Making sacrifices with a smile.

The saying goes.. only mad men does the same thing, yet expect different results.  In everything we do, whether it be business, sport or relationships, we all have an ideal.  In order to reach that ideal, the key is to let go of what you hang on to.  Let’s take fitness for instance.  In order to become what you want to, you have to make changes, make sacrifices.  You need to eat right, sacrifice that daily slab of chocolate and spend time in the gym or running.  My point is this; the word “sacrifice” has always made me cringe.  As humans we don’t like letting go of what we have.  We certainly don’t appreciate being taken out of our comfort zones.  The problem with this view is that no change can happen unless you let go.  Let’s get back to the example of fitness.  The whole reason you aren’t fit is because you don’t exercise.  So sitting on the coach and wanting change is not the same as getting up and start making the change.

So it is clear, going about the same routine as we always do, won’t bring in change.  Now let’s draw that aspect through to faith.  Being in relationship with God is like staying fit.  It is a lifestyle. Switching it on and off as you like, is a convenience contract, it is not a relationship.  So with that in mind, it means you need to get out of your comfort zone.  You need to makes sacrifices and go the extra mile.  You need to work on this relationship, spend time with God.  With this there is an aspect we don’t enjoy that much.  The Bible speaks of picking up your cross and following God.  The disciples had to leave behind what they know.  That very thing that gave them security, they had to let go of, in order to follow God.  So now we are back to square one… sacrifices.

Luke 9:23  Then he said to them all: "Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.

Think about what you want most in life.  It can be that work promotion, that hobby you are working on.  For me it became fitness, so ill share my story.  I have the desire to look good and to feel good.  To push my body further and further each day.  To reach my maximum potential.  With this as my goal, sacrificing old eating habits is no longer torture.  To spend time in the gym and work later at night when it comes to studies is no longer an issue.  I go the extra mile because I want to.  I do whatever I need to do to reach my goals, with a smile.  In the same manner, once God becomes our sole purpose, our obsession, our focus… then going the extra mile is all worth it.  Then spending more time with Him is a joy, sacrificing our time and effort to be God’s hands in this world is no longer an issue.  All of a sudden the word “sacrifice” turned into “willingly surrender”.

Make God your focus, your ambition and your obsession.  And see what God can do in this world through you when you are absolutely sold out to Him.

Have a blessed day!    

Jesus Served with Humility

Jesus is the ultimate example when it comes to humility.  You can say that serving people was as normal to Him as breathing.  This is remarkable given the fact that this is the very embodiment of God, the Savior, the Healer, the Redeemer, and the Christ!  He had all the reason and all the credentials to go around and boast yet He always kept Himself humble.  Philippians 2:6-7 sums it up perfectly when the writer says:

“⁶Though He was in the form of God, He chose not to cling to equality with God; ⁷but poured Himself out to fill a vessel brand new; a servant in form and a man indeed.”

There are obviously the account of where Jesus washed the disciples feet that jumps to mind first when thinking of Jesus serving those around Him.  This is and always will be a brilliant example, yet it is not the only one.  In Luke 8 we see something amazing!  Verse 1 starts off by saying that Jesus was traveling from town to town, city to city.  But He wasn’t alone.  With Him went a crowd.  The writer tells that this crowd consisted of the twelve (probably disciples) and a larger group that included some very significant women.  These women are significant for this reason;

Luke 8:3 “There were others like Susanna and Joanna, who was married to Chuza, a steward of King Herod.  And there were many others too.  These women played an important role in Jesus’ ministry, using their wealth to provide for Him and His other companions.”

Now keep in mind that the culture of those days ranked women as quite low in society.  They had little rights and almost no say in any affairs.  Yet Jesus becomes subject unto them.  Making Himself dependent on them while they supply for Him and His companions.  The man was the one that had to look after women, yet in this case Jesus flips the cards. 

Jesus wasn’t interested in His glory, nor His name.  What mattered to Him was obeying His Father.  And the Father’s command is simple… love!  Once we let go of our names, egos and accomplishments, then we will find that it comes natural to simply love and serve.

The True Source of Life

Imagine wanting to buy a car.  Let’s say you have a Specific Lexus in mind.  Knowing about the car is essential.  Details like fuel consumption, engine performance and other creature comforts are needed in order for you to not only be comfortable with what you are buying but also to understand the vehicle and how to handle it.  There are many ways and methods to get the information you want.  You can have pamphlets, magazines, review videos, websites etc.  The trick however is this, no matter how much info you have on this car… no matter how much you know… you still can’t drive it unless you have it.

Christianity works on the same principle.  Knowing about God is essential.  A lack of knowledge on who God is and His character, ruins tears the church apart, yet to know God is not the same as having Him.  This might sound strange when I say “have” God since He is omnipresent, bigger than our minds can possibly comprehend.  But, what I mean with this statement is having an active part in the Spirit of God.  Allowing the Spirit of God to fill you.

We grew up with the Bible as the word of God and the word of Life.  But we need to understand that this word is not the Life but rather points to or testifies of the true Life.  In pursuing knowledge about God we need to keep in mind that a personal, intimate relationship is of absolute importance.  Without the Bible there is a lack of knowledge about God, but without His Spirit there is a lack of God entirely.  The Pharisees was seeking salvation and life in the scriptures yet did so without the Spirit and missed the true salvation and Life standing right in front of them.  Jesus spoke to them in John 5:39 saying:

“Here you are scouring through the scriptures, hoping that you will find eternal life among a pile of scrolls.  What you don’t seem to understand is that the scriptures points to Me.” 

In God is eternal Life, we don’t have to only read about life… we can now enjoy it!  

In His Footsteps

Reading through John 5 this morning, I came across something really interesting in verse 19.  This is a concept we are all familiar with but do we really grasp it.  Christ Tomlin has a song that says "Where You go I'll go, where You stay, I'll stay.  When You move, I'll move.  I will follow You."  Amazing words right!

John 5:19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.

Now keep in mind, Jesus said this right after He healed the lame man at the pool of Bethesda.  He healed the man, then ordered him to take up his bed and walk.  On a Sabbath day... this was an absolute taboo.  Now the Pharisees stood up out of anger most probably.  Not only did Jesus heal on the Sabbath, as was a very deliberate habit, but He now also ordered this man to carry his bed on a Sabbath.  When the Pharisees confronted Jesus, His answer is in verse 19.

Paul writes in Romans 6 and say that our old man now died with Christ.  That we have our new being in and through Christ.  So when we now have the Spirit of Life in us, and we have our being in and through Christ, we can no longer claim to live our own lives.  To surrender your hopes, plans, ambitions... to give your all to God is no light matter.  It is serious business.

What I want to get to is this.  Jesus did nothing out of His own but simply imitated The Father.  To walk in the footsteps of Jesus, means we; as God's children, now also imitate Him.  We do nothing out of our own but only act because we are led by the Spirit.  In this regard we can no longer allow success to increase our happiness or that defeat decreases it, since we don't act on our own but only do what we see He does.

And since we gave our all to God, our success, our life story; now rests solely in His hands.  Our happiness should then be found in Christ and not in our success or achievements.  The good news is that when we truly imitate God, and when we find our happiness in Christ and Christ alone, then nothing can steal our joy.  No comes the interesting part.  Give all this to God, your life, hopes, plans, dreams, ambitions.  Live through Him, imitating Him and Him alone and God has a promise...

Proverbs 16:1-3  1"People go about making their plans, but the Eternal has the final word. 2Even when you think you have good intentions, He knows your real motives.  3Whatever you do, do it as service to Him, and he will guarantee your success."

We now no longer live... but Christ lives in us.  We have our existence through Him.  He is not simply an extension to our current lives but rather, an entire new life.

The Line between slave and son.

The line between slave and son:

In Christianity there is a fine line for everything.  And very few times situations are just black and white, there are always grey areas in the sense that God has an individual journey with each person (on this I will elaborate in a later post).

The question now however is are yo a son or a slave.  Now we know that a son is the coheir, as well as the image of the Father.  We know that the son has all the privileges and can enjoy the Fathers love and blessings.  We know that the son don't have to earn anything but that all is given to him in love and grace.

The slave on the other hand, needs to earn his keep.  His work is the only reason he is in the house.  He doe not have the image of the Father and neither can he be reckoned as a coheir to any promise.

So if I am to ask what we as Christian are, most of us would shout 'son'.  But what if, being a Christian requires both?  Yes we are the sons and daughters of God and yes we don't earn anything and yes grace is what we live on and we are coheirs.  Yet there remains an element of service.  The ten commandments handed to Moses stipulated that every person should honor their father.  Now later on w know that Jesus came to sum the law up by being an example of love.  So honoring your parents is an act of love.  It goes on to say that in everything Jesus did, He served.

From healing the sick, washing the disciples feet, teaching to the crowds, feeding them up to dying on a cross for our sake.  Jesus served all the way.  He served like a slave, expecting nothing but doing it because it is His sole purpose.

This is the balance we should have.  Being both son and servant of the Most High.  Realizing that as a Child, we have no other purpose in this world but to serve Him.

NO MORE GUILT

We enjoy reminding God of our sins.  For some reason we as humans feel that our consciences will turn silent once we apologize for our wrongs and constantly remind God of our mishaps.  The Bible talks about freedom in Christ.  Freedom from guilt and condemnation.  So how do we take up this promise?  What is needed?

The term... "this man has no conscience" is one that is used quite regularly.  It is used on criminals who show little remorse for their actions and is even aimed at a person that has hurt you and failed to apologize.  Clearly we see that little voice convicting us of our wrongs, quite necessary in order to be accepted into the society as we know it.  But is it really our consciences we should be so afraid of when it comes to our mishaps or is it perhaps that we ourselves cause guilt?

I think we will all agree on the fact that as humans we make mistakes, and quite a lot of them.  To be honest... we slip up everyday, all day!  We also make sure to slip up properly every now and then.  There is no human... dead or alive... that can claim they were without mistakes and on that we all agree.  So with that debate out of the way, let's look at the after affects of such actions.

Guilt is a reflex reaction.  We mess up, we feel guilty, and we apologize like no tomorrow.  If you don't apologize... then we tend to sit with this guilt lodged deep in the back our minds.  Now I am not saying don't apologize... but do you think feeling guilty for the rest of your life will really change things?  Will it truly bring joy and freedom?  Or is it just different looking chains for the mistake you made?

In Luke 6:6-11 we read about Jesus healing a man with a withered hand.  Now this man was in the crowd but the hand was behind his back, hidden.  He was ashamed of his deformity and for the culture of those days, he was also considered an out cast because of that deformity.  Jesus knows about this man's hand just like He knows the Pharisees' who are attending's hearts.  So He asks the man to stretch forward his hand and it is written that as the man stretched forward his hand, he WAS healed!

Luke 6:10 "And after looking around at them all he said to him, “Stretch out your hand.” And he did so, and his hand was restored."

His hand didn't only heal when it was already stretched out, it got healed as the man stretched forward his hand.  Meaning that by the time the crowd and Jesus saw his hand, it was already healed!  The same goes for our mistakes.  Jesus is not interested in our sins, He is interested in our lives!  Yes it is needed to admit to God what we have done... He still required the man to stretch forward his flaws.  That is needed so we know what we did wrong and so we can avoid making the same mistake unconsciously.  The point is however, there is no reason for guilt.  We can enjoy the company of God freely, without any disturbances.

1 John 3:21 "Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;"

Don't ever let guilt about the past hold you from an amazing relationship with God.  Your sins are already forgiven!  When we mess up, it doesn't make us any less children of the Most High.  Move past your flaws and mishaps and keep your focus on the forgiver of sin.  The God of second, third, forth and millionth chances and just give your all to Him.  He is interested in an intimate relationship with God.  Don't let anything stand in your way.