Useless
12 But if it is preached that
Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there
is no resurrection of the dead? 13 If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. 14 And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith. 1 Corinthians 15:12-14
We just went through a period where we celebrated
the resurrection of our Lord and Savior and with that celebration,
potentially more have come to know Christ. Are you living your life as a
changed person, and what does this look like? Do you ever think of how
many things are useless in this life without someone to operate them?
Think of a car, how useful is it unless you actually sit in the car and
drive it. A baseball bat is another good example, what good is it
without having a baseball to hit. Our faith in God is kind of like
those things. Do you spend time sharing with others your faith and what
this faith has done to change you? If not, then it would seem that your
faith in God is useless unless we are actively sharing it with others.
Our faith in God is very useful in our lives as long as we acknowledge
that faith and let God lead our lives and share along the way.
Have a great weekend.
Friday, April 25, 2014
Friday, April 18, 2014
Fantastic Friday #415 - Remove
Remove
and a silversmith can produce a vessel;
5 remove wicked officials from the king’s presence,
and his throne will be established through righteousness. Proverbs 25:3-5
Do
you ever really sit and think about the sacrifice God made by allowing
His Son to die on the cross for our sins? When He allowed this as part
of His plan, He was able to remove that separation we had from Him. Sin
separated us from God and we all know that man is a sinful creature, but
by the sacrifice of the blood of the Lamb, God removed that barrier
that was keeping us from having a close relationship with Him. Now, if
you have accepted Christ as your Savior, does that mean that you won't
sin? No, but as is it says in Romans we don't keep on sinning. Even
though we have Christ in our hearts it can be a challenge for all of us,
but I believe it is also important that we look at removing things from
our life which can distance us from the life God wants us to live. I
spoke a couple of weeks ago to a group of kids about small things, like
being mean, cheating a little bit, lying only occasionally, or just
being disobedient. But in reality these sins are sins, and you can't
look at sin as a "little" thing or an "occasional" thing, we have to
look at these things seriously and remove them from our life. God
removed the barrier through Christ's sacrifice and we need to remove the
sin to have the life that God wants us to. Just like you can remove
dross from silver to produce a vessel, we can remove sin to walk in
righteousness.
3 As the heavens are high and the earth is deep,
so the hearts of kings are unsearchable.
4 Remove the dross from the silver,so the hearts of kings are unsearchable.
and a silversmith can produce a vessel;
5 remove wicked officials from the king’s presence,
and his throne will be established through righteousness. Proverbs 25:3-5
Friday, April 11, 2014
Fantastic Friday #414 - Reward
Reward
7 I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8 Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. 9 Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 2 John 1:7-9
This last week I was rewarded with something.
The reward was very nice for a long period learning and growing, and I
very humbly accepted it. Can you remember the last time you were
rewarded? Maybe it was not what you were expecting or maybe something
came which you were totally expecting because you knew you deserved it,
or at least that is what you think to yourself. Rewards come in
different packages and sizes in today's world, but how many of us stop
and think of the actual rewards we are going to receive in Heaven if we
accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. The reward that is coming
to us when we accept Christ we definitely don't deserve, but certainly
through Jesus' sacrifice God feels we deserves something grande.
However that reward doesn't come easy on this earth. We aren't expected
to accept Christ and then go about chasing the rewards of this world,
but we are expected to share what the Father has done in our life to
change the way we live and show others the difference Christ makes in
our life. Don't run ahead and think the rewards will come in this life,
but wait patiently for the rewards that will come in the next life.7 I say this because many deceivers, who do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh, have gone out into the world. Any such person is the deceiver and the antichrist. 8 Watch out that you do not lose what we have worked for, but that you may be rewarded fully. 9 Anyone who runs ahead and does not continue in the teaching of Christ does not have God; whoever continues in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. 2 John 1:7-9
Friday, April 4, 2014
Fantastic Friday #413 - Separation
Separation
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
Separation is not just a description of two things being apart, there are really some emotions that go along with separation. How many of us as children became separated from our parents in a store, park, or some other location when we were young? How many of us as adults have been separated from our children or spouse for a period of time. There is a deep emotion that I am sure all of us felt in these circumstances. A loneliness, a sadness, maybe fear and even desperation might have set in during this experience for all involved. Now, think of the time when you were reunited with that individual. I bet the emotions you felt changed to relief, exuberance, joy, and a deep-felt happiness that you were reunited. The enemy today wants you to experience a deep pain when you perceive you might have separation from the Lord, but you can't ever be separated from God's love. When you might think God is not there during your biggest time of grief and struggle, you have to look at what scripture says regarding God's love. Nothing can create that separation, not even the enemy. We need to remember that while we might feel separated because of our sin, we are not separated from His love. He is always connected to us through Christ if we can accept Him as our Lord and Savior.
Have a great weekend.
38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8:38-39
Separation is not just a description of two things being apart, there are really some emotions that go along with separation. How many of us as children became separated from our parents in a store, park, or some other location when we were young? How many of us as adults have been separated from our children or spouse for a period of time. There is a deep emotion that I am sure all of us felt in these circumstances. A loneliness, a sadness, maybe fear and even desperation might have set in during this experience for all involved. Now, think of the time when you were reunited with that individual. I bet the emotions you felt changed to relief, exuberance, joy, and a deep-felt happiness that you were reunited. The enemy today wants you to experience a deep pain when you perceive you might have separation from the Lord, but you can't ever be separated from God's love. When you might think God is not there during your biggest time of grief and struggle, you have to look at what scripture says regarding God's love. Nothing can create that separation, not even the enemy. We need to remember that while we might feel separated because of our sin, we are not separated from His love. He is always connected to us through Christ if we can accept Him as our Lord and Savior.
Have a great weekend.
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