All of the above shows just a small portion of who I am as a person. I have been molded by my environment, my family and my life experiences.
I got saved when I was 16 years old and at that very moment, I became completely on fire for God. I was so on fire in fact that if I were sitting on a bench and someone were to approach me and ask "is this seat saved?" I would respond with a quick "no. But I am. Let me tell ya about Jesus." I was hot for God. Slowly I allowed that fire to lose oxygen to where although I'm saved, I have my struggles with sin and with living a life that is completely and utterly righteous before the God of the universe.
So how do I come about figuring out who I TRULY am as a person? And how do I change what needs to be changed?!
Let's check out the Word. Romans 12:1-8 says:
1Therefore, 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.
2Do 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.
3For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.
4Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function,
5so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
6We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man's gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.
7If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach;
8if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.
The most important thing about you is what you think about God.
- No matter if you believe God is loving & Sovereign or at the other end of the spectrum you believe there is no God at all then your life will reflect those beliefs.
- What's amazing about this is that even the tiniest bit of doubt in one's faith can be reflected through the life you lead. If you have your doubts about the very existence of God then it is likely that you will not live a life where you are consistently sharing your faith with others.
- It's kinda like this: I am not that great at math. OK. OK. I am HORRIBLE at math. I mean I just recently found out that they are now putting letters in equations! So if someone needed some help with math, would I jump up and say "OH! I can help! I got this!"?! NO! I'd probably even leave the room because math is so hard to me that the stinkin' subject makes me completely uncomfortable and even kinda scares me.
- And if we doubt ourselves about anything, then it becomes uncomfortable to share about that subject. Whether it be math... or Jesus.
- But that's the beauty of Christianity. It's not about OUR abilities. It's about a holy and living God that laid it all on the line for a people that hated Him.
- So now you question. "Ok. If I didn't have the few doubts that I did, then I wouldn't need to be lectured on this. My faith would be rock solid and I could share Jesus with ANYONE."
Then what's your doubts?
- Let's start with the very existence of Jesus. History itself acknowledges that there was a man named Jesus that walked this earth over 2000 years ago. No matter what you do, you can research your entire life and never find anything that says otherwise. He was here.
- Ok. Jesus was here. He came, He got crucified, He died. "I mean how do I KNOW that the resurrection happened?! I mean what if it was a huge hoax put on by the disciples? What if they came to the tomb, knocked the guards out, and stole the body?" Ok...fair enough. Loads of people have tried to say that. But let's look at it a little deeper. First of all the guards. If a Roman guard fell asleep while on duty, or anything happened to them that caused them not to be able to perform and finish the task at hand, then they would be killed! So I am pretty sure those guards would have done every Chuck Norris-ninja move they knew so that those redneck disciples didn't steal the body. So that's a no-go on my list.
- Next in the "the disciples stole the body" theory is the disciples. Maybe they were pulling a hoax. "Ok guys. I have this great idea. Let's try to get EVERYONE on the face of the planet to believe that our boy Jesus rose from the grave. It will be the April Fool's joke to end all April Fool's jokes." then they throw in a few LOL's and celebrate beastin' the world. ...ok...seriously?! Do you remember the freaks we are talking about here?! THE DISCIPLES! The 12 biggest chickens the world has ever seen! I mean, when Jesus was arrested, they broke every land speed record ever held and ran. Peter kinda hung back a bit and checked out the scene but when it came down to it, Peter, the guy that said "Yo' Jesus. I will go 6 feet under wit' cha" denied Jesus 3 times. They were chickens! And there was no way they were gonna peace out of life following a guy that was about to get crucified. Then something happened. Something miraculous. Something HUGE. The disciples became martyrs for the man that they denied.
Deaths of the Disciples:
- Judas Iscariot, hung himself after betraying the Lord.
- Peter, was crucified, head downward during the persecution by Nero.
- Andrew, died on a cross at Perrae, in Achaia, a Greek colony.
- James, was thrown down from a pinnacle of the temple and then beaten to death with a club.
- Thomas, the doubter, was run through with a lance.
- John, died of extreme old age in Ephesus, the only one to die a non-violent death.
- Bartholomew, was beaten to near death then crucified in Armenia.
- James, the son of Zebedee, was beheaded in Jerusalem by Herod.
- Phillip, was hanged against a pillar in Asia Minor.
- Matthew, was slain by the sword in Ethiopia.
- Thaddaeus, was shot to death with arrows.
- Simon, died on a cross in Persia (now Iran).
- Matthias, who took Judas' place, was first stoned and then beheaded.
- Paul, the apostle to the Gentiles, was beaten then beheaded in Rome.
Don't you think that if these guys made all this up about Jesus that at least one of them, as the ax was coming down on their head would have raised up and say "ok...ok...you got me. It was a joke. whoo! glad I got that off my chest. Oh man, we almost had ya though right?! I mean, you set up this beheading and everything! whoo! Fun times. Now who's up for some ribs?!" I mean seriously. Something happened to them! Something that changed their prospectives of dying for this Jesus guy. PEOPLE DON'T JUST DIE FOR A LIE!These cowards turned into martyrs! Some life-changing event took place!
We are able to have confidence in God and if we are Christians, we are able to have confidence within ourselves because that very same God lives within us. God gave you the abilities and the talents and the personality He did for a reason. Use them with confidence to share what He has done for us all. And consider this: if we, as Christians, truly believed all the stuff Jesus did on that cross, if we believed with all our hearts that He endured what He did on our behalf, would we be living the same as we do now? I know I sure wouldn't. I wouldn't be afraid of sharing my faith. I wouldn't be afraid of being "different" from this world! I would become such a great asset to Christ that the only way this world could shut me up would be to take my life. We sit here and sing in our churches these songs to God that reflect this so-called desire to come to know Him better. But do we truly believe those words that we say?
Sonic Flood came out with a song a few years back called "I want to know you." The chorus says:
"I want to know You, I want to hear Your voice, I want to know You more, I want to touch You, I want to see Your face, I want to know You more." In Genesis 33, it says that "no man can see God face to face and live."
So as we sing those words, do we mean it? Do we desire to see the works of God so greatly in our lives that we are willing to die?! Because the devil is perfectly content to let us profess to be Christians...as long as we don't practice it. He wants us to live in sin. The devil wants to persuade us that it is ok to call ourselves Christians and yet hold onto that sin that we love so much.
Chew on this a bit: Think of one sin. ANY sin. What if God were to say today that it is no longer a sin...think about it. That sin you just thought about. That sin that just jumped in your mind, no matter how big or small you claim it to be. That is the sin that is keeping you from having a full blown revival in your heart. That is the major sin that keeps holding you back.
The prayer for my life and the prayer I possess for everyone is that we will have a revival within our hearts, we will let go of that sin that just passed through your mind, and that at the end of the day we can change our identity in Christ and proclaim that we are Wide eyed, Sanctified, Blood Bought, Spirit Taught, Bible Totin', Scripture Quotin', Satan Bashin', Sin Trashin', Christ Followin', Pride Swallowin', Hard Prayin', Truth Conveyin', Faith Walkin', Gospel Talkin', Bonafide Big time Believers.
You're in my prayers.
