“Clearly there is a direct link between the profession of faith, the practice of faith, and the plausibility of faith. Practice what you preach and you commend your faith; don’t and you contradict it. ‘By this all men will know you are my disciples,’ Jesus said. ‘if you love one another.’ Or as Erasmus reminded his contemporaries a millennium and a half later in a more corrupt generation, ‘If we would bring the Turks to Christianity, we must first be Christians.’”
The Call by Os Guinness: 108
Are we living as Christians or just professing to be so? What does it mean to truly be a Christian? These are questions that have struck me repeatedly in my search. The church so many times seems full of hypocrites and liars. But are we not all hypocrites at some point? Christian does not equal perfect. I believe a better definition of Christian, though anything is probably better, is a sinner who acknowledges that they are a sinner and will be until they join God in heaven. The difference is that Christians know that their sins are forgiven and when Jesus died on the cross this allowed us to enter into eternal life with God.
This world is so sinful and wrong for us. Try to wrap your mind around the fact that we wake up in the morning to sin, we live through temptation, our actions, words, and thoughts are all possible methods to sin. How impossible is it to go a day without sinning? How many times do we sin to only realize we have sinned afterward? The point of faith in God is not to make us perfect statues on pedestals for the world to admire, but to be a light onto the world. We are not to hide in our own little enclave and leave the sinners to themselves. We need to go amongst others to cultivate relationships, spread the good news, and show the world what it truly means to be Christian. We need to practice what we preach and admit when we are wrong because we will do wrong at some point.
What a difficult calling. Then again, it’s not like we have to do it on our own. God calls us to him and wants to help us. He wants us to succeed. He is not there getting a giggle out of our failures. He has given us weapons and armor to succeed and he wants to hear us cry out to him. The Lord has also given us community, the church, our friends, a mentor. We are not meant to do this alone.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Why do we worry so much?
Why worry?
Lately I have been thinking a lot about how difficult it is to not worry about what the future holds. There are quite a few uncertainties at this stage of life. Unfortunately, it’s not just college students wondering what they are going to do now that they need full time jobs, but it’s many people who have been in the workforce for years. It’s difficult not to spend your days worrying.
I came across a great verse a couple of days ago. It’s Phillipians 4:6-7 “Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” This verse touches on so many important lessons to remember.
Worrying is natural, but I also heard once that it is almost like you don’t trust God. That’s pretty harsh, but then again when you think about the way in which people sin there are so many times when we believe that we know better than God what is best for us. These are other instances in which our trust in God comes into question. It doesn’t mean that you’re not a Christian, but that you’re a sinner like everyone else.
I have come to realize the importance of prayer. It isn’t a last resort, but should be the first defense. God wants us to pray to him anywhere and anytime. Prayer keeps us on track. I also read yesterday in The St. Cloud Times that people who pray are less likely to be so stressed.
So many times we go before God in prayer and forget to thank him for what he has already done for us. The fact that we even can speak to him should be an instance of thanksgiving. Can you truly wrap your mind around the fact that we can speak with our Creator?
What an amazing promise that God will use his peace to guard our hearts and minds. How great is it that God loves us enough to carry our worries for us?
I think this is such a great verse to remember and try to live out. Wouldn’t it be great to cast all of our anxieties on God? Think of how your life could be changed by simply praying more and giving your worry over to God.
Lately I have been thinking a lot about how difficult it is to not worry about what the future holds. There are quite a few uncertainties at this stage of life. Unfortunately, it’s not just college students wondering what they are going to do now that they need full time jobs, but it’s many people who have been in the workforce for years. It’s difficult not to spend your days worrying.
I came across a great verse a couple of days ago. It’s Phillipians 4:6-7 “Don't worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” This verse touches on so many important lessons to remember.
Worrying is natural, but I also heard once that it is almost like you don’t trust God. That’s pretty harsh, but then again when you think about the way in which people sin there are so many times when we believe that we know better than God what is best for us. These are other instances in which our trust in God comes into question. It doesn’t mean that you’re not a Christian, but that you’re a sinner like everyone else.
I have come to realize the importance of prayer. It isn’t a last resort, but should be the first defense. God wants us to pray to him anywhere and anytime. Prayer keeps us on track. I also read yesterday in The St. Cloud Times that people who pray are less likely to be so stressed.
So many times we go before God in prayer and forget to thank him for what he has already done for us. The fact that we even can speak to him should be an instance of thanksgiving. Can you truly wrap your mind around the fact that we can speak with our Creator?
What an amazing promise that God will use his peace to guard our hearts and minds. How great is it that God loves us enough to carry our worries for us?
I think this is such a great verse to remember and try to live out. Wouldn’t it be great to cast all of our anxieties on God? Think of how your life could be changed by simply praying more and giving your worry over to God.
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