Tag Archives: christian living

May 29, 2017 · 5:21 AM

Seeking God


We’ve all played Hide and Go Seek when we were little. It’s a rite of passage for kids. With my son being an only child, he played it mainly with his grandmother. When He would seek her, she would make noises so he could find her. To this day, he thinks the object of the game is to be found instead of staying hidden. When he plays with other kids, he makes sure that they can find him in his hiding spot.

Sometimes it feels like we are playing Hide and Go Seek with God. The good news is that He plays it like my son. He wants to be found! It does take some effort on our part to leave where we are to go seeking after Him. His desire is to continuously pull us closer to Him and further away from where we were. It’s up to us to continually seek Him and His strength for our lives. We should live in constant pursuit of God.

In I Chronicles 16. King David had just moved the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. He gave a song to the priests to sing. My favorite line comes from verse 11. It says, “Seek the Lord and His strength; Seek His face continually [longing to be in His presence]” (AMP). You and I were created to Seek God. There is a longing in us to be in His presence, but are we making the effort to do so? Are we taking the time to seek Him daily?

In Matthew 7:7 Jesus famously told us that if we ask, it will be given to us. If we seek, we will find. If we knock, it will be opened. If we will seek Him, His strength and His face we will find Him. He’s not trying to stay hidden. He’s making noises and giving us clues as to where He is. He wants to be found, but we’ve got to get off base and go find Him. That continuous pursuit is what creates growth in us as Christians. If you never stop seeking God, you’ll never stop finding Him.

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May 8, 2017 · 5:29 AM

A Living Sacrifice 


Do you know someone who says they’ll do something, but when it comes down to it, they rarely do? Maybe their intentions are good, but once they see what it’ll cost them in time, labor or money they back out. All of us at some point have been guilty of promising to do something and then failed to follow through. That’s because lip service is easy. Our mouths often write checks they can’t cash. The problem is that we do that to God more than anyone.

Being a Christian is more than the initial prayer we prayed at salvation. We have to shed our old life because Christ has given us a new life. We go from having self led lives to Spirit led lives. In Romans 12:1, Paul wrote, “So then, my friends, because of God’s great mercy to us I appeal to you: Offer yourselves as a living sacrifice to God, dedicated and pleasing to Him. This is the true worship that you should offer” (GNT).

God is asking us to sacrifice ourselves as worship to Him meaning that we should give Him our whole life. It’s very costly to be a follower of Christ. I’m reminded of David when he wanted to offer s sacrifice to God at Araunah’s threshing floor. David offered to buy it in II Samuel 24, but Araunah offered it to David for free as well as the wood and the oxen for the sacrifice. In verse 24 David replied, “I will not offer the Lord my God sacrifices that have cost me nothing.” He understood that a sacrifice to God should be costly.

It cost us nothing to say words with our mouths, but it cost us everything to offer our lives as sacrifices. I once heard someone say that the problem with living sacrifices is that they keep crawling off the altar. It’s time each of us started offering God more than lip service and offered Him ourselves. If we want to live like new creations, we’ve got to take up our cross daily, sacrifice our selfish desires to it and follow Jesus as a living sacrifice. 

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April 13, 2017 · 5:45 AM

No Ice Please


When my son was three, he started noticing that my wife orders her Coke at the restaurant with no ice. He asked her why she didn’t want ice and she said, “When you get ice, over time, it dilutes the drink. Plus, with ice, you get less of a drink because of displacement.” He then asked me, “Are you ‘No ice’ or ‘Yes ice’?” I told him, “‘Yes ice’ because I would rather my drink be cold than to have a lot of it.” That seemed to satisfy him, though I’m sure he didn’t understand.

If we imagine our lives as those cups, ourself as the ice, and Jesus as the drink, we can learn a spiritual concept. The more we have of ourselves inside of us, the less we can have of Jesus. If we want more of Him, we have to empty ourselves of selfish desires. The problem is that we prefer the cold, watered down version of Jesus because it’s comfortable to us. All the while, Jesus is asking us to get rid of the ice of self so we can be more like Him.

John the Baptist is one of the greatest examples in the Bible of a ‘No ice’ person. In John 3, his disciples came to Him and said, “Hey, that guy you baptized the other day, and testified that He was the Messiah, is baptizing people down the river and our people are going to Him!” In verse 30, John replied, “He must increase, and I must decrease” (AMP). He understood that his comfort wasn’t the most important thing. Letting Jesus increase was.

The question to each of us is, “Are you ‘No ice’ or ”Yes ice’?” Do you want to be full of Jesus or of yourself? If you want to be full of Jesus, then you must decrease so He can increase in your life. You’ve got to put His desires above your own. You must daily deny yourself, take up your cross and follow Him (Luke 9:23) in order to truly be a ‘No ice’ person. That’s struggle each of us face daily. We could all use a little less ice and a lot more Jesus. 

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April 10, 2017 · 5:00 AM

A Life Of Integrity


I’ve always heard it said that integrity isn’t what you do in front of others, it’s what you do when no one else is around. Many times we are one person at work, another person at church, another person with our friends, and another person at home. In fact, when doing a DISC personality assessment, we tell people to pick their environment. Some more comprehensive ones actually show you the differences in your personality type between the environments.

When it comes to being a Christian, it’s important that we always live with integrity no matter what environment we are in. We don’t have to pretend that we aren’t human and that we are perfect because we’re not. We can live real lives, admit our struggles, show our brokenness and still live with integrity. It’s by our love that they will know we are His disciples, not by our pretending to be perfect. 

I love the book of Psalms because David, who was a man after God’s own heart, is vulnerable enough to share and show his true self. He was a man of doubts, sins, fears, and worries. I think that’s why so many of us soak up the Psalms and why they resonate with us. David was a man of integrity and didn’t pretend to be anyone other than who he was. He was honest in his prayers and his praise. He was the same man in public and in private.

In Psalm 101:2, he vowed to God, “I will lead a life of integrity in my own home” (NLT). He understood the importance of integrity and knew that it started at home when no one was looking. Each of us can learn from his example. Being a person after God’s own heart isn’t about being perfect. It’s about having integrity, being able to admit it when we’ve sinned, and following after God matter what. If we have integrity at home, it’ll bleed into all the other areas of our lives. 

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March 27, 2017 · 5:14 AM

Doing The Basics


In the late 90’s, I worked for an oil tool company. I was pretty inexperienced at management and was running into several issues. I found myself chasing my tail and having to put out fires all the time. The owner pulled me aside one day to give me some advice. He said, “I’m going to tell you what Zig Ziegler says. ‘If you take care of the small things, the big things will take care of themselves.'” If I wanted to be a better manager, then I needed to focus on the details. 

The same principle holds true in our Christian walk with the Lord. In my own life, I found that I seemed to be going from one problem to the next. Bad things Kent happening successively. When I evaluated my life, most of the things that were happening were a result of my own actions or inactions. I had been failing to do the small things like daily prayer, reading the Bible, or living my life according to Scripture. 

In Luke 16:10, Jesus said, “If you are faithful in little things, you will be faithful in large ones. But if you are dishonest in little things, you won’t be honest with greater responsibilities” (NLT). Jesus didn’t just provide the basis for what Ziegler said, He added that how we treat the little things is how we will treat the big things. If He couldn’t trust us with the little things, how could He ever trust us with bigger things?

Today, take an honest evaluation of your life. Are you being faithful in the little things? Are you taking time to read the Bible, to pray, or to have simple obedience? If you’re going from one problem to the next, chances are that you’re skipping on some details. Get back to the basics, do the things that matter, and the big things will be entrusted to you and they’ll take care of themselves. Your success lies in the details. 

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March 24, 2017 · 5:37 AM

The Poor Prodigal


We all know the parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15, and we’ve heard many sermons on it. But what if there’s more to the story that we’ve missed? What if it’s not just about a lost soul returning home? I believe it could also be about how we care for the poor as believers. Take a look at verses 16-17. “The young man became so hungry that even the pods he was feeding the pigs looked good to him. But no one gave him anything. “When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home even the hired servants have food enough to spare, and here I am dying of hunger!” (NLT)

There was no one in the land he was living in who gave him anything when he was in need. So he left that area. He remembered how his father cared for the poor. He thought that even if he wasn’t his father’s son anymore, that his father would have compassion on him because he was poor. So he returned. In looking for compassion, he found salvation. There’s a lesson there for us as believers. When we care for the poor, they’ll find salvation. 

Here are some verses on caring for the poor.

1. Those who oppress the poor insult their Maker, but helping the poor honors him.
Proverbs 14:31 NLT

2. Jesus answered him, “If you wish to be perfect [that is, have the spiritual maturity that accompanies godly character with no moral or ethical deficiencies], go and sell what you have and give [the money] to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me [becoming My disciple, believing and trusting in Me and walking the same path of life that I walk].”
MATTHEW 19:21 AMP

3. Defend the rights of the poor and the orphans; be fair to the needy and the helpless. Rescue them from the power of evil people.
Psalm 82:3-4 GNT

4. Be generous to the poor—you’ll never go hungry; shut your eyes to their needs, and run a gauntlet of curses.
Proverbs 28:27 MSG

5. Those who shut their ears to the cries of the poor will be ignored in their own time of need.
Proverbs 21:13 NLT

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March 22, 2017 · 5:28 AM

The Keys To Life


When it comes to keys on a key ring, I’m a minimalist. I’ve got my car key and a key to an office. I don’t even have a house key on there. I’ve got friends though who have lots of keys on their key chain. They’ve got a key for every door in their life on their key ring. I’m not quite sure how they remember what key goes to what, but they know. Every key on their ring has a purpose. What’s great about keys is that they open locked doors. So when I read that their is a key to life, I immediately peeked up.

Deuteronomy 30:20 says, “You can make this choice by loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life” (NLT). The first key to opening the locked doors in your life is loving God. Jesus said that this is the greatest commandment of them all. It’s the master key of you will. When we love God with all our heart, our soul, our mind and our strength, our purpose in life becomes clear and doors open.

The second key is often the toughest for us. It’s to obey God in whatever He tells you to do. I believe in simple obedience. I expect it from my son and God expects it from us. It’s the faith to simply act on what God says without always understanding why. We have to trust that God sees the bigger picture of not just our life, but all lives and how they’re connected. Our obedience never just affects us. It has a ripple effect across His Kingdom.

Finally, is to commit ourselves firmly to Him. We’ve got to get past our commitment issues and cling to God through thick and thin. Just like we make a vow at our wedding, we need to make a similar vow to God. For better or worse, in sickness and in health, until death unites us. We can’t allow ourselves to be seduced by the things of this world causing us to break that vow. We must fully commit to Him. When we do these three things, I promise you that locked doors will open because these are the keys to life and blessings.

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March 14, 2017 · 5:18 AM

Good Deeds


I’m a proponent of paying it forward. If you’re unfamiliar with this concept, it’s that you do good deeds for others, especially those who can’t pay you back. Instead of them paying you back, you ask them to do something good for someone else when they have the ability. I’ve been the recipient of many of these deeds growing up. I had never heard of the concept of paying it forward until one couple who blessed me tremendously told me I could pay them back by doing something for someone else one day.

I’ve never forgotten what they did, and have tried to be generous to others as a result. What they did was plant a seed of generosity into my life, and over time that seed has become a tree. When you think of an orange seed, it doesn’t just produce an orange. It produces a tree capable of producing many seasons of oranges that are capable themselves of many trees. Seeds are not a one for one thing. They’re a one for many thing. They take root, grow and continuously produce.

Proverbs 11:30 says, “The seeds of good deeds become a tree of life” (NLT). The writer knew about paying it forward all those centuries ago. He understood that when you bless those who can’t pay you back, you plant seeds that grow into trees and they become a tree of life. Most all of us need help at some point in our lives when we are incapable of paying it back. Don’t turn away the seeds that someone else wants to plant into your life. One day, that tree they planted will be needed to produce for someone else. 

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March 7, 2017 · 5:55 AM

Basket Of Burdens


When I go grocery shopping, it’s usually for just a few things so I like to use the hand held baskets. My six year old son likes to accompany me on these trips. He always asks, “Can I carry the basket?” The basket is fine for him to carry until I begin to put things in it. Every item we pick up weighs the basket more. When I see him struggling with the weight of it, I ask for it. He often refuses. He struggles to carry it, but still he insists. Sometimes he ends up pushing it along the floor because he doesn’t want to give it up.

Even though life would be easier for both of us if he let me carry it, he keeps going until he’s wore out. I wonder if that’s how it is between us and God when we carry around burdens. God is asking us to release them to Him, but we keep insisting we can do it. We struggle with the weight of it, but still we push on. God asks us to hand it to Him, but we’d rather struggle pushing it than to hand it off. Life would be easier for both of us if we’d just give it up.

In Psalm 55:22, David wrote, “Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the weight of it] and He will sustain you” (AMPC). Every burden, that’s not from God, that we pick up weighs us down. We know from Matthew 11:30 that the Lord’s burden is light. The burdens He places on our hearts won’t be too heavy for us. He’s even willing to make an exchange with us. He’ll give us His burdens if we will give ours to Him, but that takes us releasing them.

I like the second part of that verse. The word “sustain” means to hold up much like a gable holds up a roof. When we give up our burdens to Him, He holds us up so we don’t cave in. The things we think are keeping us going are the things that are weighing us down. It’s time we heard the Father’s voice and obeyed. Were not strong enough to carry the basket of burdens. Release it to Him and walk in the freedom He offers. He has His hand out waiting for you to hand it to Him.

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February 28, 2017 · 10:38 AM

Fellowship With God

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A phrase that stands out to me, when reading about great men of faith in the Bible, is they “walked in habitual fellowship with God.” Each time I read that phrase, it calls out to me and dares me to do the same. To walk in habitual fellowship with God is to be in constant communication with Him and to live in a manner that is pleasing to Him. The men in the Bible who did this, found great favor with God.

Noah was one such man. The time period he lived in was like no other. There was no one else on earth who feared God or lived righteously. He had no church find shelter in. He had no Christian friends who could encourage him and pray for him. He was the lone believer in a sinful world. Imagine your life without the help from your church or Christian friends. Imagine having no one you could go to for prayer when you needed it. How long would you last?

This was Noah’s situation and instead of throwing in the towel, he doubled down on his relationship with God. Genesis 6:9 says, “Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in close fellowship with God”(NLT). If he was the only blameless person and he could walk in habitual fellowship with God, then you and I can too. We can find the strength within ourselves to be in constant communion with God. We can find time to pray and read His Word.

Merriam Webster defines “habitual” as, “Doing something regularly or repeatedly.” These men of faith regularly and repeatedly met with God and He rewarded them with favor and by making covenants with them. The God who made covenants with them still wants to make covenants with us. He’s simply waiting for those of us who will dare to enter into a habitual fellowship with Him. II Chronicles 16:9 says, “The eyes of the LORD search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” If you will fully commit to Him in habitual fellowship, He will give you the strength you need to live for Him.

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