Matthew

Truth

May 11, 2015 by Tim Sherfy

Truth; what is truth? Perhaps more importantly, why should we care? Wouldn’t it be easier if we all just went our own way doing whatever seemed best to us? Wouldn’t life be more fun and enjoyable without the pesky notion of truth getting in the way and demanding a response from us? But then again, most of us live as this is the case. We hide the truth because uncovered it convicts us.

truth,love,God's character,sheep and the goats,matthew 25:31-46,love the Lord your God,Johgn 14:15,if you love me obey my commands,Luke 10:25-28

image © Mark Carrel

We distort it because otherwise it is too piercing and painful. Worse still, we know it, acknowledge it, but have the audacity to ignore it. The truth is we don’t want to live by the truth because we’d rather believe a lie.
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Master of Distraction

May 4, 2015 by Tim Sherfy

For Christ followers, I am convinced that the source of all our discouragement, frustration, and depression is the result of taking our focus off of Jesus. As soon as we revert to our selfish nature, looking at ourselves instead of Him, everything starts to go a bit haywire. Each of us has been uniquely designed by God. We have all been given talents, skills, and passions to use to further His Kingdom. When we begin to live in ways that are not consistent with whom we were created to be, we slip and wander.

master of distraction,focus,Matthew 11:30,love the Lord your God,my yoke is easy

image © Marc Xavier

Satan does everything he can to cause this to happen. He tempts us with visions of a better, safer, or easier life. He entices us to fill our lives with things other than Christ. He is the master of distraction, and if we give in to his lies, we will find ourselves frustrated, discouraged, and perhaps even sinking into the depths of depression.
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Imitating Jesus

April 27, 2015 by Tim Sherfy

The goal of every Christ follower is to live as He did. When others look at us, there should be no doubt that we are imitating Jesus. While I don’t have the data to back it up, I’m confident most people who are truly passionate about Jesus would agree with that. I am just as confident that most of us have no idea what that really means.

imitating Jesus,mission,mission of Jesus,God's character,the truth about God,commitment,discipleship,Matthew 8:20

image © Christin Lola – Fotolia

I know that because if we did, we wouldn’t be confusing Christianity with the American dream. Do you really want to know what it looks like to imitate Jesus? It’s all right there in the New Testament of the Bible.
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Living What You Believe

March 19, 2015 by Tim Sherfy

Francis Chan’s latest book, “You and Me Forever”, will certainly challenge the way you think about your marriage, but perhaps even more importantly it will challenge the way you live your life. Every page seems to hold a new challenge for me. For example, Chan says, “While many of us would say we believe what [the Apostle] Paul believed, our lives do not reflect it. If we believe that billions are dying and headed for God’s judgment, does it make sense to center our lives around anything other than the mission to reach them?… Does the way you are living make sense in the light of the existence of hell? Does your use of time and money make sense in light of the suffering in the world today?” What if we really asked those questions of ourselves?

The Raging War

March 12, 2015 by Tim Sherfy

raging war,spiritual warfare,spiritual battle,angels and demons,you and me forever,francis chan,lisa chan,matthew 28:18-20,spiritual warfare,character of God,God's character

It seems few of us live our lives with any recognition of the very real spiritual battle raging all around us. Real angels and real demons clash in ways that affect our physical world in tangible ways, but we carry on oblivious to it. In his book, “You and Me Forever”, Francis Chan says, “He has given us a clear mission – to make disciples. Yet Christian[s]… can most typically be found… skipping through life, ignoring the battle that rages around them. We have made happy families our mission. That is not the mission Jesus gave us.” We are to tell people about the trustworthy character of God, the sacrifice of His Son, and to make them aware of the battle that rages around us all. We are to help them follow in the footsteps of Jesus and strike back at the forces of Satan.

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