Colossians

God’s Will for Your Life

April 12, 2012 by Tim Sherfy

blueprint,direction,decisions,God's plan

It seems so many Christians are desperately seeking to find God’s will for their lives. From my observations, perhaps no other question causes more stress in the life of a believer than this one. I’ve seen far too many Christians paralyzed over not being able to figure out the exact path God wants them to walk. Instead of doing something that would further the mission of Christ, they become frozen in the fear of doing anything outside of God’s perfect will for their lives. As one of my favorite authors, Greg Boyd, reveals in his upcoming book, “The Myth of the Blueprint”, Christians have allowed secular influences to color the way we understand the will of God. We’ve twisted the message of what God’s will is for the Church and narrowed it down into seeking what His will is for our individual lives. That’s not in the Bible; it’s only in our own selfish and short-sighted interpretation.

Pursuing Holiness

October 10, 2011 by Tim Sherfy

As you go throughout your days, are you pursuing a life of holiness? Are you consciously striving to be the person God created you to be, a person who is consumed by the love of Jesus? This isn’t a new concept, but it has been brought to my mind in fresh ways through recent teachings by Bill Hybels and David Platt. Not only has God placed a unique combination of passions and skills in each of us in order that we might do the work He created us to do, but He has also charged us to conduct ourselves in a manner that is pleasing to Him (Philippians 1:27).

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Should Christians Attend Church? (Part I)

September 22, 2011 by Tim Sherfy

Our modern churches look very different from the early church in the New Testament. This is particularly true in the West. In America, our landscapes are dotted with mega-churches on sprawling plots of land where thousands of people gather to worship freely each week. Contrast this with the house churches in Asia where believers gather in small spaces under cover of the night in fear of torture and imprisonment if caught. The Asian churches much more closely resemble the early New Testament churches in virtually every way. With that in mind, does that make attending the safe, luxurious churches in America wrong for the follower of Jesus?

Following Jesus is a Choice

September 1, 2011 by Tim Sherfy

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.

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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.

You Are Loved

April 17, 2011 by Tim Sherfy

Do you understand how much Jesus actually loves you? Almost every follower of Christ would acknowledge that He loves them, but do you fully comprehend the depth of that love? In John 15:9, Jesus says that He loves us just as the Father loves Him. That’s an incredible statement. Consider how much God loves His Son. Can you even fathom the enormity of that love? And yet Jesus says that He loves each of us with that same love, a love that truly goes beyond our ability to understand.

We serve others in order to reflect the love of Christ. We volunteer and sacrifice to love others as Christ loves us. But do we really get what that means? Jesus loves us with the same intensity that He is loved by the Father. Therefore, if we are to truly live a life that looks like His, we must lavish this same love on everyone we meet. No one is too insignificant, and we must never be too busy to stop and seize the divine moment in front of us. God would never pass up an opportunity to show love to His Son, just as Jesus would never overlook the chance to demonstrate His love to us. So too we must always be eager to share the love of Christ with everyone we encounter. This love is all consuming and it must permeate every cell of our bodies.

We’ve probably all gone through periods in our lives when we felt that no one cared and that no one would notice if we simply disappeared. The frenetic pace that our days are subjected to leaves us weary and frazzled by the time we lie down at night. More and more communication is happening via email and Facebook, and personal interaction is quickly becoming an afterthought. All of this leads to a feeling of emptiness, and it becomes easy to feel lost and alone. In times like these we need to quiet our hearts and remember John 15:9. Jesus loves us just as the Father loves Him. There is no greater love. We are not alone and we have a purpose to fulfill.

Jesus told us to look after the orphans and widows (James 1:27), to feed the hungry and care for the sick. He told us to visit those in prison and to take in those with no place to go (Matthew 25:31-46). How can we do those things unless we love people with a passion so consuming that it compels us to do more and more for others? Caring for the needs of another is exhausting if done out of necessity or duty; but it is exhilarating, satisfying and refreshing when done out of love. It’s all about the attitude with which we approach the situation. Are we choosing to love them as Christ loves us, or are we trying to earn our way to Heaven by doing good deeds? God does not only want us to do the things He commands, but to do it with the right attitude in our hearts (Ephesians 6:6-7; Colossians 3:23). When we serve others because the love of Christ in us allows us to do nothing else, then we are moving in harmony with His mission and purpose for our lives.

Take a few minutes today to contemplate the love Christ has for you. Drink in the overflowing richness of that love and allow yourself to bask in the glory of it. Take a mental snapshot of the feeling; this is how you want to love those around you. When you serve them, do it because you are beginning to understand the depth of the love that Jesus has for you. Share that love with another and allow them to feel the warmth of God’s Spirit as it emanates from within you. Never take the love of Christ for granted, but at the same time do not underestimate the enormity of it. Dive in deep; swim in the ocean of His love for you. Walk in light and serve others in the name of the One who loves you beyond your wildest dreams.