Magnifying The Value Of Christ In Our Suffering

Living a life that desires to magnify Christ in it, and to show His infinite worth, will cost a person everything. It will be the single hardest thing you ever do, should you choose to go that far for Christ. To paraphrase a wonderful quote from one of my favorite Christian authors John Piper: In our own lives, Christ is made most glorified to the world, when we are completely satisfied in Him, and in what He calls each one of us to do. Jesus understood that the best way for this world to see the full magnitude of what He was supposed to mean to it was to suffer on the Cross. He knew better than anyone what it was going to cost to pay the penalty for our sins. Without a shadow of a doubt, Christ understood what it meant to suffer for God's Glory. And He satisfied that wrath with His sacrifice on the Cross.

Whatever we discover in this world, whether it's a gift we figure out that we have, or something we find out that we have the opportunity to do that allows us to give God glory, we should run after those things. There is no greater joy on this earth than in experiencing the greatness of God. And if that means that in order to see that happen we have to undergo intense periods of painful suffering sometimes in our lives, then we should count that as the most beautiful blessing we could ever receive. I mean because, to be quite honest, knowing Christ and gaining Christ is all that matters. Everything else in this world is utter rubbish in comparison. The apostle Paul described for us in 1 Corinthians 2:2 his one, all-consuming and passionate desire in this world when it came to how he knew the world should know Christ and view Him; and it was "to know nothing but Christ, and Him crucified". He also exclaimed a little later on in the New Testament, in Philippians 3: 7-8 that everything in this world, and anything he could ever gain or achieve was counted "as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord". You see, Paul understood that boasting in the glory of what Jesus did for mankind on the cross, that brutal and bloody death He had to die, will always be the biggest example we can look to in times of incredibly painful suffering that will inevitably occur throughout our lives. The way Paul saw it: not one single person that has ever lived or will ever live will ever know what it truly means to suffer, compared to everything Christ suffered through on the Cross for us. Because Christ, and the horribly bloody death He died, is the single most intense, highest-level of suffering that a person can ever experience. But what was even more amazing than the fact that Christ underwent that for us, was His willingness to obediently do it. Knowing what it would cost, and how terrible it really was going to be, and staring Sin straight in the face and knowing He was going to conquer it's dominion over our lives and our disgusting slavery to it. When Paul mentions time and again the cross of Christ, we come to understand that he could see that obedience in suffering for God's glory, to be willing to go that far for our holy God, was and always will be the best way to show the world who Christ really is, and what His significant importance as the bedrock and cornerstone of the Christian faith is supposed to mean to us. Because honestly guys, it's not necessarily always about how faithfully you share the Gospel or how you live out a Christ-like lifestyle; it's more-so about how true you stay to your faith in Christ, and how much you still want to show Him to the world when you're suffering; when you feel like your life is crashing and falling apart in front of your eyes. If you can stick that out, maintain your faith and stand the test of trial and tribulation, then you can truly understand what it means to give God glory. And you will experience the happiness of knowing how, when the going got tough, your faith and trust in God got stronger and more beautiful than ever before.

"So what does this mean for my life?" you might ask. It means this: in every area of your life, in every single thing God calls you to do for His Kingdom and for His glory, you run as far as you can, and you suffer as much as is laid upon you. Because in doing so, I can promise you that you're giving God true and faithful glory that He deserves. If the only thing we ever desire from Christ is to give us gifts, and to make our lives the way we want them to be, and we don't ever really truly want Him as our most-satisfying treasure, then the way we will always view Jesus is as a means to an end. This will mean that the magnificent glory of the cross that Jesus died on for us will become reduced to nothing more than a self-glorifying, self-seeking pedestal to climb up upon when there arises a selfish need within us that we need to reach up for to get for ourselves. The true essence of our faith, the most intimate desires of our heart, should be in trusting Him to give us what we want and need the most: and that's the presence of Himself in our lives, everyday. This means that, above everything else we receive in our lives, above everything else we suffer through or find ourselves struggling in a rough patch through, we are to treasure the value of knowing Christ and possessing Him as our Savior; and knowing that He's with us always. That we possess Him in our very hearts, no matter how bad we screw things up all the time. That He has never and will never leave us. And that suffering for His names' sake is a wonderful opportunity to give God glory and point other people to salvation in Christ, not a hindrance to our lives and a burden that prevents us from doing what we want. When our desires for our life match God's desires for our life then that will be the point at which we can begin to understand the supreme value of Christ and what the crucial importance of following Him daily really means in the life of a believer.

The brilliant philosopher-theologian St. Augustine, who's writings were extremely influential in the development of Western Christianity, said it best when he concluded "For he did not delay, but ran through the world, crying out by words, deeds, death, life, descent, ascension-crying aloud to us to return to him. And he departed from our sight so that we might return to our hearts and find him there. For he left us and behold, he is here".

My prayer is that, when you experience painful and brutal moments of suffering in your life, that you understand who it is you're pushing through it for. Faithfully being willing to suffer for Christ, in the same way that He obediently suffered on behalf of the Father's Will, is the best way to honor God and give Him glory. And in the life of a Christian, it will always be the most powerful way to demonstrate the infinite value of Christ.

Learning To Be Responsible For Each Other

More and more, as I walk throughout my life, I find myself wondering “Am I really giving everything I can be giving to God and His purposes for my life?” I’ll admit, sometimes I really don’t like the answer I get back. It’s during these times of reflection that I sit back and think about every area of my life that I feel needs to be given up to God. Unfortunately, I've realized that I tend to contemplate what’s weighing me down at the moment. I concern myself with all these “negative-nancy tendencies” as I call them, in which I allow all the things “going wrong right now” or all the things “causing me to constantly worry” dominate my attitude for the day and completely control how I dictate the way I live my life from day to day. Guys I’m here today to tell you that I’ve truly been convicted of that lately, and it’s not the mindset to have when pursuing God’s purposes for my life. It’s not the mentality we should have when desiring to follow Jesus and do whatever it is He asks of us. And above all, it’s never the place to be at if you’re wanting to serve others and to witness to others in sharing the Gospel. Take a minute and think about what God has blessed you with in your life. Look at your mental capacity. Your physical gifts. Your spiritual disciplines. Your emotions. Are these areas of your life being poured out and exercised every single day of your life in ways that demonstrate God’s Kingdom at work in your life? Are these areas of your life allowing you to stay true to God’s purposes for your life and honoring a Christ-like walk of faith that displays to the world a genuine, true Christian lifestyle?

What I’m getting at today is, in everything we do and say, in how we carry ourselves out there in the world, and in the many different ways we interact with the surrounding culture, we must never forget that we are not our own. Romans 13: 7-8 tells us “For none of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lords”. In everything we do and in everything we are and could ever be: we belong to God. This means that we must constantly be pursuing God’s righteousness, always asking God for more opportunities to serve and witness to people and for His presence in our lives daily. As long we profess a faith in God, and we believe in what Christ did for us on the Cross, there will never be a day that goes by that we won’t forever belong to God; purchased by the blood of His Son. This realization Must change the way we live our lives.

You might ask “Well what does this all mean for me, then?” It means that we are responsible for each other. We have a duty and an obligation to disciple those around us. We can't life this life focusing and honing in on our own desires and our individual spiritual walk. We have to take care of and look out for each other. One of the most beautiful rewards of the Christian faith in action is having the opportunity to serve your fellow brother or sister in a time of need; to know that God has given you a chance to walk alongside a believer and encourage them as they, just like you, chase after Christ. If you re-read my beginning paragraph of this blog post you’ll see that I described for you the types of things that have held me back from faithfully living out God’s purpose for my life and appropriately serving others who I have known have needed help. The theme of my struggles was centered on my pathetic effort in trusting God with the issue, learning how to stop being a slave to it and just let it all go, and how problems like that affect the way I interact and talk with people every day. What I want you to take away from this is that things such as laziness, turning away from God, being consumed by personal problems, and even a lack of spirituality can and will affect the way we serve and witness to people. When we reach that point where our biggest desire is to serve God's Kingdom, it will also be the point in which God will require us to let go of the most "stuff". This is a time-less truth I've have to re-discover over and over again in my life. And it’s not easy just so you know. It’s not supposed to be. But Jesus addresses this problem we have with worldly cares, feverish anxieties, and keeping things stored up inside. He tells us in Luke 12: 25-26 “And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?” The message behind these verses is that some things we just have to simply let God release us from. When we witness to others, and when we’re serving others, we can’t be holding on to fears and worries and things we’re choosing to keep hidden inside. We can't give off the impression that we're losing our minds and that the problems of the world are drowning us in a sea of misery. When you're serving someone you are put in a position where You're helping provide the comfort and peace to their specific situation. When God uses each one of us to serve and to witness to each other, both believers and non-believers alike, He's not envisioning a human race of wild chickens running around in crazy pandemonium with their heads cut off. He has each one of us in a servant role so that we can all grow together on the same playing field and suffer together on the same playing field. That means that there has to be those few who dare to stand out amidst the firey chaos and lead. And even those that make a stand are on the same level as those that are in need of help. We are not greater than each other. All of us, no matter how rich or how poor, how strong or how weak, how much of a leader or how much of a follower, will always be lowly humble servants to God.

Let's take a look at anxiety for a minute. We can’t be anxious about what’s going on in our lives. Now, we can be concerned about certain things. I mean I’m all for that. In fact, I’m a firm believer in the fact that there are specific things in life that require our constant attentive care and focus. But these things should never be elevated to the extent that they consume us completely; that they control and dictate how we interact, how we view the way God is working in our lives, how we pursue God’s call for us, and even how we view each other. As I said earlier, we are responsible for each other. And when we exercise to the fullest potential all of our mental, physical, spiritual, and emotional strength in living for God and for His purposes in our lives, we must also realize that we are called to do the same for each other. We are each other’s keeper. We must always be on the lookout for the well-being and safety of each other. When one of us grows and thrives in God’s grace and power, we all do. When one of us is suffering and going through a difficult time of darkness, we all are suffering through it together. The apostle Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 12: 12-13 that “Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body…” With this in mind my prayer is that we all can grow in the righteousness of Christ together. That we all can let go of burdensome things plaguing our hearts and minds, humbly serve one another in everything we do, and follow Christ together. That we can interact with one another, believers and unbelievers alike, in a manner that glorifies God and exercises the full potential of our faith. Anything God calls us to do or has planned for us to do will probably never be easy. But none of us, as brothers and sisters in Christ, are ever alone out there in this world. Out of everything we’re called to be as a Christian, out of all the many things God will ask of us in this life, we will always be called to serve one another. It might not always look beautiful to serve this dirty, sinful, rebellious world. But it's what we're supposed to do. Because in the end it will not be the service of each other that was the main focus, it will have been our willingness to devote ourselves as servants of God’s glory that will have made all the difference. We all have this obligation. We all have this duty. We are responsible for each other. God bless you all.

Reflecting A Broken Image

"Man, made more like God than any creature, has become less like God than any creature". A.W. Tozer.

Why is it that we, as Christians, have developed this present-day tendency of just turning away from our Creator and finding other things to believe in and worship? Some would say that the refusal to believe in the Christian faith in and of itself is a terrible tragedy. But I would argue that the fact that we as believers simply don't reflect God's glory anymore with our lives is just as tragic. Our original purpose for creation by God was to glorify Him and worship Him. That meant with our thoughts, our actions, and every single thing we ever ended up doing: all was supposed to reflect His beautiful glory so that we too would be glorified with Him.

Let's think about this for a second. Where have all our desires gone? What are the areas in our lives we tend to want to gravitate towards in order to fulfill that deep, inner longing for satisfaction and contentment that for some reason we just can't seem to ever find? Where do we feel our true identity is best found? I will never have enough time in the world to list them all and attempt to accurately define and explain them, but I'm going to suggest that the two biggest ones are: 1) Identity through Education and 2) Identity Through Pleasure

Identity Through Education Really try and think about this in your own life. All of us will go throughout our entire lives being taught all the important things of life that we "need to know to make it" or that we "need to know to understand what life really is". I think sometimes we really do forget that one day we're going to die. And all of the amazing bits and pieces of intelligence that we combine in to the education we will receive throughout our lives: it will all be buried with us in the grave. Yet many people will argue that the most supreme purpose of life is to simply gain an education, learn a bunch of stuff, and that self-satisfaction will finally be complete. Let me ask you this: What does that do for you? Is accumulating a bunch of wisdom and reading a ton of books and being the most brilliant scientist really the most comforting and satisfying feeling in the world? I can't tell you how many times I've talked to people who can teach you anything you could ever want to know on any subject, but yet for some reason they're sad and frustrated with their life. Something is missing. So they fill that empty hole with studying and the continuing of education. Here's the truth though: our education we gain will never last forever, but living for God's purposes will. Going to school for years and years and getting a bunch of degrees will not provide you with the type of knowledge that explains your purpose for being here. We must understand that, while having an advanced education is not a bad thing, the greater purpose is cultivating that education and rooting it in the individual plan God has mapped out for you so as to better reflect His glory with your life.

Identity Through Pleasure The ancient Greek philosopher Epicurus taught that the chief end of man and the ultimate purpose of man was pleasure; to simply have fun and go after what brought you joy and helped you to have this happy and peaceful life. This philosophy, Epicureanism, runs blind and screaming all throughout our modern-day culture today. We see all these people around us who only want to go out in the world and have a lot of fun; while attempting to find pleasure in everything they come across. What you see is a culture of people that never really make it to that point where they care about why they're here. They don't bother to think about what God's purpose for their life is: they just want to play and have fun. Here's what I'm not saying: it is a terrible thing to want to enjoy life and be happy with the life that you have. But what I am saying is that joys and pleasures eventually pass away, and the fleeting contentment we think they give us can only satisfy us for a period of time. What we're left with is the realization that they still don't define our ultimate purpose for why we're here. And if you think you know what it means to be sad and alone, then imagine making it to the end of your life feeling like you've wasted your life, you never really understood what your purpose was, and now you don't even know why you're here. That is a terrifying realization to live through. In fact I would argue that that would be a true "Hell on Earth" type of feeling for that individual. This is why making strides towards looking to God to help us define our central purpose for existence is so crucial to our lives.

So what am I getting at you might ask? "How do I find out what God's purpose for us is"? The answer is in Scripture, and it's such a beautiful truth:

"Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created". Revelation 4:11


“The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man. For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil”. Ecclesiastes 12: 13-14

These passages teach us that God created everything for His own pleasure. God created man to worship Him, so that His creation could reflect His own glory. The purpose of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever. We glorify God by fearing and obeying Him, keeping our eyes on our future home in heaven, and knowing Him intimately. We enjoy God by following His purpose for our lives, which enables us to experience true and lasting joy— the abundant life that He desires for us. God desired to enjoy His creation; to have us want to delight in Him. And you know what? We're not too far from being this same way. Consider this: everything we ourselves create is a reflection of our personality. We want things to look like us, and if they don't we go out into the world and we make them. When a father has a newborn baby, he eagerly examines the baby to make sure it looks like him. We paint pictures, we write stories and poems, we make beautiful music, and we do all these things because we want to create. God is the very same way. He wanted to create mankind to worship Him, to reflect His perfect image and awesome glory, and He wants to spend the rest of eternity enjoying that creation. Guys I know how you feel. Everyone wants to know that they matter. When we're little kids we want approval and praise so that we know we're cared for and loved and that we mean something to someone. As we grow older we search for direction and purpose because we want to have the sense of knowing where we're going in life. We want to know that we're not just a walking body of flesh that drifts silently through life. I'm here to tell you that that longing for something more has been placed into you by God. And at the end of that desire you really will find God Himself. Seek out the nearest Christian you know. Ask them about this desire, about this longing for purpose and meaningfulness. I promise you that they will immediately begin to share with you who God is and what His purpose for all of us is. I don't want to see people running in the dark always being lost everywhere they go. I'm tired of hearing about even people I know crying themselves to sleep at night because they feel like they have everything, and yet they have nothing and can't figure out why they're torn apart inside. So today, as I look out over a human race that is becoming less and less like God with every passing day, I challenge you the reader with this: When you find yourself busy trying to find things to fill that emptiness within you, look to God for the answers. Spend time reading the Bible and actually trying to find out who you're supposed to be. We can’t squelch that primal longing for something more- something “outside the toy box” that calls to us. Do you struggle with feelings of discontent? Do you wonder if life offers more than what you’re experiencing? Listen to that primal urge deep within you. It’s there by design and can only be filled with God. The next time you want to reach out for answers, reach up; after all He's waiting for you to. :)

Seeing It Through God's Eyes

For awhile now, several things have been burning inside my heart, and so I've realized that I need to get them out and just put them into words. I've been sitting back for quite some time now, just watching the interaction amongst Christian men and women and also just amongst Christians and the Non-Christian population as well. I'm not going to lie, a lot of the things I've been seeing are not very Christ-like at all. I've been seeing not only some downright mean and hateful things, but some hypocritical words and hurtful expressions have manifest themselves into the hearts of Christians; against themselves and against the Non-Believers they talk to. This blog post today is my attempt at getting some Biblical truths across to you the reader, concerning the mindset and the heart that we as Christians need to possess when interacting with the world, as well as highlighting things we should completely avoid altogether. So here is my attempt at getting out what has been building deeply inside of me for a considerable amount of time now. But through it all, my ultimate desire is for you the reader to really be able to understand God's heart on these matters.


1)To all the people out there that for some reason you don't like: find it in your own evil heart to love them. We all are sin-oriented creatures, who if given the chance ourselves would probably treat each other terribly while looking out for number one. Drop this mindset. It should never exist within you. The reasoning for "not liking someone" will always be sinful, no matter what your genuine excuse you think up is. I really do find it amazing that people spend more time trying to avoid each other and point out all the things we hate about each other moreso than we ever do working things out and looking past our aggrivations and frustrations we have with each other. It's incredibly sad and pathetic if you think about it. We will go above and beyond to tear each other apart and bring each other down, yet it absolutely infuriates us to make nice and show each other love. We can't stand that. It's "too hard" to do. This is because our nature is sinful. Nothing good comes from us, ever. We have nothing pleasing or good enough to give to each other or to God of our own ability or accord. But God is love. God has everything we need. Through His love, we can love one another because He will show us how. It will never matter how many people you're sinful little mind decides it doesn't like. But what will matter is how much love you show towards people, especially the ones you don't like. Be stronger than your hate. Be stronger than your selfish pride. Look on a world that can't help but be buried in sin, and choose to bathe it in love. If you don't and I don't: who will?


For This Passage Meditate on 1 John 4: 7-8 "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".


2)To all the people out there that You might not think are truly Christians: stop judging them, get over yourself, and love them. Let me go ahead and give you an easy answer to one of the most oldest questions ever asked: No. It is impossible to truly know a person inside and out. Furthermore, you will never have even an idea of what a person is thinking, or what's going on in their mind. And to go even further, you have no idea what has happened to a person in their life that has made them who they are or how they view the world through their eyes or what kinds of beliefs they hold, and so on and so forth. So, it is because of this that we should never even think about judging someone. We don't have a right to. Ever. So I pray that you'll go ahead and understand that from the getgo. Just because someone doesn't appear to be a Christian doesn't mean that they are not one at all. They could be struggling with something in their faith and they don't know how to reach out to tell someone or seek help. They could be utterly lost in a world that has chosen not to care about them and help them. They could be scared because they don't understand what God is doing in their life or where He is right now for them. And so, even if their behavior isn't showing Christ-like signs of a person truly walking in the faith and following Jesus, Love Them Anyway. Because honestly it's really all we have to give each other: Love. Anything else we ever end up doing will be something God has chosen to work through us. Like I said earlier, we have nothing to offer. But out of everything you think you don't have, you will always have this: a choice. Maybe not an easy one, but a choice nonetheless. Want some helpful advice: Try using the solid Christian life that you happen to be leading as a compass marker, pointing the way towards Jesus and showing them the amazing love that God has shown you. A team effort is a wonderful way to show each other love. And just so you know, even if you decide to reject them in every possible way, they, just like you (even if you may be blind to it), are of infinite worth and value to God and His Kingdom. Every single one. We are All precious and valuable and beautiful and wonderful in God's eyes, even those of us who don't appear that way. Please possess a Kingdom mindset when viewing each other and not a sinful, human one.


For This Passage Meditate on 1 Peter 2: 1-5 "So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good. As you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but in the sight of God chosen and precious, you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house..."


3)To all the people you wish wouldn't judge people in the world: look in the mirror. To be honest, you're probably doing it yourself. And I'm not even going to exclude myself because Lord knows I've done my fair share of it as well. It's never too late to allow God to break down the walls of your sinful heart and truly change who you are so that you can love the world the way He does. If you've found that you have the desire to want to see fairness and equality in the world, and you utterly despise people being mistreated or hurt or judged or cruelly cast aside and scorned by society, then chances are God has been placing into you His heart for the world. As Christians, it should tear us apart to see others judged for reasons they can't help or control. Should we want to slam down the hammer hard and get rid of people who treat others this way? No, not at all. We should want to work with them, showing them love and kindness, in the hopes that by the way we interact with them and the specifc way we treat them that they'll come to realize themselves their wrongdoings. It's not a massive guilt-trip experiment, it's a conviction that as brothers and sisters in Christ we have the responsibility to carry out and make aware to each other. I'm just going to go ahead and tell you now, Hate and Ridicule shouldn't exist in the world. They really shouldn't. But the sad part is they do. And though we can't help the fact that they exist, we can certainly control how we chose to respond to them, even in the face of adversity. They're both alive and well in the hearts and minds of many people who use them every day to further themselves, establish and build selfish egos, desire recognition and the spotlight for reasons that only benefit them, and the list goes on and on. But let's take a step back from everything. Are you one who judges too? Do you find your own self from time to time characterizing your thoughts, your life, your possessions, and your money as a pedestal that you think places you higher and better than other people. If so, you're being a part of the very thing that you hate. You're doing what deep inside your heart you know you can't stand and you know is wrong. When you act this way and think this way towards people you're really only condeming yourself. We are never going to be in a position where we know enough about each other and about human nature to accurately place judgement upon each other. God is the only true just and justifier. Even if you think no one will ever know your pretty little secret thoughts and judgements that you assign to people and keep hidden in your mind, God knows them very well. He knows every little detail of them. We can't escape the judgement of God. It is impossible to keep anything hidden from Him. And the reality is we are all going to be judged accordingly before Him in the end. Please learn to recognize the warning signs of sinful judgment when you feel them coming on, and try and take the plank out of your own eye before pointing out the one in someone else's; because there's a 100% chance you have a huge one stuck in yours.


For This Passage Meditate on Romans 2: 1-3 "You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?"


As always, anything I write here in my blog is absolutely directed my way as well. My prayer is that you and I both can look at each other with hearts of love and spirits of humility, understanding that everyone needs the grace of God and the forgiveness and mercy of our savior Jesus everday. We all judge each other from time to time, and when we do it's wrong. We all have our own prideful faults, in which we place ourselves and our positions above others. And we all reach that point where we desire peace and love, and fairness and equality to be what we see when we look out over the world. But in order for any of that to happen we must change our mindset towards each other. Our heart must be the same heart that God has for all of us. Finally, we must each one of us understand that not only is nobody perfect, but also nobody is higher or better than anyone. We're all on the same playing field in God's eyes, and we must learn to love one another right now, so that we can begin to see the world the way God sees it. This is my goal. This is my hope. This is my prayer. God bless you all.


[For this closing passage to really be put into perspective for you, I would love for you to please read Isaiah 53:6 and Romans 3: 23-24]

It All Starts With A Question...

"The Christian ideal has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and left untried". - G.K. Chesterton

I used to think that a real man was characterized by all of his successes and his achievements learned from the teachings of his Father. But, by the beautiful example set forth in Jesus, I now know that the true measure of a man is determined by how a man lives his life in response to intense persecution and opposition; choosing to never denounce his faith, and always being obedient to the Father. However, throughout my life I've encountered people that don't accept this truth as something that benefits them, or is of use to the way they understand things to be. Their arguments seems to be centered on (or related to) the question "But what if I want to think for myself?". Let's tackle that question, shedding light on some very important areas of the Christian faith that need to be investigated: 1) The existence of God. 2) Understanding His Will for our lives. God does indeed give us the gift of free will, to utilize our minds to think and to make decisions. The key is to remember that both our thoughts and our decisions must be based off of biblical principles; and that the way we choose to think and to live must be in a manner that brings glory to God, furthers His Kingdom on Earth, and resembles the very same way that Christ lived His life. This is in hopes that the authentic Christian faith can be lived out in a manner that will always be aligned with the will of God for our individual lives (which will, in turn, serve as faithful obedience to what He has willed for us).

In a recent conversation with an atheist, I went about bringing up the aforementioned claims to his arguments against both the existence of God and the validity of Biblical principles set forth in the Christian faith. The young man responded with this declarative statement: "There is no reason to assume that God is any more real than any other supernatural entity proposed throughout the vast course of human history, and therefore, submission to his supposed will becomes incredibly silly".

One of my best friends, and fellow brother in Christ, helped me tackle this situation with a very well-defined, knowledgeable, and accurate answer to this heavily skewed misconception regarding God and the Christian faith. David was a former atheist, who after intensive analysis, in which he did an investigation into both the biblical claims found in Scripture of those of God and the Christian faith, contrasted with subsequent moral claims found in modern culture; came to faith in Christ and is now a Christian with a heart on fire for Christ. So I knew that if any man knew how this atheist felt, it was most certainly David. David's response was: "If you have taken any class about science, math, or art you wouldn’t be able to honestly say that. If you knew the complexity of the world around us in the science/math realm you could never say there wasn't a creator. Even if you haven't had any math/science classes, if you just have eyes and have seen the sheer beauty of creation, then you couldn't say there is no Creator either. You wouldn't assume that if you were walking in the middle of the woods and found a watch that it was just randomly generated out of thin air. No, you would deduce that it was created by someone, and it evidently ended up there somehow. Even in the science realm, most scientists will agree that there is some Creator, and they accept intelligent design. The ones that don't are usually the more ignorant and hard-headed of their field. And so, it isn't a real question of IF we're created, it's just by WHOM. Trust me, this is coming from a former, avid atheist. Therefore, I see it as an extremely logical choice to follow the will of who created everything in the universe".

Wow. I knew David had hit the nail on the head, from both a scientific perspective and a Christian perspective. In David's response, though, I began to really understand something about the thriving culture of Non-Christians that live among us: so many answers to key questions regarding God and the Christian faith are searched for within the realms of science and other worldly areas, but hardly ever in Scripture. I mean think about it, how often do you ever really see people searching for God himself and the truth of God in the only place a man can find Him: In His word. In Scripture. It is amazing to me how God reveals Himself to us in Scripture: through Old Testament promises made to His chosen people, the Israelites, to faithfully deliver them from persecution and provide for them, all the way to the New Testament revelation of His son Jesus Christ, sending him to be a ransom for mankind, pay our penalty for our sins on the cross, and bring us back to a personal relationship with Him. Everything we could ever want to understand about who God is, what He's done, the type of character He possesses, what power and wisdom He has, and so much more can all be found in Scripture. That's still not all there is to it though. Romans 6: 1-2 tells us "What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it?" Even if we do decide to make the choice to truly believe in the existence of God, and in what Christ did for us on the Cross, and we receive salvation, we can't just go on living as we always have. And see, that's where a majority of the questions that atheists and Non-Christians raise cain about are derived from. They don't want to accept the fact that, even if they should decide to believe in the existence of God and believe in biblical principles found in Scripture, that those things carry along with them the understanding that change is now in order. Those people want to continue acting as they do, believing the things that they believe, and enjoying their present lifestyles. To accept the existence of God and truly believe that Christ is Lord shouldn't just change the way we see things and understand things to be, it should change our very behavior. It should change the way we live our lives. We shouldn't possess the desire, even for one second, to go back to the way we used to see things or to the way we used to behave or carry ourselves. In our old selves and our old ways of living, we were slaves to sin. It reigned in our lives and we were easy victims of it's evil hold on us. But when we choose to acknowledge the existence of God, along with recognizing and confessing Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are free from sin and made alive in Christ. But, once again, it doesn't stop there. Change must occur. In our hearts. In our values and morals. In our thoughts. In our lives. We begin to understand who we're really living for: God, and His purposes for us. This is where the will of God for our lives comes into play in a big way for us.

Choosing to follow the will of God does bring with it a demand to be faithfully obedient to his divine and sovereign will; which can only be accomplished when living a life centered around biblical principles, the likes of which can be found in Scripture. Amazingly enough, God actually tells us himself in Scripture, through the Holy Spirit, that what is said and explained in Scripture (by means of the OT prophets, the NT apostles, etc.) is exactly what He has intended for us to know, to understand, and to carry out. For as 2 Timothy 3:16-17 tells us "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work".

The truth is, following the will of God in your life isn't always easy. It can require sacrifice, or having to do something you're not comfortable with, or leaving an area you've been in for awhile, and who know's what else. But, never forgetting that the purpose of what will be asked of you by God, will always be greater than the doubts you have about it's validity and truth, will always keep your heart set on the task at hand in the way that God wants you to be. We are to follow in obedience. We are to follow in trust. We are to follow in love and in respect of knowing that God knows what is best. The following Scripture verse is the best thing I can give to you to help you understand God's reasons for what He has asked of us and our constant tendecy to try and understand those reasons. If this can comfort you, then please let it: "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways". -Isaiah 55:8. We need to accept the fact that we can't understand God the way we always are going to want to understand Him throughout our Christian faith, but we can always trust and hope and be obedient to the fact that He has a plan for us, He has a will for our lives, and we have a purpose and a place in His Kingdom.

I really hope that this discussion has encouraged you, the reader. Whether you are a fellow brother or sister in Christ alongside me in our Christian walk of faith, an atheist who rejects God and the truth found in Scripture, or merely a person desiring to know God or what the Christian faith is all about, my goal in creating this specific post today is to let you know that everything you could ever want to know or to understand always begins with a question. A single question. You know, sometime's it okay to doubt. With doubts we question things, and with questions we get answers, and with answers we grow. Even for Christians, doubting is a part of growing in our faith. God never tells us to accept blindly. He made us curious creatures; we're always asking and wondering and getting into things, and there's a reason for that. Never be afraid to ask the burning questions locked deep within your heart, especially if they have to do with God and with the Christian faith. There really are answers to them. You just have to be willing to search for them, to accept things you might never have thought could be true, and most importantly: to listen. :)

I pray that God continues to shower us all with His love and with His grace. And, as always, as I continue to pursue God's grace throughout the course of my life, I pray I never forget that it's always okay to ask God questions. After all, all I ever want is to grow to know Him more.

For Those Who Want To Leave...

 "None loses you but he who leaves you; and he who leaves you, where does he go..." -St. Augustine

How often do we make the choice to leave something because it doesn't matter to us anymore? How often do we become confused with what we don't understand, and simply walk away? How often do we possess the desire for something, but not the willingness to hang tough under pressure when we're suffering and things aren't going our way? It is these types of questions that the Christians who end up leaving the Christian faith behind fight fierce battles with inside their hearts when everything doesn't make sense anymore. As a follower of Christ and a servant to God's Will for my life, I've come to understand that there will be many times in my life when I have absolutely no earthly idea what is going on around me. Sometimes I don't understand what God wants to work through me. Sometimes I don't really see the place that Jesus is leading me to, or something He's telling me to do. And if it weren't for my solid faith in God's understanding and power, I probably would be in the same boat with the rest of the Christians who, once having becoming lost, just walk away and leave God in the rear-view mirror.

Here Are a List of Some Reasons Why I Honestly Believe Many Christians Leave Their Faith in God Behind:

-God has asked us to do something that doesn't coincide with our desires and interests.

-We receive intense persecution, and it "doesn't seem fair or right" to us.

-Something bad or painful is always going on in our lives and we attribute it to "God not caring".

-We contradict the truth we've found in Scripture for what we learn in life because what we learn "seems better" or "more true for me".

It's Not Easy, But That's the Beauty of It

-There are probably many more reasons for why Christians leave the faith and God behind, but I'm sure you get the gist of it by now. Guys, I'm not going to promise you that following through with what God calls you to do is going to be easy, or appealing, but I can tell you this: recognize that "feeling lost" in the midst of it all is just another reason to trust in Him and in His faithfulness that, when He says He'll give us the strength to make it through, that He really will; because in His good grace that's the kind of God our God is. In writing this I'm here to tell you that there are times when I've felt lost. Sometimes I'm still lost with where it is I feel I'm supposed to go from here. But the very second that my mind starts to drift towards this type of thinking, I take a step back and realize that I'm only a human being, incapable of understanding the divine qualities of God. Just because we're Christians it doesn't mean that we're always supposed to know and understand everything God has called us to do. If we knew everything all the time, then we would try and venture out on our own, using our own knowledge and wisdom to fulfill His Will for our lives. It is because we won't always see everything the way that God sees it is why we have faith. It's one of the biggest reasons why we have trust in God. And so, as is told to us in Scripture in Proverbs 3: 5-6  "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight". 

He's In Control                                                                                                                                                                           -As Christians, we must know and understand that God has our lives under control, and that, in those times when we have no idea what's going on, when we think He isn't there anymore, and when we're not sure what the next step to take is, that God always has a plan for us. And that plan will never lead us to a point where we're alone, or to where we're of no worth or value to Him. Psalm 136:1 tells us to "Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good, His love endures forever". He loves us with a love that is never-ending, and it will never fade away. We are never lost in Him; it's impossible. 





-Take a few minutes and watch this video which discusses the story of Joseph, (found in Genesis Ch's 37-50), a man betrayed by his own family and sold into slavery. This is one of the most famous examples in Scripture of the Steadfast Believer who, through intense persecution and suffering, always remained faithful to God. Even when he probably felt lost through it all, Joseph never left his faith in God behind; surrendering everything that he was going through to the power of God. Let this story paint a clear picture for you of the faithfulness of God and how, in His grace and goodness, He comes through and rewards us, especially when we're suffering and lost. 


Give It Another Chance

-For those of you who are wanting to leave God and the Christian faith behind, I pray that you take another look at your life, think twice about it, and try to really see what's going on. Please believe me when I tell you that I've been in your shoes. I've doubted whether God was present in my life. I've thought about leaving the Christian faith when everything became too hard to handle. I can promise you though that God comes through, and He will never allow us to be lost apart from Him. The truth is WE are the ones who choose to be lost from God, who choose to leave. But it doesn't have to be that way. I implore you to wait it out, to try and pull yourself together, and to give your faith in God another chance. My hope is that, when you feel lost, that you won't let the world try and tell you where to go, or how to respond to God's Will for you. Give that up to God to decide and lay upon your heart. In my own life I've learned that, when it comes to God and his plan for me, exercising patience and obedience to Him go a long way in delivering me from those hard times in which I've felt disconnected from Him. My prayer, for you and me, is that we will remain faithful to God no matter how difficult it is to do so, hand in hand, knowing that we're all in this together.

God Always Delivers

“When a man gets to despair he knows that all his thinking will never get him out. He will only get out by the sheer creative effort of God. Consequently he is in the right attitude to receive from God that which he cannot gain for himself.”
-Oswald Chambers

More and more, in my life and in the lives of Christians around me, I'm finding that when we're overwhelmed with things that are placed before us, be it trial and tribulation, persecution from others, or even something as simple as a difficult class assignment, we immediately lose all focus and want to give up. It's almost as if, when faced with the possibility of our faith being tested, we're not willing to go that far and trust in God. That always boggles my mind. Why is it so hard to just be still and know that God is God? Why is it so hard to trust that God will come through when we need him the most? Why do we sometimes lose sight of the fact that, when we confessed with our mouths and believed in our hearts that Jesus is Lord, that there will never be a day from here on out that we're not sheltered in His arms? What we need to understand is that we can't overcome what we're faced with by ourselves, only the beautiful work of God can accomplish that. If there's anything I've discovered throughout my Christian walk of faith it's this: God has never and will never give us more than we can handle. When I read the story of Jesus calming the storm in Luke 8, a wry smile comes to my lips as I think about how embarrassed the disciples must have been when Jesus rebuked them for their lack of faith in Him, and in God's goodness. Guys, here's a simple piece of truth for you: When we, as humans, can't seem to measure up to the things life will throw our way, remember that God's grace is bigger than our troubles. Moreover, Jesus has the power to keep us safe from anything and everything that could ever put us into a spot of danger, and it's only because of God's wonderful love for us, that He, in His good grace, gives us the power and the ability to triumph over anything. For as Romans 8:37 says "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us". :)