Mostly Anything

The Holy Spirit should play a very important role in our lives. Becoming a Christian is entering into a relationship with someone else who is alive and always present. It is like a friendship that enriches and enables and shapes our lives. The Holy Spirit is the presence of the living God among us and within us. A story in Acts says that the people who received the Holy Spirit spoke in tongues. That is one of the kinds of experiences that sometimes happens to make people know that God is there. Different people have different experiences. The really important difference God will make in your life is to teach you faith, hope, and love. (1 Corinthians 13)

If a person is to ever truly live, then they must accept the gift of life and be willing to use it for everyone’s benefit. To do otherwise is not only a waste of one’s life, but it is also a mockery to God. Life is full of choices. Sometimes the choices are not clear. Sometimes they are too clear and we miss it. Not all of the choices we make are right. But one thing seems especially clear. The choices made on behalf of other people are the ones which reap the most bountiful results. When we sow seeds of joy, we reap a crop of happiness. But when we sow seeds of discontent, we reap a bounty of unhappiness. Reaping what you sow is an idea that has been around for centuries. In the verses from Galatians 6, it gives this law of the harvest applied to the Christian’s walk. In order to reap the eternal rewards of salvation, a person must pursue the Christian life God has set before him or her.

The devil is the cosmic comedian of our day and the punch line is far from humorous. He is telling people they have to measure up to a certain standard in order to be accepted by God. As a result, many people really are feeling the pressure. To heavy hearts like those, Jesus spoke these words in Matthew 11:28-30:

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. “For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.” (NKJV)

He’s extending the same call today. Jesus is inviting people to accept him as the only way to know God instead of being the object of Satan’s joke by trying to measure up.

Many people carry that same burden today. The pressure often manifests itself in strained relationships, depression, stress, feelings of inadequacy, and other conditions that tell people they don’t measure up. They seek to get rid of the burden by trying harder, climbing the career ladder, impressing other people, taking on more jobs at church, adding new spiritual disciplines, and more. Underlying all these efforts is a drive to win the approval of God and others. Jesus used the yoke to show people the impossibility of measuring up to God’s standard. The instrument continues to speak today. No person can make a grade high enough to merit heaven. Attempting to do so is both frustrating and exhausting

you kids just don’t know

(Source: terrysdiary)

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gpowehave4dogs

TANK!!!!

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“The devil’s singing over me an age old song, that i am cursed and gone astray. Singing the first verse so conveniently over me, he’s forgotten the refrain - Jesus saves.” 

i think far too often we all forget the refrain. Jesus saves. He loves. He forgives. He humbles. He protects. He corrects. He holds. He comforts. He heals. He disciplines. He knows. He understands. He’s present. He wants us - in our sin, in our repentance, in our service, in our darkest and brightest hours. He redeemed us from the curse of law..saves us from everything we deserve, everything we consistently remind ourselves that we aren’t worthy because of.

we keep these tallies that are seemingly impossible to erase from our minds. and while its unfair of us to do this to ourselves, how much more unfair is it that we do it to God? like…”i know you did all that hanging on the cross for me big guy, but i mean, i sinned again. and again. and here and there and again. so thats cool that you did the whole dying thing, but that doesnt really amount to how badly ive screwed us both over.”

we don’t live redeemed lives. when we repent and turn from our ways, its essentially turning to a clean page. yes, there are pages before - parts of stories - but you just turned to a clean page. nothing on it. nothing to dictate how our stories need to end. and the thing is, He made that possible. He did that for us. now, with this fresh beginning, we’re a part of a bigger story; and that story is the glory of God.

recently i’ve refered to “the bigger picture” a lot. a lot a lot. and here’s a picture we all need to see and remember. a timeline, span of 2000 years. please picture this: all of the events, in all of the lives that have taken place in those 2000 years, give them a spot on this timeline. give your life, even just your birth, a spot on that 2000 year timeline. He died then, for you now. and yall, we need to be stunned by that. humbled. appreciative. empowered. He wanted you. He chose you. we have to live our lives like that matters. and if we arent going to do that, then we just shrug our shoulders at the magnitude of the God we claim to love and serve.

so be encouraged. you’ve been redeemed from the curse of law by the God of the universe. remember that we cannot gain salvation if we’re too busy embracing our accusations. i’ll leave you with a quote that i remind myself of often:

“sometimes the lies are so much louder. that is because they have to be screamed. when, the truth, is quiet and still and sits..waits for you to find it. but when you find it, its so powerful that in order to survive, the lies throw themselves around with startling intensity. don’t listen.”

A large theme of ministry with young people these days centers on the problem of forgiveness. Many believe that God can forgive others who do horrible things but they don’t often believe that God’s forgiveness can be offered to themselves. Some think that they are such horrible sinners that God couldn’t possibly want anything to do with them. Some of this bleeds over into issues of discernment. God couldn’t possibly offer them a life that will make them feel fulfilled. Young people often get mixed messages from us. Perhaps our message is simply that it’s OK for them to not always do things the right way. That trying something new and exploring while they’re youth is often a way to figure out just who you are. God knows who you are, he knows our mistakes. We can not pretend to be something we are not to him. We are sinners, just as those who we hear and gossip about. God will forgive us just as well as them when we bring it to him. As long as we truly repent and confess our sins and OWN OUR MISTAKES

HOW is a man going to believe when he does not know what and whom to believe, seeing he has no spiritual eyes with which to see his own sinfulness and the beauty of the Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ?

I hear and read much today of those who are seeking the Holy Spirit when they should be seeking Christ, Whom the Holy Spirit came to reveal, for they have never bowed to His authority. There are those who are seeking for the power of the Holy Spirit in manifestation when they know nothing of His powerful work in their souls to break the power of sin. There are those seeking the gifts of the Spirit who have never been partakers of the greatest gift He can bestow, and that is a broken heart and a contrite spirit before God. There are those who are seeking the Holy Spirit so they can see miracles, but have never had the miracle of the New Birth worked in their hearts by the Holy Spirit.

The Bible describes the Holy Spirit as the Spirit of the One True God in the Old Testament, and in the New Testament as the Spirit of Jesus Christ. There is no distinction between the two, for the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Jesus are synonymous or the same Spirit. God uses the Holy Spirit to accomplish His great feats of creation, gives power to people to rule, and power of instruction and warning.

The Pioneer in modern golf and just the coolest golfer ever!!!! RIP Payne Stewart

westcoastdigress:

Sooooo I can do that!!!!