"Most of my Christian life I’ve been making the same mistake over and over and over. I keep putting my confidence in my discipline, in my good intentions, in my knowledge of the Bible, in order to produce love for God. I always end up in legalism and self-righteousness when I do this. One day the Lord interrupted all of this. He said to me, ‘If you ever hear me say to you, ‘Well done, my good and faithful servant,’ it won’t be because you were a good follower, it will be because my Son is a good leader. Put your confidence in His ability to lead, not in your ability to follow.’"

— Jack Deere (via kvcshutterbug)

(Source: classyliving, via kvcshutterbug)

Encourage one another daily, while it is called “Today”

I am very distraught over one of my good friends.  It seems she has allowed an earthly relationship to take her away from her relationship with God and, consequently, her relationships with her Christian family.

I know I did some of the right things to try to encourage her and bring her back into the truth of Christ.  I also know there was more I could have done.  Ultimately I know everyone is accountable for their own choices, but I am still saddened by the possibility that things could have turned out differently.

People are the most precious and priceless creatures in all of creation.  Why do we so often neglect their well-being, especially the well-being of those who are our Christian family?  I believe keeping fellow believers on the path to heaven is equally as important as converting non-Christians.  Both things help someone get to heaven.  

Hebrews 3:12-13 says, “Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.”

This passage tends to be a wake up call to me.  There is an sense of urgency, a serious warning that something very disastrous could happen if we don’t do what we can to stop it.  One of our Christian brothers or sisters could very easily fall away from God  because of the deception of sin which leads to a hard heart.  

As Christians we are all commanded to be actively involved in the ministry of encouragement.  Every Christian you know has weak places that Satan will try to exploit every single day.  That’s why we also must encourage every single day.  Satan doesn’t take a day off, so why should we?

I want to point out some practical ideas for encouragement that have been demonstrated to me by Christians I look up to:

     -Get to know the people in your church.  You can’t encourage them if you don’t know what is happening in their life.  Also, you don’t have much credibility in approaching them about sin in their life if you’ve never taken the time to be their friend.

     -Use your time wisely.  This is a biblical concept.  Don’t allow Satan the upper-hand because you procrastinated or simply neglected to reach out to someone.  

     -Be proactive about encouragement.  You can be the initiator, the phone call maker, the visitor, the card writer, the pray-er, the say-what-needs-to-be-said-er.  You can!  You might not think you can, but if God commands it then He knows you can do it.   

     -Allow yourself to be moved with compassion.  Realizing the serious consequences of sin should make us emotional from time to time, but often we just push those feelings aside.  If we would just let ourselves see things as God does and become aware of the dire spiritual circumstances people are in, perhaps we would do more to seek their good.

I’m thankful for those in my life who put forth the effort to help keep me on the straight and narrow.  I pray that we all will strive to be an encouragement every day in every way we can.

spiritualinspiration: “He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful” (John 15:2, NIV) In life, we all go through a pruning process. God will prune our lives so that we can bear much fruit. To “prune” means something is cut away, something is removed. In other words, maybe a good friend that you counted on moved to another city. Maybe a business shut down that you were connected to, or a relationship went a different direction. Friend, God knows what you need in your life in order to grow and flourish. Sometimes when things happen that we don’t understand, we have to just trust that He is working behind the scenes preparing you for increase, preparing you to go to another level. Don’t put a question mark where God has placed a period. When you’re going through transition, don’t get bitter. Don’t get down and think it’s the end. Don’t start thinking that you’re a failure. Have the attitude, “God, I let this go knowing that it was only temporary provision, and what You have in my future will be greater than what I’m letting go of.” If you will accept the change and stay in faith, God will open new doors. He will bring new opportunities, new friendships, and take you to another level of His glory!

spiritualinspiration:

“He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful” (John 15:2, NIV)

In life, we all go through a pruning process. God will prune our lives so that we can bear much fruit. To “prune” means something is cut away, something is removed. In other words, maybe a good friend that you counted on moved to another city. Maybe a business shut down that you were connected to, or a relationship went a different direction.

Friend, God knows what you need in your life in order to grow and flourish. Sometimes when things happen that we don’t understand, we have to just trust that He is working behind the scenes preparing you for increase, preparing you to go to another level. Don’t put a question mark where God has placed a period.

When you’re going through transition, don’t get bitter. Don’t get down and think it’s the end. Don’t start thinking that you’re a failure. Have the attitude, “God, I let this go knowing that it was only temporary provision, and what You have in my future will be greater than what I’m letting go of.” If you will accept the change and stay in faith, God will open new doors. He will bring new opportunities, new friendships, and take you to another level of His glory!

(via dishawn)

Rational Faith: A Million Dollars?!

rationalfaith:

Tonight we (those assembled at the church building in Bells) heard another great lesson from my Grandfather-in-Law, Loy Mitchell. He talked about heaven, about how it’s where God lives, it is a place of rejoicing, how we should want to be there. One illustration he gave in particular stuck in my…

μεράκι: Fashionable Purity

kvcshutterbug:

Over the summer, I had a girlfriend come to me with her struggles. She openly admitted of struggling with lust, pornography, and masturbation since her and her boyfriend had broken up. She originally came to me asking for prayers, but it hit me square in the face that praying would simply not be…

: Happiness, Love, Homosexuality and Us

jlgerhardt:

“It is not God’s will merely that we should be happy, but that we should make ourselves happy”
-Immanuel Kant

Sometimes I think we people, all 6.8 billion of us, believe the world exists for our own pleasure—that God made us to do our own bidding, to, as Kant suggests, make ourselves happy.

I…

Why We Hide Emotional Pain (Leon F. Seltzer, Ph.D.)

psychotherapy:

Excerpt (via Psychology Today):

“Not to show vulnerability is typically viewed as a strength, a “demonstration” of character. But in reality the major motives in hiding our emotions are (as I’ve already indicated) fear-based. We’re just afraid to look weak or susceptible to others. Paradoxically, though, unashamedly disclosing our vulnerability can actually be a deliberate personal statement of both sensitivity and—yes—courage.”

Borrowed Babblings: A Means to an End.

borrowedbabbling:

Often times I feel that I abuse God in that I use him as a means to an end.

I’m sure you’ve heard people talk about this and some will use that “We treat God like Santa Claus” thing. I mean I guess it’s a cliche because it is very often true.

I have this tendency when I start something new or…

Identity Crisis?

I’ve started reading “Becoming a Contagious Christian.”  Basically, it’s about the why’s and how’s of personal evangelism.  I would recommend it to anyone who wants to be better salt and light for God but needs a little direction.

However, there was one point made in a section about being authentic that left me unsure.  In the section called “Just being you”, Hybels and Mittelberg say,

“One of the greatest mistakes a believer can make is to renounce or repress his God-given uniqueness in a vain attempt to appear more spiritual….you can totally lose your understanding of who you really are. Quit trying to deny your individuality.  Give up on trying to stuff yourself into someone else’s mold of what a good Christian should be.  That’s not the game plan God has in mind for you.”

I agree…but I also kind of don’t.

If I’ve correctly understood the New Testament, there is a mold for the identity of the Christian.  It’s found in the person Jesus.  Interestingly, from what I’ve studied, the bible doesn’t speak at all of Jesus’ inherent temperament, looks, quirks, personal style, major talents or major points of weakness.  We often associate those things with one’s true identity, but I don’t believe God does.  I suppose those things are part of our individuality, but not necessarily our identity.  They make us unique in some ways but they don’t define us in the ways that matter.

Christians are called to be holy.  We are called to deny ourselves.  We are called to be submissive.  We are called to be servants of all.  We are called to love with our actions. Those are the aspects of Jesus identity that we are to emulate.  I think it is safe to assume, then, that those kinds of things are what God counts to be the most the central aspects of our own identities.  

Another way I look at it is by asking myself this: When I die or the Lord returns, what aspects of myself will live on, and which will cease to exist?  The things that will cease to exist (my clothing style, career, weight, money) will not be my identity markers while I am alive.  The things that will exist (my character, relationship with God, love, thankfulness, joy, Spirit) will be my identity markers while I am alive.  

At times our calling to become like Christ will require us to make personal and specific changes.  For example, if you are generally shy, you might have to work on becoming less so in order to build relationships.  If you are not a morning person you may have to make yourself become one in order to have time for a bible study.  You may find out about a hobby or sports team a friend likes and decide to become more into it with the intent to become closer to them.

The main thing I think the authors of the book were getting at, though, is that our unique qualities can be used to reach out to others.  As a shy person, you might be just the one to befriend another shy person who would have been overwhelmed at the idea of coming to church before you invited them.  There may be a fellow non-morning person that you are willing to take the time to bible study with late at night after work.  You could strike up a conversation about a hobby or sports team with someone who shares your interests. 

So much of what we have can be used for the Lord.  But those things, inherently, do not comprise our identities.  And we shouldn’t be inflexible for the sake of conforming to Christ or reaching out to others.

Use your talents, keep your hobbies, embrace your upbringing, accept your quirks, be happy with your looks…but don’t be deceived into believing those things make you who you are.  Only God can do that.

Thoughts?


I went to Target today with an ambitious mission:  Decide what to spend over $100 worth of gifts cards on.  I didn’t have the biggest gift card with me but I thought I’d at least get an idea of what I wanted to buy.

I looked at home decor, clothes, shoes, office things, craft supplies… in the end I bought a new hair straightener, some concealer, and a cookie sheet.  I still have most of my money left to spend.

I could have had basically anything I wanted.  But I chose to buy only things that were practical or that I knew I’d eventually want to buy anyway.  Some of the thoughts that went through my head a lot were:

“I could just make that myself”

“I already have something that serves that purpose”

“I could find this at goodwill or a yard sale for super-cheap”

“If I buy this then I’d also have to buy…”

“I’m not sure this will totally go with what I have”

“I don’t actually need this”

And so on.

I suppose this is a good thing- being more content and frugal.  I’m coming to terms with the fact that my current kitchen will remain somewhat drab (wood paneling everywhere :S), that all my stuff won’t totally match, that I will make due.  Biggest of all, I don’t care all that much anymore.  I also came to terms with the fact that the stuff in the store still be there when I go back.  Revolutionary, I know.  

That being said, I love my new house.  And I do think I’ve done well making it my own.