God forgives us...

Paul persecuted Christians. He didn't gossip about them or make fun of them. He didn't just call them names or say he hated them. Instead, he had them arrested. He had stones thrown at them. He had them murdered for their beliefs. 

Too many times as Christians, we look at our past and are thoroughly convinced that God cannot love us or forgive us. Why should He? I mean, lets face it. If He cannot love us, he definitely cannot use us. Not after the lies, the cheating, the stealing, the doubt, the addiction. The list goes on. Not after all of the dirty little things we've done to make Him despise us.  

Here's the truth: God forgives us. It's God's love and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ that we must focus on. Not ourselves or our past. Also, we are making two big mistakes when we think this way: 

1. We made the decision that God cannot love us or use us based on our past (which by the way, he knew we would do it before we did). We put ourselves in the seat of judgment, put on the robe, grab the gavel and decide our own sentence. Guess what? Not our job, not our duty, not our burden. Unless we are capable of or in a position to trade places with Jesus on the cross, we should never try to take His spot when it comes to judgment. After all, in Christ, we are new creations. Washed. Forgiven. 

2. We are actually showing that we don't trust God and His word. If we cannot be used or be loved because of our sins, we are first accusing the Bible of being inaccurate. Paul. Noah. Moses. David. Peter. Is there a common denominator with these guys? Of course. They were sinners. They were dirty. They were used mightily by God. 

We are no different. We doubt. We struggle. We survive. The thing to remember is that if we are one with Christ, we don't have to worry about this. God has a plan for us; a will for our lives. How about we take our focus off of ourselves and put it where it belongs? On God; on the sacrifice He made by giving His son for our sins. For our ransom. For our life. How dare we belittle that unconditional love and make this life about ourselves. 

Put down the gavel, pick yourself up and thank God for this gift of life and his forgiveness. The love He has for us is undying. The tomb is empty. God can use any of us. He wants to use all of us. 

1 John 1:9 - If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. 

Psalm 103:12 - As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. 

  

Worry is a bad man in a dark alley...

What if we look at worry for what it is. A thief. Worry is a bad man in a dark alley. Worry waits on you as you walk by and you are completely unexpecting. Worry has a plan. That plan is not to make you prosper. No, that plan is to completely derail you from happiness.

Worry starts out small and draws you in. It completely negates your faith. It disrupts all things good. Maybe it doesn't happen right away, but if you give it a foothold, it will. That bad man in that dark alley asks for help. You go in and listen to what it has to say. You walk away and that seed has been planted. The next time you walk by that alley, there he is again. He calls you in and you go. You lend an ear. He drives his agenda deeper. You entertain the idea that he is giving you and now you are considering it's validity even more. Now you are hooked. He is pleased.

You don't walk by the alley for awhile. It doesn't matter, because that man is on your mind. Now he's moving into your thoughts. You stay busy. Think of other things. But when it's quiet, there he is. You think about what he said. What he said could happen. Now you are starting to believe it's true. Now there is a foundation.

You go back by the alley. Maybe it's been days, maybe weeks. There's the man. You speak to him and he does the least expected. He takes it from you. He takes your happiness, your joy. He's now affecting your relationships. You are disengaged. Only partly present. The bad man has it and you gave it to him; control. Now things are unraveling.

What do you do? You excercise your faith. You get stronger so you can combat that man in the dark alley. You bring it to light. You talk to others. You PRAY. You read your Bible. You take your trust away from the ideas that you now cling to and put it elsewhere. You put your faith in Christ. You bring light to the dark alley and expose that man for what he is. You move on. You focus. You win.

Matthew 6:27: "Can anyone of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?"

What if faith was easy to come by?

In my experiences, faith is a word so easily thrown around, it seems as if everyone has tons of it. It's a great thing to talk about when friends are struggling and you need an encouraging word. It's also a great thing to talk about when things are going great for you.

What about when things get tough? Is your faith as strong as it should be? Truthfully? I can honestly say that my faith is lacking when things get tough. I'm not sure how to describe it. I know that Jesus is there and I know that God has a plan. Does that make it easier for me? No. Not really. I think the reason is because I am human. I am not a super Christian. I do things wrong. I feel conviction daily. I can't imagine being a role model for new Christians. I'm still a baby in my faith as it is.

The thing I have realized is that in order to grow my faith, I have to do certain things. First, I have to pray. I have to earnestly seek the God that I so fervently believe in. I have to talk to Him and strengthen that relationship. I have to approach Him with confidence. I have to ask Him for what I don't have...for what only He can give me.

The second thing I have to do is get in His Word. I have to read it, study it and apply it. I have to listen for Him. I have to get out of the way. I have to be transparent and realize how truly useless I am without Him. The Bible says in Romans that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Romans 10:17). I cannot hear what I do not pay attention to.

Finally, I have to do the hardest thing for the "logical" human being. I have to believe. I have to lay down all logic, all selfish reasoning, and give it to Him. I have to lean on God's power here (1 Corinthians, 2:5) and not on my own wisdom (or lack their of).

When it's all said and done, I have to exercise my faith. I can't expect to sit it in the corner or on a dusty book shelf and try to use it when I really need it. I need to take it with me, everywhere I go. I need to rely on it, and work it out daily.

So what if faith was easy to come by? Would we need to talk to our Father? Would we need to earnestly seek Him? Would we need to get knee deep in the Bible? Would we even need discipline? I don't know...but to be honest, I'm glad I have to rely on Him to have it.

"Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see." -Hebrews 11:1

My take on the CFA drama...

So, everyone has their opinions, and many have provided their two cents. I figured, maybe I could too. Here goes:

What if "tolerance" wasn't just a word that sounded good to throw around at a whim, but in fact did not get put into practice? What if a Christian owner of a popular establishment was asked his beliefs and answered honestly, using no hate speech? What if that same individual wasn't labeled discriminatory because of his response? What if instead of labeling all Christians as bigots, people actually respected our beliefs?

I guess we Christians don't understand what it's like. I mean, we are so widely accepted. We are never called derogatory names or made fun of for believing the Bible, which to some is just an outdated book that has no relevance. That wouldn't happen though, right? Because if it did, the same principle of "tolerance" that you demand for yourself would be taken away from us. You would be doing to Christians what you claim credits you as a victim.

You may categorize me as a hate filled individual because you don't agree with my beliefs or because I don't agree with yours. Your tolerance argument is becoming weaker. While you "hate" me for disagreeing with you, here's my pledge: I will live what I believe. I will love the lost and the found alike because we are called to do so. I will not pretend to agree with you. I will practice the love of Christ towards you. I will pray earnestly for you and myself. I will pray that the Church display what we know to be right through love. I pray the same for you. Do not mistake this as agreement in your beliefs, or that I condone it. Instead, take this as a proclamation that I stand on my beliefs in Jesus, His Church, the Bible and family, unapologetically. Would you prefer I move aside and adopt your beliefs? Are you willing to do that for me? Call it what it is...a heart issue. No reason to bring chicken into it.