Vlog

Hope in a tough situation

John 6

Call or Command  1/19/18

Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20 NLT

In addition to being Jesus’ final teachings before the ascension, they also give the blue print to walk a victorious life in Christ and the keys to discovering our individual calling.  As “The Church” this is our Great Commission, a command really.  For years I kinda felt like this was a good plan and needed to be done, but it wasn’t my thing.  I wasn’t sure what my thing was, but it surly wasn’t Evangelism or Discipleship or this Great Commission, after all, isn’t that what the Pastor is for.

It wasn’t long before the Holy Sprit started changing my view.  As someone who wanted to know more about the Bible and Jesus and God, I began to ask, what is my thing?  What is the calling God has on my life?  And to be honest, each step of faith leads to more unknown!  But one thing I am sure of is this, the Great Commission and all of the commands Jesus made were directed specifically at me, and you and He’s still waiting for us to get it done.  If the desire of my heart is to grow and learn and walk in the specific call God has for me, the best place to start is by fulfilling the commands, evangelizing and discipling are two of them.  When I say yes to these the commands, the Holy Spirit adds to me, the grace and power to do it and insight in my ultimate call.  When I say no, the grace and power is invested elsewhere and the path of my call is not revealed.  Not that I’m out of God’s grace if I say no, but the new and fresh infilling to do His command is withheld.  That’s the difference between walking in victory and walking in unfulfilled expectation.  Go, be, and do and God’s grace will fill you anew.  Stay, wait and see, and miss what you’re called to be.

More than Just a Free Gift 1/17/18

Not at all! And you will perish, too, unless you repent of your sins and turn to God. No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will perish, too.”
Luke 13:3‭, ‬5 NLT
These are the words of Christ Jesus. Harsh, Maybe. Uncompromising, Absolutely! To let our message be any less harsh or uncompromising we would be missing the point. One thing Jesus wasn’t worried about was numbers, He let the numbers take care of themselves. He didn’t wake up everyday wanting to multiple his followers. He woke up everyday wanting to make the disciples He had stronger, wiser and more prepared. The Bible also says that many people will cast out demons in Jesus name, and do mighty works in Jesus name, but on the final day Jesus will tell them to get away from Him because He never knew them. Taking the free gift of salvation isn’t the same as making Jesus your Lord. We must do both. The free gift isn’t fully accepted until it changes the way you live. Repentance is the key. I can accept a new job, but I have to show up to it everyday in order for it to impact my life, accepting the position isn’t enough.