Living in Jesus Christ

1st Corinthians 12 is a powerful passage speaking of the spiritual gifts and the uses of them within the body of Christ. versus 1 through 11 deal with the specific gifts and their application but then starting in verse 12 through 24 is an analogy comparing the body of Christ to a physical body. And it speaks of how each part of the body is equally as important as the other and how they all have their purpose in the ultimate goal. There is much to be said about the 1st 24 versus of this passage But the last 2 verses really struck me this time reading through the passage. versus 25 and 26 talk about suffering and how the body is to care for itself in suffering. Verse 25 and 26 says “25 so that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. 26 and if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. In reading this biblical view of how the body of Christ should work I was really challenged in 2 ways. First, when it talks about all the members sharing in the suffering of one member it really hit me that this is often not the case on a small local scale where 1 hurting member should really affect the others. Yes we do a pretty good job of gathering around each other in major times of need such as a death in the family or major medical issue but what about  when a member of the body is being ridiculed and put down for their faith. The word used here for suffering, in Greek can also be translated persecution. If we use that translation the verse then reads “ and if any one member is persecuted all the members are persecuted with it”  this statement should be true of the body of Christ and if it is not true of the body of Christ then we are not as connected as we should be. If we are to lean on each other and depend on each other then when one of us encounters persecution on any scale big or small we should encounter it together.

The 2nd thing that hit me from this passage was in verse 26 wherein said “if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it”. This shows the selfless nature that has the body of Christ we should have. Instead of focusing on one’s self and what they have done we ought to focus on the greater goal. This excerpt goes against any competitive nature within the body of Christ because it is not about what the individual accomplishes but the group as a whole.

If you haven’t already read 1st Corinthians 12 I would strongly encourage that you do that!

Why do we so often feel overwhelmed by all the things in our lives? Why is it that we say that school, work ,or sports are taking us away from what really matters? Why do we use these as excuses? Do you really not have time for God and His word in your life day to day, or do you just say that to make yourself feel better about your apathy? This amazes me that Christians, who will sing praise songs on Sunday won’t actively be involved in reading and studying the word of God! Can we truly say we Love God and not even read his Word? Honestly if you had heard about a random stranger your whole life ,but never met him ,knew what he said, or never talked to him ,would you say you love him? Of course not, that’s crazy ,but more often than not that’s what “Christians” in America do. I am amazed by it. The Real question is, if we won’t even take time to read God’s Love letter to us and talk to him through prayer, would we even claim his name if it wasn’t socially acceptable? If you were made fun of for claiming His name would you still do it? Ill take it one step farther Johan Candelin, director of the WEA said this “We estimate that there are more than 200 million Christians in the world today who do not have full human rights as defined by the UN Declaration of Human Rights, simply because they are Christians. We believe that this is the largest group in the world without full human rights because of their beliefs,”. If you were one of those 200 million would you still be a “Christian”? Would you still follow Christ? If you are not adamant about reading Gods word and forming a true relationship with God, for you to claim to be a “Christ follower” is offensive, not only to the 200 million Christians being persecuted today for having that title, but also to the God who gave you life.

Romans 8:35 “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? 36 As it is written:

   “For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.”

 37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39 neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

ARE YOU WILLING TO RISK IT ALL!!!

Healed

My God is amazing! Today I was at The M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas getting tested for potential thyroid cancer. In result, thanks and praise being to God, when they did an ultrasound on the area they determined that it was unnecessary to do surgery because the growth was not cancerous. What makes this truly amazing is that a few weeks previous, we were advised by another doctor to have surgery to remove my thyroid. This was brutal news as a 17 year old with hopes of playing college football. The strange part was that going into the cancer center I was completely at peace. This can only be explained by God. Not only the fear of cancer, but my phobia of needles were completely overshadowed by the peace of God. In Philippians 4:6,7 it says,” 6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” Today this verse meant more to me than you could ever imagine. The peace of God that overcame me was not only miraculous but also very real, just ask my parents how I normally handle situations involving needles and any type of medical issue.

Possibly the most important aspect in this whole situation to me was the prayer of all  my family and friends. In James 5, it talks about the prayer of a holy man overcoming sickness and disease. We are never promised healing in the scripture, but we are promised that God works all things out for good. It is hard to take that attitude to a cancer center, and under our own power, it is impossible to maintain this mindset. With that being said, when we have the peace of God come over us, by the power of God we are able to keep this eternal mindset.

We all have “that guy” in our lives who is our “friend” when they need something, want to use our stuff, or need a loan. These people are quite annoying and are commonly referred to as “users.” Did you ever think that maybe you are spiritually “that guy”? What I mean by this is: do you spiritually use God? This is a tough question, but are you truly close to God when you’re going through a rough spot and need a miracle? It is obviously very appealing to anyone to have someone who they can pray to for their needs and ask for help, but if thats all God is for you then you don’t know Him very well. God is Love, we are created to have a real relationship with Him and if we truly understand what He did for us then we should strive to have the closest possible relationship with Him. Jesus Christ died for us, He gave His life so that we may live eternally. Words cannot describe the overwhelming emotions of thanks and gratitude I feel towards this man that LOVED ME so much that he would give His life for me. He did this for all of man kind and it is sickening to see Christians use Him.  It’s hard to put all trust in Him when you believe that you have it all under control. God is present during the hard times when we need Him just as much as when everything is going smooth. So, if we truly know Him, we will want that relationship and want to grow upon it.

Problems come in all shapes and sizes in life. Some can seem small and trivial, that we can handle on our own, but others are looked at as monumental and hopeless. The hard part is to trust God through all of our problems. Sometimes the small ones are so trivial to us that we think we don’t need God’s help. Therefore, we only decide to call on Him when faced with a “monumental problem.” The important thing to realize in this is that nothing is too big or too small for God’s concern.
Also in the bible it commands us not to worry over anything, it says in Matthew 6:26,27, “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they? 27 And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?”
This has been a very important verse for me personally over the past month as I have been facing a very frightening situation with my health. Back in December I was getting an MRI of my shoulder, for a torn peck, when they accidentally found a mass growing on my thyroid. After a needle biopsy they determined that the results were unclear so they are sending me to a cancer center in Texas to make the decision whether to operate and remove my thyroid, or monitor it with the risk of it spreading. Of course, I don’t believe in accidents; my peck was fine, I believe there was divine intervention causing the pains in my peck. This was a major set back for me and still is as I have not yet been to the doctor in Texas.
Yet in this I am trying to focus on the words of Philippians 4:6,7 which says,” 6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.” This peace is what has been helping me through this time. My dad showed me this verse several years ago and it has been one of my favorites ever since.
The final passage I have read over and over again is in James 1:2-4 ” 2 Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.” The most substantial struggle through all of this has been the thought that I am supposed to consider this situation in pure joy. This is very hard, especially being a 17-year-old boy faced with something as fatal as cancer; and on my own there would be no chance of this, but in the power of Christ Jesus through the peace He has given me, it is what I will do knowing that His good and perfect plan will prevail.

Revelation this word comes from the Greek root ἀποκάλυψις apokálypsis which literally means “lifting of the veil”. Knowing this translation is very important in understanding the 1st verse of revelation which says revelation 1:1 “ the revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show to his bond servants the things which must soon take place; and he sent and communicated it by his angel to his bondservant John”. The 1st part of this verse could also be translated “ the unveiling of Jesus Christ” knowing this gives a different insight to what revelation means. To me this means that Christ is being made known or “unveiled”. I think it’s important to approach revelation with this mindset of this being the unveiling of Christ because too often Christians are scared of the book or think of it as a book of Christ destruction and wrath but in reality we should view it as a book of great joy as the unveiling of our Savior. The next verse Revelation 1:2 “who testified to the word of God and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, even to all that he saw” is very impressive to me because the who in this verse is John and it says that he testified to “all that he saw”. This really stuck out to me because as a believer how many of us can really say that we testified to all that we saw? The 3rd verse is a blessing on those who read and heed the things that are written in this book. Revelation 1:3 “Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of prophecy and heed the things which are written in it; for the time is near.” This is the only book in the Bible that begins with the blessing to those who read it and conscientiously heed what it has to say. I found it very interesting that out of all of the books in the Bible and all the other lessons the Bible has to offer the one that speaks of the unveiling of Jesus Christ is the only one that comes with such a blessing to its readers. This underscores to me the importance of not only reading but taking to heart the prophecy. Verse 3 also gives a very clear reason as to why we should take heed to this book. At the end of verse 3 it says “for the time is near” the time it is talking about is the end of the modern “church” era and the beginning of the next time Period and the 2nd coming of Jesus Christ.

Philippians 1:20–21 “according to my earnest expectation and hope, that I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” This is a powerful verse for anyone who calls himself a Christian. It gives a sense of focus and direction to our life that our goal is that Christ will be exalted in our body whether we live or die. It also gives us a charge that we are not to be put to shame or worry about being put to shame but to declare the things of God with all boldness. This challenges us to really get out of our comfort zone and really be bold for Christ and his kingdom. The next verse is a very radical one it says “for to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.” Here Paul is essentially saying that the whole reason for him living is for Christ and his glory. This should reflect on how our lives are lived. If our faith is firmly rooted and we believe God’s Word then verse 21 should be true of our lives as well. The whole reason for us being on earth as Christians is to glorify Christ and if we truly believe the words of Christ and then when we die we go on to be with him. This should be considered a gain because we are leaving this earth of pain and suffering and going on to live with Christ for a eternity with no pain and no suffering. So in my life this verse means that no cost is too great and no shame or suffering is too much to bear because the sole purpose of my life is for Christ Jesus.

1st Corinthians 3:10–14

10 According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it. 11 For no man can lay a foundation other than the one which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. 12 Now if any man builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, 13 each man’s work will become evident; for the day will show it because it is to be revealed with fire, and the fire itself will test the quality of each man’s work. 14 If any man’s work which he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward. 15 If any man’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss; but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire

This passage of Scripture has been very important to me as I am reaching the end of my high school career.  As I am facing these big decisions such as where I will  go to school, what I will  major in, and who  I want to be ten years from now. As I’m thinking of this I realize what a strong base I have already  been given in Christ Jesus.So, now the real decision is how I’m going to build on what I’ve already been given. In these verses it talks of six different building  materials: wood, hay, and stubble or gold, silver, and precious stones. To me the wood hay and stubble represents worldly things that will not last and that when tested with fire will burn then go away just as the rest of the earthly things. These things don’t necessarily have to be bad they can be good things such as sports, friends, and innocent activities; but when they consume your time and become the focal point of your life therefore distracting you from what’s really eternally significant, they become a bad thing. On the other hand, you have gold, silver, and precious stone; these  are things with eternal significance. Things such as witnessing, bringing others to Christ, and creating disciples.  These things can even be regular things that you used to the glory of God. So the real question to ask when determining what is a good use of your time and what you should spend your life doing is this: “Does this have eternal significance?” So many times people are pushed away from the church and Christianity because of the ” holier than thou” people. This amazes me because in the grand scheme of things, there is no occupation greater than the other nor is there is there any occupation more spiritual than the other;  it’s what you do with that occupation. The best way I could describe it is: it’s not what you do but it’s how you do it. The minister is no greater than the janitor if they are both doing what they do for the glory of God and for His Kingdom. So I will end by saying this: when I look back on my life at the end and  ask the question,” Was my life eternally significant?” I want to be able to say absolutely. And that would be my challenge to you is to live a life that is eternally significant.

2 Corinthians 5:17“ therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!”. New Year’s Eve is the time for many changes and many resolutions. Everyone makes some sort of resolution with all intentions to keep it. But in reality how often do these resolutions actually impact the way we live. Most of the time resolution’s we make at New Year’s last a week or maybe even a month if that. This is the time that everyone decides to make a change for better or for worse. Most people are so drunk on New Year’s, that they don’t even remember. This year my challenge to you would be, not to focus on the meaningless resolution or what you’re going to get accomplished this year but to evaluate where you are spiritually and make your resolution around that. Try to make a resolution that will positively impact your life, one that’s worth sticking with.  Make a resolution that’s on the spiritual level, not on the superficial worldly level. It is also important to realize that New Year’s isn’t the only time to make a change like this. Most people only make resolutions once a year on New Year’s, because it’s tradition. Why don’t we make resolutions like this any other day of the year to impact the way that we live better why is it only wants to year that we decide we need a change?  Is it is also important to remember what Paul said to the Corinthians in 2nd Corinthians 5:17 “therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: the old has gone, the new is here!”. As we come into the new year and decide how we are going to live better it is important to remember these words that the old you has passed away and the new creation has come if you are in Christ Jesus. This means we should not focus on our faults and failures of the past because we are forgiven and made new in Christ. We are still to learn from our mistakes and failures, but we are not to dwell on them. We cannot let the mistakes of our past hold us back any longer. Because in Christ we are a new creation!

Proverbs 3: 24 “When You Lie down, You Will Not Be Afraid; When You Lie down, Your Sleep Will Be Sweet. 25 Do Not Be Afraid of Sudden Fear Nor of the Onslaught of the Wicked When It Comes. 26 For the Lord Will Be Your Confidence And Will Keep Your Foot From Being Caught.” As We Encounter Hardships in This life it Is Important to realize Who’s in Control. It Is Easy to Get Caught up In Thinking That We Have To Find Every Solution to Every Problem in Our Life. We Seem to Think That Every Fear Has To Be Overcome under Our Own Power, But This Is Not the Truth. As It Says in Verse 26 Of Proverbs Chapter 3 “The Lord Is Our Confidence And Will Keep Your Foot from Being Caught”. If We Truly Find Our Confidence in the Lord, And We Truly Believe That Lord Is All-Powerful. Then Why Do We Have Fear? If the Lord Is All-Powerful Isn’t He in Control of Every Situation? And If the Lord Is in Control And All-Powerful Then Who Do We Think We Are That We Can Solve These Problems on Our Own. Who Do We Think We Are To Face Fear Alone? Are We Putting Ourselves On the Same Level As God? Or Are We Merely Saying That God Isn’t in Control? We Should Have More Faith That God Will Handle Our Fears And Not Put All the Weight on our Own Shoulders. We Should Take To Heart The Words Of Isaiah 41: 10 “Do Not Fear For I Am with You Do Not Anxiously Look around You For I Am Your God I Will Strengthen You Surely I Will Help You I Will Uphold You With My Righteous Right Hand”. If We Take to Heart The Scripture Verses Then What Do We Have To Fear. Is There Any Fear in Our Life That Is Too Big for God to Handle? The Answer Is No! It’s Time to Put Our Trust in Him Not in Ourselves.