commitment

Pray for Water

October 3, 2011 by Tim Sherfy

For the next twenty-one days, Living Water International is inviting believers worldwide to pray with them for water. Over half of the hospital beds in the world are filled with patients who are there because of a lack of water or due to a waterborne disease. Water opens the door to sharing the Gospel. When you’ve provided the means to restore health to the children of a family in the name of Jesus, they are often eager to learn more about who this Jesus is. While water is something most of us in the West take for granted, it is a scarce commodity for nearly a billion people on our planet.

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Asking the Tough Questions

September 15, 2011 by Tim Sherfy

Following Jesus in an authentic Biblical way brings us face to face with some of the toughest questions in life. When we choose to abandon what Christianity has come to represent and instead follow Jesus with all of our heart at any cost, we will find ourselves walking a very lonely path. It is far easier to say a simple prayer and attend church an hour each week than it is to forsake everything you have and pursue Christ with relentless passion. Being a follower of Jesus will rarely gain you popularity, wealth or respect. Jesus warned us that we will be despised by our own families, persecuted and even killed (Matthew 10:16-26; Matthew 24:9). For those of us in the West, these can seem to be extreme and foreign concepts. Meanwhile, every day in countries around the world, people are ripped from their homes, tortured and put into prisons with squalid living conditions for the rest of their lives. These people understand what it means to give everything for Jesus.

Spoiled Rotten Brats

September 12, 2011 by Tim Sherfy

Western believers must be ever diligent to prevent themselves from being sucked into the materialism that permeates the culture of our day. It seems we are often more concerned with keeping up with the Jones’ rather than serving them. Without a clearly defined list of priorities based on the teachings of Christ, we will easily fall prey to the temptation of acquiring wealth and goods that will burn in the fire instead of storing up treasures that will last for eternity (Matthew 6:19-20). We are called to be separated from the ways of the world, not to indulge in them (Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 6:15-17). Our lives should look like that of Jesus, not our next door neighbor’s.

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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.

commitment,discipleship,following Jesus is a choice

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.

How Do You Know You’ll Go to Heaven?

August 29, 2011 by Tim Sherfy

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.