Month: July 2018

“The Lord answered her, ‘Martha, my beloved Martha. Why are you upset and troubled, pulled away by all these many distractions? Are they really that important? Mary has discovered the one thing that is most important by choosing to sit at my feet. She is undistracted, and I won’t take that privilege from her.'” – Luke 10: 41-42

Busyness would tell you the lie, “The more you do, the more you accomplish.” However, the quantity of work that you do is not as important as the quality of the time you spend with the Lord.

Psalm 39:6 warns us, “We live our lives like those living in the shadows. All our activities and energies are spent for things that pass away. We gather, we hoard, we cling to our things, only to leave them all behind for who knows who.”

Doesn’t that sound a bit chilling? The last thing I would want for my life is that it would end up pointless in view of eternity.  The good news is that Jesus tells us exactly what we need to do to ensure that our lives end up meaning something.

“So above all, constantly chase after the realm of God’s kingdom and the righteousness that proceeds from Him. Then all these less important things will be given to you. Refuse to worry about tomorrow, but deal with each challenge that comes your way, one day at a time. Tomorrow will take care of itself.” Matthew 6:33-34 TPT

Spending time with God helps us to focus our efforts and know what our purpose and calling is. That time with the Lord also equips us to fulfill His destiny for us.

When we get busy, we are unable to recognize the opportunities that God places in front of us. Or worse yet, we are unable to respond to those opportunities because we don’t have the time to do so.

Take time to spend with the Lord and you will start to see things from His perspective. When you take time so learn from and be equipped by God, you are able to say, “No” to the unimportant things so that you can say “yes” to the important things. Set in your heart to chase after the realm of God’s Kingdom and the righteousness that proceeds from Him. There is no higher calling, nor more worthy activity.

**All verses taken from The Passion Translation.

(James is an active part of our worship team, men’s group, and welcome team)

We are aware of the fact that in order to change things in our lives, we have to change our way of thinking about things and we have to choose to do things differently. Things don’t change simply because we want them to, we have to do something. Romans 12:2 is a passage we are very familiar with. The Passion Translation puts it this way: “Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through the total reformation of how you think.”

Often our first reaction to this type of instruction is to say, “I really want to obey, but how do I do that?” This is one of those cases where there is a clear, simple (though not easy) answer to how we accomplish the transformation of the way we think (the renewing of our minds). Hebrews 12:2 says “Let us fix our eyes on Jesus…” Stare at Jesus all the time! Paul gives us instructions in his letter to the Philippians: “So keep your thoughts continually fixed on all that is authentic and real, honorable and admirable, beautiful and respectful, pure and holy, merciful and kind. And fasten your thoughts on every glorious work of God, praising him always.” (TPT)

Focus on Jesus and put every thought, word, or action through the filter of Philippians 12:2. We will be transformed and we won’t look like the world but like our beautiful Lord and Savior!

Brenda is the Women’s Group leader and Worship Director.

 

‘Seek the Kingdom of above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.’ Matthew 6:33

Jesus speaks these words during His Sermon on the Mount to those sitting around Him.  Recently, it struck me that almost everyone sitting around listening to Jesus that day were ordinary people, not qualified and highly trained priests.  Jesus is offering a relationship with the Father that is so personal that He elevates it from “follow the law’ to “seek the Kingdom”.  He is opening a door to everyone that is listening and later reads this scripture to embark upon a journey that is life transforming.

The best part of this scripture to me, is when you find a place that everyone is “seeking the Kingdom”.  When you find like-minded believers that are seeking the Kingdom, you find a place in which God is present!  The funny thing is, when you are seeking the Kingdom, righteous living comes because you are in Scripture, worshiping, and connecting with those who are seeking as well.

Jesus also gives a promise that “He will give you everything you need.” It is amazing that when you are seeking the Kingdom, the things we need change, and we become great with that.  This Scripture is a promise of an action upon which we must act; we don’t need to make seeking a mystical thing — it is an action that we carry out every day when we study Scripture, meet with like-minded believers and discuss what He is doing, when we go to Him in prayer and when we are sharing the Gospel with those around us.

Every morning I wake up wondering what seeking His Kingdom today will look like, and it is never the same.  There is so much excitement and joy in the “seeking”, that we don’t even realize we are walking in step with Him in righteousness, and He is giving us what our hearts desire because it is what His heart desires.

(Quinton is our Engage Group Coordinator, an Engage Group Leader, as well as being very active in many other ministries)

I have found in my time with God that its often the simple verses that often have the most impact for our lives. For example, John 14:6 states: “Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.’”

This passage, of less than 25 words, can be broken down into three easily understood messages with incredible applications for every Christian life.

Jesus is the Way
There is only one way to the Father. That way is Jesus. No other religious thought is sufficient. Additionally, He is the exclusive way to the Father. Jesus, combined with any other religion, thought or action will not do. Is there anything in our life that we try to add to Jesus? Is our way to heaven Jesus and hard work? Is it Jesus and charitable giving? There is only one way, and that way is Christ.

Jesus is the Truth
We live in an age fraught with relativism. Every action can be justified based on someone’s perspective. Truth has also become relative (and for many, irrelevant) as a result of this new thinking, and we can see the dim results of these thoughts everywhere. Let me say this, Jesus is the truth. Not a truth, not one truth, but THE truth. What Jesus calls sin will always be sin and what Jesus calls good will never be wrong. No matter what anyone’s perspective may be.

Jesus is the Life
Finally, Jesus is the life. Earth is corrupted and humanity is sinful, vile, and evil. No utopia will ever blossom on Earth through human means, no political party will solve all our problems, and every single person on earth will experience pain, hardship, and loss. But take heart, for this world is not our life, this world is merely a layover until we fly to our true home and our true life. Christ’s death and resurrection guarantees us eternal life where we will progress from glory to greater glory for all eternity.

Dear saints, never forget that it is Christ alone that made a way for us. How great His sacrifice and how worthy is He of praise! Focus on Jesus, and I believe you’ll be surprised at how much straighter your paths become, how much clearer the truth is, and how much greater your life can be.

(Dylan West is our College Leader, and he is also a faithful member of our worship team)