What's Your Story?

                What's your story? No, seriously, I want to hear you share it. When it comes to being a Christian, everyone has encountered the living God. Most Christians may not think that they have the encounter that they want (it may be too boring or too embarrassing or too crazy) but it is an encounter with God Himself. God has done something awesome in your life and I want to challenge you to share it. Why? Because, over all, it isn't even truly your story. It's the story about God and what He has done through you and in you. So, before you become ashamed of your story, remind yourself that it is God's story, and get excited that you get to be apart of it at all.

                When God does something awesome in your life, do you go and tell everyone, or do you brush it off and forget about it like a bad info-mercial? Get excited about whatever God has done in your life, because you have had an encounter with the living God of the universe! Be excited and be willing to share.

                So, let me as you this one more time. What's your story? No, seriously, I want to hear you share it.


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1 Corinthians 1:18

                If you have ever preached it to someone who just looks at you like you're crazy, you may wonder why they don't get it when it makes so much sense. 1 Corinthians 1:18 says, "For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God." In essence, to those who have the Holy Spirit within them, the Gospel makes sense; but to those who do not have the Holy Spirit within them, the Gospel sounds stupid. Now, why would this be? There are two reasons to this. 1) God is too big, and 2) man is too small.

                 We see in 1 Corinthians 1:19, God says "'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.'" We see that God, by whatever action He is going to do, will trump the world's wisdom and the world's idea of intelligent. In order to do that, God has to be wiser and smarter than man, which He is. 1 Corinthians 1:25 says, "For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength." Basically, when God isn't even trying, He is greater than all of humanity's best. How can one understand the Gospel from THAT God? The Gospel is too big for man's understanding. That is why it sounds like foolishness to man.

                We see in 1 Corinthians 1:22-23 it says, "Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to the Jews and foolishness to the Greek..." We see that man wants to seek out God in their own way, Jews by works like signs, and Greeks by impressive words that sound like wisdom. When Christ is preached, both can't comprehend. To the Jews, the Gospel involved no sacrifices and no rituals, so they stumble and cannot understand how the relationship with Christ by grace through faith works. To the Greeks (anyone who isn't Jewish), the Gospel does not sound wise, so they count it as foolish. It would be like explaining thermodynamics to a three year old. They would think that you are crazy or weird. It is so beyond their comprehension that they think it sounds foolish.

                We have to realize that we were one of these categories before Christ, or maybe we still are. Either we tried to seek God out and do works to find Him and never did, or we didn't understand the Gospel and got prideful, calling God's wisdom foolish. We need to remember that God is too big for our little understanding. He is God. He made all things.

                So, you may be asking, how do I explain the Gospel to my friends if they won't be able to understand, or how do I understand the Gospel if it is too big for me? 1 Corinthians 1:24 says, "But to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God." We cannot understand the Gospel except through the Holy Spirit, given to us by Christ's crucifixion. All that we can do is pray that God helps us to understand it, preach it to others, and let God do the work. We can't do anything. It is all in God's hands.


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1 John 4:19

                 When Jesus healed the blind man, the man was willing to follow Jesus. In fact, when the man found Jesus again, and Jesus told him who He was, John 9:38 says, "Then the man said, 'Lord, I believe,' and he worshiped Him." Let me ask you this: Does your life show your love for Christ?

                1 John 4:19 says, "We love because He first loved us." We show love, show generosity, show grace, show forgiveness, show kindness because Christ first showed it to us. When you think of what Christ has done for you, all of the situations that He has saved you from and all of the sins that He has forgiven you of, does your life reflect the love that you have for Him?

                Now, I am not saying feel guilty as if you need to pay Him back. Who can pay back God? Everything you own is His to begin with. You can't out give the ultimate giver. I'm saying do you love Him. Looking at the blind man, when he was being questioned, he was willing to defend Christ's miracles and all that He had done for him. Why? Because they were signs of God's love for Him and He was excited, if not overjoyed, to share them with others.

                Look at your own life. Do you love in a way that shows that you appreciate God's love for you? Do you love in a way that is like Christ? Do you love in a way that says that Christ first loved you? 1 John 4:20 says, "Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen."

                Do you show Christ's love? Do you live a life according to 1 John 4:19, or do you need to talk with God and see how much you value His love for you?

                 "By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another." John 13:35


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Living Service

                "Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God -- this is your true and proper worship." Romans 12:1

                So often, we as Christians can say that we would die for Christ or we would loose it all for Christ. We can be so willing to do one big final act for Christ, but what about taking out the trash without grumbling, or spending time with someone who gets on your nerves and treating them with love? God has been calling you to live for Him before He has called you to die for Him. He has called you to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, not a dead sacrifice.

                We are so willing to take up our cross and die one final and honorable God glorifying death, but what about taking up our cross daily? What about fighting against the lusts of the flesh and the lust of the eye and the pride of life? Praise God if you are willing to die for Christ's glory, but also be willing to live for His kingdom as well.

                What could you do to grow in Christ, or to live for Him? What is keeping you from living out your whole life for Christ? Look at your life through the mercy that Christ has shown you (dying on the cross for you while you were yet in your sins and loving you even as you were rebelling against Him) and ask yourself if living your life for Christ is worth it. Doesn't He deserve your total worship, your full life? He gave His best, why wouldn't we give our best back?


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George Mueller

                George Mueller was a man of prayer through faith. He ran an orphanage of over 10,000 in total, pastored a church of over 1,000 members, supported almost 200 missionaries, and organized the Scriptural Knowledge Institute. He did all of this, not from some well paying job, but from prayer and prayer alone. he did not take a salary from his church and was not working in any other areas. In other words, every meal that he put on the table for his family and every month's rent was provided for strictly by God.

                There is one story in particular where George was in the orphanage and a worker came to him, telling him that there was no food for the children. he gathered the children together before school and prayed with them. As soon as he was done praying, there was a knock at the door. a local baker said that he felt a conviction from God to bring bread, so he had been up since 3 in the morning baking hundreds of loaves of bread and brought it all to him. Moments later, a milk cart broke down in front of the orphanage. The milk would all go bad before anyone would be able to come in time to repair it, so the man came to George Mueller, asking if he would like free milk. The children were provided for, all by prayer. Instances like this happened more regularly than we clock in and out of work.

                George Mueller prayed for five friends, one who came to Christ soon, two others who came later in his life, and two others who were saved after his death. Even though George did not see them all come to Christ, he never stopped praying until death. His prayers were heard by God, even if he did not see the fruit right away.

                Maybe you are in a tough situation, or a family member or friend is in the world and it is breaking your heart. God was faithful to hear the prayers of George Mueller, and He is faithful to hear yours as well. Whatever you are going through, do not just pray. Pray knowing that God is going to answer you, and continue praying until you see the answer. Yes, it will take time and patience, but God is faithful. Just trust Him and keep your trust in Him.

                1 Thessalonians 5:17 "Pray without ceasing."


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Suicide

                I know, for some people, this could be a dangerous and personal topic. For others, it may not be as emotionally taxing. For some, this may be a topic that has never come to mind. Many people believe that suicide sends you straight to Hell. Allow me to answer this question with three questions.

                1) Is suicide a sin? Yes, it is a sin. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says that we are not our own and that we were bought with a price. Exodus 20:13 makes it clear that God hates murder, even murdering yourself. It is a sin, there is no way around it. So yes, even suicide deserves Hell; but hear me out.

                2) Can suicide be forgiven? Yes. All sins can be forgiven if we are in Christ. So, suicide will send you straight to Hell if you do not know Christ; but suicide will not send you to Hell if you are a true follower of Christ. Here is why. There is one sin that is unforgivable, and it is the rejection of the Holy Spirit, which means that you are not accepting Christ as Lord and Savior. It is not unforgivable because of how bad it is, but because you are literally rejecting forgiveness and therefore cannot be forgiven. So, suicide is a huge sin, it is the most selfish act possible; but if you are truly in Christ, you will be forgiven. Your last moment on Earth would be tainted in sin, but Christ does forgive if you are found in Him.

                3) Can a Christian get to such a low point that they would commit suicide? Yes, it is possible if they were never able to grow in their relationship with Christ and if the enemy continued to beat them daily. Here is the thing though, would a true Christian want to do such a selfish act? This would be spitting in God's face for giving you life and saying that whatever plan He has for you on Earth isn't worth it. It's saying that you're too good to go through hardships or that Christ can't provide the strength that you need to overcome. If you are truly in Christ, your hope is in Him and that makes it infinitely harder for a true believer to do such a sin.

                In the end, it comes down to this. Are you truly a Christian or not? If you are, you are going to Heaven no matter what. If not, you are Hell bound no matter what sin you end your life on. Our only hope is in Christ Jesus who saves us. Take rest in the Lord, He will provide everything that you need if you just trust in Him with everything.

                Psalm 147:3 "He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds."


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Women and Respect

                While talking to a group of high school boys last night, some of them began to mention women and saying how it was so difficult to respect them. In some of their eyes, girls that could receive respect and treat you nicely back are the ones that deserve it. Here was my point: none of us deserve anything, not even respect; but to pick and choose is only furthering the stereotype of these specific girls.

                When talking to a friend just last month, she asked me if it was right for a male friend of hers to call her a slut. She said, "well I do slutty things but that doesn't mean that he should call me one, right? I mean, it only happens when I'm drunk so it's not really even me." Now, my first point to tell her was that no real man would ever call her anything outside of her name. It was not alright for him to call her that. Next, I told her that if she did not want to be labeled as something, she should not act like the stereotype. This was not me telling her what to do, but stating that he would continue to call her this if she acted in this way and that she could make the choice to mold her own identity.

                While in high school, most of my friends were females, and not all of them were given the best reputation. Most guys and girls did not even try to know them, but just gave them a label and walked away. They were not able to see the full story. When a girl lives with an abusive mother, has to deal with a dead father, and has never had a man in her life to show her how to be treated with respect, you cannot expect her to respect herself. She would have never known what that looks like. To expect a girl in a situation like this to respect herself is like expecting a five year old to understand Political Science. If it has never been presented, how can you know how to react to it?

                So I dare you, before you go an label anyone or talk poorly about anyone, look at Jesus and how He treated Mary. Men, treat women with respect and show them how a man is supposed to be. For all you know, she has never been respected before and you, as a picture of Christ, could show her the love that God has for her. Women, do not tear one another down. Instead, look at Proverbs 31:20. "She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hand to the needy." Instead of gossiping or judging, reach out to those in need if you claim to be a woman of God.

                We live in a world that does not understand the power and grace of God. That is why we are here, to show them how great He is and how much He loves us all, even the ones who we may not like or know. I dare you to be the body of Christ and imitate Christ, not the world.

                "But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: 'Be holy, because I am holy.' Since you called on a Father who judges each person's works impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear." 1 Peter 1:15-17


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