- Stop focusing on what you do not have. Start focusing on the blessings you do have.
- Stop focusing on the job title that is not next to your name, and start doing your best where you are.
- Stop focusing on what other people say about you, and start learning what your Heavenly Father says you are.
- Stop criticizing every preacher's sermon, if it is from the Bible, then you just work on crafting your sermon.
We have a sermon in us, it is called a testimony, but instead of sharing the Gospel it is easier to criticize others. I know right. It is easier to complain about their message and very uncomfortable to let God work through us to create our own. We force God into our own perfect little box called "my life", living a self-made theology of what we want Him to be, instead of following scripture. We argue with others, in a comment section, over meaningless topics in order to feel righteous about our faith. We feel as if we are owed something from everyone that doesn't think the exact same way we do. Are we listening to Jesus when He said love one another, and to go out and make disciples? Think you want to be a disciple or does your comfortable life feel fine?
Everything I research, write, and proofread is in hopes that the only possible outcome will be one of inward change. For us both. Who am I to expect change if I do not start with myself? Who are you to expect others to change if you never do? What would life be like if we had no excuses? Would you call that freedom? Did Jesus come to set us free? What is holding you back from allowing Him to set you free?
Go look in the mirror and ask yourself if you are wholeheartedly seeking a Father that let His Son die for you. It is never too late and it is not that hard, if I can do it then so can you. There is nothing special about me, I am a nobody, and in most areas of life I am overlooked for the work I do. It has become such a regular occurrence I have learned to let go of expecting appreciation from this world. I simply focus on doing my best, since everything I touch is for my Father’s Kingdom. I do not need their praise. This honestly saves me from boasting about myself, and instead praising my Father while blessings chase me down. Do you need the praise of others? Does it offend you not to receive credit when you perform selfless acts? Do you think life is about you?
I began realizing what it means to be a Son and to become that I must simply “be” (John 14:19-24; 17:20-23). I had to clean out my temple by allowing Jesus to come in and flip over all the tables in it. Why would we let Him come dwell inside of us with our past lying around, skeletons in the closet? He says He will wash us white as snow, make us new from the inside out and forget the old us. So why are we still clinging to all the things He has forgotten and purified? People tell me that we should not expect others to be perfect, and that is true, we cannot be. So tell me what is meant when His Word says we should be imitators of Christ on this earth? Does that mean we should have integrity? Does that mean we should strive for excellence in all we do? Does that mean every word from our mouth should be praise, gratitude, encouragement, and love? Does that mean we should continue mocking our Father after we profess He is our Saviour?
Jesus spent a little over three years with the disciples and He left them to pay for our wicked ways, thoughts, actions, and past. They could not understand why, they did not want Him to leave. Yet Jesus tells them that He would leave them with a gift called the Spirit, which people in the old Testament envied. Yes, they envied us while we admire their faith in this present time. He told them that the Spirit in them would make them more powerful than Him walking with them. Whoa. Yet, we still know people who have been in church their entire life that struggle every day with the same subscription to “issues magazine”. Then every year their subscription is automatically renewed because they are not plugged in to who God says they are in Christ. They know all the songs, they quote all the scriptures, and before every service is over they are thinking about where they are going for Sunday lunch. What is missing?
Are you still feeling like you might not make it through the week after reading this? Still thinking about that big problem standing over you? Still worried about the stress and fear that follows you around? If you plugged into just a few volts of this Power, all of your problems would run in the other direction. A giant stood over David once...what happened there? Should we be so envious of David, Moses, Abraham, Daniel, Jonah, Noah, Elijah, Solomon, etc? Or should they be looking down from the Heavens wishing they had access to the Spirit left to us by the Son of God?
In the book of Genesis, God walked with Adam and Even in the coolness of the day. I get to walk around all day and night with the Spirit in me...what shall I fear? Nothing. I do not think for a moment that my temple is perfect, that is impossible, but I am confident that it is Christ-centered in relationship with my Father. You could just be starting to change your life, and if you are as clean as a cave full of sheep, that is a start. That is where wise men followed a star to find a child that was born unto us. Baby Jesus was born homeless and rejected even before He took His first breath. A jealous king murdered 6,000 children in an attempt to prevent the King of Kings from being born that night. Our Father is accustomed to dirty beginnings with victorious endings. Have you ever felt that safe and protected from your enemies or troubles?
Heaven went bankrupt to pay the greatest price for your life, even when you did not care who Jesus was or is. Are you even aware? Who in your life has gone bankrupt for your life? I would love to meet them. Our salvation was freely given so that we could freely give to one another. We did not pay the price, so there is no amount of busy church work that you can do to pay off that debt. You can't give enough money to charity to earn your spot in His Kingdom. If you are too busy to focus on a relationship with God, then you are busier than He wants you to be. Any mission or ministry started out of your own strength and knowledge you will work endlessly to sustain it, until you burnout. You will try to carry the world on your back until it beats you down into a grave. But what the Spirit of God starts in you, He will sustain and you will be at rest. If you are too busy, when are you building a relationship? If you are struggling, then stop and focus on Him.
Before I do anything for myself I spend time with my Abba Father. I sometimes skip a meal. If the hunger of my flesh has that much control over my walk with God then I would rather not eat anyways. What other idols should we put before Him? None. My wife thinks I am crazy when I tell her that I would give every possession I have to those who have nothing. Jesus said that if we really want to be disciples we should not care for anyone other than Him. To put it into perspective, if you make $4,000 per month, you make 100 times more than the average person on this planet.
Job said that my ears have heard of you but now my eyes see you, and he became quiet. Maybe Job truly realized that nothing matters in comparison when it comes to experiencing the presence of God. Job did not even have access to the Spirit that we have, and he repented. Do you access the gift of the Spirit daily or do you take it for granted? I am just honestly asking.
