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Constant Renewal

Paul urges those who read and hear his letter to respond to the good news by offering their bodies — eyes, ears, mouths, hands, feet — to God as a “living sacrifice.” Paul knows well enough that sacrifice of Jesus changes everything. His resurrection steals life from death and makes it possible for those who trust in Him to become a sacrifice and yet live. But how do we live? We do not live as before, wrapping ourselves in the world and its bankrupt values. We live in constant renewal and transformation of our minds.

I recently bought a copy of the Voice Study Bible, to use as a resource for the student ministry at St. Philip’s UMC, also known as Pulse Student Ministries. By far my favorite thing about this particular study bible is the text that is in the margins. The quote above is the reference to Romans 12:1.

I wanted to focus on one part of it though.

But how do we live? We do not live as before, wrapping ourselves in the world and its bankrupt values. We live in constant renewal and transformation of our minds.

I love the part of that phrase that says: Constant Renewal

Lately God has been showing me how much we forget about His love and put more trust in possessions. Things that we can have. In this season of Advent God calls us to embrace Him and wait for celebration of the birth of His son. I am reminded of all the people that God used to come to this world and that they were not the people that we would have chosen to be the people that would be present at His birth. I don’t think we would have chosen an unwed teenage girl and a humble carpenter for Jesus’ parents.

I suppose that is difference between our perspective and God’s.

God has no concern for the external, but on what is going on in the heart; on the internal. He sees us for who we really are and tells us that we are called to serve Him and to live our lives as an act of worship. We are no longer living the bankrupt values of this world, but the surpassing values of the Kingdom of God.

May God bless the hearers of His word to love as He loves, encourage as He encourages and to be as He is.

Amen.

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Starting Off Right

Every week like any other church we have a full staff meeting together and share what is going on in our ministry together at St. Philip’s United Methodist Church. At St. Philip’s we start our Staff Meeting with the sacrament of communion.

So before we do anything we start with what God did for us.

Why is this so important?

Simply because you are not defined by what you do everyday but by the faithfulness of Jesus Christ. This faithfulness is the launching point for everything we do.

So, are we starting our day off right?

Let us together start with Christ and let Christ’s love and grace be the launching point of everything.

The end.

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Prayer through the Psalms

Last week at our Wednesday night program for Pulse Student Ministries we started a new series. It’s called “Reach” and it is all about the Psalms and how they are really honest communication between God and King David and several other Kings as well. The Psalm we covered last week has still been on my heart since last Wednesday. For the purpose of this post I would like to focus on Psalms 86:6-7

“Listen closely to my prayer, Lord;
pay close attention to the sound of my requests for mercy.
Whenever I am in trouble, I cry out to you,
because you will answer me.” (Psalms 86:6-7 CEB)

At first glance this last Wednesday night I was struck by King David’s confidence in verse seven that God would answer him when he cries out, but even more so with the somewhat arrogance to say:

“God pay attention closely.”

I have always admired how honest David is with God. Though he made many mistakes, but he constantly bows down to God and pleads for help. I have to ask myself how honest I am with God in my prayers.

Which is kind of a ridiculous thing, why wouldn’t we be honest with God? I mean he already knows everything why wouldn’t we share everything with Him?

However, we really don’t do we?

There is a part of the human condition that motivates us to resist being open to God, or anything or anybody for that matter. We are selfish and stubborn after all, or at least I am. I know that I am so stubborn that I will mess up tons of time before I totally realize that my approach may not be the best in the world.

When we truly embrace the love and grace of God and let him in we truly embrace the best approach ever.

We are made to desire to be in community, to have relationships with others, but its more than that. We have this desire to have a relationship with God because we are made in His Image and He desires to be in relationship with us because of His great love and grace.

So, are we being completely honest with God?

If not, why?

Lord God help us to know you anew. Help to fall in love with you a fresh and embrace the goodness of grace.

Amen.

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In All Things.

 

I found this today on Facebook, courtesy of YouVersion’s Facebook page. It is a simple passage from the Word of God, but in today’s day in age, specifically the political season it is not simple.

Or is it?

According to Jesus, all the law and the prophets are summed up into this new commandment. This is a crucial commandment to us now and forever. Yet today in our nation we are submitted to hate being spewed between not just two candidates but between friends, family, and church communities.

One question: What message do you think we are sending to the world by doing such things?

Jesus knew what He was doing when he surmised that Loving all people is better than hate, because hate raws the bones of our bodies. I understand that everyone is different in their opinions, but that doesn’t mean they are bad. Like I said I am not campaigning for any thought, except that we are called to love all people.

Jesus says this is how we will be known as His disciples, so again I ask what happens if we don’t love? Could we possibly send the wrong gospel about Jesus to the world? Could we give people the wrong image of Christ by not doing this?

I don’t know.

All I know is that Christ told us to love as He loves. That’s all I need to know because as His disciples we must listen to the teacher and put them into action.

It really is that simple.

So, please for the sake of the gospel, LOVE.

May God encourage and equip us to love as He loves.

In all things.

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Letting God In

“Therefore, my dear ones . . . work out (cultivate, carry out to the goal, and fully complete) your own salvation with reverence and awe and trembling (self-distrust, with serious caution, tenderness of conscience, watchfulness against temptation, timidly shrinking from whatever might offend God and discredit the name of Christ). [Not inyour own strength] for it is God Who is all the while effectually at work in you [energizing and creating in you the power and desire], both to will and to work for His good pleasure and satisfaction and delight” (Philippians 2:12,13)

“Hear this: I don’t think God wants you at war with yourself. He sent the prince of peace to soothe those tumultuous waters already. Self-depreciation is a cruel response to Jesus, who died and made us righteous. Guilt is not Jesus’ medium. He is battling for global redemption right now; his objective hardly includes huddling in the corner with us, rehashing our shame again. He finished that discussion on the cross. Plus there is no time for that. We’re so conditioned to being a problem that we’re actually the answer.” -Jen Hatmaker

Over the last couple of years I have noticed something about people and in particular followers of Jesus. It is easier to extend grace to everyone else, but when it comes to extending grace to ourselves that is something that is almost impossible. I work with teenagers, as many of you well know and the thing that really gets to me about teenagers is sometimes they surround themselves around people that may not have the best influence on them. 

Why?

Well I think I have come to realize that not just teenagers, but people in general invite people into their lives that they think they deserve. Which could be possibly why some girls have the worst boyfriends.

Why are we always so self-destructive?

Why is it so easy to invite destructive people into our lives but so hard to invite our Creator?

In some people situations they are haunted by what has happened in their past and a part of them feels that they are defined by what happened 10 years ago, but it was 10 years ago!

See this is the exact reason why God sent His son.

So that we wouldn’t defeat ourselves but that we would be redeemed and would live a life abundantly and not shackled. Christ died for all our lives so that we could have a fresh start, so that we can try again. In the same way He extended grace to us we are to extend it to the world and also ourselves because sometimes the worst critics of ourselves is in the mirror.

Here is the point. We let people that destroy us in but not God, but in order to truly experience the abundant life that is full of redemption we have to let God in. God is the perfect gentleman He won’t force Himself upon anyone. He wants us to choose to let Him in because when we make that choice then our very heart desires it as opposed to being forced. True disciples are developed through our own desire for God to come in and help.

May you let God in and may God truly show you the abundant life that He has for you.

Amen.