BRAINTEASER: “does anyone KNOW youre a Christian by your actions, or THINK you're a Christian cuz youre acting?”
Sorry I did not provide a post last week, but I was struggling with this concept;
one of the hardest parts about making time with God is giving him our fear and stress about the business in our lives. I have to continually remind myself that not only should He be the priority in my life, but through Him, all my troubles are so small. I need to make time for Him and He will make sure I have time for anything that leads me toward his plans for me. Romans 12:1-2 tells us the steps of how to know God's will for our life: "Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship. Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is - his good, pleasing and perfect will."
Before the trip, I had already begun to transform significantly in the Lord. I was at church one day when they were passing around the tithing bucket. I only had a $20 and didn’t feel comfortable giving so much. However, being in high school with few real expenses, I considered what I really would be spending it on; a new pair of shoes. I really didn’t need another pair, so I realized that this was exactly the kind of thing that it means having that you are passionate about but is not neccisarily bad, like fashion, keeping you from God. I did not want to ever be in a place again where my own concerns stopped me from serving God when I really wanted to. For me at least, its not about the money; its about the concept of giving up those distractions in your life. I put the twenty in, and felt good about it, not because I was being generous, but because I had been released from the bondage of an idol over the one true God.
I also love what Brad said about not announcing our service to the world. Speaking of, in class I was able to donate more money this week than I normally could have toward our World Vision fund, but when somebody saw, they announced it to the class. I realized that I should have done it more discretely, because it is not my money, but God’s and the glory should go to him, not through me. I am trying to do good works without calling attention to myself, but it is hard to tell others about how to serve without making them think I am only asking for praise. I genuinely want my friends to experience the joy of service, not just congradulate me on my own actions.
I have also been having trouble in my attempts to witness to my friends who seem to be forgetting their walk with God. However, this weekend He presented me with the opporotunity to have “jam sessions” and play worship songs. I was seamlessly able to get a few of my friends to sing along, and hope to inspire more worship on the Senior retreat of my school which is Sunday and Monday. I want to die to myself and treat others in a way that they will want to taste more of the Savior. It is important that we treat every moment as a perfect moment to demonstrate the love of God, because if our walk of life isn’t any different from those of our friends, why would following God make a difference?
In addtion, I loved Thursday’s devotion about 1 Corinthians 10:16. On Wednesday I had experienced a situation where I had been deeply hurt by a person I care about because he had been stressed about some large changes in his life. I had worried about a comment he had made the whole night, overanalyzing the situation. The next day I read this devotion and it really hit me. It speaks about what being a leader is. We must learn to forgive, internalize our pain, and give it up to the lord. We must humble ourselves by putting the importance of others above our own feelings, and sometimes must risk severe emotional pain. But without this element of sacrifice we are unable to be completely in service for God, rather than ourselves. I realized over the past couple of days that his actions might have been cruel, but later I was presented with an apology when he explained that he had prayed about his situation and realized he had been in the wrong. However this will not always be the case, as not everyone will admit their faults. People might need a witness who will not fight back when they attack. We must serve with a submissive attitude to others.
Pardon my extreme nerd vibe! I get super caught up in just typing way too much information instead of connecting with all of you! I’m trying to work on being more friendly!
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