How often do we all get so wrapped up in our own lives that we forget there's an entire world around us? I know that I feel like I worry about myself too much. Like my life becomes all about ME and not enough about God and EVERYONE ELSE. God wants us to REACH OUT to people. To see more than just ourselves.
There are thousands, MILLIONS of lonely and hurting people out there. The world is vast and a lot of times we tend to forget that--I know I do. What if instead of worrying about ourselves we began to think about OTHERS. What if we began to HELP people when we could--comforting people, volunteering, simply talking to someone, sharing Jesus with people? How different would our world be?
As followers of Christ, we should be willing to HELP people in any circumstance. We should put others ABOVE ourselves. Keep in mind that not everything we do for others has to be extreme...
Simply being cheerful and polite and KIND can brighten someones day and be "good medicine"! If we act as Jesus taught us to, with a joyful and loving attitude, we will improve peoples' lives! All we have to do is REACH OUT to the world around us.
If we take a look at the world around us, we will see a lot of needy and lonely people. When we REACH OUT and act like Jesus did even with the small things, putting OTHERS above ourselves we can CHANGE THE WORLD--or at least brighten it a little!!
Today I read a really great section of Acts, Acts 3. It is a rather long, so I won't post the whole thing, but I would definitely encourage you to take out your Bibles or even just google Acts 3. I found that it really inspiring. Here's a summary of what happens:
There were these two guys, Peter and John, both were followers of Jesus. They were on a mission to witness to people and to spread God's Word, so they went to a Jewish temple--just think about that. There's these two guys going into a busy Jewish temple, where they don't believe in Jesus, preaching all about what Jesus had done for them. A pretty risky move. Anyway, just outside the temple they see this beggar who had been lame since birth.
He asks Peter and John for money and what do they tell him? "Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk." (3:6) And up he went, the lame beggar walking around and praising the name of Jesus! All of the other people at the temple saw this guy, this lame beggar that they had seen everyday for years, they saw him walking. Knowing it had to be a miracle they began to question and praise John and Peter, who promptly set them straight and told them that it was not by their power, but by GOD'S power that the beggar had been healed.
Isn't that just inspiring? That God can heal ANYONE. He can make anyone a new creation--No matter who you were or what you've been through. God can work in your life like He worked in this beggars.
God tells us that He can save us, He can CHANGE us whenever we call on His name! He can make us clean, so ANY sin we committed is just gone. He makes us a clean slate again! He makes us NEW CREATIONS.
"Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord," Acts 3:19
God is there for us to SAVE us and to CLEAN us and to REDEEM us. He wants to make us into new creations. He wants to show the new you. The true you!
Jesus will change your life. He will take away your guilt and fill you will peace and joy and HOPE! You just have to repent and allow Him to work in your life. Because if He can use a lame beggar as His witness, why can't he use you? Correct answer: He CAN.
If you truly do allow Jesus to change your life and make you a new creation in Him, then give him all the glory!! In Acts, John and Peter easily could have become famous and renowned, but they CHOSE to give the glory to God. We should all take after their example.
There are many lessons to be learned out of one teeny little chapter in Acts:
1. God can use ANYONE to be His witness--even a lame beggar
2. Have Holy Boldness and don't be afraid to share your faith in Christ, like John and Peter did
3. God can change ANYONE and make ANYONE new
4. No matter what is going on in your life, give the all the glory to God!
Now it's your turn to allow Jesus to change your life and turn you into the NEW YOU!
Sometimes life is just hard. Obstacles come in our paths that feel completely impassable! Sometimes it feels we're climbing Mount Everest and it's not easy. But with a little FAITH that mountain, that problem can be diminished!
Really it's only a mountain. What's that compared to our SAVIOUR? To our God? He made all things. He can surpass all things and with His strength WE can surpass all things! With God we can win even the hardest of battles. Mountains are to God a grain of sand.
God can take our hardships and our obstacles and just MOVE them out of the way. He makes all of the hurdles of life JUMPABLE. He enables us to do ANYTHING, to WIN any battle, to CONQUER any fight! All we need is a little faith.
God has a plan for our lives. When we believe that and begin to follow His will for us, there isn't anything we can't handle! God wouldn't give us a situation that we couldn't succeed in. Not everything will be easy... but it will be POSSIBLE because of God! He knows our future-- He PLANNED it-- so He knows what He's doing.
We have NOTHING to fear. God is already going ahead of us and making the way of our future and any obstacle He puts in our way He will help us overcome!
Every trial--even one as seemingly big as a MOUNTAIN-- can be overcome with God. All we need to do is have FAITH and follow His will for us! You CAN surpass any challenge that comes your way.
Every single one of us is a sinner. Everyone. Not one of us is perfect. All of us are broken in some way or another... hurting, lost, confused. Everyone needs direction. A SAVIOUR. Everyone needs Jesus!
Since we're all on similar journeys here, we should be willing to HELP and LOVE each other, like Christ taught us to. The best way we can help others who are struggling is by sharing Jesus with them!
Of course SHARING Jesus with others isn't always easy. It can actually be really intimidating. We tear ourselves down before we even begin to witness to someone! "They'll just think I'm crazy... they really don't care about all this God stuff... Maybe they won't think of me the same way after..." Those are just poorly constructed excuses to stay in our little bubble. They just show that we are more worried about how we look to other people than how we look to God!
We shouldn't be worried about what people think of us. We shouldn't think about how much attention we can get for ourselves... but how we can bring attention to CHRIST. We should focus on ways to SHARE God with others. To show other people how God worked in our lives and how he can work in theirs. That is a true gift and something that God calls us to do! He calls us to be "fishers of me" (Matthew 4:19) and to do that we need to BE BOLD, SHARE, WITNESS, and BE A LIGHT!
Why should we hide our faith after Christ made the biggest sacrifice of all-- DYING for us! He gave us the gift of salvation and now it's our job to SHARE that gift with others. To TELL people about God and how he can help them and heal them! This whole sharing thing may seem scary, but God will give you strength! He will give you the words to say. You may not be able to witness to others on your own, but with God you CAN!
One great example of this Holy BOLDNESS is the apostle Peter---he was a quiet Christian, not wanting to share his faith. Not only did he not tell people about God, but he flat out DENIED God. Suddenly, though, he had a complete turn around. He began preaching to thousands of people! He became the first missionary ever--travelling over seas just to share the story of Christ.
How did someone like that--a quiet Christian, afraid of voicing their faith-- turn into a man on fire for God--someone willing to get beat and mocked? God. He gave Peter His Holy Spirit. God gave Peter the strength and the ambition and the words to share with people! God truly did make all the difference. (you can read this story in Acts 2-4)
Let the WHOLE WORLD know that Jesus saves! Tell everyone what God has done for you. SHARE the love of God with the world, or your neighbour, or a family member. From praying for someone to sharing your testimony, just share with people. Tell them about Jesus, because He is the one true saviour, the one that can bring peace. You may think you can't, but with God on your side you CAN.
So get out there and SHARE the good news of Jesus with the world!
Sometimes life is hard. Sometimes situations arise that lead us to question who we are or what we're doing. Sometimes life becomes a series of battles that we need to face. Sometimes it can feel like EVERYTHING is going wrong and our lives are falling apart. Like we really can't win. Sometimes we lose our way and get caught up in things that we shouldn't. THAT is exactly when we need to turn our lives over to God!!
God has a PLAN for us. He know exactly what He's doing. Why we rely on ourselves when we can rely on Him? When we put our full trust in God there is NO battle that we can't win! God is all powerful. Through Him we can do ANYTHING.
When you SEEK God out, He WILL bring you through whatever you're struggling with! He loves you and He has the power to SAVE and to give PEACE.
Remember to CALL on God in all you're times of need! He will always be there for you and comfort you. So no matter what you're situation, no matter what battle you're facing, remember that you're already a WINNER because you have God on your side!
Whenever things get rough don't stress out. Just remember that NO MATTER what you're going through God is THERE. He knows what He's doing. You just have to trust in Him! Because...
Nothing in this life can push you down if you have God on your side! He is GREAT. He is POWERFUL. And most importantly... He LOVES YOU!
God ALWAYS knows what you're going through-- even your TOUGHEST situation. He not only hears you, but He will PROTECT you and help you through it. You just need to put your FAITH in Him and not worry! He's got your back. With God, you're already a WINNER. You have already beat any obstacle that comes your way--even DEATH itself! Through God you can have eternal life. If you ask me, that's true winning.
God never once promised us that this life would be easy and it's not. We've all seen it. We've all faced rough times and periods of difficulty. We've all been through storms. God gives us the storms for a reason. He doesn't promise they'll be easy, but He does promise to be with us THROUGH the rough times and to help us through them!
Since we will ALWAYS have God on our side helping us out, we should never be afraid. Instead we should be setting an EXAMPLE to others. In difficult seasons of our lives, when we are calm and collected and still filled with JOY, people will notice. They will see how dependent we are on God--even in our DARKEST hour!
If, in every single situation God throws at us we still WORSHIP Him, we still PRAISE His name, people will notice. We will be SHOWING people the truth and the peace that God offers. It is one thing to tell people about God... but what people really take notice of is our ACTIONS. When we ACT for God, in His name, we will shine the light of Jesus and everyone will be able to see Him in us.
Even when God puts us in tough situations, we are called to SHINE. We are called to live for God in EVERY situation, not just the easy ones. When we live for God and praise Him through even our darkest times, people will SEE the love of Jesus in us. It will SHINE in the darkness and we will be a beacon of light and help lead people to the best part of all: the salvation of Christ.
God calls us to be the LIGHT of the world--that includes the times when we don't feel like it. We need to live for God during our depression, our pain, our loneliness. If we praise God through everything, we truly will be a LIGHT in the darkness.
Although we can help by showing Jesus to people in need, there is only one true light: God himself. He will always be there to comfort us, give us peace, watch out for us, and LOVE us. That is true light. God is the LIGHT in the darkness of the world, and His light will last FOREVER. Isn't that just awesome?
Even in the bleakest or hardest moments of your life, God is ALWAYS there. I don't know if you've experienced this or not, but I feel that He is always giving me little reminders of His presence. A great example was the snow day today. I was extremely stressed about all my homework and things to do and suddenly this snow day just showed me that God was watching out for me. Telling me not to stress.
God loves each of us so much that He's always with us. He is always watching out for us!
Even when everyone else in the world has abandoned you, even when you feel completely alone, even when life is at it's absolute worst, God is there. He has a plan for your life and He will get you through it!
God is pathing the way for you even as you read this. He is always with you and will always be there to help you get through! So don't lose faith.
God doesn't want us to be afraid, He tells us so. He wants us to have FAITH in Him and know that He is ALWAYS with us! God is always watching out for you and He always has your back. So, tell me, with Him on your side what do you have to fear? What do you have to worry about?
