'we are to live in such a way that demands a gospel explanation' this is a quote I read from facebook the other day from @aaronivey. I thought is was really cool and it made me think. Does your life and the things you do in it require the presentation of the gospel just to be understood? I wish I could say mine does. But I know that would be far from the case. I mean, I am sure it does sometimes, to some people. But on the whole, I could use some major overhaul of attitude, thoughts, self-control, speech, actions, etc. Then today at church in our study on the book of James. @kylegoen preached an awesome message on taming the tongue. (which you should totally go watch at www.lifepoint.org) It fit so well with that little nugget from Aaron. First off, during the worship, one of the songs we sang:
Inside Out by Hillsong United:
A thousand times I've failed
Still Your mercy remains And should I stumble again
I'm caught in Your grace
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame
In my heart and my soul
Lord I give You control
Consume me from the inside out,
Lord, let justice and praise
Become my embrace
To love you from the inside out.
Your will above all else
My purpose remains
The art of losing myself
In bringing You praise
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame
In my heart and my soul
Lord I give You control
Consume me from the inside out,
Lord, let justice and praise
Become my embrace
To love You from the inside out.
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame
And the cry of my heart
Is to bring You praise
From the inside out
Lord my soul cries out
I love that line. "Consume me from the inside out". Man how I want to be consumed by him. So on fire for Him and the things that He loves! Oh to feel like that again. It has been a while. Not just to have that feeling for a few hours or days. But I mean to really be immersed in it every day where my life spills out Jesus everywhere I go and in everything I do. If I am on fire for God, that fire should be catching on. As Kyle said this morning, fire (when it is free) can duplicate itself and will consume whatever is in its path. My life should be causing others to be consumed as well. The things I do, say, laugh at, get frustrated with, spend my time on, how I respond to things, etc all should be proclaiming His name in some way. To make people think and notice that something is different.
So anyway, I just want to say that I am proclaiming today that this week is going to be different. I can't say exactly what that looks like in entirety but I will be changing up some things a bit from what I have been doing lately. Starting with getting back to quiet times of course! And hitting the gym and laying off the unnecessary extra sweets. And watching my tongue extra carefully in the anger, negativity, complaining department, hehe. And doing a better job of what I am "putting in" so that what "comes out" is what I want to shine and not something I don't want. Among so much more, but you get what I mean. Only through the Lord's strength! Anyway, enough for now. Good night!
Showing posts with label character. Show all posts
Showing posts with label character. Show all posts
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Friday, April 3, 2009
Holy Fighters
I was listening to Obama talk today and he was mentioning that he wanted everyone everywhere to have the right to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness". Now we have all heard or read those words many a times before and have cheered for them I am sure. We are so proud of our country and what it stands for. But it got me to thinking...is it that very pursuit of happiness that has ruined the world? I think it should be life, liberty, and the pursuit of HOLINESS! We should be striving to see how many ways we can be used by God and find out what He wants to do through us. We Belong to God and need to live our lives as completely sold out to him and set apart for Him. It is not about what we want but what He has willed for the benefit of all and most importantly for His glory. What do you pursue more? your happiness or your holiness?
Also it made me think about liberty. It is great, don't get me wrong. I love many of the freedoms I have and feel blessed by many of them. But it can be a slippery slope. You must be careful with liberty. I mean think of our country where we are one of the "free-est" places to be and look at the sedentary life of so many christians, the lack of passion ans fervor, the decline of christianity, etc. Then look at other places in which christianity is banned and look at how strong the believers are there and what they are getting accomplished and how explosive the growth rate is there and how alive the people feel. It makes me wonder if the existence of liberty creates weakness? When you don't have to fight for something, do you still fight? When you feel no threat, you tend to relax and get comfortable. But no matter how free you may be or feel, don't you think we should always be fighting and running hard after what you believe? Now I am not necessarily talking about physical fighting. I am talking more about the other aspects of fighting. In the dictionary these are also listed
the ability, will, or inclination to fight: There was no fight left in him.
to contend in any manner; strive vigorously for or against something: He fought bravely against despair.
Now, unfortunately I think most of us do a horrible job at this. As Christians we should be fighting every day. This life is a fight. The bible even tells us to put on the full armor of God. We are the Lord's army. We need to always be prepared to defend ourselves and our God as well as provide for and protect his people and promote His name. We should be fighting for our marriages, for our families, and for our friendships. Not just for the people themselves but for the actual things that would be responsible for making them what they should be. For the concepts of love, peace, grace, mercy, truth, honor, repentance, forgiveness, etc. Good marriages, families and friendships don't just happen. They are fought for. They are daily prayed over and worked hard on. Defensive barriers are put in place to protect them and people are there to combat when the walls are shaken by any who try to come a destroy them. As Warren Barfield puts it "Love is not a fight, but it's worth fighting for". The same goes for your faith. You must fight to keep your mind and heart pure and focused and on doing your best to do what we are called to do here on earth- worship Him and bring him Glory. ARE YOU A FIGHTER? Or are you lazing around in your "freedoms" and end up caught unprepared and eventually letting other ideals overcome you?
We should make sure not to let the freedom we have in Christ and in this country to turn us into lazy, un-passionate, un-propelled, easily manipulated people. Do you feel you only come alive when attacks, hardships, and unfortune come your way? Or only when something spectacular happens or might happen? If so, do you know why?
Doesn't it feel good to have something to fight for and to fight for it? Doesn't it feel good to know that God has set you apart for something special- that he has called you to be His?
Also it made me think about liberty. It is great, don't get me wrong. I love many of the freedoms I have and feel blessed by many of them. But it can be a slippery slope. You must be careful with liberty. I mean think of our country where we are one of the "free-est" places to be and look at the sedentary life of so many christians, the lack of passion ans fervor, the decline of christianity, etc. Then look at other places in which christianity is banned and look at how strong the believers are there and what they are getting accomplished and how explosive the growth rate is there and how alive the people feel. It makes me wonder if the existence of liberty creates weakness? When you don't have to fight for something, do you still fight? When you feel no threat, you tend to relax and get comfortable. But no matter how free you may be or feel, don't you think we should always be fighting and running hard after what you believe? Now I am not necessarily talking about physical fighting. I am talking more about the other aspects of fighting. In the dictionary these are also listed
the ability, will, or inclination to fight: There was no fight left in him.
to contend in any manner; strive vigorously for or against something: He fought bravely against despair.
Now, unfortunately I think most of us do a horrible job at this. As Christians we should be fighting every day. This life is a fight. The bible even tells us to put on the full armor of God. We are the Lord's army. We need to always be prepared to defend ourselves and our God as well as provide for and protect his people and promote His name. We should be fighting for our marriages, for our families, and for our friendships. Not just for the people themselves but for the actual things that would be responsible for making them what they should be. For the concepts of love, peace, grace, mercy, truth, honor, repentance, forgiveness, etc. Good marriages, families and friendships don't just happen. They are fought for. They are daily prayed over and worked hard on. Defensive barriers are put in place to protect them and people are there to combat when the walls are shaken by any who try to come a destroy them. As Warren Barfield puts it "Love is not a fight, but it's worth fighting for". The same goes for your faith. You must fight to keep your mind and heart pure and focused and on doing your best to do what we are called to do here on earth- worship Him and bring him Glory. ARE YOU A FIGHTER? Or are you lazing around in your "freedoms" and end up caught unprepared and eventually letting other ideals overcome you?
We should make sure not to let the freedom we have in Christ and in this country to turn us into lazy, un-passionate, un-propelled, easily manipulated people. Do you feel you only come alive when attacks, hardships, and unfortune come your way? Or only when something spectacular happens or might happen? If so, do you know why?
Doesn't it feel good to have something to fight for and to fight for it? Doesn't it feel good to know that God has set you apart for something special- that he has called you to be His?
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Attitude of Gratitude
Here are some tidbits from the study I have been doing on Attitude- specifically complaining and thankfulness. The idea in the first two chapters is to get rid of complaining and replace it with thankfulness. Are you a complainer? I didn't realize how much of a complainer I was until I read this book and started this study and really let it all sink in for a while. I knew my attitude wasn't great, hence getting the study in the first place, but I didn't realize how bad it was. I became much more disgusted with it. Anyway, take from these quotes from the study, "Lord Change my Attitude before it's too Late", what you can as you read and let the Lord speak to you...
"When you have a complaining attitude, the Spirit of God is not in control of your heart and everything that comes out of your mouth is from the human point of view."
"When you give voice to a negative attitude, more often it is to get affirmation, sympathy, or advice to fill your cup. Your complaining is totally self-centered..."
"The root of complaining is unbelief."
"Train yourself to listen for that whine in your voice, to repent immediately, and to turn your grumbles into praise."
"Only when we acknowledge God as the gracious provider of general blessings, like life and breath, food and shelter, do we begin to comprehend our need for God in a personal way and begin to express faith in Him."
"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." ~ Melody Beattie
"In ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich."
I still have a little ways to go in the thankfulness part of the study but wanted to share some of what i was getting.
"When you have a complaining attitude, the Spirit of God is not in control of your heart and everything that comes out of your mouth is from the human point of view."
"When you give voice to a negative attitude, more often it is to get affirmation, sympathy, or advice to fill your cup. Your complaining is totally self-centered..."
"The root of complaining is unbelief."
"Train yourself to listen for that whine in your voice, to repent immediately, and to turn your grumbles into praise."
"Only when we acknowledge God as the gracious provider of general blessings, like life and breath, food and shelter, do we begin to comprehend our need for God in a personal way and begin to express faith in Him."
"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life. It turns what we have into enough, and more. It turns denial into acceptance, chaos into order, confusion into clarity. It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend. Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow." ~ Melody Beattie
"In ordinary life we hardly realize that we receive a great deal more than we give, and that it is only with gratitude that life becomes rich."
I still have a little ways to go in the thankfulness part of the study but wanted to share some of what i was getting.
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