Oh, For A Touch Of Flame

"A touch of enthusiasm would be the salvation of many a man's religion. Some Christians are good enough people: they are like wax candles, but they are not lighted. Oh, for a touch of flame! Then would they scatter light, and thus become of service to their families. 'Let them shout for joy.'...

there are times and places where a glorious outburst of enthusiastic joy would quicken life in all around. The ungodly are not half so restrained in their blasphemy as we are in our praise."

-Charles Spurgeoun

I thought this quote rather interesting and convicting on so many levels. It made me think about my enthusiasm for my religion. My faith. Do I get as excited about God, church, or a saved soul as I do about earthly things... like let's say, a sport? or an amazon package that came? of the season premier that is about to start?

Be honest.

What is the temperature of your faith? Are we just wax waiting to be lit or are we the flame that lights up the room! More yet, are we the candle that tips over to light another?!

Reminders to Be The Light

Jesus is our light that dispels darkness. And if Jesus is light and he lives in us. We are a beacon for others who don’t know Jesus. We are to be the light that draws them in to the Savior.

Be Reminded and Show Whose You Are

Grief to Joy - What If

Another reading I wanted to share with you from Lysa Terkeurst’s book Forgiving What You Can’t Forget. This if from her chapter “They thought God would save them”

“Very truly I tell you, you will weep and mourn while the world rejoices.  You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.  A woman giving birth to a child has pain because her time has come; but when her baby is born she forgets the anguish because of her joy that a child is born into the world.  So with you: Now is your time of grief, but I will see you again and you will rejoice, and no one will take away your joy.”  - John 16:20-22

He didn’t promise their grief would be taken away and replaced with joy.  He promised the grief would turn into joy.  The grief would produce the joy.  The grief was part of the journey, but it would not be the way it would all end.

What they had prayed for was someone to free them from the oppression of the Roman government. They got a servant who washed their feet.  They wanted a ruler; they got a teacher.  They wanted a justice-seeking king; they got a kindhearted healer.  Their answer never looked like they thought it would.  They thought they were on a journey to Jesus taking the throne, but instead He took up His cross. 

They thought God would save them.

And He did.

The disciples were absolutely grieved…until they were utterly amazed.

Just like Jesus said would happen, their sorrow turned to joy.

WHAT IF.

What if in the grief you are feeling now, what if our requests, though completely logical and reasonable, aren’t what we think they are?  Yes, from an earthly perspective, they are exactly what makes sense.  But what if God sees things we can’t possibly see?  What if, from His perspective, what we are asking for is not at all what we’d want if we could see everything from His complete, eternal, perfect vantage point?

What if we’ve been thinking of this all wrong?

What if…

Don't Complicate the Gospel

I’m reading a book right now from the Gospel Coalition, Christ Has Set Us Free.  It’s a study on Galatians.  It uses a lot of big words that I don’t necessarily understand and have to Google often but beyond that the message is simple: faith vs. works.

Too often as believers we tend to add to the Gospel message.  We don’t mean to but we do.  The Gospel message is simple.  Believe in Jesus Christ.  That’s it.  That’s all that is “needed’ for salvation.  Faith.  Faith alone.  Christ alone.  Scripture alone.

You don’t need to be in a Bible study to be saved.  You don’t need to serve to be saved.  You don’t need to go to church to be saved.  You don't need to do anything to be saved except to receive Christ as your Lord and Savior.  Those other things help connect us to the Savior we love.

In Galatians, Paul is preaching against having to get circumcised to be saved.  Circumcision is a symbol of the law.  Jesus came to do away with the Law.  To fulfill the Law.  We no longer need to do all the “works” in the Old Testament.  We just look to the one who fulfilled it, Jesus.  The same is true today.

One of the best leaders I’ve had would always answer all of our tough questions about people who look like they live in sin but proclaim they believe.  He’d say, “saved by grace, err on the side of faith”.   We’d ask another question… He’d answer yet again “saved by grace”

The Gospel message is not complicated.  Humans throughout history have just complicated it.  Meddled in it, added to it. We need to get back to scripture alone, to serve Christ alone and realize it’s faith alone that saves.  

I leave you with this quote: “Without the Bible, the Christ you preach to others is the Christ of your own imagination as you attempt to make others in your own image, not into the image of Christ.”

Soul Detox - Capturing Our Thoughts

A while back I was reading Soul Detox by Craig Groeschel and I came across this analogy of his and wanted to share it with you.  It’s all about capturing our thoughts and shifting our mindset.

“Think about the difference between two birds: a vulture and a hummingbird.  Vultures soar high in the sky, looking and searching.  What does a vulture find? Dead things.  The ugly oversized bird doesn’t stop until he finds lifeless, rotting road kill.  Contrast the vulture to the tiny hummingbird. With wings flapping twenty beats a second, what does this small bird find? Not dead things and disgusting rancid meat, but instead, sweet, life-giving nectar.  Daily, each bird finds what he is looking for.

The same is true for you. You can be on a road-kill diet or you can find nectar in each day.  It’s up to you, because you will find what you search for.  If you want to find things to be negative about or to worry about, it is not hard to do.  If you plan to be critical, you don’t have to look far to find fault.  If you choose to be negative, you’ll easily accomplish your goal.  But if you want to see the good in life, you can find it everywhere.  If you choose to watch for places God is working, you’ll see his loving presence each place you look.  If you decide to look for hope, faith, and a better future, you will discover these positive things and more countless times a day.

Decide the destination of your mind.  Any time your mind drifts toward dangerous thoughts, stop.  Grab those runaway thoughts.  Do whatever it takes to get the trash out of your mind.  An Old Testament prophet said to God, “You see me and test my thoughts about you. Drag them off like sheep to be butchered! Set them apart for the day of slaughter!” (Jer. 12:3) Can you hear the passion for truth in Jeremiah’s words? He asked God to test his thoughts, identify any that were “black sheep,” drag them off, and butcher them. 

Are you willing to ask God to do the same with your thought life?”

I love this challenge.  What is the destination of my mind?  Will I let Christ take hold? Can I shift my mindset to a Godly focus? Can I find the nectar in each situation?

To an applicable point, my sister often references food that is trash out of the body is trash in the body… meaning, nourish your body with healthy foods.  Our thoughts are much the same.  What your ears hear whether in music, conversation, books, shows, etc affects our thoughts.  Feed your brain with healthy thoughts.

Find the nectar and taste it. 

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.” – Philippians 4:8

Proverbs 18 - words have power