commitment

Times of Trouble

January 21, 2021 by Tim Sherfy

In the darkest days, we must remember Jesus is good. He always seeks justice and love. When discouragement encroaches on our soul, He is our comfort. Our unchanging God is in control and we can know all things are working toward His sovereign plan and ultimate victory. We must not grow weary. Our battle is long and our journey difficult. But, oh, our righteous King is our ever-present help in times of trouble (Psalm 46:1-3).

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Don’t let the circumstances and events surrounding you consume your thoughts and dictate your mood. Turn your eyes to Jesus. See His beauty. Gaze on His glory. Bask in the warmth of His love. He is not panicked or taken off guard by the happenings in our world. We can rest in His unending provision and power.

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Prayer Life

January 14, 2021 by Tim Sherfy

If we are going to stand strong for Jesus, we must build and cultivate a life where prayer becomes as natural and constant as breathing. You cannot live victoriously while having a weak and erratic prayer life. A. W. Tozer put it this way: “We pray only as well as we live.” When we surrender our lives to Jesus, we will pray more, and our prayers will have more power as our requests align with the will of God.

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A life surrendered to Jesus will be filled with prayer. You can’t be all in with Jesus and not have prayer as the central theme of your life. Yet, for many of us, a prayer life that is vibrant and full of power remains elusive.

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The End of Nominal Christianity

January 11, 2021 by Tim Sherfy

As we watch the moral decline of Western society and the growing indifference or outright hostility toward followers of Jesus, one bright spot in all of this is the end of nominal Christianity. For years, many in the West have been Christ-followers in name only. These are people who like the idea of Jesus, but not the surrender of their lives to Him.

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They go to church every weekend and proudly profess their faith in Jesus, particularly when it is socially expedient. There is a certain panache to being able to claim the moral high ground by proclamation of one’s faith. But surrender their lifestyle to live according to the commands of Jesus and the Bible? Well, that always seems to fall into some sort of “gray area” for these so-called and nominal Christians.

Courage and Surrender

January 7, 2021 by Tim Sherfy

Beatrice Stockli was a Swiss missionary to Mali. She first visited the country in1998 as part of a mission’s team and ended up staying and ministering to the people there for many years. In April 2012, she was kidnapped by Islamist insurgents. After ten days of captivity, she was released and returned home to Switzerland for a brief time. And then, against counsel and the wishes of her family, Beatrice returned to Mali to continue to be the hands and feet of Jesus to people who did not know Him.

In June 2016, she was again kidnapped by a radical Muslim group called Jama’at Nasr al-Islam. At some point in her captivity, Beatrice was killed by her captors. She died living out the mission of Christ. Hers was a life of courage and surrender. As we complain about the state of our lives, I wonder who among us possesses the courage and devotion to live a life as committed to Christ as Beatrice and so many other Christian martyrs have?

Growing Deeper

January 4, 2021 by Tim Sherfy

As we embark on a new year, we have the opportunity to devote it to Christ. With our culture eroding at an ever-increasing pace, it feels like it is more important than ever to surrender everything to Jesus and to grow deeper in our faith. The Western Church has long been isolated from the persecution so many of our brothers and sisters around the world encounter every day.

Until now, at least from outward appearances, we’ve been allowed to survive and even thrive despite the prevailing winds of the culture. Without wanting to sound like an alarmist, I am convinced those days will end, and much sooner than any of us ever thought possible.

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