I came across this article from the Resurgence about the importance of keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus (Hebrews 12:1-2) in the fight against sin in our daily lives and thought it might be helpful to some that might be reading this blog.

Keep Your Eyes on Jesus 

In Christ, we have a firm foundation upon which to stand on. When things get rough or the seas of life get stormy, all we need to do is look to Christ and His Word to be reminded that in Him we have a firm foundation that will not be shaken. 

"...if we are faithless, He remains faithful." (2 Timothy 2:13)

A person's faithlessness (i.e. abandonment of the faith does not affect God's faithfulness (i.e. His commitment to His mission to save sinners).

Sin can't enslave a person who is utterly confident and sure and hope filled in the infinite happiness of life with Christ in the future (John Piper).

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:16-18)

For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us (Romans 8:18)

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2 NIV1984)

Reminders are Good.

When we blow it and sin we have the glorious opportunity to just marvel at the Gospel.
When our minds go to places that they shouldn't, when our mouths say things that they ought not to say, when our hearts don't desire and treasure Jesus Christ above everything else, we have the glorious, wonderful opportunity to marvel at the Gospel; what God did for us in Christ Jesus to save us from the power of sin and death and to reconcile us back to Himself.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation. (Romans 5:6-11 ESV)

I saw a bird yesterday as I was sitting outside at the local coffee shop reading and was reminded of Jesus' words in Matthew 6:26

Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?

God provides what we need when we need it.

Can I say that no matter what, in having little or much, that God is enough? Jesus needs to be my greatest treasure because He is enough; He is sufficient.

Can I say with the author of Hebrews, that I can be content with whatever I have because God said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Hebrews 13:5).

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what
you have, for he has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you.

In any situation in this life that I could face, God promises that He will never leave me nor forsake me. Even in the deepest depths of sadness and pain, God will be there.

How He Loves

Just thought I'd share a quick video about how Jesus never lets go of us and He won't give up on us despite what we go through.

Obeying Jesus Everyday in our Lives

It's so easy to read the stories in the Bible about people who disobeyed God when He was calling them to do something or go somewhere. The one person that comes to mind is Jonah. God had called him to go to Nineveh and call the people of Nineveh out because of the evil that was being done there and bring them to repentance and the forgiveness of sins. But instead of obeying God and going into Nineveh and call them out because of their sins before God, Jonah went the complete opposite direction and caught a ship in Joppa that was headed for Tarshish. Now when we read this in Job 1 it seems like we all too often (or maybe its just me) think that we would have done different than Jonah and would have obeyed God by going into Nineveh. But think about this, how many times have we disobeyed in just the small matters of life such as not sharing the love of Jesus and what He did for everyone by dying and rising again three days later, paying the price for our sins? Or praying, loving, and caring for those people in our lives that we don't get along with. Now I'm not judging or condemning anyone, I'm just as guilty of disobeying God in my life as anyone else. But the good news is that Jesus Christ died and rose again paying the price for our sins and disobedience! Let's repent of our disobedience and seek God's face everyday; obeying Him in everything that we do!

Don't Waste This Life!

Where is all this leading? Where am I going? O Lord, I'm reaching, I'm calling out to You. Asking You to guide me through the fog of life lately. All the days of my life guide me, comfort me. Your thoughts are higher than my thought; Your ways are higher than my ways. O God, You are in control; You are Sovereign over all circumstances in my life. In my weakness, You are strong.You provide me Your strength when I have none. My greatest desire in this life here on earth is to glorify You and You alone with this life. I want to live this life that is worthy of the calling that i have received...All for Your glory Lord Jesus!

I want my life to make a difference. I want my life to count. This life that I live is not my own. I was bought with a price; bought by the blood of Jesus Christ. This life that I live belongs to Jesus, it it not my own. I desire for Jesus Christ to be magnified in my life!

Writer's Block

So the past few days I haven't really been able to think of much to write on/about. I've just been struggling to get anything down on paper. Any topics or ideas of something that I could write about would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Keep your Eyes on Jesus

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2 ESV)

In the midst of everything that we go through in this life; all the struggles, sin, trials, and triumphs it is of the utmost importance to always keep our eyes fixed on Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith . If we get distracted and take our eyes off Him then we start living this life for ourselves and our own selfish desires and we stop living our lives all for Jesus and His glory.

Sometimes by David Crowder Band

I have been listening to this song a lot lately and a few lyrics in particular have really stuck out to me each and every time that I have listened to it. Here are those lyrics:

When we've given up
Let your healing come
When there’s nothing left
Let your healing come
Til we’re rising up
Let your healing come
Where You go we will follow
Where You go we will follow

Temptation

In Christ we have the power, mercy, and grace to flee from any temptation that would cause us to sin! Don't try to resist temptation, FLEE from temptation into the arms of our Lord, Savior, King Jesus Christ!

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need (Hebrews 4:14-16 ESV).

As I was reading this passage of Scripture this morning, I was reminded again that even as we are tempted to sin, Jesus was also tempted yet He did not sin. So He can sympathize with us when we are being tempted to sin and we can look to Him and Him alone to "receive mercy and find grace" in our time of temptation and need.

Friends

Tonight I was reminded just how good it is to reconnect with old friends that I haven't talked to in a while. It is so cool to hear how God has been working in their lives as well to share what God has been doing in my life over the past year. I was also reminded just how important to it is to have others that I can share my struggles, trials, successes with, or just to learn from one another. Just knowing that someone is or has dealt with something that I have or am dealing with is so encouraging and helpful. I also praise and thank God for friends that care enough to pray for me and just to talk about God and life with.

To wrap things up I want to share some passages of Scripture that I have kept coming back to time and time again...

"Consider it a great joy, my brothers, whenever you experience various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. But endurance must do its complete work, so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing" (James 1:2-4).

"We know that all things work together for the good of those who love God:those who are called according to His purpose" (Romans 8:28).

Goodness vs. the Cross

Just thought I'd share a little video that I saw on Youtube. It is an excerpt from a sermon by Matt Chandler, a pastor down in Dallas, Texas.
This clip is basically talking about how we cannot save ourselves and how it is only God that can justify and save us from sin and death.

God's Grace in my Life

Even in the dark moments God is there. When nothing seems to be going right He is there. When it feels as if the world is crumbling down around you, just cry out to God and He'll listen and be your Comforter. So often life seems uncertain to us, the direction of our lives seems unclear, but God is faithful and will guide us even in the midst of great sadness, confusion, fear, etc.
God is faithful even when I'm not. He will never leave me nor forsake me. His grace poured out for me is like an ocean in which I'm drowning in. The fact that even when I'm at worst, even when I sin and mess up He still loves me and is always with me, just completely blows me away and leads me to praise Him all the more.
I've screwed up a thousand times in my life and I will screw up a thousand more, but by God's grace and the strength that only He can provide I will get through all of it and come out better than I was before; all to God's glory.
If it wasn't for the hope that I have in Jesus Christ I have no idea where I would be today. God was always pursuing me, always calling out to me, even when I wanted nothing to do with Him. That is true love right there! God is so good!
To think that the God that created everything would want to have a relationship with a ill deserving sinner like me and would send His Son Jesus Christ to die for all my sins is just so incredible to think about! I praise God for His grace and mercy that I have received.

Gospel

The Gospel is not a command to do anything at all. Meaning we cannot make ourselves righteous and good, we need the grace of God through Jesus Christ.
Gospel means "good news." Being brought from sin and death to righteousness and eternal life by the grace of God through Jesus Christ, certainly is the best news that a person could ever hear!
The Gospel is an announcement that Christ has already defeated sin and death.

It is Finished! (John 19:30)

The battle has already been won! Jesus paid it all! We are victorious in Christ!
Christ exchanged our sins for His righteousness when He died on the Cross as He took the punishment that we deserve. "The Glorious Exchange"
Jesus is the Hero! It's all about Him!
Our relationship with God has nothing to do with our performance; it has everything to do with Christ's performance for us!
All too often in our relationship with God we drift into a "performance mode" which can easily take our eyes off Jesus and what He has done and is doing for us.

Freedom!

Freedom. It's kind of a funny word isn't it? Many people think they know what freedom is, but do they really? You hear the word thrown being thrown around a lot by people today; they say they have freedom to do this or that, freedom to say what they want, freedom to think how they want, etc. But somewhere along the way all of these freedoms run into some restrictions and can be frustrated. So this bring us to the question: What is true freedom and what does it look like to be truly free?
True freedom is found only in Jesus Christ and living a life of followingandobeying Him.
True freedom is leaving our former way of living behind and putting off our old selves (Ephesians 4:22) to follow Jesus. Putting off our old selves frees us to live our lives anew for Christ. We, as Christians, are called to be "imitators of God, as beloved children"(Ephesians 5:1). We are called to walk in love just as Christ loved us (Ephesians 5:2).
True freedom is being able to, by the grace and mercy of God through Jesus Christ, to "live as children of light (Ephesians 5:8). In our former ways of life we were in darkness, but now we are light in the Lord (Ephesians 5:8-9).

Following Jesus

When we declare Jesus Christ as Lord of our lives we are giving up control of our lives to the One that deserves all of us; every last inch of our bodies, hearts, and minds. But all too often I think it is easy to get caught up in the busyness of our lives and our routines that we begin to live contrary to what we believe. We try to control our lives and make our own plans without relying solely on Him.
I've heard it said before that we need to daily surrender our needs, plans, and wills to God. For many the thought of doing this is completely frightening, but by surrendering everything to God it keeps us from worrying and freaking about the future for our lives.

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.
(Matthew 6:34 ESV)

When we daily surrender all of ourselves to God that frees us up to live for the glory of God, because we aren't preoccupied with trying to control our lives and figure our futures out.

Busyness of Life and Messed Up Priorities

In the midst of daily life for me it can be difficult to really get into God's Word on a daily basis. Sure its easy to just quickly read through a verse of the day from Bible Gateway, but to find time to really dig into a passage of Scripture and prayerfully read through it, can be quite hard during the week and even on the weekends. Some days I feel like I'm being pulled in multiple directions and the pulling won't relent. To be completely honest, there are some days where I don't even open up my Bible and read it, and I know that that's not good; I know that I should be getting into God's Word daily, but just sometimes it just feels like I don't have two minutes to sit down and read.
I think I one thing that I need to do is eliminate some of the things in my life that are just plain time wasters, such as extended periods of time on Facebook, watching pointless T.V. shows, or just surfing the Internet. When I think about all the time that I'm wasting by doing those things, it really upsets me that reading and studying the Bible so often falls to the bottom of priority list. I don't want it to be like that; I want to and need to get into my Bible daily!
In 1 Timothy 3:16-17, it says that "all Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work."
I pray that I would get my priorities in order and that I would daily surrender and allow God to work in my life and teach me, correct me, and train me so that I can competent and equipped for every good work that God would have for me in my life, now and in the future.
Here's a short video from the Skit Guys showing different perspectives on the Bible.

Real, Passionate Faith

Is what I say I believe in actually affecting the way in which I live my life? In other words, do I live out my faith each and every day? Am I relying on the Holy Spirit to help me walk and talk like Jesus did so that I can glorify God with my life? Am I living to give all glory to God in whatever I do (1 Corinthians 10:31)? Or am I living for my glory and the praise of others? When I succeed or something good happens in my life, do I take the glory for myself or deflect the glory and praise to God, the One who desires all glory and all of my praise. I pray that when successes come in my life that I would deflect all the glory and praise to God.
Am I living my Christian life with so much passion that others ask why I'm so different? Can others see that I met and know Jesus Christ (Acts 4:13)? I pray that I would live each day with a passion for Jesus Christ; that I'll be overflowing with His love so that people will ask why I'm so different and I can share what Jesus has done in my life.

Salvation is of the Lord

I don't really have much to write today so I just thought that I would share a devotion from Charles Spurgeon that I went through this morning. The main Scripture verse was Jonah 2:9...

But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay.Salvation belongs to the LORD!”(Jonah 2:9 ESV)

Salvation is the work of God. It is he alone who quickens the soul “dead in trespasses and sins,” and it is he also who maintains the soul in its spiritual life. He is both “Alpha and Omega.” “Salvation is of the Lord.” If I am prayerful, God makes me prayerful; if I have graces, they are God’s gifts to me; if I hold on in a consistent life, it is because he upholds me with his hand. I do nothing whatever towards my own preservation, except what God himself first does in me. Whatever I have, all my goodness is of the Lord alone. Wherein I sin, that is my own; but wherein I act rightly, that is of God, wholly and completely. If I have repulsed a spiritual enemy, the Lord’s strength nerved my arm. Do I live before men a consecrated life? It is not I, but Christ who liveth in me. Am I sanctified? I did not cleanse myself: God’s Holy Spirit sanctifies me. Am I weaned from the world? I am weaned by God’s chastisements sanctified to my good. Do I grow in knowledge? The great Instructor teaches me. All my jewels were fashioned by heavenly art. I find in God all that I want; but I find in myself nothing but sin and misery. “He only is my rock and my salvation.” Do I feed on the Word? That Word would be no food for me unless the Lord made it food for my soul, and helped me to feed upon it. Do I live on the manna which comes down from heaven? What is that manna but Jesus Christ himself incarnate, whose body and whose blood I eat and drink? Am I continually receiving fresh increase of strength? Where do I gather my might? My help cometh from heaven’s hills: without Jesus I can do nothing. As a branch cannot bring forth fruit except it abide in the vine, no more can I, except I abide in him. What Jonah learned in the great deep, let me learn this morning in my closet: “Salvation is of the Lord.”