Make Great Sacrifices

 Consider this!
Eventually every relationship you have, every dream you pursue, every  possession you own will have to go to the altar from time to time. It won't be a superficial test; it will hurt. Because sacrifices always do.
When we're truly devoted to something or to someone we're willing to make sacrifices. The measure of that sacrifice determines what matters most to us. Sometimes God responds to our  prayers rather bluntly. Like in Luke 14:33


"Any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple."



Broseph



Now, some things in Scripture can be hard to understand, but this isn't one of those. It's tough to do, sure, but it isn't complicated. Jesus made it clear that following Him, even if it contradicts everything that's important to us, is the top priority. Following Jesus means letting go of YOUR agenda, and picking up HIS.



Like a king that has to calculate the strength of his army before going to war, discipleship is no different.  In other words, what will this cost us? the COST is absolute sacrifice.

Here's my modern day example:

Imagine a little girl playing with plastic beads. She loves them. What if someone asked her for the plastic beads in exchange for a real (and expensive) pearl necklace? And moreover, she REFUSED THE GIFT?! Logically, her attachment to the plastic beads doesn't make sense. She would lose very little and gain so much more if she accepted the offer. One day she'd look back at the exchange, and wonder why it was ever a hard decision in the first place. But she can't see that in her childlike ways. 

Sadly, this is how many of us live today. Pain helps a person discern between plastic and pearls. Suffering leads to discernment.Sacrifice. But we who live comfortably as Christians have trouble telling the difference between plastic and pearls. We hang onto our friends, families, and income as though they were the ultimate reward. If God were to ask if we loved Him, we'd have no true answer. We're afraid to relinquish the beads for valuable pearls. And why? Because we value our beads? Or because we're suspicious that the pearls aren't real?  

So tonight, I ask, what sacrifices have you made to show your true devotion? What sacrifices still need to be made? It's time to lay it on the altar.

"So when the whole world turns against me, and I'm all by myself. And I can't hear you answer my cries for help, I'll remember the suffering Your love put me through and walk through the valley. It may not be the way I would've chosen, but you never said it would be easy. You only said I'd never go alone...."

Redeemed, JAS. :)

Through The Mud

Adversity introduces a man to himself.

Adversity. Affliction. Distress. Discomfort. Misfortune. Hardship.

Suffering. A word NO ONE wants to hear, right? The words mentioned above are synonyms for 'suffering.'  C.S. Lewis said, "God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

We plot. We plan. We assume things are going to go a certain way. And when they don’t, we find ourselves in a new place—a place we haven’t been before, a place we never would have imagined on our own. It is the difficult and the unexpected, and maybe even the tragic, that opens us up and frees us to see things in new ways. Many of the most significant moments in our lives come not because it all went right but because it all fell apart. Suffering does that. It hurts, but it also creates.

Here's what the Bible says in 1 Peter:

 ^13-18If with heart and soul you're doing good, do you think you can be stopped? Even if you suffer for it, you're still better off. Don't give the opposition a second thought. Through thick and thin, keep your hearts at attention, in adoration before Christ, your Master. Be ready to speak up and tell anyone who asks why you're living the way you are, and always with the utmost courtesy. Keep a clear conscience before God so that when people throw mud at you, none of it will stick. They'll end up realizing that they're the ones who need a bath. It's better to suffer for doing good, if that's what God wants, than to be punished for doing bad. That's what Christ did definitively: suffered because of others' sins, the Righteous One for the unrighteous ones. He went through it all—was put to death and then made alive—to bring us to God. (The Message)

Jesus paid it all.

The antonyms for suffering are hopeful. Happiness. Health. and Joy.
If you are suffering, I pray that it will bend you, and break you--but  into a better shape until you reach health and happiness.


Redeemed, JAS. :)

When life gives you lemons...

PRAISE GOD FOR THOSE LEMONS. :)

Amanda loves me <3

I have had many conversations with people who feel ripped off by life and therefore mad at God.   Because of personal challenges and severe circumstances they have decided that God is not worthy of their love or attention. However, I disagree with that.  I have experienced challenges in my life as well.  I have had people mistreat me and I have been delivered depressing news, but those things do not change my view of God.  They never have, and they never will. Even if my confidence in the the amount of trust I have in God wavers, my devotion to Him does not.

Even when life is not perfect....God is.

Hebrews 13:8

"Jesus Christ never changes; He is the same yesterday, today, and forever!"

When I can’t find comforting answers to appease my questions, that does not mean that God has lost control.  I know that God is still good.  He is still loving, and He is still on my side.  When I am faced with challenges, I pray. Maybe not immediately, but eventually I know that every circumstance under Heaven, He is well aware of my needs.  Sometimes he has changed the circumstances and made them easier to deal with while other times he has just given me peace in the midst of the storm and surrounded me with his presence, but He has never left me alone, and He will never leave you alone either.  

So, the next time you feel that life has ripped you off and God has let you down, take a deep breath and realize that God is still right there next to you ready to help you cope.  You can pray and ask him to change the details of whatever it is that you are facing, but even if that takes time, ask Him for peace to make it through.

      

Philippians 4:6-7

^"6 Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. ⁷ Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."

I pray that you're able to "make lemonade" out of the circumstances you're in.

PS: Check out the greatest song ever:

REDEEMED, JAS. :)