Luke

What Keeps You from Being an Effective Christian?

June 16, 2025 by Tim Sherfy

What keeps you from being an effective Christian? It’s a question we all ask ourselves at some point in our walk. We want to be more consistent, more bold, and more useful to God in His Kingdom. No one surrenders to the Lordship of Christ and then endeavors to live out their days in mediocrity.

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But mediocrity is where so many believers, once full of fire and zeal for the gospel, live their lives. Why is that? What gets in the way of living a life worthy of our calling as disciples of Jesus (Ephesians 4:1)? If we can identify the problems, it can help us be alert to the tactics of the enemy and not fall for His tricks over and over again (2 Corinthians 2:11).

God Is Our Portion

June 2, 2025 by Tim Sherfy

In a world that obsesses over always having more, we must always remember that God is our portion (Lamentations 3:24). We don’t need the trinkets and baubles of this life. We don’t need fame, success, or notoriety. All we need is Jesus (John 6:35). Jeremiah knew his very existence was because of God’s faithful love (Lamentations 3:22).

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No matter how desperate the situation or circumstances, the prophet rested in the goodness of God. Many centuries later, the Apostle Paul would echo those same sentiments when he wrote that God would supply all our needs (Philippians 4:19). Faithful men of God throughout history have understood what we have forgotten: we need nothing else in life but God Himself (Psalm 73:25).

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Who Do You Fear

May 29, 2025 by Tim Sherfy

Who do you fear more, God or man? Would God believe your answer? Every day, we all have opportunities to proclaim the name of Jesus, but how often do we seize the moment and do so? Why are we so hesitant to stand up for what we believe? I heard Paul Washer say, “If you have enough fear of God, you’ll have no fear of man.” The problem is we don’t fear God enough.

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That’s not a popular statement. We want God to be all love and forgiveness. We’re comfortable with that God. While He is the essence of perfect love and divine forgiveness (1 John 4:8), God is also terrifying in His level of wrath and righteous jealousy (Hebrews 10:31, Exodus 34:14, Nahum 1:2,6). If we had the slightest idea of the power of God, we would be terrified to seek His presence.

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What Will You Do With Jesus

May 26, 2025 by Tim Sherfy

Having a loved one pass away is a sobering experience. No matter if the relationship was one of loving intimacy or marked by pain and resentment, the loss is real. More than the loss, it is always a stark reminder of how limited our time is (James 4:14; Psalm 90:12). The countdown is on. We are finite creatures with a guaranteed expiration date (Hebrews 9:27).

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The question one must wrestle with in times like these is, what will you do with Jesus in the short time you have remaining? It’s one thing to lament the time wasted in our past, but it is unacceptable to waste the rest of our lives. Jesus didn’t suffer so that we could live a lazy life of ease and indifference (Romans 12:11).

The Price of Betrayal

May 22, 2025 by Tim Sherfy

Judas Iscariot’s price for betraying Jesus was thirty pieces of silver, or about six months’ wages (Matthew 26:14–15). How high do you set the price of betrayal? Most of us recoil at the question because there isn’t enough money in the world for us to betray Christ. We’ve read the book and know how that decision ends (Matthew 27:3–5).

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Knowing history, we learn from it and can avoid making the same mistake Judas did. Or can we? Sure, we’d never accept money to walk away from Jesus. Still, we’re setting the price of betrayal every day and almost always multiple times each day. It’s a gut punch to think about, but the truth often feels that way.