One More Thing… Jesus

Posted on by Joshua Huffman

Today was a big day for Apple. They introduced the iphone 5, IOS6, a whole new ipod line up, and a brand new itunes. I’m a huge fan of Apple and look forward to these events. I mark them on the calendar weeks in advanced, and as the keynote is going on I drop everything I am doing to make sure I am keeping track of the best live blogs to ensure I don’t miss a detail of the keynote. I want to know everything that goes on. However, by the end of the keynote I, as well as every other apple fan, end with a little bit of disappointment. We are all hoping for, as Steve Jobs would say,  that “one last thing.” Apple keynotes are exciting, but by the end of it, we are left with nothing. Nothing to show for, nothing that rewarded us for all the hope we placed into it. When it’s done, it’s done. We move on like it never happened. Like dust in the wind.

As cliche and corny as it sounds, I have true joy and hope in something far beyond anything Apple could ever produce, it’s Jesus. Yes that may sound like your average sunday school Jesus answer, but there’s truth in it. Looking at the things of the world that we desire, relationships,  money, cars, job, family, the latest Apple product, where do they leave us? Wanting more. You may find temporarily satisfaction in our earthly desires, but before long we want more. They never truly satisfy the desires of our hearts.

What makes Jesus satisfy us greater than these earthly possessions? We search for love, comfort, acceptance, and joy. Our human love for one another is tainted with sin, money doesn’t give us the comfort we need but rather it gives us the sense of comfort that we can take larger risks with our money which puts us in more need of money, acceptance is hard to find because of the judgement we face, and joy, how can we find joy in things that only last seasons at a time? That isn’t true satisfaction, it only temporarily fills our wants.

Jesus however has no sin. Jesus gave us His love through His death on the cross, His love knows no end. Looking for comfort? Well Jesus created everything you see in seven days, and never had to release an upgrade. Who can stand against Him? Acceptance, Christ knows of our sins and chooses us anyways. He knows you aren’t good enough, He knows that we could never love Him the way He loves us, He knows that we fall short of His glory daily, but with that said, He loves you anyways.  As for joy, how can joy not fill your heart knowing that this God knows of all your faults and chooses to love you and be with you on a daily basis anyways. Never will He leave us or forsake us. His joy for us isn’t just a seasonal joy, but eternal. It’s never ending.

There’s a reason Apples logo has a bite taken out of it. Sin is only deceptive. It can never truly satisfy the desires of our hearts.

“And one more thing”

John 3:16-17

For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.

2 Corinthians 12:9

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.

Ephesians 2:8-9

 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

p.s. I’m hoping to start back up on Proverbs soon. I’ve just hit a mental road block, or writers block as others like to call it.

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Let God Spot You

Posted on by Joshua Huffman

Proverbs 5:11-14 (NIV)

At the end of your life you will groan,
when your flesh and body are spent.
You will say, “How I hated discipline!
How my heart spurned correction!
I would not obey my teachers
or turn my ear to my instructors.
And I was soon in serious trouble
in the assembly of God’s people.”

Proverbs 5:11-14 (KJV)

And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me
I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.

As being a weightlifter, well ex-weightlifter and now body lifter, it is extremely important to use proper technique when lifting, technique being how you lift, and when you lift. It’s a common mistake for beginners to lift the same routines everyday because it never gives your muscles enough time to rest, and this will result in muscle exhaustion. If you continue to push yourself, doing the same thing, day after day, you wil become weak and your body will no longer be able to perform at it’s max, in fact you will become weaker than when you started. How you lift, is equally as important is when you lift. There is a lot of weight being stressed upon your body. Without proper form, you can seriously injure yourself. Sometimes weight lifters will put more weight on than they can actually handle to show off to everyone else, but when they do that they have to use improper form and it’s really obvious to everyone lifting. We often chuckle because we know the consequences of their actions of trying to show off.

How we live our life is very similar. It’s very easy of us to avoid instructions and “play” with the devil to show how “cool” we are. It’s very easy for us to live recklessly. We often think that we know better, and that others advice doesn’t apply to us. We lift life’s obstacles by ourselves, without a spotter, and with incorrect form. Our post workout meal is our sinful desires. Instead of refilling our bodies with what’s good and pure, we often look to the substance that separates us from Christ. Life becomes harder and harder. We must learn to humble ourselves before others, and most importantly before our Lord. Take the Lords instructions and use proper form by reading His Word daily, praying to Him in all circumstances, living a pure and godly live, and showing love to others. When life gets tough, ask God to be your spotter, ask Him to lift your troubles away. Like any good spotter, the Lord isn’t going to lift all the weight a way, how can you gain new muscle when all the weight is gone? Instead the Lord lifts just enough so that we will may still struggle, but enough so that we will be able to finish the rep.

1 Corinthians 10:13

No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful;he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.

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What Kind of Relationships Do You Seek?

Posted on by Joshua Huffman

Proverbs 5:1-6 (NIV)

My son, pay attention to my wisdom,
turn your ear to my words of insight,
that you may maintain discretion
and your lips may preserve knowledge.
For the lips of the  woman drip honey,
and her speech is smoother than oil;
but in the end she is bitter as gall,
sharp as a double-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death;
her steps lead straight to the grave.
She gives no thought to the way of life;
her paths wander aimlessly, but she does not know it.

Proverbs 5:1-6 (KJV)

My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:
That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.
Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.

So far, at the beginning of each chapter of Proverbs, we have been advised to search for wisdom and understanding and hold it to us closely, or else we will fall into some kind of trap of sin. These traps are easy to fall into, unless we are using Scriptures lenses. The trap presented here is relationships. We’re not necessary talking about the boyfriend/girlfriend, husband/wife relationships (although those have a much bigger effect here) but more so, who we choose to be closest to, and how their influence affects us.

Think of some of the relationships that you had/have, whether that be current or past, friends, or a special someone. What are some of your positive relationships? What are some of your relationships that have influenced you negatively? Whether it be positive, or negative, your relationships with those people were probably very close.

This passage is warning us of negative influences. It’s telling us that there are going to be people out there, that you will be very attracted to. Metaphorically, with lips that drip honey and speech that is smoother than oil, it’s going to be very hard to stay away from kissing that mouth. A mouth that is smoother than oil is going to be able to draw us right in, and as soon as we get a taste of that ever so sweet honey, it’s going to be hard to get yourself away, we are just going to be wanting more! It’s a terrible trap! In the end we are so distracted by the honey, that we don’t realize the damage that is being done to us. We get so caught up in the pleasures of it all, we don’t realize that we are being cut with a two edged sword, that we are following their footsteps to death, and we to start to wonder aimlessly without knowing it. We become lost. Not only is honey very sweet, but it is also sticky! It’s hard to clean up.

As we are choosing our friends, as we are choosing our boyfriends/girlfriends, husbands/wives, we need to keep to the Lord’s wisdom and understanding. We must ask ourselves, how is this person going to reflect our relationship with Jesus Christ? Be warned not to be talked in by their smooth talk, and sweet lips. Hold onto the Lord’s discretion and knowledge, don’t let yourselves be fooled into a relationship that will harm you. Remember, in all that you do, and all the troubles we get ourselves in, the Lord is always there to give us a hand, to free us from the bondage of our sins. All we need to do is go to Him in prayer, and ask for it. Seek the Lord, and He will return you to His path of righteous. There is nothing to great for Him, no trap to deep for Him to pull us out of. Seek the Lord first.

Proverbs 25:16

If you find honey, eat just enough–too much of it, and you will vomit.

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Giving God Just 1% Makes All the Differnce

Posted on by Joshua Huffman

Proverbs4:20-22 (NIV)

My son, pay attention to what I say;
turn your ear to my words.
Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart;
for they are life to those who find them
and health to one’s whole body.

Proverbs 4:20-22 (KJV)

My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings.
Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart.
For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh.

After doing a little bit of research, I have come to discover that only 3 in 10 Americans take the bible literally, 6 out of 10 Americans read the bible occasionally (a few times a month), 23% of Christians haven’t read the bible at all, and only 11% of Americans read their bible everyday. One webpage put it:

There are probably five Bibles on every shelf in American homes. Americans buy the Bibles, they debate the Bible, they love the Bible… they just don’t read the Bible.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/04/18/state-bible-2012/#ixzz20xytkGZ6

The bible lays the foundation of our religion, the bible enables to grow in Him, the bible helps opens up our hearts and minds and gives us the power to free ourself from sin, but yet not many are reading it. I remember as growing up in a private school, everyone thought reading the bible was this huge task, and a task that only needed to be done once. If you read the bible once, you were just amazing. I see this same train of thought among adults today, you ask people why they don’t read the bible and they say it’s to complicated and hard to understand, it’s to long, or it’s to boring. Then with those that have read the bible, I see to many people that have said “Oh yeah, I read the bible once,” and they say it with such authority over everyone else as if they are a better person because they read the bible, once.

Guys, reading the bible is not a task or an accomplishment, it’s a way of living! As we need air, oxygen, to breath and to ultimately live, we need God’s Word to live in Him. His Word gives us power. One of my favorite set of verses in Scripture is John 1:1-5

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome

The Word gives us life! The Word protects us from the darkness that is covering our world. God reveals so much to us when we read His Word, it opens up doors we never thought imaginable, and closes the doors that we thought were never going to close. It gives us power over the devil, it allows us to say to him “Oh, it’s only you.”

We live in a world were we are being attacked all the time by the devil, on our own we can’t protect ourselves from him, but with God’s Word we are protected with victory already declared!

Ephesians 6:10-18

 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

But remember, it is not something to brag about. It is the same as when we pray.

Matthew 6:5-6

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.

When we read the bible daily, it transforms us. Without you ever having to say you read the bible, people will know there is something different about you, and will naturally respect you more. The bible holds a power that is unequal. It is so powerful that the devil will attempt anything he can to stop us from reading it. He knows it’s value and the power it gives us over him. Being who he is, he is going to attempt everything he can from stoping us from getting to God’s Word, cause once we have it, he has lost control over us.

To end with a few more statistics. Did you know that 14.4 mins, is 1% of your day. Did you know that if you spend 15 mins a day, for one year, you will be able to read through the entire bible. Giving only 1% of your time to His Word, and you will have read the entire bible in one year!

*Added after the original post* Did you know the average person spends 15 hours and 33  minutes on facebook a month, that rounds to 30 minutes a day…. The thoughts regarding that is endless. But just take a minute to think about your daily input and how it affects you, in both the short run and the long run.

So my question to christians all around the world is this, what is stopping you from reading the bible? Is 1% of your time to much to give?

References:

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It’s the Little Things That Get Us

Posted on by Joshua Huffman

Proverbs 4:14-17 (NIV)

Do not set foot on the path of the wicked
or walk in the way of evildoers.
Avoid it, do not travel on it;
turn from it and go on your way.
For they cannot rest until they do evil;
they are robbed of sleep till they make someone stumble.
They eat the bread of wickedness
and drink the wine of violence.

Proverbs 4:14-17 (KJV)

Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men.
Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away.
For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall.
For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence.

For those matured in the faith, I don’t believe you’re going to just set foot on the path of the wicked. When you become immersed in His Word, it becomes very easy to spot the path of the wicked from the path of righteousness. You’re not going to, one day, just switch paths. The devil knows this, and because of that he isn’t going to put all his effort into tempting you in the big things. Instead he uses the many men and women of this world to tempt you int the small areas. There are 100s (about once every 11 mins of the 18 hours your awake) of the times that the devil tempts us in small ways. He sometimes uses the closest people to us, to tempt us. It could be through a ‘harmless’ movie, through hanging out with a certain group of people, going to a particular place that you know tempts you in whatever way, and many other ways. It is easy for us to avoid the big things, but the small things can often slip through our radar. If a missile, just one missile, would slip through a military radar a lot of damage and lives would be lost. The same goes in our life, one small missile can do a lot of damage. It destroys a part of our defense system. Soon, because of the destruction of the one missile, more will be pushed in through our weak spot. It causes us to stumble and fall.

Keep your guard up at all times, the enemy will never stop trying to penetrate you. The devil knows your weaknesses, and will use them against you! As christians, we need to identify our weakness and give them to Christ. We need to do everything in our power to stay away from our weakness. Like the evil doers drink the wine of violence, we will drink the wine of our weaknesses. Once you have one slip, it’s hard to not have two, and then three. Eventually you just can’t help yourself, and keep on drinking in on our weaknesses in enjoyment. That’s the scary thing. Once we get past the first few drinks, we begin to enjoy what makes us weak and we ask for more.

Because sometimes we are tricked into thinking we are in the path of righteousness, when we are rather on the path of evil, stop for a moment and look ahead, where are your actions leading you, what do they say about you and Christ? It is easy at first to stay on foot with God, but we must be on a look out for all the small things. All big things, started small, watch out and be warned! The devil is always looking for ways to tempt you, stay in God’s Word and keep yourself protected!

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Which Wolf Are You Feeding?

Posted on by Joshua Huffman
Gray Wolf, Canis lupus
Gray Wolf, Canis lupus (Photo credit: ArranET)

Proverbs 4:10-12(NIV)

Listen, my son, accept what I say,
and the years of your life will be many.
I instruct you in the way of wisdom
and lead you along straight paths.
When you walk, your steps will not be hampered;
when you run, you will not stumble.

Proverbs 4:10-12 (KJV)

Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many.
I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths
When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble.

This reminds of one of the many sayings currently going around on facebook, it goes like this

“An old Cherokee told his grandson: “My son, there’s a battle between two wolves inside us all. One is Evil. It’s anger, jealousy, greed, resentment, inferiority, lies and ego. The other is Good. It’s joy, peace, love, hope, humility, kindness and truth.” The boy thought about it and asked: “Grandfather, which wolf wins?”. The old man quietly replied: “The one you feed.”

What we feed ourselves is who we become. When we feed ourselves with Gods wisdom by reading the bible and what not, we find ourselves coming to Christ, we stumble less, our focus becomes great, and our temptation is resisted easier. However, we get busy every once in a while and we quit feeding ourselves with Gods word, and instead we feed ourselves with the worlds desires. It can sometimes take just a day and we find ourselves becoming a whole new individual. In the dictionary it refers to wolves as

“used in similes and metaphors to refer to a rapacious, ferocious, or voracious person or thing.”

When we start feeding our other wolf, it aggressively pushes away our wolf for Christ. With its new found strength(from the food), it quickly devours our Godly wolf(it is now hungry and doesn’t have the strength to fight back). We begin to loose sight of what is good, and follow the path of evil. We must watch what we put into ourselves, because that is going to reflect who we are.

We are His children

Posted on by Joshua Huffman

Proverbs 4:1-2 (NIV)

Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction;
pay attention and gain understanding.
I give you sound learning,
so do not forsake my teaching.

Proverbs 4:1-2 (KJV)

Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.
or I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law.

How many times now has God inspired Solomon to listen to our fathers, to seek wisdom and understanding, and not to forsake the law? A lot right. This reminds of my relationship with my mother. She has to constantly tell me to do stuff over and over again, always nagging at me to get it done. Why does she do this? Because I am horrible at listening sometimes, I get distracted, and sometimes I just forget but she keeps reminding me over and over again to make sure it gets done because it’s important. It’s important because it needs to get done, and it also teaches me responsibility (eventually).

I like to think God is doing the same to us. We are His children and as children we don’t always do as our parents tell us. They have to keep reminding us over and over again because we get distracted in our own little world and loose sight of what is best for us and focus on the silly things that grab our attention. This morning I read in Isaiah 28:9-10 (NLT)

“Who does the Lord think we are?” they ask.
“Why does he speak to us like this?
Are we little children,
just recently weaned?
He tells us everything over and over—
one line at a time,
one line at a time,
a little here,
and a little there!”

Here the Israelites are complaining about how God treats them like children and has to constantly remind them of the little things. Instead of being humble in their ways, they are proud and don’t appreciate God talking to them in this way. If you read further you will see that God punishes them for being proud.

We must humble ourselves before God as children, in reality isn’t that what we really are to God? His little children. We should be thankful when He reminds us over and over again for such little things. He sees the importance in reminding us, and He sees that we have gotten distracted from Him, so He gives us these reminders over and over again to help keep us on His path.

As you read these passages, don’t brush them off, but do as they say! Take seriously the instructions of our elders, they have lived life already and are wise in their ways. Pay attention and seek understanding and wisdom, we have discussed many times its benefits. Last but not least, let’s not forget about all the teaching Christ has given us! Don’t brush it off, don’t be proud like the Israelites and think you are already good. You’re not, no one is good enough, so let’s humble ourself before Him and take seriously His teachings. Read the Scriptures so that you may learn His teachings, become equipped for the battlefield, to heal your soul, and remind yourself of His amazing grace!

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Forgiving Others

Posted on by Joshua Huffman

Proverbs 3:29-30 (NIV)

Do not plot harm against your neighbor,
who lives trustfully near you.
Do not accuse anyone for no reason—
when they have done you no harm.

Proverbs 3:29-30 (KJV)

Devise not evil against thy neighbour, seeing he dwelleth securely by thee.
Strive not with a man without cause, if he have done thee no harm.

It’s all to easy to form envy, hostility, and a grudge against others. It’s to easy to form a negative opinion about someone after they have wronged you in some way. When someone wrongs us, we all to often try to get back at them for what they did to us. As for me I have many friends who have been wronged in such a way by another person that it has taken everything in me to hold in my emotions. About a year ago, I have started doing something that can be very difficult to do, that is whenever someone wrongs me or a friend of mine, or does something to make me upset instead of doing something that I know I would regret, I pray for them. This can be a very difficult thing to do, but there is no point in letting their actions boil your emotions, and there is no point in retaliating back because that just leads to more frustrations. I have found it best to just pray for others and yourself when you feel wronged, or anger towards another individual. What is more powerful that the power of pray?

I am currently reading a book called Soul Detox by Craig Groeschel. In the last chapter I read Craig writes about how when he was a child he found out his favorite teacher had molested his sister in either 5th or 6th grade. When this news came up, it came to light that she wasn’t the only child this teacher molested, there was a good number of children that fell victim to him. Craig grew a strong disliking to this man afterwards. He prayed bad things upon him. He thought this teacher was the exception to God’s forgiveness and grace. Over the years the teacher fell victim to some sort of muscular disease. When Craig found out he was happy inside, he liked to think of it as God’s way of punishing that man for all that he had down. Over the years Craig, against the will of his heart, sent his old teacher a letter. Despite how much he felt against this man, he sent him a letter of forgiveness and a short message of God’s grace and forgiveness. The man died shortly after. Craig, also a pastor by the way, went to talk to a nurse after the man died and the nurse told Craig about how the man accepted Christ into his heart after he received the letter from Craig.

We are all quick to anger against others, and it’s really easy to hold a grudge against others. We have all done it, doing it, and will continue to do it throughout our life. I just want to ask you to let go of your grudges, don’t blame others, don’t wish harm upon your neighbor, and always pray for them as well as for yourself. Blaming others and looking to get “even” with them is simply a victory for the devil. As we strive to be more like Christ lets learn to forgive and forget. Let’s learn to put our emotions aside and show love for others, as Christ has shown love for us!

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Why I Can’t Settle For A Relationship With God

Posted on by Joshua Huffman
Old Couple

In today’s day and age there is a huge push inside of Christianity, and that is to form a relationship with Christ. The word “religion” and all the different dominations are being pushed aside, and being replaced with a relationship with God. I fell in love with this idea many years ago, when I first heard it, and have been following the bandwagon every since.  From a marketing stand point it’s a great idea, people are much more likely to follow God because they want to, instead of the idea that they have to follow a set of rules because we are told to. But in today’s world, do we really want to call our unity with Christ a relationship, or is it more than that?

Relationships are about feelings. We live in the world were they are constantly broken because one or the other “isn’t feeling it anymore.” Marriage is no longer a permanent unity between a man and a woman. Divorce rates are at 41%! And that’s just the first marriage, after that the percentage keeps getting higher! They aren’t being taken seriously anymore, the notion “till death do us part” is being replaced with “until we no longer have interest with one another.” Marriages are being viewed no more seriously than a relationship.

Defined in a dictionary, a relationship is a “behavior or feelings toward somebody else.”  Unfortunately our feelings change on a regulatory biases. Doesn’t our bondage to Christ deserve to be called more than just a feeling? Feelings go up and down, they have their highs and their lows. Christ deserves more than that! He is the man who humiliated himself, died on a cross, and paid the penalty that we deserve!  To say and believe the thought “I have a relationship with Christ” is truly in understatement to what we should have. To say we have a relationship with Christ is saying “I’m only with Him when I feel like it.”

To me, He’s more than a relationship, He’s a commitment. He’s a marriage in its original form. He’s someone I am eternally bonded to.  Till death do us part.  It doesn’t matter if we are ‘feeling’ Christ today, it doesn’t matter if you are in a ‘God mood’ and it doesn’t matter if you are feeling ‘spiritually high’ today.  When we say those words, we allow ourselves also to say today I’m not ‘feeling’ Christ, today I’m not in a ‘God mood’ and today I’m not ‘spiritually high.’ We allow ourselves to use our feelings as an excuse to not be a disciple for Christ. When we follow our feelings we pick and choose which days we want to His disciple and which days we don’t. When Jesus died on the cross, He wasn’t ‘feeling’ it.  He prayed all night that the Lord take away His burden, but He did it anyways because He was committed to us!Old Couple

It’s more than just a relationship, it’s more than just a feeling, it is a commitment to Christ, it’s a commitment to serve Him, to do what’s right, to be a leader, and so on. We have to stop ourselves into using our feelings as an excuse to not serve our Father.  It’s a commitment, serve Him always! Make your ‘relationship’ with Christ a commitment, a true marriage!

Say these words out loud and reflect upon them and what they mean in terms of you and God:

“I, _______, take you, God, for my eternal partner, to have and to hold, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death do us part.

My commitment to Christ is this: Lord I am going to try my hardest at all times to serve you! I will at all times seek you! Good day, or bad day, I will give my thanks to you! Just because I am not feeling you today, will not be an excuse to put you aside, it will be a reason to work harder for you! This is my dedication to you, you are my life!

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Awarding Others

Posted on by Joshua Huffman

Proverbs 3:27-28 (NIV)

Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act. Do not say to your neighbor, “Come back tomorrow and I’ll give it to you”— when you already have it with you.

Proverbs 3:27-28 (KJV)

Withhold not good from them to whom it is due, when it is in the power of thine hand to do it. Say not unto thy neighbour, Go, and come again, and to morrow I will give; when thou hast it by thee.

Why do you work? You work to get your paycheck right? Why do you work hard at work? You work hard so that you can get promoted or a raise right? What if you got an opportunity to work at a job where you would never get promoted, you would never get a raise, but you would never get fired, would you work there? As for me, not a chance! When I look at that job offer, I just see in invitation to be lazy, and a place where hard work goes uncredited. Work without reward, is a recipe for laziness.

A second example: You help out a stranger, work for them all day and you work your hardest for them. There are two results that could happen: A) They pay you and/or they are very appreciative towards you and your hard work. Or B) They say nothing at the end of the day, no thanks, no pat on the back, no smile, no thing. Chances are you will have some very disheartening things to say about person B. You might even say things to others, or to yourself, that would cause you to sin against this person and hold a grudge against them. It’s really upsetting to you because at one point during the day you saw that this person had plenty of money to pay you with. Even when we are on our best ‘Christian’ behavior we still would have pretty upset feelings towards person B, agreed?

The point is this, person B in the second example had the money to pay you, but choose not to until the following day. In doing this he maybe caused you to sin against them because of the thoughts in your head, maybe you put up a grudge, and/or maybe you talked behind their back to other people because you felt betrayed for your hard work.

1 Corinthians 10:32

Do not cause anyone to stumble..

Leading others into sin intentionally or unintentionally is dangerous both to you, and to the sinner. Jesus says in Mark 9:42

And if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around his neck.

Be careful of your actions and how it effects others!

The second point in the example is that even though person B payed you a few days later (after all your possible grumbling), chances are your still not going to feel appreciated for your handwork and you won’t have as strong as a desire to work for them again, or at least not as hard as you would for person A.

Be sure to give what deserves to be awarded as soon as it deservers it. In waiting you take the rist of causing others to sin against you, and at the very least you probably won’t get the same work ethic as you before. For some of us, a simple smile and thanks is all we need, they can go a long way. Ask yourself this, what are some of the thoughts you have had against people that took a long time to pay/appreciate  you, what are things you have said against them? Are you proud of it?