Back to Basics

I was reading through a book last night, and I got to a chapter that was all about the Gospel (very cool!).  It was talking about how so many times we look at the Gospel as the beginning of our faith, and we fail to realize that it’s actually the center of our faith.  We overlook the beauty and importance of the Gospel because we feel we have reached a place in our faith where we have outgrown it (how foolish!).  It brought up the verse John 3:16, and suggested we really stop and look over it and see it for what it truly says rather than just an easy verse that children memorize in Awana groups.

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.” – John 3:16

When you really stop and think over the words of this verse it’s amazing!  The God of the universe – the God who made us from the dust of the earth – loved us so much [agape love] that He sent His only Son – His precious Son who has been one with Him for all eternity as part of the trinity – that we might believe in Him so that we won’t perish [be destroyed] but have eternal [perpetual, constant, abundant] life.

How cool is that!  What a great and glorious God we serve, and may we never forget that or the beauty of His Gospel!

Guarding Hearts

This week at Kaleo we heard from Luke 12:35-48. This passage is a parable that Jesus told about being ready for His second coming. He likens it to servants who are left in charge of the house while the master is away, and speaks on the consequences of those who are prepared or unprepared.

Between that message and conversations I had with some of my best friends last night, God showed me the importance of keeping watch over my heart. In the passage in Luke it talks about the manager whom the master has set over his household while he is away. Since Christ dwells in us He is the master of the house (our hearts), and He has placed us (the managers) in charge of the house/our hearts while He is away. We are responsible for guarding the house/our hearts until Christ’s return, and we can choose to be faithful and guard them well or not. It reminded me of a passage in Proverbs:

“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil.” – Proverbs 4:23-27

By guarding our hearts/minds/words/ and keeping our eyes focused on Christ, we will be prepared when our Glorious Master returns!

Worth Living For?

In Kaleo last night we were asked to complete the statement, “My life is worth living if I know I will have ______________.” I didn’t think much of it at first, but then God started poking at my heart and revealing some things to me. Funny how that always works, huh?

If I can be honest, my answer was “My life is worth living if I know I will have job security.” For some reason I have a tendency to idolize my job. I have no idea why, I don’t even like working most of the time (does anyone, really?), but it seems with every message on idolatry or treasures, my answer is always “my job.”

The more I listened to the message and thought about my answer, though, the more ridiculous it seemed to me. My job never took my sins from me. It never died for me (on the contrary, I seem to kill myself for it! Lol!). It never cleansed me in it’s blood so that I might have a reconciled relationship with God. It’s never done anything for me, except deprive me of sleep, and yet I still place it high in my heart.

After the message last night, though, I was reminded that my job is just here-and-now, something temporary, and if I treasure it I will be disappointed because it will fade so quickly. My heart and mind need to be set on the Everlasting God, who will never disappoint or fade away. It showed me the necessity of treasuring Christ as my all and reminded me of Philippians 3:7-8, “But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”

So what’s my answer now? My life is worth living if I know I will have Christ always