surrender

Love Your Neighbor

October 26, 2020 by Tim Sherfy

Most of us are familiar with the greatest commandment: love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:28-30). And while I think we are aware of the second greatest commandment, “love your neighbor as yourself” (Mark 12:31), it seems we give that one more lip service. I’m not sure that’s ever more obvious than during a Presidential election season.

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I see a lot of evidence that many forget their allegiance is to Jesus and not to a political party. It manifests in the words we say to each other. To love your neighbor as yourself means to love them even if they support opposing political ideals or candidates than you do. Loving those who agree with us is easy. Discipleship is hard.

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Total Dependence

October 22, 2020 by Tim Sherfy

Have you ever prayed a prayer that immediately scared you? When I ask God to help me live in total dependence on Him, I get a little nervous. I am desperate to live my life in total dependence on Him. I don’t want to be independent and self-sufficient any longer. It’s an illusion, anyway. We aren’t self-sufficient. Jesus gives us the very breath we breathe each moment. We don’t create it, and we couldn’t if we tried.

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Everything we do is because our Creator has given us the ability to do it. Without Him, we could do nothing. The reality is we already live in a state of total dependence, but we spend our lives in a state of denial. We convince ourselves that we are the rulers of our destiny when nothing could be further from the truth. It’s all lies brought to us by the father of lies himself.

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What to do With Your Life

September 10, 2020 by Tim Sherfy

In my years as a mentor and coach, I often talk with people who are trying to determine what they should do with their lives. We’ve all asked that questioned many times as we endeavor to follow Jesus. The problem is we try to figure out what to do for Jesus before we get to know Him with any depth. It’s backward. We must first cultivate a deep abiding relationship with Christ.

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As we do that, He will give us opportunities to serve and obey Him. Then, as those opportunities chain together, a picture begins to form of how God will use our lives to further His mission on earth. We get ourselves in trouble when we try to take the lead. Only Jesus knows where this world is going, so it makes far more sense to let Him lead the way.

Following Jesus

June 4, 2020 by Tim Sherfy

We find one of the hardest teachings of Jesus in Luke, chapter fourteen, verses 26- 33. I’ve rarely heard messages preached from this passage, at least not without several caveats and attempts to water down what Jesus was saying. I think we are on dangerous ground any time we try to soften or redefine the words of Jesus. Jesus was the most intentional person who ever lived. He meant what He said every time. One way we know this is because when Jesus gave a hard teaching such as the one in John 6:53-58, we learn a few verses later that many turned away from following Him.

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Jesus didn’t soften His message or try to say what He had said another way to win them back. No, He meant what He said, and He allowed the people to accept the teaching and follow Him or to walk away. He wanted everyone to trust in Him, but not at the cost of compromising His Word.

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Do Good People Go to Heaven?

February 6, 2020 by Tim Sherfy

Aaron Rodgers, the star quarterback of the Green Bay Packers made waves when he proclaimed, “I don’t know how you can believe in a God who wants to condemn most of the planet to a fiery hell. What type of loving, sensitive, omnipresent, omnipotent being wants to condemn his beautiful creation to a fiery hell at the end of all this?” Mr. Rodgers is misinformed about the God in whom he does not believe.

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Jesus was clear saying He did not come to condemn the world, but to deliver it from the forces of evil (John 3:17-18). We are saved from the condemnation Mr. Rodgers talks about by bowing down to Jesus as Lord and surrendering our lives to Him. Those who reject Jesus condemn themselves, it is not the will of God (John 3:18; 2 Peter 3:9).