Tag: Heb 12:1-3

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Life is Full of Journeys; Own Yours

Life is fully of journeys. We are always moving from point A to point B to point C in our health, our relationships, our employment, our education, etc. Out of all the journeys you are traveling, your spiritual development journey is by far your most important journey. One of the bible verses I use to determine that is from the words of Jesus found in Matt 6:33, “Seek first God, His Kingdom, and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”.

The point Jesus is making is that our first priority is to seek God, and His way of doing things. If we will do that, we can trust Him with the other details. Matt 6:33 is surrounded by verses on not worrying. We worry about so many things. Worry is always the absence of trust. Worry steals our peace. Seeking other things creates reason to worry. Seeking God first removes the reasons to worry.

Therefore, your spiritual development journey is the most development journey of your life. As you seek first God, and His way of doing things, you will be better at all the other things life throws at you, and all the other areas or developmental journeys of your life. As you experience the transformation that comes from doing things God’s way, you will also be a better spouse, parent, employee/employer, etc. God’s way is doing things is always better.

Hebrews 12:1 uses the imagery of a marathon when it describes our lives, “Let us throw off everything that hinders us, and the sin that so easily entangles us. Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us”. The phrase “marked out for us” indicates intentionality. God has marked the race out before us. Your journey is not an accident. Now, we can make choices that forfeit things or derail things or lead us on detours of our lives, but God has a plan.

Paul wrote “You are the workmanship of God, created in Christ to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph 2:10). Think about that. God has a list of things He wants to accomplish in and through you that He “prepared in advance”. In advance! Again, Eph 2:10 indicates intentionality, planning, and purpose.

One more biblical passage to demonstrate my point in this article, “…He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands…” (Acts 17:26-27). So let me sum this article up; God made you, created a list of things he wanted to do in and through you, determined the era you were to live in, and the locations you would live at. In return, He ask you to seek Him first, and do things His way, so he can provide and protect on your behalf. Your spiritual development journey is the most important journey of your life. Don’t waste another day.

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God’s Way of Doing Things is ALWAYS Best

Life is fully of journeys. We are always moving from point A to point B to point C in our health, our relationships, our employment, our education, etc. Out of all the journeys you are traveling, your spiritual development journey is by far your most important journey. One of the bible verses I use to determine that is from the words of Jesus found in Matt 6:33, “Seek first God, His Kingdom, and His righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well”.

The point Jesus is making is that our first priority is to seek God, and His way of doing things. If we will do that, we can trust Him with the other details. Matt 6:33 is surrounded by verses on not worrying. We worry about so many things. Worry is always the absence of trust. Worry steals our peace. Seeking other things creates reason to worry. Seeking God first removes the reasons to worry.

Therefore, your spiritual development journey is the most development journey of your life. As you seek first God, and His way of doing things, you will be better at all the other things life throws at you, and all the other areas or developmental journeys of your life. As you experience the transformation that comes from doing things God’s way, you will also be a better spouse, parent, employee/employer, etc. God’s way is doing things is always better.

Hebrews 12:1 uses the imagery of a marathon when it describes our lives, “Let us throw off everything that hinders us, and the sin that so easily entangles us. Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us”. The phrase “marked out for us” indicates intentionality. God has marked the race out before us. Your journey is not an accident. Now, we can make choices that forfeit things or derail things or lead us on detours of our lives, but God has a plan.

Paul wrote “You are the workmanship of God, created in Christ to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph 2:10). Think about that. God has a list of things He wants to accomplish in and through you that He “prepared in advance”. In advance! Again, Eph 2:10 indicates intentionality, planning, and purpose.

One more biblical passage to demonstrate my point in this article, “…He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands…” (Acts 17:26-27). So let me sum this article up; God made you, created a list of things he wanted to do in and through you, determined the era you were to live in, and the locations you would live at. In return, He ask you to seek Him first, and do things His way, so he can provide and protect on your behalf. Your spiritual development journey is the most important journey of your life. Don’t waste another day.

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Will You Multiple or Squander Your Impact?

VBS CrossChurch-style is only one week away (July 10-14, 2016).  Our 60,000 sq ft building will be crawling with kids for that week.  They will enter a building transformed to look like a cave. Everyone will have a blast.

The question is, will we (our VBS staff & Children’s Ministry staff) use this opportunity to make a difference or will we just have an amazing week, and call it a day?  We KNOW VBS CrossChurch-style will be amazing. There is zero question about that, but we connect with children in such a way that we can have an opportunity to make a difference in their lives in the years to come?

Let me ask a question to help you understand where I am coming from;  Can you count the number of apples on a tree?

It sounds like the answer to that question should be “yes” doesn’t it?  And of course, you can count the apples on the tree, you can even count the seeds in an apple, but who can count the apples in a seed?

The point of the question is we can never truly count the level of impact of our lives.  We can see the person we impact, and possibly even some of the people they impact, but who can count all the people, decisions, and events that might be impacted by our lives as our impact is pasted down from one person to the next.

You never know the impact your one life can have over time. Only God knows the number of apples one seed can produce.

Now, for a apple tree to produce apples, that produce more apples and even more apple trees, there is a level of intentional care, nurturing, & maintenance that is required. They same is true with our level of impact as a church or as individuals.

As few months ago I posted a picture of the card where Billy Graham acknowledged his decision to believe on Christ as his Savior and follow Him. On that day, no one knew they were talking a 15 year old boy who would grow up to impact millions of people with the gospel.  Read that blog post here.

Billy’s story was positive. I will close this post with an negative example. Below is a picture, like countless other pictures of a class of 2nd graders.

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What makes this class picture unusual is the first boy on the front row, to the left.  That is Lee Harvey Oswald.  (ironically, the boy right behind him is wearing a sheriff’s badge hahahahaha)

Obviously, I’m not blaming Lee Harvey Oswald’s choices on his 2nd grade school teacher, but I am saying that there were many opportunities for him to receive a positive impact that might have changed his choices and the trajectory of his life.

He also faithfully attended church growing up.  I’m not blaming his church either, but again, I am saying that we never know who is sitting in our classrooms and the impact we might be able to have on their lives.

Whether it be VBS, or anywhere else; invest your life, don’t waste it. Don’t just live “a” life, but keep your eyes on Jesus and live “the” life God has prepared for you, with perseverance. (Heb 12:1-3)  

Live your life in such a way that you impact and inspire more Billy Grahams and fewer Lee Harvey Oswalds.