How much do you love the Lord?

This post is meant to open our eyes to what is really important in our life. Do you love the Lord with all your Heart, Soul, Mind and Strength? This is the greatest commandment according to Jesus when asked by scribes in Mark 12:28-31. Also, He says to Love your neighbor as yourself, and that there are no greater commandments than these two, since all the law is wrapped up in them. Again I ask you and myself, How much do I love the Lord? I would like to think that I can answer in the affirmative to both of these statements, but I need to ask myself some questions first. Am I willing to give up anything for Christ, or rather live without stuff for Christ so that He alone is Chief in my life? In the following passage a rich young man comes to Christ to ask him about eternal life.

Matthew 19:16-22 (New King James Version)

16 Now behold, one came and said to Him, “Good[a] Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may have eternal life?”
17 So He said to him, “Why do you call Me good?[b] No one is good but One, that is, God.[c] But if you want to enter into life, keep the commandments.”
18 He said to Him, “Which ones?”
Jesus said, “ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ 19 ‘Honor your father and your mother,’[d] and, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”[e]
20 The young man said to Him, “All these things I have kept from my youth.[f] What do I still lack?”
21 Jesus said to him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.”
22 But when the young man heard that saying, he went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

Are we willing to sell our computers and give the money away so that we can follow Christ? Are we willing to sell our cars, house, clothes, electronics, our way of life? Are we willing to sell all we have and give the money away to follow Jesus? What is it in our life that we are putting before our relationship with Christ? We are so blessed here in America and even our poor have more than most other countries. I feel we are a country of rich young rulers that would go away sad if we had to sell our comforts to follow Jesus.

Now for the hard part. A day is coming, though I do not know when, as believers we can see the signs of our sinful world moving towards the return of Christ. We may be asked in our lifetime to choose between our faith in Christ or the comforts of our life. As we read in the following passage in revelation,

Revelation 13:16-17 (New King James Version)

16 He causes all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hand or on their foreheads, 17 and that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark or[a] the name of the beast, or the number of his name.

To take the mark of the beast is to reject Christ and doom our soul to eternal Hell. We as believers need to make sure we have our life's priorities in order with Christ at the top. Now is the time to repent and cling to the Lord. Now is the time to get right and put away our selfish desires. Pray hard, study your bible, reach out to your friends and share Christ. Do not be afraid now when the persecution is little. Be bold and brave knowing that Christ is with you and will not forsake you.

Now I'm not saying lets all go out and sell all we have, but I am saying lets evaluate our life. Lets all make sure we have Christ first in our life, and that we can see that in our own life by examining our own actions. Lets act now before we are forced to make that decision. I pray we all, including myself, strive to Love Christ with all of our Heart, Mind, Soul and Strength.

Trust in the Lord

I am sorry it has been a while since my last entry. I have no excuse other than I have been lazy and complacent. Please pray for me that, I will not be so distracted by the world that I forget to give God time in my daily life.

This passage jumped out at me the other day while I was browsing through my bible waiting for Sunday School to start.

Proverbs 3:5-6

5 Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
6 In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct[a] your paths.

It is such a simple truth but how often we abandon this clear path that God has prepared for us. The first part is Trust. The definition of the word Trust is as follows: "Reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, of a person or thing; confidence." -Websters Dictionary. Can we honestly look at ourselves each day and say we are Relying on the Strength and Surety of the Lord? Or do we fall into what the second part of the verse says. "...lean not on your own understanding". So many days I get up in the morning and choose not to pray and dedicate my day to Christ. So many days I go through and forget that Christ is there to help me and guide me through out the day. Instead of relying on Christ, I jump into the day with the understanding that I am making the choices of the day alone. Now the day may not have turned out bad, BUT, how many opportunities have I missed today that the Lord had prepared for me? Could I have been a witness to someone today if I was in-tune with Christ? He tells us in the following verse that if I acknowledge Him in all I do he will guide my path. Wow! Just think about this for a second. The Creator of the universe wants to have the type of relationship with me that will guide me through each day in his perfect will. I imagine holding the Hand of Christ as I walk through a busy life knowing that I have His protection and guidance. So, to sum it all up, lets start our day off right by trusting the Lord, acknowledging Him, and following His guidance. True joy comes from a right relationship with Christ.