Hope in Despair!

Hello everyone.

So I do apologize. I havent written a blog in forever. I do apologize and don't make excuses for that. But anyway, now I blog.

This has been an interesting week. A week full of awesome encouragements and awful trials. I want to focus on this trials part, because I know its something that we all deal with. Don't be deceived and think that you won't be tested in your life when you pursue Christ, but also don't be reversely deceived in thinking that God is not present in these trials. He is present, and working and I believe that all of our trials and temptations are to lead us to the same place in our lives, and that point is for us to be completely un-reliant on ourselves, and fully reliant on Christ, but not to just end there, but to then act in faith in that reliance in Christ. I know first hand that fighting and relying on my own strengths lead to days like Monday, when everything I have in my life I begin to doubt and take for granted, because on my own, I am not worthy of a lot of things, if any. But this is exactly where Satan wants us to be, hiding in the corner with a small stick trying to defend and fight for ourselves, instead of standing firm and resting in what Christ has done for us! You and I have become heirs with Christ and we have been born again, and the key part to that heir-ness is that we are adopted into God's family. Like Galatians teaches, we become a new creation. The point is that we do not run back to our old self and try to sustain ourself. Because that fails, we fail, but Christ never fails. Have faith that God will(because He is) answer and keep His promises to His people. He is big, bigger than I think a lot of times, because i try to make God fit into my mind, God is infinite larger than that.  Rejoice in Christ, rejoice in trials, and realize that God is only wanting you to come to the point you need to be in, where you rely on Him and Christ's work, not your own.

I'd also like to add that I have the most amazing girlfriend in the world. And even when I am sure I am difficult to love, she manages to do that better than anyone I know. You can follow her on twitter...she has great little witty lines on there, its @kaylagibb

Boasting...

 "But 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." Galatians 6:14

 Paul gives us a clear picture of the mindset/attitude a believer should have and be diligently practicing…”far be it from me to boast except in  the cross?” And I particularly like the wording here…”far be it from me”, Paul is implying the foolishness that comes with putting our hope/boasting in anything other than the cross.

This is where it gets real though, how often do I/we find ourselves boasting in thing of the world. I know for myself, the answer is more than I want it to be.  How different would our lives look? How much more useful would we be to God(keep in mind, God does not need us at all, but desires to use us…) if we were people who lived with the understanding that Paul had in regard to priorities?

God is ultimately satisfied in Himself and in the work of the cross, that was God’s plan. We are made to worship and bring glory to Him, regardless of circumstance, no matter where you are right now…you have one purpose and that is to live a life that points back to the glory of God. Remember, I am mainly talking at myself, but let us not be people who are hindered in our pursuit of Christ. Jesus tells us to leave all things behind in the pursuit of Him and the cross, because we cant bring things along, they weigh us down and only serve to pull our attention away from Him. Like Peter, when we are focused on Christ, and solely focused on Him, we walk and walk in a way that pleases Him…but when we take our eyes of Christ, we sink. Simple. Do not be hindered, give the flesh no opportunity to have reign over us.  As Paul would say, only a new creation counts, and through the work on the cross, we have been redeemed and ransomed, lets live like it... Pursue Christ. God is most glorified when we are most satisfied in Him. As John Piper says in his book God in the Gospel

"So let us preach and live the gospel so as to display Christ. Let us take up arms and defeat the devil by being bold and glad in the superior glory of the Son of God!"

Let us not be foolish, God is not mocked, He is worthy of praise. The sweetness of the cross is much more glorious and powerful than the enticements of the devil.

Peace!

Acts 28

Good evening.

If you are reading this, thank you! I intend on this blog being a short and sweet blog, without the "sweet" part.

"For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed;lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them" Acts 28:27

I pray that our hearts not grow dull. An apathetic believer is not what Christ commands us to. In fact, "taking up our cross" and "selling all that we have" are quite the opposite of an apathetic life of a believer. Christ was a radical. Not radical in the sense that Christ was a free wandering hippie, not at all, Christ was a radical because He lived a life that was completely void of the stain of sin that has been imprinted on us like a scarlet letter from the day of our birth. Christ was God on earth, His physical life was completely in tune with the will of God. A beautiful picture of life that glorifies the Father.

Christ was radical..

"For sin will not have dominion over you, since you are no longer under the law, but under grace..." Romans 6:14

As mentioned earlier...we are born with the stain of sin in our life. But as followers of Christ, people who have experienced the grace and mercy of God, we can live a radical life. Sin no longer has reign over our bodies, we can turn from the flesh and run un-inhibitated towards the radiant beauty that is the glory of God. Christ did not call us to live a life that mirrors the life of unbelievers, a life that does not take commands of Scripture seriously. Lets stop being apathetic and start being believers who actually life like the Gospel has impacted our life. There are people who need to see the gospel being lived out, God commands us to be a light on a hill, lets finish our race, answer our call.

"He lived there two whole years at his own expense, and welcomed all who came to him, ³¹ proclaiming the kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness and without hindrance."

...with all boldness and without hindrance...

Peace.

Take 2.0

Hello again. 


I intend to keep the ramblings to a minimal in this blog entry. I know the last one was fairly lengthy. I hope these words find each and every one of you doing well, but if that is not the case, count yourself as blessed. God pushes us to the limit in order to have us surrender 100% of ourself to Him. Believing in Christ, and Christ being Lord of our lives are 2 different things. We most desperately need to let go of our own idols and run uninterrupted to the One who can and does sustain our souls!

"Go therefore and make disciples of all nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age." Matthew 28:19-20

These are very precious words. The last words Christ said to us while He was upon the earth, the last thing that He charges us with. This verse often referred to as the Great Commission, is a beautiful thing. Christ commands us to GO and make disciples of all the nations, then He describes exactly what that entails, teaching, baptizing, observing all the commandments of Christ. When Paul speaks of running our race and finishing the race, the Great Commission has to be considered as a crucial part of the race. As believers we live to radiate the glory of God. Obeying this commandment of Christ is showing the glorify of God. We can not shrink from this responsibility, that is not an option. 


This is my thought for this blog, that no matter where you are right now...this charge that Christ has placed before us is still active. We have been given a unique skill set and "fruit" as Paul refers to in Romans 1 that we have in order to encourage and push fellow believers. I apply this to the Great Commission in this way. Where you and I have been placed in our life right now is not an afterthought to God, it has been designed this way. You and I have a unique opportunity every day that God gives us on earth to proclaim the glory of Christ, and on top of that...God has given us all that we need for today, to do this. Let's be people who make much of Christ, not much of ourself. Be consumed in the love of God, and when we understand the depth and breadth of God's love and mercy for us, we can then truly love those around us. To truly love someone, we desire what is best for them...and what is best for them, is proclaiming the gospel of Christ not just in word, but in our daily lives. God is worthy, He is exclusively worthy of our praise and worship.

"Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?" Matt.6:26

Peace out... 

The Opening...

So, let me start off by saying thank you for reading this post.


The blogs you will read here now and in the future (hopefully) will mostly be a collections of thoughts and ideas from a relatively dry and sarcastic 23 year old guy. I know tone is difficult to pick up on in a blog, but I will try to make it very clear.


My girlfriend tells me that I am making this blog in an attempt to become popular/famous and that I need to not be so conceited...I told her that it is not being "popular"...it is sharing the Gospel with as many people as possible...not conceited at all.


I found myself today standing in one of my favorite stores inside the local mall surrounded by thousands of people. I was "daydreaming", aka staring at a shirt looking like I had something wrong with me. It was a simple shirt, a blueish v neck but on this shirt it had the word "Love" printed near the bottom in a fancy cursive writing. I began to think, we wear love on a shirt, we fall in love with just about anything that promises to offer content to us, regardless of the actual success rate of whatever it is we are placing our hope in, but do we really know what love is? Let me share with you one of my favorite quotes regarding love:

"Love is not affectionate feeling, but a steady wish for the loved person's ultimate good as far as it can be obtained."  C.S. Lewis

This quote contains great truth. Love is not an affection, we can fake affections. A small child can step on our toe and instead of displaying our true displeasure, we smile and "shake it off" not to offend the young one. Simply put, we fake affection.


Love is real. I love a lot of things in my life. I love cherry sprite, I love the Atlanta Braves, I love my family. In context of the Lewis quote, if I love my family, and for some reason the ultimate good of my family could only be reached, if they pushed me away from them...would I scream and shout for them to push me away? That is hard.


How does this come back to the mall? I think myself, and often all believers struggle with sharing the Gospel/showing the love of Christ, because of the fear that it will end up going badly for us. We need not to be people who make much of ourselves... we need to make much of Christ and show His love to those who desperately need to know! If that means taking a risk of being rejected and looking "foolish"...is it not worth it? It is like winning the lottery, when you tell your friends they call you a liar and a lunatic...but you have actually won the lottery...it ends well for you! We share the love of Christ with other because He commanded us to, and if that leads to suffering here, we still have the hope of eternity with Christ...is that not what we are looking forward too anyway...


Peace