Instructing and encouraging you to live your life as a disciple of Jesus
The love of our God is beyond words. He created us out of His love and the desire to share it with others. He was and is totally self-sufficient, but He has so much love that He could not help but share it. From the beginning He has desired to collaborate with us in the creation of human history. He gave us everything we would ever need, yet if you are anything like me, you rarely take the time to contemplate how amazing is our God.
I’ve lived in America for all of my adult life, and I certainly appreciate the freedoms that privilege has afforded me. Like many in this country, I am deeply concerned about the direction we are heading, and I miss the heady times of the past. Yet a disturbing trend I’ve noticed among believers is to elevate this concern to their chief topic of conversation. They put far more energy into political causes than they do into the mission of the Kingdom. I understand the emotion; I spent ten or fifteen years heavily wrapped up in politics as well. This is a dangerous game for Christians, and I believe it is a sinister weapon of the enemy.
When you committed your life to Christ, this was a choice you determined to make. No one can do this for you; following Jesus is a personal commitment and a personal decision (Joshua 24:15). For many, this is the only choice they will make. In reality, we must choose repeatedly throughout our lives to follow Him. Being a disciple is not a one-and-done kind of deal.
We choose to commit our lives to Him, and then we must spend the rest of our lives choosing to follow Him because following Jesus is a choice we make every day (Luke 9:23). When the rubber meets the road, many choose to take the off-ramp. Making a one-time decision is easy; a lifetime commitment is something exponentially more.
Do we really love God with all of our heart, strength and mind? Jesus said this was the most important commandment (Matthew 22:36-40). He went so far as to say that if we did this, we would inherit eternal life with Him (Luke 10:25-28). Love is a verb, something we must actively do. Saying a prayer to commit our life to Christ is a fine first step, but it is not what gets you to Heaven; we must actively love the Lord with all that we are. There are many ways to demonstrate that love, many of which are detailed in Matthew 25:31-46, a passage in which Jesus tells us that if we don’t feed the hungry, care for the sick and shelter the homeless, we will not inherit eternal life.
I’m changing the schedule for new posts from three times per week (Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday) to two times per week. New posts will be published every Monday and Thursday. If you prefer receiving new posts in your email, you can do that by signing up to the right. For those who prefer visiting this site, rest assured it’s here to stay. The new schedule simply affords me more time to work through each post. Thanks for reading!