to want to keep all the comforting to ourselves, after all doesn't it feel really good, and don't I deserve it? When I am being comforted the center of attention is me, who doesn't like that, but Paul told the church in Corinth that God comforts us so that we can in turn comfort others.

That is saying a lot when you realize the extreme persecution that Paul suffered that we will probably never experience and yet he didn't keep the attention turned upon himself and his trials but rather he sought to help others by sharing in the hope and comfort that comes from God.

Beyond enduring the trials, Paul went so far as to be thankful for the trouble that he had experienced, for it had caused him to get rid of the urge to depend on his own power and depend on the source of comfort that is bigger than any trial.

Want to help somebody that needs comfort? Prayer is a powerful tool although it seems to be too "hands off" for most of us. I tend to want to comfort somebody more by helping them in some tangible way but there is far more power to encourage and strengthen a friend in need through prayer.

There is a lot of hurting everywhere and it is real easy to find somebody that needs prayer, encouragement and a little comfort. I just need to do it!