One With Him

Servant 2 Luke 17:7-10 – Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, ‘come along now and sit down to eat’? Won’t he rather say, ‘Prepare me supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after hat you may eat and drink’? Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? So you also, when you have done everything you were told to so, should say, ‘we are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty’.” This was a very interesting verse to think about. I was kind of confused at first but when you think about it, it makes sense. I think it’s talking about we are so unworthy. We are unworthy of even being known as a servant of God. I keep going back to the phrase that, God doesn’t need us to accomplish His good deeds, but yet He chooses to use us anyways. And when He does use us, how often do we expect God to tell us thank you. All the time right? Reality check, we are

Servant 1 John 12:26 – If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, My Father will honor. I once heard someone say that it’s important to always be around. And by around, I mean looking for ways to serve, and being around when someone needs you to help them. Jesus’ is making an important point here. He’s saying we are to follow Christ. Follow Him. How do we do that? Well with a lot of prayer, devotionals, a whole lot of Him, and whole lot less of you. Remember to be sensitive to the Spirit because the Spirit will lead us closer to the Lord and His will. Anyone who denies self and follows Jesus, will be made righteous by the Father in heaven. For the last couple of years, being in the Lord’s will was something I prayed regularly about. And to this day, it still is. I’m not going to lie, it’s hard to follow the Lord. It’s hard to deny self. These things here are directly oppose my flesh. My flesh is weak, prideful, vai

Adaptability 5 1 Corinthians 12:14-15 – For in fact the body is not one members but many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? The family of Christ is very unique. God did not make any one of us the same. No not one. We all have different skills, trades and spiritual gifts that the Lord had bestowed upon us. When you think about it, it’s cool how God worked all of it out. You see, certain individuals could be really good at teaching, or for some encouraging, prophesy, making others laugh, serving, working with their hands and etc. We all have something exceptional to bring to the table. But at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what skill set you have, it only matters if we are all using our gifts to glorify our Lord Jesus Christ. I thinks it’s funny to imagine what the world would be like if everyone had the same personality and characteristics. This world would be a very dull and boring place. But the real

Adaptability 4 Romans 15:1 – We who are strong must be considerate of those who are sensitive about things like this. We must not just please ourselves. To me this verse is saying to not cause others to stumble in their convictions. For example, say a friend is being convicted by the Holy Spirit to stop listening to secular music. But you on the other hand, don’t have the same conviction about it and feel like you can listen to it without a problem. If you are aware your friends conviction and start to listen to secular music in front of them. That would totally be going against the Lord by causing the friend to stumble in their walk. The bible calls us to bear one another’s burdens not add to it. Don’t be selfish in yourself, be considerate for the things others are trying to work through and work out of their life. God calls us to life up the hands of our brothers and encourage them in their time of long or short term fasting. I am called to selflessness. To lay down my right

Adaptability 3 Galatians 5:13 – For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only not to use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. I can’t tell you how much love this verse. The Lord has His hand of freedom stretched out to us. He calls us to take the His hand and break our chains. When we realize that we don’t deserve His grace is when He deems us worthy of our inheritance. God says that even though we have liberty through Him, that doesn’t mean we can feely live in sin just because we know that God will save us in the end. That’s like standing in between the state line and being in two places at once. It doesn’t work, eventual you will have to choose which side you will want to walk too. It’s not the best of both worlds here. We are supposed to channel our freedom and us it to free others. A phrase I head not too long ago was, “Free people, free people.” That’s so true! Our freedom in Christ can be used lead others to freedom. What do

Adaptability 2 1 Corinthians 9:22&23 – to the weak I became as weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I might be a partaker of it with you. This verse is a very personal one to me. This verse is so important for ministry it’s not even funny. As Christ followers, we are called to lay aside ourselves and step into others shoes in order to win souls. Now you might be ask yourself, “Why would God tell us to become like in others to win them over?” Well the answers simple, it all about relatability. People want people who they can relate with. Whether they admit it or not, the modern society want someone to be considerate and relatable with them. Love and compassion need to be a key component to your adaptability. Like, Jesus came down in the likeness of us to be relatable with us. He then built up a relationship with His disciples and connected with them. Then He poured in

August 21, 2017

Adaptability 1 Ephesians 5:21 - Submitting to one another in the fear of God. If we are living a life of healthy respect for the Lord, then we need to live with a mutual respect for others. This may sound confusing, but it makes sense when you think about it. I think this is a very important verse. I believe that this is a verse applicable verse. A respect for God gives you a respect and love for His people. Especial for those who are around you. It’s important because that’s what ministry is, it’s loving those we are around you and being sensitive to one another. This is especially important to me sense I’m going to my mission field with one other person for 6 months. We need to submit to Christ first and for most, and rely on Him. But also, as sisters in Christ, we need to rely on each other and I need to put my field partner needs before my own personal needs. We need to follow Jesus’ example. He looked to His Father first and then He put his people’s needs before His own nee

August 21, 2017

Obedience 5 Hebrews 13:7 – Remember those who rule over you, who have spoken the words of God to you, whose faith follow, considering the outcome of their conduct. This verse shows almost an outline for us to follow. We are to follow the authorities that God puts ahead of us. We are to learn and glean from their spiritual fruits. We are to observe their faith and follow after. Add their knowledge that the Lord has bestowed upon them, into our mental bank and lock it away in our heart. I am a firm believer that depending on the people we allow to hang out with, we will become like. If we hang out with good role models in place, it will help us to succeed in life. If we have a more risky group we are surrounding ourselves with, we are more likely to be swept away in shenanigans. It’s all about who you put before you and who you choose to follow. My hope is to continue to be poured into by my godly friends. That when I look at their life it would encourage me to want to pursue after

August 21, 2017

Obedience 4 Ephesians 6:1 – Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. Colossians 3:20 – Children, obey your parents in all things, for this is well pleasing to the Lord. We are to obey our parents and the authority’s that the Lord has put in our life. Well there’s no secret message here that we, as humans, like to decode from the scripture. It’s straightforward and to the point. He says to us, Children. My loved ones. Please, if you love Me, obey the people who I have set before you. I know it can be hard sometimes but it’s for your own good. If any of you are like me, you may have asked the question, why is it important to obey? Again, simple. Because by this simple act of obedience towards our parent/authorities, we bring glory and honor to our Father. And that, is well pleasing to Him. That is right in the sight of His eyes. I could have all the right words to say about these verses but words mean nothing if there is no application beyond it. I’ll be the f

Captive Thoughts

Thoughts Captive 2 Corinthians 10:5 – casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. God calls us to do several things here. We are called to cast out all arguments from your heart and mouth. And take every thought captive, good or bad, and lay it at Jesus’ feet. I think this is telling me that we don’t need to argue or act like we are above reproach, because we are not! Obedience is a key in walking with the Lord. Here this passage tells us that one way we can be obedient is to take every puffed up thought captive. How do we do that? Prayer. We must pray that we can overpower our flesh filled mind by being empowered by Christ. We must remember that our thoughts are not our own. They belong to Christ. By obedience, we should submit all our rights, and even down to our thoughts, to Him. The way we ponder upon things is just as important as how we act outwardly. It start

Obedience 2 2 Corinthians 10:5 – casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. God calls us to do several things here. We are called to cast out all arguments from your heart and mouth. And take every thought captive, good or bad, and lay it at Jesus’ feet. I think this is telling me that we don’t need to argue or act like we are above reproach, because we are not! Obedience is a key in walking with the Lord. Here this passage tells us that one way we can be obedient is to take every puffed up thought captive. How do we do that? Prayer. We must pray that we can overpower our flesh filled mind by being empowered by Christ. We must remember that our thoughts are not our own. They belong to Christ. By obedience, we should submit all our rights, and even down to our thoughts, to Him. The way we ponder upon things is just as important as how we act outwardly. It starts wit

Obedience 1 Hebrews 5:8 – though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffer. Even though He was the Son of God, he still had to do what He was told to do. Not only have that but in Philippians 2:8, it said that He had to humble Himself and then He became obedient even to the point of death. These verses makes me ponder again upon how sinful I am. How my sin put my Lord and Savior’s Son on the cross. My wickedness is what nailed and hung Him on there. God wouldn’t have had to send His only Son to die on the cross unless I would just be obedient to the will and love of His Father. Jesus’ obedience and our Father’s loving, painful sacrifice is what now allows us to be a part of His kingdom. Obedience can have a lot of different aspects built into it. A few example pertain: compliance, submission, respect, duty, meekness, and etc. I think all these characteristics played a part in Jesus’ obedience. He understood that He loved His Father, and He loved the pe

Contentment 5 Psalms 17:15 – As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness. David is always real when he prayers. He is super humbled as well. Here we see David telling God that no matter what, He will be content in Him. David will be satisfied with God’s presence alone. He’s contentment comes by just looking unto God’s face in all His righteousness and holiness. David prayer’s Lord, let me be satisfied. The more time I spend with you the more I get to bask in your glory. I come alive through your presence. How good is our God? He love’s when we seek His face and spend time with Him. And we benefit by coming alive through that. It’s like His likeness rubs off on us. I can surely tell you that God is moving in my life. The past month I have been in the word every day. I can tell you personally that I have learned so much about Him. So much so that I am beginning to learn and understand His heart. The more time I spend with Hi

Contentment 4 Philippians 4:11 – Not that I speak in regards to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content. Paul is hitting us with the hard truth people. He is saying that no matter what situation you might be going through, we are called to be content. What does contentment mean? It is to be satisfied with anything that is thrown at you. Its understanding that no matter where you are in life is exactly where God wants you to be. If God is satisfied, then I need to be humbled into submission with it. It’s like when your mom asks you to do a task. You can either do it with a happy attitude or you could grumble about it. With a good attitude, you do that job so much better than if you would do it with a complaining mood. In the end, if it’s done well, then your mom is satisfied and God blesses me through my willingness. Most importantly, Contentment is one of the main points to a relationship with Christ. If we can’t confidence that He knows what’s best for us,

Contentment 3 Hebrews 13:5 - Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Do not lust after another, and be content with the things that you have. For God says I’m for than enough for you. Better yet, He tells us that He will never leave us for anything in or out of this world. This is a promise straight from God. He will NEVER leave and he will NEVER abandon us. How awesome is that. This verse shows us how to be content with God. He is more than enough for us. Can I just start out by saying I am truly blessed. I don’t deserve God’s grace. I don’t deserve Him protecting me and walking beside me. I don’t deserve Him. What I do deserve is to be forsaken. How could God love me that much? I literally can’t even wrap my brain around it. His is such a good Father. My life is filled with selfishness, putting other things before Him, complaining and not being content with what is giv

Contentment 2 Luke 3:14 – Likewise the solider asked him, saying, “And what shall we do?” So he said to them, “Do not imitate anyone or accuse falsely, and be content with your wages. This soldier is asking John what he should do to walk rightly. John answers him by saying that He needs to walk his own path. We are not to falsely accuse people. And also be content with what is given to you. You might be asking yourself, “Why should these things be important to our daily walk?” Well I think I have an idea on why. The bible talks about all of these things on separate occasions. Ephesians 5:1 says that we are called to be imitators of God. If we look to the right and left and compare ourselves to others, it will tar us down. When we accuse others falsely, I put myself in their shoes. If I was accused falsely, I would feel hurt and betrayed. Just like Jesus was falsely accused in Matthew 27:12. I could only imagine how saddened that made Him. And we are to be grateful for everything

Contentment 1 Timothy 6:6-8 – Now godliness with contentment is great gain. For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and clothing, with these we shall be content. A great gain arises once we truly understand what it’s like to live a godly life with contentment. And when we recognize that we ultimately have no control over our life, and that it’s all in the hands of God, this is when we shall be content. Here we see that Paul writing Timothy on how he can teach and exhort the people. One of his main points were that if we are being content, it can bring you great gain. What is great gain? This too me, makes me thing of an abundant increase, but of what? I think Paul could be implying multiple different things within these two words. Great gain of wisdom, knowledge, blessings, and honestly I believe the list could go on for miles. But, Paul also knows that people think they are entitled to everything. We think that we ca

Perseverance 5 Hebrews 6:12 – that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises. So, I really like this verse. It’s basically saying follow the example of our faithful, spirit filled, Christ followers. Who are not to be lacking in faith or patients. This verse begins to talk about being sluggish. Sluggish means to be lazy or slow to do things. In my words, I believe that means procrastinating. We don’t have any time to waste. We are called to be active and alive spreading the words of Christ Jesus. And it needs to start today. Then it talks about imitating those who are faithful and persevere with a pure of heart. For example, in 1 Corinthians 11:1, John writes and says, “Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.” These people are few and far between but they are there! You just have to find them! Today, I am really blessed to be here at Ignite. Where there are a lot of people around here who I could easily imitate. You can

Perseverance 4 Revelations 1:9 – I, John, both your brother and companion in the tribulation and kingdom and patience of Jesus Christ, was on the island that is called Patmos for the word of God and for the testimony of Jesus Christ. The first thing that I thought about when I read this verse was encouragement. Paul’s on Patmos in isolation because he was sharing his testimony, along with the word of God. Could you imagine if you were sharing the word of God with people, and that’s what got you thrown on an island? Not to mention completely by yourself. And on top of that, he’s writing a letter to his fellow friends telling them to persevere on! Guys, He is on an island! Even though things are looking bad for him at that moment, he’s still trusting God with complete faith and in patients. I love how he calls them brother. Not only his friend, but a brother. He takes it further and say he’s their companion. A companion to me, is someone who will journey with you to mountain tops.