8/27/13:

TFTD: “¹⁶ Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. ¹⁷ For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. ¹⁸ So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”  2 Corinthians 4:16-18

            For anyone that has experienced struggle big, small, or otherwise, this is for you. Reread the verse from 2 Corinthians and focus on these things: “…being renewed day by day…light and momentary troubles…an eternal glory that far outweighs them all...” When this verse really sinks into our hearts and minds, we can realize that what we have to look forward to is far more worthy of our attention than what we are struggling with day to day.

            Easier said than done? Yes, at times. Imagine if we allowed our struggles to be opportunities for God to demonstrate his power. Our trials serve as reminders of Christ’s suffering and also remind us that this life is brief. Christ’s death and resurrection have won for us an eternal home that we can’t yet see, but provide us with the hope that we have for tomorrow. It’s what gets us through the hard times. It’s what was given to us, though we didn’t and still don’t deserve it, by a God that loved us enough to give up his only son. Because of this gift of grace bestowed upon us, we can face our “light and momentary troubles” with an immeasurable amount of hope and remind others to do the same.

 -Post by Kelsie Zellar

8/21/13:

TFTD: “I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus, that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge… so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will sustain you till the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

1 Corinthians 4-5, 7-8

This week is a big week for a lot of people that I know. They are just starting their first week as teachers, in their new jobs, or transitioning to college for the first or last time. It is amazing to see where God has taken everyone to do His work. As Paul was writing to the church at Corinth here, so I want to write to you all. I thank God that I have gotten a chance to get to know so many awesome people! I also thank Him for strengthening you all in the roles that you are now in. Some of you are teaching for the first time, starting new jobs, continuing in old jobs, or transitioning to college. I pray that you always remember that as you use your gifts and talents for God, He is the one who will sustain you till the end of time. When the days come that are difficult and challenging He will be there for you. He will never leave you, and will never give you something He can’t help you handle. So go boldly, knowing that God has you in His plan and will direct your path and boast in Him and Him alone. Happy transition week!

"Life is one big transition." -Willie Stargell

8/20/13:

TFTD: “My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory…. For judgment is without mercy to one who has shown no mercy. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” James 2:1,13

Never has there been a time in Christianity with such a need for impartial ambassadors to the unchurched world. It took me a long time this morning to phrase that in a way that gets my point across correctly. Thinking back through the history of the bible we see that there are so many needs that the early Christian church had. A need for a leader, a savior, forgiveness, unashamed witnesses, and so many more, but I feel that Christianity has one giant need in today’s society. Yes we may be in need of many of the same things as the early church but specifically we are in need of impartial ambassadors for Christ. I choose the word impartial very carefully here because I don’t want it to get confused with tolerance. The term tolerance has become so convoluted by so many different things that generally all we now mean is acceptance. We need to tolerate (accept) people regardless of their beliefs and values because we live in a free country and disregard their spiritual and eternal wellbeing. I’m not so sure that is what we are called to do as children of God

            I chose the word impartial because it has to do with judgment and patience rather than acceptance. I don’t think we are called to accept others and their beliefs and not do anything about it. We are called to spread the word of Christ and to share that eternal forgiveness and salvation with them. To me impartial gives the context that we aren’t supposed to judge others for who they are or what they believe because we aren’t the judge, we leave that up to God, but rather we are to be patient and careful with those who have fallen away from the church or who have never been churched in the first place. We aren’t supposed to judge or categorize people based on the fact that they dress in a different way or because they have tattoos and piercings galore. Instead we are show them love, mercy, and grace because we all realistically fall into one and only one category. Sinner. Ultimately we all face the same end result unless we, who have the knowledge of Christ, step off our high horses and help up those around us who are lost and confused. As Jesse Jackson put it “Never look down on anybody unless you're helping them up.”

“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” –C.S. Lewis

8/19/13:

TFTD: “But when the Helper comes, whom I will send from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.” –John 15:26-27

When you were little did you ever get called “my little helper” by a parent? Maybe you were helping bake a birthday cake, or carry in the groceries, or maybe you were just helping clean up the house a little bit. On the flip side, did you ever get in trouble for not helping when you were supposed to? I know I did. I can think of many times that I had a time out or was disciplined because I said I would clean up the house, or do the dishes, and proceeded not to. How many times do we fall into that trap when it comes to our faith lives as well? We hear a really great sermon that encourages us to go and serve others in some capacity, or we go to a conference or big event and have a mountain top experience and come back on fire for God and then let the flame or spark get put out.

            In the early part of John 15 he is inspired by God to share the metaphor of God being the vine and His people being the branches. Furthermore he goes on to say that if we aren’t connected to the vine we can’t and won’t bear good fruit. Thankfully towards the end of the chapter we are reminded that we have a “helper”. The Holy Spirit is our helper in times of need and in those times where we are trying to do the work of God’s kingdom but can’t get up the motivation to actually act upon it. I am also glad that there is forgiveness for the times when we should on ourselves. We think to ourselves “I should…” and then don’t. Be reassured in this, Christ tells us that “I have overcome the world.” We don’t have to worry when we screw up or make mistakes. He has already taken care of it!

“There is no justification without sanctification, no forgiveness without renewal of life, no real faith from which the fruits of new obedience do not grow.” –Martin Luther

8/15/13:

TFTD: “For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39

“Do you pack-rat pain? Amass offenses? Record slights? A tour of your heart might be telling. A pile of rejections stockpiled in one corner. Accumulated insults filling another. Images of unkind people lining the wall, littering the floor.” This quote out of Max Lucado’s book Everyday Deserves a Chance is one that is kind of a smack in the face. How often do we find ourselves, when dealing with our friends, relatives, or coworkers, realize that we are still holding a grudge against someone and haven’t let ourselves forgive them because we are too hurt by whatever happened. Imagine what God’s heart would look like if He would keep all of our records right out in the open. First of all, we would never be forgiven because there are so many sins lining the walls that we couldn’t get past, and second of all we couldn’t get into heaven because the whole place would be filled with stacks and stacks of our records that there would be no place for us anyway.

            Thankfully God isn’t like that. Sure He has a record of everything we have done wrong, but it had an asterisk by it. That asterisk says this: PAID IN FULL. Paul does an awesome job of reminding us that nothing in the entire world, regardless of what it is or what you have done, can separate us from the love of our God. There is nothing that you can say, think, or do that can’t have that asterisk put next to it. Christ paid in full for our transgressions so that we don’t have to. All we have to do is ask for forgiveness and BLAM! The sin is wiped clean. Gonzo. Nada. There are no piles left anywhere or visible records to be seen. There is nothing left to ever keep us from spending eternity in heaven!

“I have never found any way to undo what Christ has done.”- Ben Haden

8/14/13:

TFTD: “Walk as children of the light (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), and try to discern what is pleasing to the Lord.” Ephesians 5:8-10

In one of my first posts I quoted a song by Lecrae who is a Christian rapper and I am going to do it again today. “We are children of the light, Royal rulers of the day, Saints, no prisoners of the night, Trust and love will lead the way, we are free.” These lyrics are from his song Children of the Light. They do a great job of depicting this light and dark contrast. As obvious as it may seem, this idea, in my opinion, is one of the most important concepts to grasp in the entire bible. When you were growing up did you ever find yourself afraid of the dark? Why was that? For me it was because there was an unknown factor to it and I didn’t know what was going to grab, attack, or take me away. Isn’t that how we should treat the darkness of sin? Shouldn’t we be afraid of what is going to grab, attack, or take us away from our relationship with Christ? It’s that unknown of the darkness that I wish was scarier than it appears to society today.

            Instead Paul encourages us to walk as children of the light having a transparent relationship with Christ, because He knows all the depths of our hearts anyway. He notes that the “fruit of light” or good things that come from doing our best to follow the will of God are “found in all that is good and right and true”. The difference would be like looking for your car keys in a room with no windows and the lights off. It would be nearly impossible to find them and if you did it would only be by accident. If you turned the lights on your task seems that much easier because you can see what you are looking for. You know the path that you are to take to your keys and you will succeed even if there are a few bumps in the way. Walking in the light of Christ is no different. There is a path that is laid out for you, and when you look away you might hit a few bumps but it will be something you can overcome because you are a child of the light!

             

“I find doing the will of God leaves me no time for disputing about His plans.”- George Macdonald

8/13/13:

TFTD: “And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the work of God with boldness.” Acts 4:31

If you think you are beaten, you are;
If you think you dare not, you don’t;
If you’d like to win, but think you can’t,
It’s almost a cinch you won’t.
If you think you’ll lose, you’re lost,
For out in the world we find
Success begins with a fellow’s will,
It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you’re outcast, you are;
You’ve got to think high to rise.
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.
Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man;
But soon or late the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can.

-Anonymous

This is a poem that I came across earlier today while doing some research for another part of ministry. Reread it and replace the word you with Christians. It changes things entirely doesn’t it? In my opinion this is where Christianity is at in the world today. So many people feel beat down and defeated by all of the decisions and problems that they face in the world that they forget they have the only thing that really makes them a winner. Christ! And with Christ we are able to overcome the world and all of its troubles and trials to keep on sharing His message. As He did in the bible so He will do with us. He will give us the boldness to continue fighting the fight and being the people He wants us to be. So go and be bold about your faith knowing that Christ has your back!

“It is wonderful what strength of purpose and boldness and energy of will are roused by the assurance that we are doing our duty.”- Walter Scott

8/12/13:

TFTD: “And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the land with a decree of utter destruction” Malachi 4:6

There is a statistic that I read recently that says 40 percent of kids grow up without a father, and another significant chunk grow up with an emotionally detached father. That got me thinking. I am in the top percentile of families today. I have a father that has been around for just about everything and makes an effort to be in my life. But as lucky as I am, all I can think about right now is my God son who is almost one year old. One of my best friends, his dad, left yesterday for a tour in Afghanistan and he could be gone anywhere from 9-18 months. He will miss his son’s first birthday, some crucial bonding time with him as he grows up and starts walking around, and it is all because he is fighting for our right to freedom. He is sacrificing some of the most precious time with his son, to ensure our safety and protection. Is that not the example that Christ set?

            We all have a heavenly father. He was the one who was willing to sacrifice time with His first born Son, to ensure our safety and protection. No matter what your father was or is like, whether your father has left you or has been around, your heavenly Father is there for you. He won’t miss a birthday, or any significant events of your life. He won’t abandon your family for someone else’s, and He definitely won’t leave your side. He will be there day or night whenever you call on Him. Always, forever, and no matter what. He calls you His forgiven and redeemed child, and that puts all of us in the best family of all. Christ’s family.

“Our heavenly Father understands our disappointment, suffering, pain, fear, and doubt. He is always there to encourage our hearts and help us understand that He's sufficient for all of our needs. When I accepted this as an absolute truth in my life, I found that my worrying stopped.”- Charles Stanley

8/8/13:

TFTD: “Do not be deceived: “Bad company ruins good morals.” Wake up from your drunken stupor, as is right, and do not go on sinning. For some have no knowledge of God. I say this to your shame.” 1 Corinthians 15:33

What are your friends like? How do they act and dress? What do they believe? What kind of music do they listen to? Now think of your best friend and what kind of person they are. All of these things play extensive roles in shaping a person’s attitudes, morals, and actions. When Paul was writing this letter to Corinth he was addressing it as friendship issue. The Christians of Corinth were in amongst people and friends who denied the resurrection and that lived like there was no judgment day. Their friends, and maybe even the Christians themselves, were partying all the time and had no cares because they didn't believe that the God issue was important. For all they knew this Jesus guy didn't actually rise from the dead. Paul then turns that around and smacks them around a little bit reminding them that He is risen and their actions have changed because of the company that they were in.

            So where are you at? Do your friends encourage your faith and your walk with God? Do they push you to be a better person and a closer follower of Christ? Do they pull you down with them? Maybe in their partying or actions? Or do the build you up and encourage you to be people of God? Paul’s urge to you is this: Quit doing what you are doing! Your sin is foolish and useless! You have been called to be servants of Christ to take His message to anyone who has no idea who God is or what He has done for us! We aren't any different from the people of Corinth so his charge to us is the same. Quit sinning. You know that your sin is just selfish actions because you want instant gratification and the feel good moment. There is work to be done in the kingdom of God and it’s your job to do it. So Get Going!!

“A true friend freely, advises justly, assists readily, adventures boldly, takes all patiently, defends courageously, and continues a friend unchangeably.”- William Penn

Happy Dustin Day August style!

8/7/13:

TFTD: “Then Peter came up and said to him, “Lord, how often will my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you seven times, but seventy times seven.” Matthew 18:21-22

Are you sinful? When was the last time you tried to take a sabbatical from sinning and succeeded? Never? I know, me either. Sin has been around since Adam and Eve and will be around until Jesus comes again. It is something that we can help. We are born sinful and have no way to prevent it. There are no medications or 12 step programs that will cure it or help you deal with the cravings, and generally when we sin we feel pretty good right afterwards. It is this never ending cycle that we are stuck in. We sin, enjoy it, and sin some more. Sometimes it even leads to bigger sins. All I can think about is a prank war. Somebody pranks someone else, and all that happens is revenge and it escalates from there until someone gets hurt. It’s vicious. How do you come back from that? You apologize right? But what if they keep hurting you or you keep hurting them? Apologies seem kind of null and void then don’t they?

            That’s not what this parable is about in the bible. Peter, quite possibly my favorite disciple, comes to Jesus and asks how often we have to forgive those who sin against us and hurt us. I think he asks this because he doesn’t like getting hurt and continually forgiving others. He wants Jesus to give him a limit so then he would know when to exact his revenge on other people. But of course Jesus has another idea. He says forgive until you can’t forgive any more, and then some. That is what we are called to do as children of God. Forgive because He first forgave us, and continues to forgive us more than we can ask or imagine. So next time you just can’t or don’t want to forgive remember that you can do it because He did first.

“The more we experience His forgiveness, the more we’ll forgive those who inflame our passion for revenge.”- Zig Ziglar

8/6/13:

TFTD: “But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a savior, the Lord Jesus Christ…” Philippians 3:20

I’m sure you have heard the saying “Be the moon, reflect the Son”, and although it is kind of a cliché Christian saying it actually holds a lot of meaning. If you know anything about space or planets you know that the moon produces no light of its own. It orbits the earth and is visited by man every once in a while, but it has no special job. Isn’t that how we feel a lot of times when it comes to our Christian faith and lives. We are here and we go through the motions of going to church and bible study but we don’t have any special jobs. Pastors have preaching and teachers have teaching but we have nothing. As a speaker once said “We are boring Israelites”. We seem like the people who go through the monotony of our day because we don’t know what else we are supposed to do. But that can’t be farther from the truth.

            The moon actually has a unique and specific job, it reflects the sun. And to my knowledge there aren’t any other planets or starts that have that job. Now, I may be wrong but it doesn’t hurt the analogy that I am making here. The moon reflects the sun. This isn’t just a part time job either. It happens 24/7/365. It does it all day long. I hope I made that clear. All day!  We have that same job. We are to reflect the Son 24/7/365. Day or night, happy or sad, joy or sorrow, we are to reflect the Son because we know the Son personally. We have this relationship with Jesus and we were put here to share that relationship and the good news of Christ with others. We are here to help them find an identity in Christ and to help them change their citizenship to be an eternal citizen in heaven. Our stay on earth is just temporary. We were put here to do the work of the kingdom of God and share the message of Christ. So let’s go, be the moon, and reflect the Son.

“Citizenship consists of service of the country.” – Jawaharlal Nehru

8/5/13: 

TFTD: “In every place where I cause my name to be remembered I will come to you and bless you.” Exodus 20:24

It was in-between class periods in high school when we were walking downstairs when it happened. We were at the top of the stairs when I stepped on the back of a friend’s foot and down the stairs I went. First my stuff went in the air and down I went. It was very movie like. As soon as I was going down I just went with it. There was no stopping it because I wasn’t going to regain my balance. I was fine, thanks for asking, but my pride was hurt. I was a little embarrassed. People talked about it my fall for weeks to come. I couldn’t let go what had happened because my friends wouldn’t let me forget, that is until something else happened to someone else and my fall was old news.

            Isn’t this how we treat God and His word? We go to an event or a bible study that rocks our world and we think it is the coolest things since sliced bread, but then a few weeks later the next iGadget comes out and we forget all about it. Then the next youth night we have a speaker that comes and gives this awesome message, and a week later we get a ticket and forget totally about it. Thankfully that is not how God treats us. He never forgets that we are His workmanship and He cares about us forever. He is intentional about making His name known and sharing it with us because He comes to you and blesses you. He has created you in His image and gives you everything that you need so that when we waiver with our faith, He remains constant. When our lives hit a speed bump He is there. When our financial situation takes a turn because of an unexpected event, He is there protecting us. Remember, you are blessed.

“Into each life some rain must fall.”- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

8/1/13:

TFTD: “But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” – 1 John 1:7-9

Have you ever been to camp? I have. I started going in elementary school and I have many memories of activities and people that I met during those couple of weeks. But one memory sticks out very vividly. We learned to play this game called Romans and Christians. All the campers were Christians and had to get to a rendezvous point to hear the word of God. The counselors were Romans and if they caught you then they took you to jail until someone came and broke you out or you repeated the theme verse for the day from memory. It was a really fun game except for one part. We played at night. It was dark and hard to see. You were running through the woods, not knowing what you were going to trip over or who is going to pop up around the next tree. While playing this game, I found two paths that it didn’t seem like anyone else had found. The first was to jail which snuck up behind the platform where everyone was held captive. The second was along the top of this hill/ridge and as I was following it I hit spider webs and a bunch of other things which made me realize that no one else had been following this trail. Needless to say, I found my way and was one of the first people to safety.

            How often is it so easy to get caught up in what we are doing? We get caught in this idea that it might just be easier to be a “Roman” because it takes work to find our way. We get caught in this darkness that is so hard to break because we fool ourselves and think that we are any better than the next guy. We don’t sin as much or do those sorts of things, but we all walk in that same darkness. We all are sinful and are stuck not knowing what sin we will fall into next or which one is going to jump out at us from around the next corner. Thankfully we have this light; this less traveled path to follow that can lead us in the right direction. We have a savior who forgives all our wrong doings and puts us back on the path when we fall off, and it doesn’t matter how many times that happens. We can run back to Him for forgiveness time and time again and He will continually forgive. No matter what the sin, He is our guiding light. He shows us the way to eternal safety. Our heavenly home!

“Our main business is not to see what lies dimly at a distance, but to do what lies clearly at hand.”- Thomas Carlyle