Direction or Directions?

God doesn't always want to guide our lives as much as he wants to be our guide for life. In other words, he doesn't give us a print-out of Google maps with directions on the side telling us how to get to where he wants us to go; instead he gives us a compass. What a compass does is point us in the right direction, leaving it up to us to get there. Even the bible doesn't lay out directions--we have to try to decipher it's specific meanings and applications sometimes. I do believe though, that we all have God's calling written on our hearts, and it's only a matter of underlining and putting feet to the statement which God intends to be our guiding anthem. Let us allow God's magnetic pull to direct every decision of our lives.

"Living life on purpose means letting God's agenda and His heart become the guiding principle for all our decisions."

~Claude Hickman/Steven C Hawthorne/Todd Ahrend on "Following God on Mission" in "Kairos"

Bless to Bless to Bless

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? ~Romans 10:14-15a (ESV)

How many things in our lives can we call blessings from God? Certainly much more than we ever truly consider during our day-to-day lives! We can find something to praise God for in just about everything we see and experience, which shows us just how utterly blessed we really are. The problem with many Christians today is that they want to keep those blessings. They will thank the Lord, perhaps, but then go on with their lives, living comfortably with the things they have been given. It is good to praise God for what he has done for us and in us, but we are also called to bless those around us because we have been blessed. As sons and daughters of the King, we should long to give back to him every blessing he has bestowed upon us, and he would have us do that by using our gifts to impact others. One strong example of this is how we use our money. If we were to take a set amount of our income each year by which we can live reasonably, and give the remaining amount back to God, then even if our income is raised in the future, we will be able to live off of the same amount and give all the more back to him. Lastly, we are called not only to bless others, but to show them the truth behind the blessing. We are to "make disciples of all the nations", so that each individual we bless can then go and bless many more. Christianity should never be a still-water pond, but rather a stream that will continuously branch off and expand the kingdom of the Lord until all the nations can glorify the name of the one who blesses all.

"Every blessing you pour out I'll turn back to praise." ~Blessed Be Your Name

 

WWJD? J.W.N.O.T.W.S.A.C.W.S.R.T.W.N.H.M.I.W.A.T.B.L.H.

Jesus was not of this world, so as Christians, we should reach those who need him most if we are to be like him.

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. ~1John 4:7-8 (ESV)

The population of Christians compared to everyone else in the world, we could say, is the minority. We go out nearly every day of our lives and interact in some way with unbelievers. Now pictures the stats, as it would be from (one of) God's point(s) of view: if every Christian said a few kind words to every unbeliever they met...handed out slips of paper explaining God's love...took the time to talk to people, in general -- I'm pretty sure the number of new-born Christians would start to sky-rocket. You see, although Christians are a minority and often feel alone in their communities, they are not. A lot of the world simply isn't aware of God in their lives, of the impact he could have if he was shared by neighboring Christians. If we truly care about people, will we really be satisfied looking back at our past and seeing how many bazillions of opportunities we passed by as we went about our normal everyday lives? I believe we can make an impact for Christ, and I believe it starts by changing our habits, growing more confident in our faith, and talking about God wherever we go.

The reason most people don't know about God and the Godly behavior some people, especially Christians, can have and can show to others is simply because the majority of the people they interact with leave a bad impression. For example, my friend and I were hanging around a park in in middle of the city while we waited for a movie to start, and a police officer drives by to tell us we aren't allowed to be there. Although we sincerely apologized and assured him we would leave, he would not give in or show any kindness until he saw us gone. I believe that the main reason behind his attitude toward us was because he was so used to kids giving him a bunch of bad responses with the worst of intentions. He never expected that we might have been sincere about ourselves, so he wouldn't be convinced that we meant no disrespect. This is unfortunately the way of the world right now, at least in America, and it could be sooooooo easily changed, it is simply ridiculous. God is honestly the only being who can truly move us to act together in this way, so listen to what he has to say and see if you can make a difference in your own attitudes, a difference that will impact those around you.

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. ~Peter 4:8 (ESV)

Back to the Basix

Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation. The spirit is willing, but the body is weak. ~Matthew 26:41 (NIV)

"What sin is is basically, back in the day when people would aim for a target and miss, it meant that they sinned, and the bible says that we've done the same thing. But it just means that we've missed God's target, and just like when there's a consequence for breaking the law, there's a consequence for breaking God's law. Unfortunately that consequence is to be separated from God forever in a place called Hell. But Jesus steps in and says 'I know that you've messed up and I will take each and every bit of your punishment for you.' If you were basically in a car that was heading the wrong direction and someone was screaming at you as you were about to head over a cliff, what would you do? You would stop the car, you'd turn around and head the other direction. God is asking you to do the exact same thing, he's asking you to turn from the way you've been living, turn from yourself and turn to him. And what he offers us is real life, and that life comes through Christ." ~KJ-52

Sin isn't necessarily just missing the mark, but it's also about hitting the wrong one. That's what makes it an intentional act of defiance toward God, even if you aren't looking at it that way when you do the sin. Let's try to at least keep God in our struggles so that when we pull out the defenses we have acquired, we will be defending ourselves for God's sake, not for the sake of convenience or possible embarrassment by other humans. The only law that matter's is God's holy law, so let us imprint it upon our hearts.

I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you. ~Psalm 119:11 (NIV)