Daily Life

Do Something

November 24, 2014 by Tim Sherfy

image © Krasimira Nevenova – Fotolia

I don’t think Francis Chan can help himself. He recently wrote a book with his wife called “You and Me Forever”. Ostensibly this is a book about marriage. Yet from the first pages, Chan is exhorting Christians to live out their faith. He is so passionate about his desire to see people not only come to Christ, but also to live for Him, that it bleeds into everything he does. Can the same be said of our lives? Should we not all strive to be so consumed with Jesus that He spills into every thought, action, and word we speak? If that’s not the case, then what is the proof of our love for Christ?

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Working for the Lord

November 20, 2014 by Tim Sherfy

mission,Colossians 3:23,Ephesians 2:10,I Corinthians 10:31,Isaiah 43:7,working as unto the Lord

Photo Credit: sidewalk flying via Compfight cc

Early in my days in the corporate world, the first time I was given a position with my own office, I hung a sign over my desk that quoted Colossians 3:23. It said, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” It often comforted me when those I was working for were severely frustrating me and trying my patience! That passage helped re-center me and remind me of what was truly important. While that sign and office are long gone, the daily reminder that verse afforded me has stuck with me throughout my life. Recently as I was exercising, a similar thought, no doubt inspired by my recollection of that verse, occurred to me. That thought was to test all of my activity by whether or not it glorifies God. This is how we can do all things as working for the Lord. Everything we do must be for Him.

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Grace and Works Revisited

November 17, 2014 by Tim Sherfy

grace vs. works,faith vs. works,works,grace,the sheep and the goats,Matthew 25:31-46,Ephesians 2:8-10,Ephesians 2:8-9,Ephesians 2:10,Matthew 7:22-23,salvation

image © gracel21 – Fotolia

I can’t seem to get away from the constant debate of whether we are saved by grace alone or works alone. As I have often commented here, I don’t believe it’s a matter of grace or works, but rather grace and works. Before you bail on me, I wholeheartedly believe and affirm that we cannot be saved by anything other than the grace of God. Without grace, there is no possible way to “work” our way into salvation. Only our faith in Jesus and the grace He extends to us can secure our future with Him. The works we do are simply proof of our love for Him. If we are sincere in our devotion to Christ, obeying His commands – doing the things He told us to do – will be a natural extension of that love.

The Law of Love

November 13, 2014 by Tim Sherfy

love,Romans,loving others,serving others,Luke 6:32-34,Romans 1:20,Romans 13:8

“Servant God” is one of the best books I’ve read in a long time. One of the cool concepts discussed in the chapter entitled, “What is Sin?” is that of the ‘Law of Love’. It says, “Love is other centered and outward moving. The law of love is the law of giving… When the God of love created, He created all life in harmony with His own character of love. Life is constructed to exist only when operating in perfect other-centered love. All life, health, and happiness are dependent upon harmony with this law (Romans 1:20, 13:8).” What if we lived as if this is true? What if we spent our days focused on loving others rather than on ourselves? We were created to bring glory to God by displaying His love to others. This is what it looks like when life works best.

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This is Not How We’re Supposed to Live

November 10, 2014 by Tim Sherfy

commitment,discipleship,american dream,mission,kingdom of god,Matthew 7:22

There’s something that’s been eating away at my soul. I’ve written about it in one form or the other in the past but never seem to effectively articulate it, which is a very hard thing for a writer to accept. Here it is, as simply as I can put it. We’ve got a couple generations (at least) of people who call themselves Christians but live nothing like Jesus Christ. With apologies to my international readers, I’m going to be speaking from an American perspective, because that is the only context with which I have current first-hand knowledge. My suspicion is that all Western countries suffer from the same malady of malaise. We have sworn allegiance to Jesus but live for ourselves.