Christianity isn't Convenient

 

    Christianity is citizenship in Heaven.  It is stepping out in faith believing in something that could not happen unless God did it.  Jesus is real.  His life was real.  He still lives.  That is the root of faith and salvation.  When you believe and start declaring the truth you are claiming your salvation and the citizenship in Heaven.  

    Salvation is a free gift offered to every single person that has ever lived.  To accept the gift puts you in a position of compliance to God that gives you authority in the world.  You have a the title Child of God to live up to.  That means you die to your earthly desires every day to submit to God's authority over your life.  You are committing to an eternal relationship that makes you an ambassador for God.  You become a disciple that follows Jesus throughout your life.  That is not convenient, but it is an honor.

    Christianity is not convenient because you deny yourself for a life of service.  Living out your faith is sacrificial.  You sacrifice your comfort and an easy going life to honor God.  You do this because you love God and appreciate being His adopted child.  By embracing this life you learn to develop righteous character through trials, tribulation, perseverance, steadfastness, and self-control.  

    A Christian life is not always easy.  You face challenges, trials, suffering, persecution, and opposition that you would not face otherwise, but it develops your faith making you more like Jesus.  It is not convenient or easy sometimes, but it is worth it.  Your eyes are opened to the truth.  You are no longer easily decieved.

    If you expect life to get easy, comfortable, and entitled when you become a Christian, then reality will hit you hard.  It is an honor.  It is something that gives so much more than it takes, but it is not something that can be explained on paper.  Faith is not something that can be identified in this world.  It is something you have to do to be able to understand.

    A relationship with God requires effort and energy.  You have to prioritize Him in your everyday life.  It may sound like a big ask or something hard to do, but in reality God has met you over half-way.  He is just asking to have a relationship with you in return.  

    God gives you more than you can ever give back.  You should not feel entitled, but you should feel loved, special, and unique to be loved by God in that way.  The only way you can is to accept it and give back what you have.  The more you listen to the Holy Spirit and lean on God the more you have the capability to give back.  Learn to be patient and you will be able to see and experience more than you could ever imagine.  It all starts with a faith commitment and grows into an intimate relationship full of holy and righteous love.

Judges 8:27-35, Mark 8:34-38, Luke 9:23-27, 14:33, John 16:31-33, Romans 5:3-5, 12:1-2, Philippians 1:27-30, 3:12-21, & 2 Timothy 3:10-13

Am I the Problem?

 

    When your life is going badly ask yourself "am I the problem?".  Sometimes God will let things go wrong in your life to redirect your.  You insisted going your way, but His path for you is better.  Sometimes times you are living life for God and Satan attacks you to silence you.  Take it as a compliment.  It means Satan sees you as a threat.  Sometimes things happen because you live in the fallen world and God allows it for a purpose, possibly for someone else other than yourself.

    When Satan attacks you this is when you need to lean into God more.  If you try to do it on your own, you will have a really hard time and you will eventually fail.  There will be long term consequences like burn out.  It can take two to three years to recover from burn out.  It is better to avoid that route if possible.  God will lead you down the safest path even if it may look like the scariest path.  He will protect you and meet most of Satan's attacks on your behalf.

    Reality is you are your own worst enemy.  You cause more struggles in your own life than you think.  Most of it is in your head and you allow it to lead to conflict when no conflict was ever needed.  You are self-destructing when you choose sin over trusting God.  This is when you have to stop being the victim and start taking responsibility.  

    When life is not as you expected, wanted, or just bad take a look in the mirror.  Get into God's Word and ask yourself some uncomfortable questions.  Some questions are am I the problem in this situation?  Do I steal God's credit?  Do I give God the recognition He deserves?  What do I value and why?  Am I passionate for God?  How easily or often do I fall for temptation?  Do I even fight against temptation?  Am I willing to put in the work to have a close relationship with God?

    Take the time to self-reflect and if you find sin in your life repent so you can receive God's grace.  That is important step.  To stop doing what you can't stop doing alone you have to accept the grace and love from God.  You may know it, but that does not mean you have allowed it into your heart, mind, and life.  

    If you hold onto your shame, then you are not allowing God to heal you from your path.  Allow God to do what He is trying to do in your life and you will find true freedom from the strongholds.  It may take time for some people, but never stop pursuing what you know is right.  Seek God for wisdom in this journey.

    It takes courage to really dig deep and admit you are the problem in your life.  It take boldness to face it and decide you will change.  It takes self-discipline to change how you think and allow God to change perspectives that don't reflect His perfection.  It takes humility to see yourself the way God sees you.  You are loved by God, but when you choose the world over Him, you are also His enemy.  It takes humility to face the truth and want to change.  It take love to redirect your life.    

Judges 8:21-32, 1 Samuel 7:5-6, Psalm 37:23-24, 115:1-8, 139:23-24, Proverbs 28:13, John 1:16-18, Romans 8:1-4, James 1:5-21, & 1 John 4:11-12

Feelings

 

    Feelings are indicators that read when things are good, bad, unsafe, exciting, and more.  They don't know the truth.  You need to use your rational brain to control your feelings, but listen to your feelings to look for the truth.  Feelings are powerful and special, but your brain is in charge of them.

    Feelings are influenced by chemistry, hormones, events, and more.  They point you in a direction, but your thought process is what needs to be driving your actions.  When you are a Christian, you have the distinct advantage of the Holy Spirit helping you distinguish between feelings and rational thought.  He can help you follow your passions in life without ever sinning.  If it is not a passion that honors God, then he will redirect your passion in a better way.

    If you leave your feelings unchecked, then they will lead you astray from God.  Anger can turn into hate, rage, or actions like murder.  Lovey dovey feelings can lead to sexual sin.  Hurt feelings can sever relationships and lead to isolation, loneliness, and a hard heart.  The need to feel liked or accepted may lead to people pleasing instead of pleasing God.  There are other feelings that can lead to self-destruction like jealousy, fear, worry, and more.  The only thing that can really replace the negative feelings is God's love and truth.

    Feelings that you never learn to control will become a wedge between you and God.  Unintentionally they will drive you to other gods that only make the feelings run deeper and cause more chaos in your life.  A life led by feelings will lead to impatience, prideful, entitlement, indifferent to other people's needs, depressed, anxious, and other disorders.  All it means is that you found a crutch instead of true healing.

    When you allow happiness and an easy life drive your feelings, then you will make rash decisions that will cost you down the road.  When it comes to love find someone who believes like you and that you can suffer with.  Trying to avoid or hide from bad times will not keep them from coming.  Find someone that you can lean on and can lean on you to support each other through them.  That is true love, not the lusty feelings.  Love is an action.  Feelings are what draw you to a person to find out if it can be love or not.

    Feelings can be good or bad.  They are not assigned as evil or holy.  It is what you do with feelings that will drive you to honor God or away from God.  Feelings will not fill the void in your heart and soul.  Loving and committing yourself to God is the only thing that can do that.  You have to mature your feelings as you mature your faith or it will always be a hinderance holding you back.  

    It may sound simple to learn to control your feelings, but it is not.  The longer you wait the more work you will have.  The good thing is that you are not alone.  God is there to help, guide, and show you what real love is.  He teaches you in the Bible about emotions and how to use them and what to avoid.  You only need to face your feelings to learn how to identify them.  

    Ask yourself how they are affecting your life currently and how you can use them to have the life that you want or to serve God better.  Are you willing to wait on the Holy Spirit's guidance or will you allow impatience to drive your decisions?  Pinpoint your habits that are led by feelings, restructure them according to how the Holy Spirit leads, and make new habits that are healthy.

Genesis 27:11-13, Deuteronomy 17:14-20, Judges 8:19-21, Psalms 25:1-3, 26:1-8, Luke 12:29-31, Acts 17:27-29, Ephesians 4:17-19, Colossians 3:1-4, & Hebrew 4:14-16

Sin Spiral

 

    The sin spiral is when life is good and you let your guard down that you fall for temptation.  You do one small sin.  It takes the good life and makes it bad.  Then you continue to sin and your life continues to get morally worse and worse.  You may not see the consequences until it has piled high, but there will be consequences.  

    The sin spiral is the sin progression from giving into one small temptation and making it an action.  It all starts in your mind.  What you think about and meditate on is what you will eventually speak or act upon.  The sin spiral will even have you use the gifts that God has given you use for evil.  It can be one good truth twisted to feed your pride or ego turning it into sin.  Satan just needs to get your attention, from there you either run or self destruct.

    The spiral is when you have taken one step, then two, and before you know it you are completely off of the path that God designed for you.  You may wonder so far that you can't see it and feel completely lost.  The good news is if you are willing to put in the work and repent to God, then He will direct you back to your path.  

    Temptation and desire is your own evil desires.  They come naturally as part of living in the fallen world.  When you give into temptation you are sinning.  When you sin your abandon your relationship with God and defile yourself for something temporary.  It always leads to consequences that you will not like.  It will always cost you more than you are willing to pay.

    Once you give in to temptation it becomes normal very quickly.  You silence the Holy Spirit to normalize and tell yourself that what you are doing is okay.  It is the lie you feed yourself.  You don't need Satan for that.  You will fight relentlessly to defend the sin lifestyle that you are creating and you try to make other people be okay with it too.  If they are not, then you reject them because in your mind they are the problem.  It could not possibly be you.  This is how you rob yourself of the life you were always meant to have.  It is the path that leads to eternal death.

    The only way to break the sin spiral is to face yourself and your sinful nature.  Admit that you have gone down a path of sin.  You have to desire to be close to God again or for the first time.  Then you repent and start to hate the sin that caused you to get so far from God.  You have to destroy your idols to put God where He belongs: on the throne.  

    Faith and your relationship with God is the only way out of the sin spiral.  You will never be able to do it on your own.   You have to trust and rely on God.  You have to start listening to the Holy Spirit who will reveal what habits must be broken.  Follow Jesus and listen to the Holy Spirit is where you find restoration and forgiveness.  Then you are mentally able to stand guard again evil of all kinds.  Be patient and wait for the promises of God.  They are coming.

Exodus 32:1-5, Judges 6:25-26, 8:22, Romans 1:24-27, 6:20-23, 1 Corinthians 10:12-13, Colossians 3:5-11, James 1:12-15, & 1 John 1:8-10

Only God Part 2

 

    The first commandment is to have no other gods.  That commandment means to put God first.  He comes before your spouse, children, job, church, friends, activities, enemies, and everything else.  To be honest it takes work to put God first.  Life is full of distractions and that is not an accident.  Human nature is to embrace making yourself the god of your life.  Then you have Satan.  If he can't make you sin, then he will make you busy where you don't put God first.  

    You have to be intentional to keep God first in your life.  You have to prioritize time with Him.  You have to prioritize prayer in the good times and not leave it to when it is hard.  You have to invest into the relationship or it will become stagnant.  If you allow the relationship to become stagnant, then you have broken the first commandment.  

    God's commandments are not a list of rules.  They are boundaries for you lifestyle.  They reveal how much you really need God.  Jesus came into this world to teach you how to apply them to your life.  How they all set you up for a Christian lifestyle because to sum them up everything you do you do in love.  It is your love for God that allows you to live like Jesus.

    Take inventory of your life.  What do you occasionally or constantly put before your relationship with God?  Do you put desires, habits, people, activities, or needs before God.  You are in your head 100 percent of the time.  It is hard to push your inner thoughts to the side to listen to the Holy Spirit unless you are practicing listening and obeying.  

    It takes intentional practice to silent your thoughts and the distractions of life to hear the Holy Spirit directing you in your decisions and keep you on God's path.  It is your choice to destroy or remove permanently any distraction that the Holy Spirit convicts you of putting before God.

    Your relationship with God is personal.  Your path is personalized according to that relationship, but it always starts the same way.  You have to believe in Jesus, declare your faith, and decide to follow him no matter what.  Your discipleship training will be according to what you need to work on, surrender to God, and learn.  God will place people in your life that will walk through it with you and help you in your journey, but it is your journey.  

Deuteronomy 4:35-38, 6:4-9, Judges 6:25-26, 8:22, Isaiah 44:6-8, 45:1-7, Mark 12:29-31, Romans 1:21-23, 1 Corinthians 8:4-6, Ephesians 4:5-6, 1 Timothy 2:1-7, & James 2:19-20

Faith Momentum

 

   Faith Momentum comes from preparation.  You spend time in God's Word, you pray, you meditate, and you put your faith into action.  As you start seeing God work and your part in it, it makes you want to be fully invested.  Your faith in action is your ministry.  It may not be what you expected, but it is where God is using you now.  It could be in a blog, being a parent, teacher, boss, cafe owner, dog walker, and so many other avenues.  

    You allow God to build you up through scripture and trails.  You become strong enough to show other people the way through because you did not give up on your faith.  When you get through your trial or tribulation you will probably need a rest.  After a rest you should be energized and this is when God places responsibility upon your faith to press forward showing people the way.  The momentum helps you persevere while your focus is on Him .  This is a season of blessings.

    You build momentum in your faith in the preparation.  You follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit to put your faith into action.  It is in the small things you do daily.  All this prepares you for something big in your life.  Think about a wedding.  A couple will spend months doing things that no one ever sees for several month.  The wedding only happens for a moment, but it took months to prepare.  Your faith momentum is the same thing.  You spend months preparing, enduring, persevering for something that you may not even be aware of until it is over.

    Once the ball gets rolling everything happens very quickly, but you are okay because you prepared.  When it is all over you can take a step back and see how God worked through you.  If you do not prepare with the Holy Spirit the experience could be very different.  For an example if you don't study in school, then you will not be prepared for the test.  You very well may fail the test.  The same thing happens with your faith.  If you do not spend time in prayer, God's Word, or reflection then you will not be ready for spiritual attacks.  You are not as likely to endure to see the benefits.

    If you do not build momentum to succeed in your faith, then Satan will build momentum to make you fail and probably publicly.  His goal is to kill, steal, and destroy.  He would love to destroy your testimony, steal your blessings from you, and kill your passion for Jesus.  What he leaves behind is a shell of a person.  Even if you find yourself here, it is not too late.  You can turn to Jesus, confess where you went wrong, and allow Him to help build yourself back up.  As long as you live you have the opportunity to build a relationship with God.  

    The faith momentum for God looks like this.  You are going through something and you turn to God.  You allow Him to comfort you and get you through it.  Your faith grows as you see God come through for you.  As your faith becomes stronger your sinful nature starts to burn away.  By the end you have become a stronger version of yourself that looks more like Jesus.  

    The faith spiral is where you do not lean on God.  You go through something and you get mad at God or ignore Him.  You get weary and worn through.  You can't handle it on your own, but you become more isolated.  Your attitude becomes angry, bitter, or entitled.  You become more worldly and further away from God every day.  Slowly you are making yourself your own god by saying I got through this on my own or something that puts you in the place that belongs to God.  Even at your worst, you are not alone.  God is there with you and He can change your story.  He is the missing link in your battles.  He can renew or change your path.

Judges 8:13-19, Proverbs 3:5-6, Isaiah 40:26-31, Zechariah 4:6-7, Mark 1:35-39, Galatians 6:7-10, Philippians 3:12-14, Hebrews 12:1-4

Getting Weary

 

    Christians get tired and weary.  You are facing the world head on everyday.  You are dealing with reality of life and fighting spiritual warfare.  You are not ignoring it, but you are trusting God to fight all the unseen things in your life.  

    You grow weary and need a break.  You know this because fear, anxiety, stress, and other factors are starting to get to you.  He is where you trust God on when and where to rest and when to keep pushing to grow endurance.  You will never overcome fear, anger, anxiety, worry, or other things that pull you away from God unless you learn to lean on Him and push through it.  You have to get through issues instead of avoiding or redirecting or you will never find the rest you need.  You will not find the victory.

    God understands that you are human and that you have limits.  He ask you to trust Him, listen, obey, and let go of anything you don't need to try to control.  He will take care of you.  He will bring you comfort, renew your spirit, calm your mind, and give your body rest.  Ignoring God will lead to burn out and self-destruction.

    When you are getting weary trust that the rest you need is just around the corner.  It is always darkest before dawn.  The same goes for you.  When you feel like you can't go another step the victory is just a couple steps ahead.  When you feel frail the strength is about to come.  Get through it.  Allow the pain to work through your body.  The spiritual shower is going to be ready when the enduring faith gets you through the hardest part.  

    Do not feel guilty when you get tired.  Do not beat yourself up if you can't go on.  God will meet you where you are.  He will give you what you need to finish this trial, tribulation, or season well.  You won't do it perfectly, but your faith will get stronger if you don't give up completely.  

    There is physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual fatigue.  You can probably handle one of them on your own, but you don't need to.  If you are fatigued in more than one area or all then you are at risk of complete burnout.  This is dangerous because it can take a long time to get strong.  This is where you try to do too much on your own and do not give God control.  He ask little of you.  He wants you to give Him the heaviest load.   He never grows weary.  He can handle whatever the load is that you give Him.

    It is okay not to always be in motion.  It is good to be still.  It may just take a little work and discomfort for a while.  Once you learn this, then understanding your role in your spiritual life becomes a lot easier.  Being still with God enables you to hear His voice more clearly and you learn self-control.  It helps you see your life more clearly and gives you a better opportunity to be grateful.  It helps you hold onto your passion for God to keep pushing through your weariness because you know that God will tell you when to rest.  

Judges 8:4-12, Isaiah 6:8-10, 40:28-31, 41:8-10, Jeremiah 31:23-25, Matthew 11:28-30, Galatians 6:1-3, Philippians 3:12-14, & Hebrews 12:1-4