Tag Archives: christian living

January 24, 2017 · 5:00 AM

Following Footsteps


When you do something that’s been done before, we say, “You’re following in their footsteps.” I have friends who have followed in their dad’s footsteps to become police officers, others who followed their mom’s to become teachers, and others who have followed in a mentor’s to become entrepreneurs. Each of us are following in someone’s footsteps. Have you considered whose they are?

I believe we each should have someone ahead of us that we look to in order to challenge us to be better. I also think that we should have others behind us that we’re leading. I’ve heard it said that successful people do what successful people do. In fact, many books like “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” and “From Good to Great” have been written so we can follow in the footsteps of people who have successful habits.

While that’s important, I believe having spiritual mentors is more important. There should be Christian people in your life, whom you look up to, that you can emulate. Their prayer life should challenge you to pray better. Their Christian walk should encourage you to keep going. Their acts of love towards others should ignite a desire in you to do the same. Their understanding of Scriptures should cause you to study more. You may already have someone like that in your life. If you do, let them know. If not, find someone who can be that person.

Proverbs 2:20 gives us this advice, “Follow the steps of good men instead, and stay on the paths of the righteous” (NLT). If we want to stay on the paths of the righteous, we need to be following in the steps of those who are on them. Look around your life for the people that God has placed in it for you to follow. He doesn’t leave us alone in our pursuit of Him. He’s given us people to follow. Reach out to them, find out their habits, and follow in their footsteps as they follow Christ. 

2 Comments

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

January 23, 2017 · 5:39 AM

Abandoned 


To abandon someone is to quit supporting them or to give up on them. If you’ve ever been through some of life’s toughest circumstances, you know what it’s like to be abandoned by some of your family or friends. You find out that there are people in your life that you can count on, and there are people that you can’t. When you’re looking for advice, a place to regroup, or just a shelter from the storm, some people that you seek out will abandon you. Some of the ones who you thought would support you through thick and thin give up on you.

David was a person who knew a thing or two about being abandoned. He was forgotten by his father, disrespected by his brothers, shamed by his wife, chased by the king, and dishonored by his son. The people in his life that he should have been able to count on, turned their backs on him at some point in his life. He knew a thing or two about rock bottom. He looked for those he could count on in times of trouble.

In all of his searching, there was one who never abandoned him. God. David wasn’t a perfect man either. He cheated on his wife, had a man murdered, and did some unthinkable things. Yet when he sought after God, he knew that no matter what he had done, God would not abandon him. He knew that there was nothing he had done that God couldn’t or wouldn’t forgive. When others gave up on him, God never did. In fact, God said he was a man after His own heart. 

You may have walked David’s shoes. Maybe you’ve been abandoned by those who love you or you’ve abandoned the things you know are right. Either way, if you will seek God, He won’t abandon you. Psalm 9:10 says, “Those who know you, Lord, will trust you; you do not abandon anyone who comes to you” (GNT). It doesn’t matter what’s been done to you or what you’ve done to others, you can find shelter, hope, and forgiveness in God when you seek Him out.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

January 19, 2017 · 5:00 AM

Shortcuts To God


I was in junior high when we got the classic Nintendo. My brothers and I would spend hours playing “Super Mario Bros.” To win, you had to conquer eights worlds with four levels each. I remember when my dad would play, he would try to go through all four levels of each eight worlds. We would get so upset at him for taking the long way. We’d say, “But, Dad! If you go down that tunnel, you can skip to the fourth world.” He refused to do it, and thought any other way was an illegitimate way to beat the game.

We couldn’t understand why he did it the hard way when clearly there were shortcuts to win. The problem became that I, like many others, took that same philosophy in my approach to God. Why do it the hard way if there were shortcuts? Why not find the easiest path to walk as a Christian? I can attest that taking shortcuts to God only pushes you further away and back to the beginning. There is no shortcut to Him or to living the life He’s called us to live.

In Matthew 7:13-14, Jesus said, “Don’t look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don’t fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention” (MSG). He was warning us to stay away from those shortcuts like the tunnels that skipped levels in the game. Just because they’re there, and other people are taking them, it doesn’t mean we should take them.

A life of faith, and trusting God, is not an easy path. We walk by faith and not sight, remember? There’s no shortcut through a life like that. God’s desire for each of us is to mature in our faith through the process of walking it out daily. It is often vigorous and difficult at times. It can be hard to trust His path when we can only see what’s right in front of us. However, if we remain faithful, take each step as He gives it, and trust Him, we will have a faith that is strong and unshakable. We will find true life. 

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

January 11, 2017 · 6:05 AM

An Open Posture


One of the things I talk to people about is their body language. You can covey a lot of meaning without saying a word simply by your posture. An open body posture, where the hands are at your side and you’re facing the other person, tells them you’re open and receptive to what they’re telling you. A closed posture, where your arms are folded and you body is slightly turned away, conveys that you are not open to what they have to say. There are the two I want to focus on today.

What is your body language toward God? Are you open and receptive to all He wants to do in your life or are you closed off towards Him? Don’t answer too quickly. The natural human nature answer is to say we are open, but how often are we willing to stay in the center of God’s will when it includes pruning or shaping? How often do we give God full autonomy over our life to do with as He wants?

Often we are like a two year old child who has been told to do something they don’t want to. Our arms are folded, our bottom lip is out, and we turn away when God is asking us to do something we do t want to. Look no further than Jonah if you need an example of this behavior. God won’t always use a large fish to swallow us in order to get repentance from us though. He often patiently waits for us as He tries to build us into the person He wants us to be. He’s waiting for us to be open and receptive to all He wants to do. 

Jude 1:20-21 says, “But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God’s love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life!” (MSG) We are to have an open posture towards God, staying in His will, as we are being built into our most holy faith. We need to unfold our arms before God so we can receive from Him what He wants to do in our lives. We need to change our posture if we really want to grow.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , ,

January 9, 2017 · 5:39 AM

Losing To Win


Several years ago, when things were going downhill in my life, I started to get upset at God. I was losing everything. Several friends had abandoned me during the process. I lost my business, had a vehicle repossessed, lost my business, and had to file for bankruptcy. I cried out, “God, where are you?!? Why are you letting this happen to me? Have you abandoned me? Don’t you care that I’m losing everything?” I didn’t get an answer and I continued to lose more until I had nothing left to lose.

I didn’t think God was there in those moments. Every once in a while though, my friend and Sunday School teacher, would say, “Chris, I believe God wants me to say this to you…” While those messages were encouraging, and I believed they were from God, I wasn’t personally hearing from Him. I was doing my best to keep from getting bitter towards Him because I felt abandoned and was upset over everything I had lost. What I couldn’t see, was what I was really losing though. 

I realized later that I didn’t just lose a bunch of material things and relationships, I lost my pride. God used that time to strip me of pride that was keeping me from a deep relationship with Him. I also lost my dependence on my self. Somehow I thought that everything I had in life, I had earned on my own. I forgot that God was my source and Jehovah Jireh. Through all of that, I gained a deeper faith and a dependence on God to be who He wanted to be in my life. I just couldn’t see it when I was losing the things that I thought mattered.

I Peter 4:12-13 says, “Friends, when life gets really difficult, don’t jump to the conclusion that God isn’t on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner” (MSG). God uses difficult times to refine us. When they come, the dross in our life floats to the top and is skimmed off by God. What’s left over is pure gold. If you’re in the thick of it now, don’t quit or think God doesn’t care. He’s refining you and cleaning out the things in your life that are keeping you from Him.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

January 6, 2017 · 5:33 AM

You’re Growing


There was a commercial years ago where there was a parent and a kid. The kid had messed up, and told the parent about it. The parent looked st the kid and said, “You know what? You’re growing.” They were reassuring the kid that we all fail at times, but failure doesn’t have to be the end. It can be part of our growth. We can learn from it and then move forward. Growth is essential to life. It’s also essential to being a Christian.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve failed only to have God look at me and say, “You’re growing.” As a perfectionist, I always want things to be right and perfect, but growth isn’t that way. It’s often messy, and it accompanies failure. I’ve learned to prefer growth over perfection. They’re both difficult, but growth is natural. God’s desire for each of us is not to be perfect, but to grow. He’s there to help us along the way with all the things that accompany growth.

Here are some Bible Verses on growing.

1. I’m not writing all this as a neighborhood scold just to make you feel rotten. I’m writing as a father to you, my children. I love you and want you to grow up well, not spoiled. There are a lot of people around who can’t wait to tell you what you’ve done wrong, but there aren’t many fathers willing to take the time and effort to help you grow up. It was as Jesus helped me proclaim God’s Message to you that I became your father. I’m not, you know, asking you to do anything I’m not already doing myself.
1 Corinthians 4:14-16 MSG

2. But continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory, now and forever! Amen.
2 Peter 3:18 GNT

3. Rather, let our lives lovingly express truth [in all things, speaking truly, dealing truly, living truly]. Enfolded in love, let us grow up in every way and in all things into Him Who is the Head, [even] Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
Ephesians 4:15 AMPC

4. Let your roots grow down into him, and let your lives be built on him. Then your faith will grow strong in the truth you were taught, and you will overflow with thankfulness.
Colossians 2:7 NLT

5. So come on, let’s leave the preschool fingerpainting exercises on Christ and get on with the grand work of art. Grow up in Christ. The basic foundational truths are in place: turning your back on “salvation by self-help” and turning in trust toward God; baptismal instructions; laying on of hands; resurrection of the dead; eternal judgment. God helping us, we’ll stay true to all that. But there’s so much more. Let’s get on with it!
Hebrews 6:1-3 MSG

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

December 7, 2016 · 5:00 AM

3 Ways To Grow Your Relationship With God


I think most all of us have been in a relationship at one time or another where we felt like we were the only one giving. Think about one of those relationships for a minute. You gave, and gave, and gave, yet the other person only took from you. After a while, you felt depleted. You got tired of giving with no return and the relationship failed. It’s a story all too common between us and God. We expect God to give, give, give, and all we do is take in the relationship. It’s a recipe for disaster. No relationship lasts that way.

One of the best ways we can give back in our relationship with God is to spend quality time with Him. We have to pray, read our Bible, and love others daily in order to spend quality time with God. James 4:8 says, “Come near to God, and He will come near to you” (GNT). When we do things that give in the relationship, He does too. If you read that verse again, you’ll notice that it’s up to us to take the first step in getting near to God. When we do, He comes close to us.

If you’re going to deepen any relationship, it requires vulnerability. You have to be open and honest. God is not afraid of your past, your questions, or your insecurities. He doesn’t hold them against us, so it’s ok to share them with Him. In II Corinthians 12, Paul was vulnerable with God about his weak areas and God replied, “My grace is all you need, for my power is greatest when you are weak.” Once we admit our weaknesses, His strength is made perfect in us. It just takes us being open and honest with Him.

Finally, we need to listen in order to give back in our relationship with Him. This is hard to do. We’ve been conditioned to make prayer a Honey-do list of things we’d like. We end it with a quick “Amen”, then we go about our business. Prayer is a conversation between you and God. It should go both ways. Try spending a few minutes each day being quiet in your prayer time to give God a chance to speak. You’ll be surprised at how much He wants to say to you, and how much deeper your relationship with Him gets.

What other things have you done to grow a deeper relationship with God?

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

December 6, 2016 · 5:43 AM

Actions Speak Louder


How many times have you told someone, “Actions speak louder than words”? Probably too many times to count. A pet peeve that we all share is someone who says one thing and does another. It speaks to their credibility and your ability to trust what they say. I’m sure we can all think of examples right now of times we’ve encountered this in others. The sad thing is that it happens in the Church as much as anywhere. That’s why the book of James in the Bible is pretty much about just that.

We’re all familiar with “Don’t just be a hearer of the Word, but a doer also,” and “Faith without works is dead.” James continues this theme throughout his book to remind us that we can’t just talk like Christians, we must live and act like Christians. James 3:13 says, “Do you want to be counted wise, to build a reputation for wisdom? Here’s what you do: Live well, live wisely, live humbly. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts” (MSG). As he wrote, it speaks to our reputation.

Living well can be translated into living honorably. People around us should be able to trust what we say. Proverbs 22:1 says, “A sterling reputation is better than striking it rich.” What is your reputation among other believers? Are you someone they can count on? Are you a person that has an honorable reputation among your local group of believers? What about your reputation among non-believers? To me, this one is of utmost importance. If the faith we claim is denied by the way we live, how will we win them?

I was always told that integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is looking. What I’ve learned is that there is always someone looking. People are always watching us as believers. Our lives should reflect what we say we believe. I’m not saying you have to live perfectly because that’s impossible, but you do have to live honorably. It’s the way you live, not the way you talk, that counts. So let’s not have dead faith. Let’s be doers of the Word and live a life that acts out the faith we profess. 

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

November 18, 2016 · 5:00 AM

The Holy Spirit


If you’re a Christian, the Holy Spirit plays an important role in your life. He was a gift provided to us from Jesus to help us live the life we are called to live. Because the Holy Spirit is the least understood part of the God-head, many Christians tend to be afraid of it. My pastor says, “The Holy Spirit isn’t weird. People are weird.” Because of how the Holy Spirit has been represented by so many through the years, we tend to shy away from talking about it or incorporating His gifts into our lives.

Because of that, I believe so many of us are missing out on the fullness of the life that God has for us. Today, I want to bring scriptures in the Bible that describe the Holy Spirit and His role in our lives. The New Testament is full of verses to help us understand and incorporate this integral part of our Christian walk. My hope is that each of us will live our lives to the fullest through the Holy Spirit as we know Him and His role in our lives.

1. But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth.
Acts 1:8 AMPC

2. The Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything and make you remember all that I have told you.
John 14:26 GNT

3. But you, dear friends, carefully build yourselves up in this most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit, staying right at the center of God’s love, keeping your arms open and outstretched, ready for the mercy of our Master, Jesus Christ. This is the unending life, the real life!
Jude 1:20-21 MSG

4. And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.
Romans 8:26 NLT

5. We have not received this world’s spirit; instead, we have received the Spirit sent by God, so that we may know all that God has given us. So then, we do not speak in words taught by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, as we explain spiritual truths to those who have the Spirit. Whoever does not have the Spirit cannot receive the gifts that come from God’s Spirit. Such a person really does not understand them, and they seem to be nonsense, because their value can be judged only on a spiritual basis.
1 Corinthians 2:12-14 GNT

6. “For God has done what the Law could not do, [its power] being weakened by the flesh [the entire nature of man without the Holy Spirit]. Sending His own Son in the guise of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, [God] condemned sin in the flesh [subdued, overcame, deprived it of its power over all who accept that sacrifice]. So that the righteous and just requirement of the Law might be fully met in us who live and move not in the ways of the flesh but in the ways of the Spirit [our lives governed not by the standards and according to the dictates of the flesh, but controlled by the Holy Spirit].
Romans 8:3-4 AMPC

7. So I say, let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won’t be doing what your sinful nature craves.
Galatians 5:16 NLT

8. But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.
1 John 2:27 NLT

9. But the fruit of the [Holy] Spirit [the work which His presence within accomplishes] is love, joy (gladness), peace, patience (an even temper, forbearance), kindness, goodness (benevolence), faithfulness, Gentleness (meekness, humility), self-control (self-restraint, continence). Against such things there is no law [that can bring a charge].
Galatians 5:22-23 AMPC

10. The Spirit is the guarantee that we shall receive what God has promised his people, and this assures us that God will give complete freedom to those who are his. Let us praise his glory!
Ephesians 1:14 GNT

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

November 2, 2016 · 5:53 AM

Debt Forgiveness 


“You scratch my back, I’ll scratch your back.” “You fly, I’ll buy.” “Quid pro quo.” “You buy this time, I’ll buy next time.” Ever used any of these expressions? Of course you have. We all do favors for favors. It’s an offer to help in exchange for help. You’ll give them what they want if they’ll give you what you want. Everybody wins. We all play the game, but what we forget is that Jesus changed the rules on it. He expects us to do for others who have no ability to pay us back. 

You see, there’s no reward in doing something for others who can pay you back. It’s not really a favor if you get a return favor. Part of our Christian DNA should be to do for others who can’t pay us back. It should be a part of who we are and be a regular thing we do. When Jesus was describing who got into Heaven, this is what He said in Matthew 25-35-36, “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 brought Me together with yourselves and welcomed and entertained and lodged Me, I was naked and you clothed Me, I was sick and you visited Me with help and ministering care, I was in prison and you came to see Me” (AMPC).

In all of these examples, it was about helping someone out who couldn’t return the favor. He went on to say that when you do something for the least among us, you’ve done it to Him. There’s no reward in helping those who can pay you back. Of course, you can still help your friends out in a quid pro quo fashion, but you can’t just do that and expect to be rewarded for doing good. You got your reward when they paid you back. The life Jesus is calling us to is doing things for those who can’t pay you back.

In Luke 14:13, Jesus said it another way. He said, “But when you give a banquet or a reception, invite the poor, the disabled, the lame, and the blind.” He mentioned several times in the Gospels that we were to give to those who couldn’t pay us back. When you think about it, Jesus did that for us. He set the example of giving at a high cost for those who couldn’t pay Him back. If you’ve accepted Him as your savior, then He paid your debt for sin in full. There’s no way to repay Him for that. The best thing we can do is to follow His example. Give to those who can’t repay you, and don’t hold it over their head.

Leave a comment

Filed under Uncategorized

Tagged as , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,