The Conscience of Tough Choices

Each of us is born with a conscience. God writes it upon our hearts (Romans 1:20-21 & 2:15). From this each of us has the opportunity to follow this conscience and consequently to follow God's Law. Unfortunately, sin gets in the way of us being able to hear and follow this innate sense of right and wrong. When we accept Christ as Savior then we are able to truly follow our conscience (the Holy Spirit uses our conscience to accomplish His work).

When we are able to follow that which is written on our hearts then we will receive Praise from God and not necessarily praise from man. It is God's praise that we must yearn for. For He praises us for what He sees in our hearts and man praises us for what he sees on the outside (Romans 2:27-29).

In the end we must follow God even when that decision will be tough. We must follow Him even when it will make some people mad and yes we must follow Him even when it will hurt someone. Decisions in life can be excruciatingly difficult. This is especially true when it involves relationships. Some times we must stand-up for what is right and we must defend the honor and emotional well-being of those whom we hold most dear. When we do this many times we will find well intentioned people (believers and non-believers) will tell us that we are wrong or even ungodly. They are free to have that opinion and when it comes from a believer I do consider with great weight and prayer. I must do what I believe God desires me to do. If later I see that I was wrong then I will deal with that when the time comes. As for now I must follow Him the best I can and trust that He knows best and will provide all that I need.

The Holy Spirit

Have you ever thought about what the Disciples thought the Holy Spirit would be like?

With the whole of Scripture we can begin to get an idea about who the Holy Spirit is but for them it must have been a some what difficult concept to handle. Yet in Matthew 28 Jesus tells them to go and baptize people in the name of the Holy Spirit. Later on in Acts we see how He essentially tells them to wait around and pray for soon the Holy Spirit will come with great power. Here again you can almost imagine the wheels in the heads turning as they try to understand what in the world Jesus is talking about.

Despite this lack of understanding they do not question what Jesus has to say to them at this point and they simply accept His words as truth. I think there are many things that we need to have this same kind of attitude with. There are many things we do not understand about God yet we know they are true because it is evident in Scripture. For example we know for a fact that Jesus was 100% God and 100% man. In all reality this does not make any kind of logical sense.

So are there things and/or issues about God that do not make sense to you? If so you are not alone. I hope that these issues do not prevent you from having a relationship with God.

What are some those issues that are difficult for you to understand?

Jesus Did Not Want To Go To The Cross

To say that Jesus wanted to be beaten, mocked, cursed and killed for my sins is a bit of a misnomer. The fact of the matter is that Jesus did not want to go through these things. Matthew 26:39-46 clearly shows us this. Jesus goes off three times to seek the Father and see if the cup could pass from Him. Yet Jesus is willing to fully submit Himself to the Father's will. He is willing to do anything the Father ask. He is willing to do those things which He does not want to do simply because the Father desires Him to do it.

How true this should also be for us. So often we think that as we get closer to God that my wants and His will become closer and closer to one and that I will always want to do the things He wants me to do. The truth is that what happens is that as we grow closer to the Father we become more willing to fully submit ourselves to His will. Following His plan is not always fun and exciting but it is what He has called us to do.

The suffering Christ endured for you and me was in no way a pleasurable experience yet it was a necessary part of God's redemptive plan for mankind. As Easter morning quickly approaches take some time to consider Christ submission to the Father and your own submission to the Father.

Responding to Peer Pressure

Most of us usually think of peer pressure as an issue that is the sole domain of teenagers and college students. Somehow, we have come to believe that as we get older we become immune to the influence of our peers. The truth is that this is a lie. We are all influenced by those around us. Many of us have learned about the unacceptability of sharing Jesus with others. Someone, somewhere told us that it was not ok and we believed them. We accepted this lie despite the fact that it goes against the Biblical model and command for sharing the Good News.

Peer pressure is real and can be difficult to handle. It comes from both outside and inside the church. Peer pressure in and of itself is not good or evil, it simply is. It is our reaction to the pressure that is either sinful or not. In Matthew we read the account of two blind men who were crying out for Jesus to heal them. As they were doing this the crowd told them to be quiet. Their response was to call out even louder. Jesus then reward their response to the crowd by coming to them and having compassion for them and healing them. I suspect that Jesus heard them (being God and all) the first time but He was waiting to see their reaction to the crowd. It was their desire to keep their focus on Him that made the difference.

So how do you respond to peer pressure? What/Who are some of the are influences on your life? Do they help lead you to Godly actions? Some things to ponder!

Even Jesus Had Alone Time

Do you ever feel this need to be alone? Are you ever just tired of interacting with people? Have you ever felt guilty about this or thought you had some psychological disorder because of it?

You are wired for alone time. Some of us are need more of it than others but I believe all of us it need it. Christ Himself would withdraw from crowds. Some time he did this to pray and other time I believe He did to simply take a break. God took a rest from the creative act on the 7th day. Why should we believe that we are any different. I believe one of the benefits of the Sabbath was to give humans a break from their regular routine. It was a day to be kept holy and set aside and in so doing we would receive rest.

Taking the time to rest can be hard for many of us. This is especially true when we are in ministry or have a huge servant's heart. We look around us and see so many hurting people and our heart breaks. We are willing to sacrificial love them no matter who they are or what they do. To a point this is a wonderful way to live. Yet there must be a balance. We must take the time to be with our families, friends and just ourselves (either in specific fellowship with God or just vegging out and relaxing).

When was the last time you took a break? Has it been awhile? If it has you take one. Some of you may not think that you have the time but I am willing to bet that you do if you are willing to rearrange some of your priorities and realize that if you do not take a break soon you will crash and burn.

When People Fail

Many of us have heard that if we do 'X' and teach some 'Y' then all will turn out great. That is not only not reality but it is also no what we see in Scripture.

There is no guarantee that when we share the gospel with people will receive it. There is also no guarantee that when we attempt to disciple or mentor that they will not fall away. We hope and pray that when we speak and teach that people will listen but each person has the option to ignore what we say. In the same way each person can ignore God and what He says. Of course there are consequences for those actions. I believe this is part of the lesson from the parable of the sower found in Matthew 13:5-9.

I know I have had many people who have rejected the words I have spoken to them.It breaks my heart every time. It hurts. It feels like a personal attack. I know in my head that is not me but God who is being rejected. The trick for me is bring that truth back to my heart.

I would love to hear some of your stories. When have your words been rejected? Were there specifics verses that helped walk you through the pain?

Living the Good Life

You ever have those moments in life when you realize that you are living the good life?

Today has been one of those days for me. I have gotten to spend all day long with my two precious boys while my wonderful wife has been at a Women's Conference. The day started off with boys snuggled up next to me in bed. At the time this was not so joyous because of the lack of comfort. In hindsight I can see how cute it was. Next we all got up and took Angie to the church for her conference. The boys and I went home, had breakfast, changed clothes and then went to one of the local parks to play in the snow. We were there for about an hour.

Next we came home in time to watch 3-2-1 Penguin and Veggietales on TV. Next came lunch. Then nap!

During nap I was able to wash some dishes, clean some clothes, sweep the kitchen, take out the trash, clean in the storage room and work on my Sunday School Lesson. About the time I was finishing this up Aiden got up in my lap to finish off his nap. Next, we all got ready to go play in the snow again (at Aiden's request). This time we threw a lot of snowballs at each other and built a rather small snow man (hey the boys enjoyed it).

To top things off Angie had a wonderful time at her conference. We are hoping she and I get to sit down and talk about all of the cool things she learned.

All in all today was just a really great day. Hope your Saturday was wonderful too.