Victorious

1 John 5: 4 "For every child of God defeats this evil word by trusting Christ to give the victory."

John says that if we want to show true love to God, we keep his commandments. He claims keeping his commandments is not hard because we actually do this by trusting in Christ. We keep God's commands by trusting in Jesus! Our victory comes through him.

I so often want to do my faith on my own, under my own power. I have to remember my faith and love for God must first start with faith and trust in Christ. Through Christ only can I defeat this evil world.

Dear Jesus, help me to trust in you all the time and in all things. Amen.

Surrender

James 4:10 "When you bow down before the Lord and admit your dependence on him, he will lift you up and give you honor."

James is saying that we ought to humble ourselves and rely on God rather than the world. Our love and obedience should be for God and not for the world. He says here that if we bow before him and show our dependence on him, he will lift us up.

This weekend we are going to Winter Whiteout. Our theme is "Surrender" and we will be talking about this very concept. I am going to try to teach the students that we cannot bring honor to ourselves, but we have to depend on God. We have to totally surrender ourselves including our pride, ego, personality, accomplishments, and possessions to Jesus. I am still learning this of course as I tend to be very independent and self reliant. I need Jesus to humble me and help me rely on him.

Dear Jesus, help me to bow to you and depend on you for all things. Amen.

A Tough Teaching

John 12:25 "The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life."

Jesus is about to sacrifice his life for all of humanity and he challenges his followers to also be ready to give up their life for him. He tells us to not love our life here on earth, but instead focus on eternal life. This is a tough teaching! Jesus wants us to be prepared to lose it all for him.

Many of the early followers of Jesus did in fact give their life for Jesus. Someone once said, "martyrs died for their faith, all we have to do is live for ours." I think we have to both live for our faith and be prepared to give it all. And that is very easy to say and write, but when the rubber meets the road, am I willing to give up everything for Christ? And in what ways can I lose my life each day and focus on Jesus and eternal life?

Dear Jesus, help me to live my life completely for you. Amen.

Sing Along After the Beat Down

Acts 16: 25 "Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening."

Paul and Silas were in Philippi and had been arrested for releasing a demon from a possessed girl. Upon their arrest, they were stripped and beaten with wooden rods. The text says in verse 23, they were "severely beaten." That night in jail, Paul and Silas are reported to have been "praying and singing hymns to God."

Now if I had been beaten with wooden rods and thrown into jail, I probably would be praying a lot. I'm not sure if I would have it in me to sing. Maybe they were singing sad hymns of mourning? But my image of Paul leads me to believe they were not so sad, but rather they were praising God. I have tough things to deal with sometimes. Life can be difficult. But I never have been beaten and arrested for my faith. I need to learn from Paul and Silas' example and always rejoice and praise God in every circumstance.

Dear Jesus, help me to always have a "glass half full" mentality and to praise you in every storm and circumstance. Amen.