I still remember the days in high school in which I would come home with some kind of fine or something that needed to be paid to the school that I just could not handle myself. For example, during my freshman year of high school, there was a filed trip to Williamsburg, VA, Busch Gardens to be exact, and I had absolutely no job and no means to pay for the trip by myself.
However, I did know that whenever I went home, there would probably not be any problem with the monetary cost of the trip. Not saying that my parents had all of the money in the world, but they had enough to supply and care for the family. Therefore, when I gave it to my parents, it was handled and I was able to go on the trip.
Tomorrow, I will take antoher aspect of this stroy bu for now let us focus on the fact that whenever I stepped through the threshold of my house, I knew that my concerns were handled. That is how it is in Christianity as well. God is the Father, who has all that one may need. Once your burdens are truly given to Him, there is nothing more to worry about. Ive heard it said, "If you are going to worry, dont pray. But if you are going to pray, there is no need to worry!" Do you have peace of mind in the Father?
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Actual Shining
The South Carolina Christian Conference was held at the Marriott in Spartanburg, South Carolina on yesterday. At this conference, a lot of different organizations, ministries specifically, came to celebrate the works of Christ in the city of Spartanburg. Along with this, was a speaker, Chris Pollard. He is a Pastor at the Journey Church in Spartanburg, SC. He spoke on the theme of the conference, which was letting our light shine, not verbatim.
That got me to thinking, the verb. "to shine" is active. That is, it requires some type of action at some level. However, the verb to glow, is more passive. For example, it does not take any action for your watch to glow in the dark. However, when a light bulb shines, it uses energy!
We are not called to only glow, but also to shine! Yes, we are to glow as well in the since that even when no one is looking, we are to be living a life based on the life of Christ. However, we are also to shine, which translates to actions being done to some capacity that reflect the life of Christ.
That means going and loving the unlovable, not only praying for the fallen, but helping them up, active benevolence to share the love of Christ! that is actively shining, so let our lights shine for Christ!
F.Y.I.- Do to recent schedule changes, the times that the posts are written are now designed to be read later in the evening, maybe during your quiet time after work or at night, as Christian food for thought for the next day, something to start your tomorrow with strong! God bless you all on behalf of H.O.P.E. Ministries of the Upstate!
That got me to thinking, the verb. "to shine" is active. That is, it requires some type of action at some level. However, the verb to glow, is more passive. For example, it does not take any action for your watch to glow in the dark. However, when a light bulb shines, it uses energy!
We are not called to only glow, but also to shine! Yes, we are to glow as well in the since that even when no one is looking, we are to be living a life based on the life of Christ. However, we are also to shine, which translates to actions being done to some capacity that reflect the life of Christ.
That means going and loving the unlovable, not only praying for the fallen, but helping them up, active benevolence to share the love of Christ! that is actively shining, so let our lights shine for Christ!
F.Y.I.- Do to recent schedule changes, the times that the posts are written are now designed to be read later in the evening, maybe during your quiet time after work or at night, as Christian food for thought for the next day, something to start your tomorrow with strong! God bless you all on behalf of H.O.P.E. Ministries of the Upstate!
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Required Summer Reading
As part of the required Summer Reading at Wofford College this year, we were required to read a book called "Old School" by Tobias Wolff. The story in itself was pretty well written in my opinion, but my focus for now is on the theme of the story. The theme of authenticity.
We were to read the book and write an essay on how the theme of authenticity played a role in the story. There were many points in the story where the characters seemed to lose both their authenticity and their identity. For lack of authenticity generally points to lack of identity.
However, this reminds me that our lives should be as authentic as our Faith, and our Faith as authentic as our Bibles. Let me explain this second part. This is stating that our lives should reflect a Faith that is always grounded, on a solid foundation, not ashamed in any way. When we pick up our Bibles to read them, they do not disappear from our hands all of a sudden and then come back. The pages are not wiped blank spontaneously. The Bible remains the same, and so should our Faith, and so should its reflection on our lives!
God is "I AM" and Jesus is the Son of God. God and Jesus both stated these statements themselves. Why? Because They are 100% authentic by telling who They are. We should do the same as we show others that we are sons of God and disciples of Christ!
We were to read the book and write an essay on how the theme of authenticity played a role in the story. There were many points in the story where the characters seemed to lose both their authenticity and their identity. For lack of authenticity generally points to lack of identity.
However, this reminds me that our lives should be as authentic as our Faith, and our Faith as authentic as our Bibles. Let me explain this second part. This is stating that our lives should reflect a Faith that is always grounded, on a solid foundation, not ashamed in any way. When we pick up our Bibles to read them, they do not disappear from our hands all of a sudden and then come back. The pages are not wiped blank spontaneously. The Bible remains the same, and so should our Faith, and so should its reflection on our lives!
God is "I AM" and Jesus is the Son of God. God and Jesus both stated these statements themselves. Why? Because They are 100% authentic by telling who They are. We should do the same as we show others that we are sons of God and disciples of Christ!
Monday, September 24, 2012
Outlook...
There are two males who grew up together practically side by side. They ate together, played together, learned together, and even got into trouble, together. How was all of this so possible? They were twins brothers. They looked alike, at least on the outside, all of their lives.
They had the same smile, same hair, same face, everything. Most people that did not know their personalities would have no chance at guessing which one of the brothers was which. However, there was one MAJOR difference. One believe whole heartily in Jesus Christ and everything He taught and stood for, while the other did not.
So, that leads to the question, "What is one thing that separates us (Christians) from the rest of the world?" The answer: outlook. One of the brothers took the Bible for what it actually said, while the other just saw it as a task and long set of rules. One took Jesus for who He said that He was, while with the other, it fell on deaf ears. So my question to you is, what is your outlook? Not just on the Word of God, but what it implies about life in general? If it does not line up with God's Word, then maybe it needs to change.
They had the same smile, same hair, same face, everything. Most people that did not know their personalities would have no chance at guessing which one of the brothers was which. However, there was one MAJOR difference. One believe whole heartily in Jesus Christ and everything He taught and stood for, while the other did not.
So, that leads to the question, "What is one thing that separates us (Christians) from the rest of the world?" The answer: outlook. One of the brothers took the Bible for what it actually said, while the other just saw it as a task and long set of rules. One took Jesus for who He said that He was, while with the other, it fell on deaf ears. So my question to you is, what is your outlook? Not just on the Word of God, but what it implies about life in general? If it does not line up with God's Word, then maybe it needs to change.
Friday, September 21, 2012
One Way Street
All of you who have have your drivers licenses for a while now surely know the rules of the one way street. You know that if you break these rules, which are, on this road, all traffic must go in this one direction and this one direction only, then there is a definite price to pay!
This week has been another milestone week for the ministry. With all that is going on behind the scenes, and the graduation that took place a few days ago, surely God is moving a lot with H.O.P.E. Ministries of the Upstate. However, it is our job to keep on direction in mind, and that is, ahead. We are always to be looking and moving forward.
On that one way street, if the police catch you moving in the wrong direction, you will probably get a ticket. A hefty fine to make sure you do not try to go in the wrong direction again. Or, even worse, you may hit a car that was going in the correct direction.
Spiritually, when you look back, you give the enemy an opportunity to sneak into your mindset and try to manipulate it. I understand that we are more than conquerors, but that is no reason to give the enemy ammunition! I encourage all of you to continue to look forward and follow the ways of Christ, continuing in the Faith daily!
This week has been another milestone week for the ministry. With all that is going on behind the scenes, and the graduation that took place a few days ago, surely God is moving a lot with H.O.P.E. Ministries of the Upstate. However, it is our job to keep on direction in mind, and that is, ahead. We are always to be looking and moving forward.
On that one way street, if the police catch you moving in the wrong direction, you will probably get a ticket. A hefty fine to make sure you do not try to go in the wrong direction again. Or, even worse, you may hit a car that was going in the correct direction.
Spiritually, when you look back, you give the enemy an opportunity to sneak into your mindset and try to manipulate it. I understand that we are more than conquerors, but that is no reason to give the enemy ammunition! I encourage all of you to continue to look forward and follow the ways of Christ, continuing in the Faith daily!
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Pushing Hard
Have you ever seen the end of a high school, college, or professional basketball practice? I will give you the general idea of what goes on to set up the background. After previously lifting weights the day before, a team of around 30 players head onto the court to start practice.
The start with shooting drills, do some dribbling drills, some more shooting drills, and a couple of passing drills, totaling to about an hours worth of work. After they are done with all of that, they have to do it all again. Simply to build ENDURANCE.
Yet even after all of that, to conclude practice, they get to run from one side of the court to another, as fast as they can, for however many times the coach specifies. Yet after practice, they can endure much better than when they went into practice, which was the point.
We do not go through trials for the sake of trials. We dont have tests for the sake of tests. However, we learn how to endure, in our Faith, which is solely in Christ Jesus! I exhort to you, no matter the season of life that you are in, ENDURE, in Christ Jesus!
The start with shooting drills, do some dribbling drills, some more shooting drills, and a couple of passing drills, totaling to about an hours worth of work. After they are done with all of that, they have to do it all again. Simply to build ENDURANCE.
Yet even after all of that, to conclude practice, they get to run from one side of the court to another, as fast as they can, for however many times the coach specifies. Yet after practice, they can endure much better than when they went into practice, which was the point.
We do not go through trials for the sake of trials. We dont have tests for the sake of tests. However, we learn how to endure, in our Faith, which is solely in Christ Jesus! I exhort to you, no matter the season of life that you are in, ENDURE, in Christ Jesus!
Wednesday, September 19, 2012
Mid- Day Encouragement
As you are probably taking your lunch break or something of the sort, you may want or need some encouragement for your day, and youve come to the right place! You may be going to lunch and entering your car to find that your gasoline tank is on Empty, or looking into your wallet to find out that there is no money for you to go purchase lunch.
However, I want to restate something said earlier. We, as Christians, are a part of a kingdom. The Kingdom. And in a kingdom, the people are only as successful as the king. So what about the kingdom in which the King created the ENTIRE UNIVERSE? Whos resources are absolutely unlimited! That is our King, and that is why the Bible says to seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and ALL other things will be added unto you.
No, this does not necessarily mean that new BMW we want will fall in our driveway, but it does mean that everything we NEED will be given to us. By our Father. Therefore, there is absolutely no need to worry about anything of this world, for it is all in the Lords hands! Be encouraged, for God has your back!
However, I want to restate something said earlier. We, as Christians, are a part of a kingdom. The Kingdom. And in a kingdom, the people are only as successful as the king. So what about the kingdom in which the King created the ENTIRE UNIVERSE? Whos resources are absolutely unlimited! That is our King, and that is why the Bible says to seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and ALL other things will be added unto you.
No, this does not necessarily mean that new BMW we want will fall in our driveway, but it does mean that everything we NEED will be given to us. By our Father. Therefore, there is absolutely no need to worry about anything of this world, for it is all in the Lords hands! Be encouraged, for God has your back!
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