Jesus

Do you really want to be made whole?

~ ForCommonGround ~ 1 Comment

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After this there was a Jewish feast, and Yeshua went up to Jerusalem. Now in Jerusalem there is a pool by the sheep gate, called Bethzatha in Aramaic, which has five porches. In these a crowd of invalids was lying around—blind, lame, disabled.

Now a certain man had been an invalid there for thirty-eight years. Seeing him lying there and knowing he had been that way a long time, Yeshua said to him, “Do you want to get well?”

The invalid answered Him, “Sir, I have nobody to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I’m trying to get in, somebody else steps down before me!”

Yeshua tells him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk!”

Immediately, the man was healed! He took up his mat and started walking around. Now that day was Shabbat, so Judean leaders were saying to the man who was healed, “It’s Shabbat! It’s not permitted for you to carry your mat.”

But he answered them, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

They asked him, “Who is the man who told you, ‘Pick up your mat and walk’?” But the man who had been healed didn’t know who it was, for Yeshua had slipped away into the crowd in that place.

Afterwards, Yeshua finds him in the Temple. He said to him, “Look, you’ve been healed! Stop sinning, so nothing worse happens to you.” The man left and told the Judean leaders that it was Yeshua who had made him well.

John 5:1-15 (TLV) [my emphasis]

 Do you want to get well? The only thing that stands in our way of being freed from addiction, anger, depression, lust, and the like, is whether or not we want to be free of it. Jesus offers wholeness to everyone but not everyone will choose it. It seems ridiculous that someone would choose to not be whole. But sin is a choice that people make. Staying in sin is no different. The man’s desire to be made well is what brought him to the pool time after time. His desire to be made whole is what put him in the place to meet Jesus and experience His liberation. But if someone doesn’t really want to be made whole, to give up that addiction, to experience freedom, then they won’t. Jesus has never forced someone to choose freedom and wholeness. But He offers it freely to all who are willing.

Get up! To live in freedom takes action on our part. Once Jesus speaks healing over us we can’t lay by the pool any longer. We need to move. This man couldn’t walk for over three decades. Then Jesus said, “get up!” When Jesus replaces our anxieties with peace, we walk in that peace. We don’t go back to the pool of anxious thoughts. When Jesus crushes the chains of addiction, we walk as though we are no longer addicts. 

Immediately, the man was healed! Sure, healing can take time. But wholeness can also come in an instance. To say otherwise is to say that Jesus’ power was great enough to make a lame man walk but not give me joy in the place of my anger. It’s saying Jesus can create the world in 6 days but He cannot replace my depression with hope. If we want to be well, we can be with one word from His mouth. 

 “It’s Shabbat! It’s not permitted for you to carry your mat.” The path to our being made well will often be met with resistance from people around us, sometimes from those closest to us. When I made the decision to no longer drink alcohol seven years ago, I had several people try to talk me out it. People often attack what they don’t understand or what may even make them feel conviction. But we can never let the words of people unravel in our hearts what Jesus has already spoken over us. 

“Look, you’ve been healed! Stop sinning, so nothing worse happens to you.” We hold the key to the longevity of our wholeness. I admit I’ve been set free only to walk back into the filth again. When Jesus makes us new, He makes us white as snow. He doesn’t wash us clean so that we can go back to playing in the mud. 

I too am the crippled man at the pool. I want to be the healed man who takes up his mat in the newness of life. I have heard my savior say, “get up and walk my child.” I am so thankful that He came to meet me at my pool of Bethzatha (Bethesda) which happens to mean the pool of mercy. Be encouraged my brothers and sisters because He has come to meet you in your hurt and struggles as well. His question is the same to all of us: “do you want to be well?”

Dishonoring Grace

~ ForCommonGround ~ Leave a comment


Jonah was a prophet, called to proclaim God’s pending judgement on sin in a place called Nineveh. They were the worst of the worst in the world. They were comparable to the likes of Atilla the Hun or the Third Reich of Nazi Germany. They were bad bad bad. Once Jonah actually showed up to deliver the message here was their response: 

The word reached the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, removed his robe, covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he issued a proclamation and published through Nineveh, “By the decree of the king and his nobles: Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste anything. Let them not feed or drink water, but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and let them call out mightily to God. Let everyone turn from his evil way and from the violence that is in his hands. Who knows? God may turn and relent and turn from his fierce anger, so that we may not perish.” When God saw what they did, how they turned from their evil way, God relented of the disaster that he had said he would do to them, and he did not do it.

Jonah 3:6-10 ESV

Why don’t we repent as fiercely as the Ninevites? Have we lost touch with the weight of our sin? Have we forgotten what it cost to purchase our forgiveness? Have we reduced repentance to a simple prayer? Have we refused to allow repentance to cost us something? Forgiveness may be free, but repentance should cost us much!  

Following King David’s major screw ups, a plague was falling on Israel. This was happening because of David’s sin. It was in the wake of sin that David wrote the heartfelt words of Psalm 51. Its more of a plea on behalf of a man who knows he has sinned against God and knows how severe that is. As part of David’s acts of repentance, he goes to build an altar to the Lord and make sacrifices. The owner of the land that King David is meant to build the altar on offers to give the king the land for free. Here is David’s response:

“But the king said to Araunah, “No, but I will buy it from you for a price. I will not offer burnt offerings to the Lord my God that cost me nothing.” So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.”

‭‭2 Samuel‬ ‭24:24‬ ‭ESV‬‬

The king knew that his repentance should cost him and so should ours. Repentance is not feeling ashamed of what we’ve done and asking for forgiveness. Repentance is a brokenness that can only be put back together after the broken pottery (us) have surrendered themselves to the Master Potter (God). Repentance is an end of one thing and the beginning of a whole new thing. That new beginning can’t come until the broken see the need to be fixed. No one can really repent of something they don’t think is sin. And no one will think that sin is that bad if they forget the excruciating pain that Yeshua went through for the cause of our redemption. Sin tore His skin with the lashes, drove the nails through the wrists and feet, and pressed the crown of thorns into our Savior’s skull. How could we ever treat our sin so lightly? To do so dishonors the grace we’ve been shown by God. 

Jesus, what are you thinking?

~ ForCommonGround ~ Leave a comment

mind-of-christ-pic

I urge you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice—holy, acceptable to God—which is your spiritual service. Do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the will of God—what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Romans 12:1-2 (TLV)

Have you ever wondered, “If only I could see into their thoughts” about someone you know? If you’ve ever dated or are married then I guarantee you’ve wanted to know what the other person is thinking. Occasionally, as a conversation starter, my wife and I will ask each other, “what are you thinking about?” We do this more than just to break the silence. We do this because we genuinely care what preoccupies the mind of one another. What if we could ask Jesus the same question? What if we could see into His thoughts? Well…we can!

In Philippians chapter two, we’re told to have the same mind as Christ. This would be an impossible task if we didn’t know what His mind was like. But He has helped us out with that one. He has told us His thoughts and His motives!

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Philippians 2:5-8 (ESV)

His thoughts are described through His actions, just like ours are. Not only did Christ create us (read Colossians 1) but He also doesn’t stop thinking about us. That is a fact that should overwhelm us with humility! The way He displayed His love for us should bewilder the mind. Why would God want to be in human form? Why would God want to go through and excruciating death for our sake? Because we are His beautiful handcrafted masterpiece!

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Ephesians 2:8-10 (ESV)

You are unique! You are special! You are a one-of-a-kind, full of purpose! And so is everyone else in the world. We all have God’s hand print on us. And He thinks about His workmanship continually. Because His thoughts are on us, ours don’t have to be. What is Jesus thinking about…?

1-Others

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

Philippians 2:3-4 (ESV)

Much of our life is filled with vein pursuit because we think about ourselves way too much. If Jesus’ concern was for His comfort and well-being, He never would’ve gone to the cross. If He wasn’t over come with a compassion for humanity, He never would’ve volunteered to take out place. If our concern is mostly for ourselves, then we will never fulfill the command to love our neighbor like we are supposed to.

2-Pure and Holy things

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

Philippians 4:8 (ESV)

How much of our mind do we literally pollute with toxic images, posts, articles, videos, and much more? It doesn’t even have to be inherently bad things either. I can sit and read NFL news and updates on Star Wars movies for a long time. Those aren’t evil but they certainly are a waste of time when I could be thinking about how to meet the needs of my wife, my kids, my students, the homeless, and children in poverty around the world. They are definitely a waste of time when I could be thinking about Jesus! They are a waste of time if I can’t even remember that devotion I read, or the last sermon I heard, or the last passage out of the bible that I studied. I can’t remember them because I stopped thinking about them and focused on less important things instead.

3-Mission

And He said to them, “Why did you seek Me? Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?”

Luke 2:49 (NKJV)

At 12 years old, Jesus was teaching and preaching! That’s because He came to earth with a mission and that purpose consumed His thoughts. Since we follow Him, we have the same purpose…to be about our Father’s business, testifying of the truth. And that truth should consume our thoughts.

4-The Lost

…for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.

Luke 19:10 (NKJV)

How much do you really think about the salvation of others? I don’t mean the genuineness of a believer’s heart. Only Jesus Himself can know that with 100 percent certainty. I’m talking about all those ‘good people’ who openly deny Christ. How about the adulterers, the rapists, murderers, and terrorists? How about all of those who believe in other religions? They’re all in the same category as far as salvation is concerned. Does your heart ache for them? I for one will admit that I don’t think about them enough and I am without excuse.

The greatest influence on what we do in life, will be what we think about during our lifetime. The mind of Christ is key to living how He lives. To  live like Christ is to think like Christ.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus…

Philippians 2:5a (ESV)

 

Where are you going Jesus?

~ ForCommonGround ~ 4 Comments

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As a follower of Jesus, it would only make sense that I go in the same direction He is. Have you ever stopped to wonder where exactly that is? Have you ever asked, where is God leading me? I certainly have. Some of the specifics can vary for each person, no doubt about that. But there are consistencies for all of us following the Leader.

Do you know which direction Jesus is going? That might seem like a silly question. It may not even make sense to you. So allow me to explain. Jesus is not dead. I know that’s not a breaking news headline. Yes, He was crucified, and buried in a tomb, but as the story goes, He did not stay there. He is alive, and will remain that way forever. I gave that little gospel refresher so that I can say this: we aren’t following a figure of the past. We are actively following a person who is actively leading. We aren’t emulating a dead hero. We are pursuing a trailblazing Savior.

Let’s look at where He went in the past so we can know where He is still going today.

1- To Church

“And he came to Nazareth, where he had been brought up. And as was his custom, he went to the synagogue on the Sabbath day, and he stood up to read.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭4:16‬ ‭ESV‬‬

I know what you may be thinking: this is a lecture that we all need to be in church if we’re Christians. You’re right…it is. The synagogues were the churches of the day. But church is more than just a building. Church is the gathering of believers. Why is it so important to be in community? Because there is power in numbers! Praying power, encouraging power, financial power, learning power, and so much more. Where is Jesus going? He’s going to be wih His people and so should we.

2- Beyond His borders

“but he said to them, “I must preach the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns as well; for I was sent for this purpose.””

‭‭Luke‬ ‭4:43‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Jesus didn’t stay put. He moved all over the region. He was active in spreading the message to the most amount of people. He didn’t stay pint up in a cozy home after a day of work. He didn’t stay solely within the four walls of church. Jesus was and is on the move. He going to every nation and every group of people. His Spirit has no borders.

3- To the Unclean

“On the way to Jerusalem he was passing along between Samaria and Galilee. And as he entered a village, he was met by ten lepers, who stood at a distance and lifted up their voices, saying, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us.” When he saw them he said to them, “Go and show yourselves to the priests.” And as they went they were cleansed. Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice; and he fell on his face at Jesus’ feet, giving him thanks. Now he was a Samaritan.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭17:11-16‬ ‭ESV

They had two strikes against them in the eyes of society: they were lepers, and they were Samaritans. Both of those things would have made them unclean in the sight of others. Our world is full of ‘unclean’ and outcast people. It’s important for us to remember that we are one of them apart from Christ. We might as well put ourselves in the place of the lepers in this story because that is exactly how we were before Him. His mercy on us is our only hope just as it is for all those who remain shunned by the world.

4- To the Hated

He entered Jericho and was passing through. And behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small in stature. So he ran on ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see him, for he was about to pass that way. And when Jesus came to the place, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, hurry and come down, for I must stay at your house today.”

Luke 19:1-5 ESV

The tax collectors were among the most despised of Jesus’ time because they worked for the evil occupiers of the region (the Roman Empire) and often times exploited the people and took more than what they were supposed to. But Jesus didn’t hate them. Jesus doesn’t hate anyone! On top of going to Zacchaeus’ home, He also called Matthew, another tax collector, as one of His disciples. Jesus didn’t minister to the favorable. He didn’t just go to those who were safe. Jesus even went to those who society either didn’t think would ever be saved, or who society didn’t want to be saved.

5- To Seclusion to Pray

 But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.

Luke 5:16

Jesus never neglected the act of praying. Without prayer, we can’t remain connected to our power source. Prayer is the cord that plugs us into the power inlet. That’s why we’re told to never cease praying, and sometimes that means getting alone, away from the distractions. Jesus wants to draw us into these secluded places for a refreshing.

Jesus is alive and active. He is going far more places and to far more people than just these. His Spirit is both in us, and moving throughout the entire world. Are you willing to follow? Am I?

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.

John 10:27

The Trees in your Garden

~ ForCommonGround ~ 7 Comments

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The Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die.”

Genesis 2:15-17 (ESV)

There is something innate in all of us that wants the one thing we can’t have. We don’t have to look any further than the Garden of Eden to know that humanity lacks thankfulness on an epic scale. For that is what leads to seeking that which we do not have. We can have the world, and all the goodness therein, and yet be lured into wanting the one thing that leads to our destruction.

In his first letter to the Thessalonians, Paul said to be thankful in ALL things (5:18). That has to be a typo right? How can I be thankful when my car breaks down? Well, considering that only 55% of those living in Russia, 35% in Mexico, and 6% in India own a car, I think I can find thankfulness in even owning a car. Or how about when a loved one passes away? If they were a believer in Christ, it was the best thing that could have ever happened for them! How about losing a job? That happened to me too. It turned out to be a sweet divine redirection in my life. I had my whole life mapped out, problem was, it was not the path the Lord knew was best for me. Thank you Lord for not allowing me to walk of course! How about that crippling physical injury that derails your life? Check! I have battled a near debilitating back injury for near 20 years now. It ended my competitive sports career and plagues even the most menial activities in my life today. Could it be worse? Absolutely! No matter the curve balls in life, we can find thankfulness in them all.

What causes ‘want’ in the human spirit? Being discontent. I know people who are never happy no matter the job they have, the person they’re with, the amount of money they make, the place they live, etc…I’m certain they would unhappy living in the Garden of Eden. I think most all of us would be. Why? Because we don’t know the art of being thankful in ALL things. We have lost touch with the garden that God has placed us in. If you know thankfulness in all things, bless you! It is definitely possible to have but hard to grasp. Until we can be happy with little or nothing, we will never be happy with plenty. No matter our abundance, it won’t be enough. Even if we had the whole world, and all the goodness therein, we would want more.

Adam and Eve had the best this world had to offer, before corruption existed. After God created it all, He said that it was good. Two people, with dominion over the entire Earth, full of goodness, still fell into the trap of wanting what they did not possess. I have an amazing wife, wonderful children, and live in one of the most affluent nations in the world. My garden is lush. Yet at times, I find myself wanting that which I don’t have. It can be subtle and it can be blatantly obvious. But it only happens when I am not as thankful as I should be. When I’m not being thankful, I complain, I want what I don’t have, I stress, I get worn down, and I don’t treat others as I should. With a picture like that its fair to say that the unthankful person is not a pleasant one to be around. I’m sure you know exactly what I’m talking about.

In the book of James it says that godliness with contentment is great gain. That’s because contentment exist in those who are thankful and it is the thankful person that can carry out his/her mission of loving others and loving God well.  The thankful person does no wrong to another. The thankful person cannot covet. The thankful person won’t steal. The thankful person would dare not murder. The thankful person loves the sovereignty of God in all it’s outcomes and would wish no different. If there are trees in his garden, that God says don’t touch, the thankful person praises the Lord for making the danger known, and joyously avoids them.

Our enemy is after our joy. He wants to point out all the things God is ‘withholding’ from us as if God doesn’t love us enough to let us have them. He wants to keep us striving for more, wanting different, looking for those greener pastures. Satan never wants us to forget about those trees in our garden. And our gardens will go unnoticed by us if all we see are the forbidden trees. We all have different decks that we’ve been dealt in this life, all of which we should be thankful for because God allowed it to be so. I know that will rub some the wrong way because really hard things happen in life, but it is still true. In his book, Holiness day by day, Jerry Bridges makes the suggestion that our faith is measured best by our level of thankfulness towards God.  I think that’s a fair assessment. After all, how can we claim to believe in a holy, good, just, and loving God who would go to the lengths of dying for us on a cross and not be thankful for all He allows in our lives.

We can feel pain in thankfulness. We can suffer tears and maintain a thankful heart. Three years ago, the Lord took my father home after he suffered a traumatic stroke. That hurt to go through! Bad! But I am so thankful God did not allow him to suffer through the remainder of his life without the use of half of his body. And I am so thankful that my dad is enjoying the fruits of his salvation in Christ. Are you hurting? Are you battling fear and doubt? Are you discontent? I challenge you my brothers and sisters: find the good in all that you’re going through. The silver lining always exists because God really does work ALL things to the good for those who love Him and live for Him like the book of Romans assures us. Our God is sovereign over us and He is good. He has a love for us that we cannot fully understand. He made us, He died for us, He’s walked with us through our lives, and He has prepared a home unlike anything we can possibly imagine. For the sake of all those things, we can be thankful in everything. Bless you brothers and sisters!

…I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. For I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength.

Philippians 4:11-13 (NLT)

Reset

~ ForCommonGround ~ 1 Comment

Rest-button

Have you ever been working on a computer and had the thing freeze up on you? It’s so annoying…especially if you were working on something important. In my experiences, most of the times that it’s frozen up, I’ve been rushing through things, I was clicker-happy hitting keys over and over when it wouldn’t work, and I had a lot of different tabs open or programs running. I simply overloaded my computer. The only thing that will fix the problem is the reset button.

It’s not all that different with people. When we’re overworked, sleep deprived, stressed out about pretty much anything our minds will find to stress about, balancing kids, work, keeping up a home, surprises life throws at us, and whatever else isn’t on this list, we fail to operate like we’re meant to. We start forgetting more things, snapping at others, our patience fuse shortens, and we lose our joy. Our worship is probably way off too! That’s when we need to hit the reset button.

This last weekend I experienced a sweet reset. My wife and I went to a Kari Jobe worship night in Denver, Colorado. We spent three hours praising God with her and Brian and Katie Torwalt. Needless to say, it was awesome. During that three hours my wife and I both had encounters with the Lord. Even though we were among thousands of people, it seemed as though it was so intimate with God. We both left refreshed. It was like a breath of fresh air. It was like walking into a well air conditioned building in the middle of a 105 degree summer. We’ve had so much joy since that night. We are so much more patient, full of faith, refocused, and re-energized.

You don’t have to go to a concert to reset your life. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, overworked, and dragging your way through life, it’s time for a shot of spiritual espresso! Any time we spend with God, in an intimate connection, through worship, praying, fasting, reading, studying, etc…is well spent and full of exponential value. You need it…we all do. Find the time. Make the time. Nothing is more important in life than our relationship with Him. He’s waiting, the ever-flowing source of life. And Jesus is the master of the reset!

For I will satisfy the weary soul, and every languishing soul I will replenish.

Jeremiah 31:24

What did you say?

~ ForCommonGround ~ 5 Comments

Very few things in life hold the power of words. We learned in elementary school that sticks and stone may break our bones but words will never hurt us. Lies! Physical injury is nothing compared to what one careless word can do. Words can tear someone’s life apart and they can also bring life to someone desperate of encouragement. Words can be a weapon when used with malice and ill content, or they can be a well of refreshment for the desperate hearted. 

Proverbs 18:21 (ESV)

Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruits.

Think before you speak: It’s an age old saying and I’m sure most of us have been told that, maybe more than once. There could hardly be better advice. Every conversation can be an opportunity to course correct a life, and if we are not careful, it can send someone down a dangerous detour. People who say whatever comes to their mind generally hurt most people.

Proverbs 10:19 (NASB)

When there are many words, transgression is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.

Speak to benefit the listener not yourself: Trying to take back words  is like trying to get squeezed toothpaste back in the tube…it’s near impossible. It’s much better to be intentional about speaking life and truth, with grace and with love. If everything we say is meant to be helpful to those we talk to, then we won’t have any need to try and put the toothpaste back in the tube. 

Ephesians 4:29 (NIV)

Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.

We all have an audience: You don’t have to be a pastor, teacher, coach, celebrity, or author in order to speak into people’s lives. For parents, there are always tingling little ears waiting to soke up our every word, even if it seems like they aren’t listening. And that never changes, no matter how old our children are. But it doesn’t stop there. For everyone who isn’t a recluse there are people listening to what we say. What are they hearing?

Psalm 19:14 (ESV)

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.

Bearing the Weight

~ ForCommonGround ~ Leave a comment

I’ve spent a good portion of my life  exercising. Some of that has involved lifting weights. One thing that every weight lifter knows is that you can’t lift heavy weights with open hands. A person has to close their grip around the bar or dumbbell for optimal strength. 

Sometimes I think we treat life like lifting weights. So many things add heaviness to our hearts. Think about those heavy loads in your own life. They could be bills, a career, worries over your kids, the health of a loved one, or even the plight of sexual slavery all over the  world? Chances are it’s not just one thing. Life can get really, really heavy!

Unfortunately we wait to the point where we simply can’t bear it any more. We wait until our knees buckle beneath us. If the weight of life is so heavy that it is bringing you to your knees, there’s actually no better place to be.

I have been driven many times upon my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had no where else to go. My own wisdom and that of all about me seemed insufficient for that day.

-Abraham Lincoln

Part of going through life is to keep our hands open. What does that even look like? Holding loosely to possessions, careers, or our money? Maybe coming to terms with the fact that there is only one sovereign in the world and we aren’t Him? How about loving those close to us the best we can every single day because we just don’t know how many more we’ll get? It could be as simple as remembering that every meal we’ve ever had, and every warm roof we’ve lived under didn’t come from us but from a God who takes joy in taking care of us. It might be confiding in a friend and asking someone to pray with us. 

Holding on to things so tightly comes from a disposition of control. We keep our worries and struggles buried deep inside, because we feel as though we can carry them on our own. But no weight is meant to be carried alone.

In life, just as with weight lifting, we get to choose which weights we pick up. Even the smartest lifters have a spotter, because they know that at one point the weight may become too heavy to carry. Hopefully we have spotters in our friends and family, but if we don’t, we have a constant spotter, one who can actually do the heavy lifting for us. 

Maybe it’s time to begin more days on our knees rather than waiting until we utterly collapse. A humble life is one with open hands and bended knees. The God we serve once carried the greatest weight of all, our sins, and He did so that we wouldn’t have to any longer. 

“He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.”

1 Peter 2:24 (NIV)

He can handle the weight of our lives. More than that, He wants to! There is no weight limit or maxing out for God. He can take it all. 

“Pile your troubles on GOD ’s shoulders— he’ll carry your load, he’ll help you out. He’ll never let good people topple into ruin.”

‭‭Psalm‬ ‭55:22 ‭(MSG‬)

What Fear Says About us

~ ForCommonGround ~ 2 Comments

fear-07

What we fear reveals what we value the most and where we trust God the least.

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.”
Isaiah 26:3-4 ESV

There is no fear in those who have Jesus because they already know how great and loving God is.

Stress is a choice

~ ForCommonGround ~ 3 Comments

So often I hear Christians pray to experience God’s peace (I’ve been one of them) and joy when all along we’re the ones that decide to either experience it or not. The peace of Christ is always extended. When we don’t feel at peace it’s not because of some disconnect on His end, or because He’s withholding His spiritual peace from us, it’s because somehow we’ve forgotten who He is and lack in the trust that He’s for us. 

We don’t want to admit it but anxiety and stress only happen because we lack in faith and choose to focus on the problems of life instead of the Savior. We have lots of reasons to be overwhelmed during life whether it’s health reasons, death, money, etc…but knowing Jesus can overshadow all of that. When we find ourselves stressed we may want to spend more time in our bibles, more time in prayer, more time rejoicing, more time worshipping, and less time worrying. After all, stress shortens life but Jesus gives it. The choice is ours. God bless brothers and sisters. Be encouraged in Him!

“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33 (NIV)