Day 317: Knowing God For Ourselves

John 14:6

Jesus told him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

How many times have we used someone else’s faith as a crutch so that we would not have to submit our lives fully to God? What I’m asking is have we ever felt like our faith or our salvation was dependent on someone else? We have pastors, parents, and leaders who will lead us to Christ, but the only way to eternity it through Christ. We must have a personal relationship with God for ourselves. People can lead us to the water but they cannot make us drink. We can be led to Christ all our lives but if we do not make the decision to follow Him ourselves we will remain wight where we are.

The only way to God is through Jesus, the only way to eternity is through Jesus. No one else can

get us there. No one else can make the decision for us.  Many of us grew up in church or going to church, and many of us did not. For those of us who grew up in church or around church or having a common knowledge of the Christian faith, we had to at one point come to the conclusion that knowing about God and knowing God are two completely different things. We must gain a relationship with God for ourselves and that’s something no one else can for us. Our parents can drag us to church all of our lives but we have to make that decision ourselves. We have to come to know God for who He is, we must profess our own faith. We must repent for our own sins. Our parents, our mentors, our pastors, no one can do that for us.

How many times have we depended on the faith of others to get us by? We’ve depended on the prayers of others, and thought just because we go to church that we are okay. We are good because we grew up in the church and we know about God, We know about the bible. We got baptised when we were younger, we take communion and our parents dedicated us. We go to church every sunday, and we listen to a good sermon that will hold us over until next sunday so, we’re good right? No we are not we must come to know God for ourselves, our parents introduce us to our faith, but we make the decision to follow Christ. We make the decision to choose Christ every day of our lives. We make the decision to spend time with God in His word, growing in our faith, learning and knowing more about Him. These are our decisions, if God doesn’t make that decision for us, why do we put it on others to do it for us. Many of us are thriving because someone is praying for us, someone is going to God on our behalf, many say it’s the prayers of our grandmothers, but I know that it’s Jesus standing at the right hand of God interceding for us day in and day out.

What I’m getting at here is, no one can have a relationship with God for us. No one can submit our lives to Christ for us. No one can get on our knees and confess our sins to God and repent. No one can accept Christ into our lives but us. My mom would always tell me, “I can’t stand before God on the day of judgement for you, you stand before Him alone.” That struck me so hard because when I’m standing before God He’s not going to ask about how many times I went to church with my mom or how I had a relationship with Him through someone else. No He wants us all to have a personal relationship with Him. He is concerned with our hearts and how we served Him. We must do it ourselves. We have the power to walk away from a life of sin and dwell with Christ for all of our days.

All this to say, the only way to God is through Christ, not our parents, mentors, pastors, etc. If we really want to know what it is to truly live, we must get to know God for ourselves. We must have a personal relationship with God.

Response/Prayer Time

1. Are you depending on someone else to have a relationship with God for you?
2. Do you think that going to church and listening to a sermon is enough to have a relationship with God?
3. Respond in whatever way you feel led. Take the time to think about what we discussed today and talk to God about.

If you’ve never made the decision to follow Christ and you want to, or if you want to rededicate your life to Him, now is the time to do. Now is the time to make that decision. If you want to be brought into this magnificent promise of eternity, now is the time to make that decision. If that’s you if you want to make that decision, pray this prayer with me,

“Jesus I declare that you are my Lord and Saviour who died for my sins and was raised three days later. I repent of my sins and I give my life to you. I believe in my heart that you are the true living God. I pray that you shine your  light on me and bring me out of the darkness and into your light. I love you Lord. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus name, Amen.”

If you made the choice to follow Christ, rededicate, or to submit your life to Him fully, Go to Romans 10:9-10

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

I love you so much and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! If you made the decision to follow Christ today, congratulations! Do not hesitate to reach and get plugged into  a church. Make sure you come back tomorrow for day 318!

Day 257: Occupy Your Street

*It's late I know, I'm sorry. I promise I'm going to get back to a set schedule. I've been running around like a made person between show, school, and work. So please bare with me.*

1 Corinthians 7:20-24

Yes, each of you should remain as you were when God called you. 21 Are you a slave? Don’t let that worry you—but if you get a chance to be free, take it. 22 And remember, if you were a slave when the Lord called you, you are now free in the Lord. And if you were free when the Lord called you, you are now a slave of Christ.23 God paid a high price for you, so don’t be enslaved by the world. Each of you, dear brothers and sisters, should remain as you were when God first called you.

Colossians 3:23

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters

When we give our lives to Christ our lives change for the better. We become better people all around. We start to love differently, see the world differently. It’s a really beautiful thing. With that comes this burning desire to want to share Jesus with everyone. Wanting to go all over the place telling people about this magnificent man, who changed our lives, and that He can do the same for someone else. That’s beautiful, it’s great, but sometimes we too quick to move out of the position God has us in in order to be in a place that seems more Godly to us. Meaning we often feel like we must make drastic changes to our life as opposed to our lifestyle. What I mean by that is we often give ourselves an ultimatum when it comes to our faith or coming to our faith for the first time. We tell ourselves, “It’s either God or this, God or that.” Or we often try to separate our life as a Christian from our personal life, those two things are not and should not be separate. We never think about the fact that God has us where we are for a reason, that He saved us where we are for a reason. That there are some people where we are that need guidance. But we cannot give it to them if we are too busy looking for a more Godly place to spend our time, or share the Good News of Christ.

I remember deciding to give up acting when I was sixteen because I had just become a Christian. Although it was something that needed to happen, I felt like the only reason I did it at the time was because the career I had chosen was not Christian enough. So I begrudgingly walked away and I was miserable for most of the five years that I tried to suppress the very thing that God has gifted me to do. Something that I know I was made for. My journey back to acting was longer than it needed to be, because even when  I knew the time was right I kept suppressing it because I felt like it wasn’t good enough. It would take away from who I was as a Christian. You ever been in place where you try to tell God what is Godly and what isn’t? I’m not going to do that because I have to help feed these kids in Africa that’s more Godly. I think you will approve of that more.

I have found that occupying my street and being where I am is the best thing possible. For example I am still an actress, but acting means so much more to me now than it did before because I have given my life to Christ. So everytime I walk on to that set, step on that stage, or give a performance of any kind I am giving it my all. I am doing it as if God Himself is sitting in the audience, and through that I can glorify Him. So wherever you are, whatever you are doing, do it all to the glory of God. Give everything, put your heart and soul into it. When I here that statement, “do it for the glory of God” I was always under the impression that it meant, do it in a church. Do it for a church event, make sure I’m only speaking ‘Christianese”. Wherever you are, whatever you do, glorify God, from right where you are. That’s what it means to occupy your street. You don’t always have to travel halfway across the world to do the Lord’s work, you can do it right here.

Mission isn’t just about traveling to another country to build houses. That’s one form of missionary work but what about where you are? What about the street you are on that has kids who need guidance, people who are starving in your area? God has us where we are for a reason, don’t be so quick to run away to “do the Lord’s work” when there is work to be done right where you are.

All this to say, occupy your street. You know what that is, you know what God has called you to do. Do it. That’s all.

Reflection/Prayer Time

Take the time to reflect on what we talked about today. Respond in whatever way you feel led, and let that lead you into your prayer.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 258!

Day 241: From Within the Body Of Christ

1 Corinthians 5:9-13

When I wrote to you before, I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that. I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people. It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, “You must remove the evil person from among you.

Okay, so this is another passage that when I read it, once again had  me shook, This is the answer to the argument amongst Christians, do we dwell with sinners or not? Although the answer is in the pudding when Jesus himself hung out with nothing but sinners, and people who were considered criminals, and cheaters. However here is a bit of clarification. There’s a few points to go through here so bare with me as we go through all of them. It will have you shaken to your core as well.

Living in a box away from sinners.

Okay so for many of us coming into our faith meant that we began to weed out all of the things in our lives that were not of God. However sometimes as we grow we tend to live in a box. We put ourselves in a box of righteousness. Meaning we only talk to people who are living the same way we are. We isolate or exclude those who do not seem to be living the way we think a Christian should. In other words we isolate ourselves from people we deem sinners as if they are going to contaminate us. If we are firm in our faith and have a solid foundation in Christ, and a relationship with God trust me, the only person who can contaminate that is us. But sometimes we quarantine ourselves as not to be infected by sinners. If we live our lives this way we will be forever alone. But if we truly live our lives like Christ, we will not be afraid to be around sin because our light will shine in the midst of darkness, It’s less about being afraid of being ‘contaminated by sin’ and more about the willingness to use our lives to bring someone out of sin. We cannot isolate ourselves from God’s people, and yes even the sinners are His people, He loves them just as much as He loves you. We cannot forget that at one point we were in their shoes.

Cutting off the wrong people.

When we become Christians we go through a period of cutting people off. Many times that means friends and family who aren’t Christian, or people who we think will drag us down. However, and this is something I have come to realize, we cut off the wrong people. As the scripture says above, “I told you not to associate with people who indulge in sexual sin. But I wasn’t talking about unbelievers who indulge in sexual sin, or are greedy, or cheat people, or worship idols. You would have to leave this world to avoid people like that.” We are cutting off people who do not live the way we live right now, but no that’s not right. It’s not about us needing them in our lives anymore, we have come to know the truth. We have latched onto the love of God, and have started living our lives like Christ. If we cut the people off who do not do the same immediately, who will be their guide to Christ; it almost as if we are cutting them off from getting in on this beautiful life. We are to be used as vessels by God to bring our friends and family into the same love that we have found in Jesus. We are their example of Jesus. But if we cut them off we end up hurting them because we want to be great.  This happens far too often we kick people to the side because there lives aren’t “worthy” of our presence anymore. If anything, we should pull them closer. We should stay to share what God has done in our lives. We should continue to live for Christ and allow them to see how God is changing us before their eyes. We should become a vessel for them, not another heartbreak or stumbling block.

It is or responsibility to judge

This is the part of the scripture that had me shook. We have talked about how we are not to judge people. How it is not our place. But in this passage we are told, actually, it is your job, our responsibility actually, to judge people, but not in the way that you think. The passage says, “I meant that you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people. It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning.” Pause, Take a breath, and let out a big, BRUH! Basically what it’s saying is, no, it’s not your job to judge people who are not of the faith or professing to be a Christian. But it is your job to judge those who are professing to be Christians yet living and dwelling in sin. #shooketh. I thought to myself after reading this, ‘wait a minute, we’ve been doing this all wrong’. We’ve been judging the wrong people, in the same way that we have been cutting off the wrong people. It was never our job to rebuke those who aren’t Christian for not being Christian. No, it’s the people who know, the ones who have given their lives to Christ yet live the same as those who have never heard of the gospel. Those are the toxic people, the people who know how to live yet choose to disobey. God says, I don’t even want you to eat with such people. We have been preserving the feelings of hypocrites while, hurting the people who have not yet had a chance to come into their faith, because they are condemned before they have even heard.

All this to say, this has to change. It must change, we cannot have a church full of professing christians who are really sinners, taking up the room for the people who really need and want to come to Christ. We cannot let them go unnoticed. There are people reaching for Christ, but because their hands are dirty we smack them down. Yet people in the church or professing Christians hands are just as dirty they're just using Christianity as a mask.

Reflection

1. Have you cut off the wrong people?
2. Are you living in a box away from sinners?
3. How do you feel about the responsibility to judge those who are professing to be Christian yet are secret sinners?
4. Was this eye opening?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the above questions guide your prayer today. Talk to God about what we discussed today. Have an honest conversation with Him. Pray for those who have been hurt by the church or cut off because of their lifestyle and pray for the body Christ, that we will get this right.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening. Be sure to share and discuss this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 242!

Day 238: God's Temple

1 Corinthians 3:16-17

Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and you are that temple.

Temple-A temple is literally a house of the Lord, a holy sanctuary in which sacred ceremonies and ordinances of the gospel are performed by and for the living and also in behalf of the dead. A place where the Lord may come, it is the most holy of any place of worship on the earth. Only the home can compare with the temple in sacredness.

The temple is the place where God dwells, it is the holiest of holy places. God’s spirit remains in the temple. Since God is a Spirit, He cannot dwell in a place where sin is, it doesn’t work, God and sin cannot cohabitate.

I grew up being told that my body is God’s temple, not really understanding what it meant or the depth of that statement until I was older. When we hear this term it is commonly referred to in conversations about sex. How we should not have sex before marriage, or engage in any kind of sexual immorality.  That is spoken about in 1 Corinthians 5. While it is true we should not engage in any acts of sexual immorality, there is so much more to it. Sex isn’t the end all, be all of sin. The church puts a lot of emphasis on sex before marriage as the worst, most condemnable sin of all. However, there are a myriad of things that will make you a sinner, but that is another topic for another day. When we think about God’s temple what do we usually think about?

The place where God dwells must be a place that is acceptable for Him, and place where no confusion lies, no sin, nothing that separates us from God but a place full of worship. The place where God’s presence is constantly. That’s the temple. Now when we think of ourselves or our bodies as God’s temple we must think of who we are as a Christian and the lifestyle we lead. A question we should ask ourselves is, “Is my body a place where God can dwell?” Meaning am I living my life in such a way that God’s presence is with me at every moment? Am I living and acting in a way that shows the Holy Spirit is within me? Am I holy? I know that’s a scary word for a lot of people, but it’s a simple yet profound word. We all proclaim to be Christians, but are we living like one? Or are we trying to find loopholes in the word of God? Sometimes we try to get around the parts of the bible we think don’t apply to us or shouldn’t apply to us. That’s not how it works, it’s all or nothing. If we are God’s temple we cannot be half in and half out. I think too often we take this as a burden, we view holiness as a burden, and this grand impossible task. It is not, it is more of an opportunity to grow in Christ. It is an opportunity to be in tune with God to remain close to Him. When I think about I am truly honored, and filled with gratitude that God loves us so much that He wants to be where we are. He wants to dwell within us. That’s amazing! Holiness is not a burden it is a lifestyle, and when we view it as such, we will no longer be burdened by it. When we decide that serving God is better and more important than our need and want to sin, this life of holiness will be more rewarding and even more relaxing.

Another question to ask ourselves, are we taking care of our temple? I mean that in every way possible. What are we doing to make sure that our temple is in tip top shape? First I mean it spiritually, is our temple clean? Are we making sure that it’s getting everything it needs to function properly. Meaning, are we diving into our relationship with God, are we feeding our spirit with His Word, are we praying? If we are fully devoted to Christ and committed to this life as a Christian, our temples will not be destroyed. We are the only ones that can destroy our temple. But also are we taking care of ourselves? Are we the vessels that God wants.

This can also be emotional, mental, and physical. Let’s not let anything get in the way of us being used by God. We don’t talk about physical well being in the church a lot, but the way I view it is, we must take care of the the body God has given us. Meaning let’s eat healthy foods, and workout, we only get one body and God gave it to us, so let’s take care of it the best we can. Also we must take care of ourselves emotionally and mentally. We can’t let our emotional or mental well being get in the way of our spiritual lives.  These topics are also topics that are skipped over in the church, but I believe that while God cares about our spiritual lives, He also sees and cares about those of us who are going through heartbreaks and struggling with mental illness. He’s there to help you through it and heal you.

All this to say, we must be the temple of God, as place where His spirit dwells. In order for the Holy Spirit to dwell in a place, that place must be holy. Are we holy?

Reflection

(Ask yourself these questions)

1. Is my temple a place where God can dwell?
2. How am I living?
3. Is my temple clean?
4. Am I taking care of my temple?
5. If anything, what is stopping my temple from being a place where the Holy Spirit dwells?

Prayer Time

Allow your answers to the about questions guide your prayer. Talk to God about what it is to live and be holy, and be a home for the Holy Spirit. Ask Him to search you and cleanse your spirit and create a new heart within you. Have an honest conversation with Him.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day or evening! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 239.

Day 216: Walk With Me

Colossians 2:6

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,

Micah 6:8

He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?

One of the best things about life is doing it with someone else. It’s a great feeling to share your experiences and special moments with someone. I think that’s why marriage is so beautiful and sacred. We get to spend the rest of our lives sharing it with someone else. It’s beautiful. It’s amazing. What if we treated our relationship with God the same way. We get to walk through life with God. He’s always there with us, leading us, guiding us, and experiencing this beautiful life with us. We get a chance to  not only spend eternity with God but to spend our lives with Him, here on Earth. It’s like having someone with you everywhere you go holding your hand. It’s just that that someone is God and He does much more than anyone else could ever do.

Genesis 5:24

Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

Genesis 6:9

These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his time; Noah walked with God.

The Scriptures say these men walked with God. They lived blameless lives before Him. Now these aren’t the only people in the bible noted for their faith and walking with God, but I love that the scripture says they walked with Him. I’m not sure how many of you know the stories of these men, but they were known for their faith and obedience to God, as was Abraham, Moses, Paul, Isaiah, Jeremiah, the list goes on and on. They gave their lives to God and was dedicated to following Him and walking with Him all the days of their lives.

We are called to be in unity with God that’s our true calling. To walk with God, that’s why we're are here on this earth. When we walk with God the way we view the world and our lives change. When we walk with God we are close to everything we could ever need or want. When we walk with God, we don’t have to reach that far to get to Him. Walking with God means being in unity with Him. We can learn lessons from many people in the Bible about what it looks like to walk with God and what it looks like to try to live outside of His will.  

What I'm trying to get at here is pretty simple. We are meant to live our lives with God. If we want to do anything in this life and in this world worth something walk with God. When we walk with God he will lead us on a path of glory. He will take us where we need to go to get us where He wants us to be. There will be some valleys, and hiccups along the way but He’s right there with us. He never leaves us, He will never leave us. Ever! The only time we are separated from god is when we do it ourselves. Don’t walk away from God, walk with Him. Live with Him. Stay close to Him, that’s where we need to be. Right where God is.

Response/ Prayer Time

Take the time to respond to what we talked about today. Talk to God about what it means to walk with Him, to submit your life to Him and walk with Him all the days of your life.

If you haven’t submitted your life to Christ and would like to, now's the chance. If you would like to rededicate your life to Christ, now’s the chance to do so. If that’s you, if you want to make that decision today, pray this prayer with me.

Jesus I declare that you are my Lord and Saviour who died for my sin and was raised three days later. I repent of my sins and I give my life to you. I believe in my heart that you are the true living God. Thank you for saving me. In Jesus name, Amen.

If you made the choice to follow Christ, rededicate, or to submit your life to Him fully, Go to Romans 10:9-10

If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

I love you, congratulations to those of you who have decided to follow or rededicate your life to Christ today. THe next step would be getting plugged into a church and a small group if possible. If you have any questions or concerns don’t hesitate to contact me.

I love you and I hope you have an amazing day! Be sure to share this with someone and come back tomorrow for Day 217!