What is Christian living? Is it going to church each weekend and
worshiping God and then leaving and doing the week without much thought
of God? Is it having a nice home, a wonderful family, a well paying job
and all the material things we possess?
I think the Christian life pertains to what we do in between Sundays. God says that we are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. Mt 5:13
"We are also the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let our light shine before men, that they may see our good deeds and praise our Father in heaven. Mt 5:13-16
God also tells us not to conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:2)
These are tough commands to abide by especially when we live in a world full of distractions and temptations. We need constant contact with the Lord or the devil will have his way with us like a roaring lion waiting to devour us.
Living in this world is difficult and mind boggling. We are so busy with schedules, kids, work, and each other that we often times forget about God but God doesn't forget about us. He is always a presence in our life and he wants us to come to Him in all things.
I ask myself, Rene when is the last time I picked up my bible for daily guidance. Time gets away from me from the pressures of life that I forget I have help at my fingertips. It's God who is all things and when we seek his kingdom first, everything else will fall into place. The jobs, our marriage, our kids and even our relationship with God. Only having this personal and intimate relationship with him can put us on the right path of Christian living.
The Christian life is thinking of other's needs before our own. That's a tall order but as Christians, we must love our brothers and sisters and to be aware of their needs. I only want to do these things in love and not have them be a burden in my life.
I often think of the apostle Paul when he said he is content in all things whether in chains or free, whether full or hungry. Paul endured hardships that no other man has endured. He was flogged, beaten, shipwrecked and in pain yet he still put God first. What a man! He, in human flesh endured so much that it's a wonder he lived as long as he did. The reason for his success in spreading the gospel was that he was aligned with God and God alone. He was God's servant and only wanted to please him.
When I think of Paul's words in being content in all things I cringe at the fact that no, I am not content in all things. My days are days filled with non-contentment whether it's a bad hair day or my boss gives me a bad review. Any little thing that happens in my life makes me angry or bitter at the thought of not being able to control my life.
I say to God... "God, I am not Paul. I am not content in all things". I complain about everything and I ask God to forgive me. When I think about Paul I know that he was so God centered that he committed all his time to ministry. But we are not all ministers. We need to put food on our tables, we need to attend to our kids, wives and husbands. There is so little time for God that we usually put Him on the back burner.
How can we change the things we don't do and do the things we want to do? Like being closer to God, being in the word more and having a prayer filled life? How can we be salt and light in this world when our time is spent elsewhere.
We can't all be like Paul committed to God in every area of our lives. But we can change a few things we do in our day like pray more, have time for the word, help others, be committed to have a personal and intimate relationship with our creator. All these things can change the way we live and think and it doesn't take that much time. Throughout our day we can do these things and we'd be surprised of how our life changes. Things won't be so hard anymore. We can have more time to laugh and be with each other and to pray with one another.
The Christian life is what we make of it between Sundays. We can be the salt and light of the world by the way we act and many people especially non-believers watch the way we act to see if we'll trip up. We need to be examples to those who are watching us so they can see our good deeds and give glory to Him who is coming.
We can conform to God's ways and his commands to live better and more Godly lives. The Christian life is not burdensome but it is filled with grace and peace when we put our faith in God and live up to His standards. Isn't that what we all strive for? To please God? I do and I like Paul am looking a head and running the race to win my prize. We will all be blessed here on earth as it will be in heaven. We only need to be more like Paul and to follow in his footsteps and in this, we will make a difference in this world and a difference to others who need us and God so much.
To everyone striving in this manner, I only want to commend you and tell you that I too am striving to live a better life as a Christian.
Take care, and God bless...
I think the Christian life pertains to what we do in between Sundays. God says that we are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men. Mt 5:13
"We are also the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let our light shine before men, that they may see our good deeds and praise our Father in heaven. Mt 5:13-16
God also tells us not to conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Romans 12:2)
These are tough commands to abide by especially when we live in a world full of distractions and temptations. We need constant contact with the Lord or the devil will have his way with us like a roaring lion waiting to devour us.
Living in this world is difficult and mind boggling. We are so busy with schedules, kids, work, and each other that we often times forget about God but God doesn't forget about us. He is always a presence in our life and he wants us to come to Him in all things.
I ask myself, Rene when is the last time I picked up my bible for daily guidance. Time gets away from me from the pressures of life that I forget I have help at my fingertips. It's God who is all things and when we seek his kingdom first, everything else will fall into place. The jobs, our marriage, our kids and even our relationship with God. Only having this personal and intimate relationship with him can put us on the right path of Christian living.
The Christian life is thinking of other's needs before our own. That's a tall order but as Christians, we must love our brothers and sisters and to be aware of their needs. I only want to do these things in love and not have them be a burden in my life.
I often think of the apostle Paul when he said he is content in all things whether in chains or free, whether full or hungry. Paul endured hardships that no other man has endured. He was flogged, beaten, shipwrecked and in pain yet he still put God first. What a man! He, in human flesh endured so much that it's a wonder he lived as long as he did. The reason for his success in spreading the gospel was that he was aligned with God and God alone. He was God's servant and only wanted to please him.
When I think of Paul's words in being content in all things I cringe at the fact that no, I am not content in all things. My days are days filled with non-contentment whether it's a bad hair day or my boss gives me a bad review. Any little thing that happens in my life makes me angry or bitter at the thought of not being able to control my life.
I say to God... "God, I am not Paul. I am not content in all things". I complain about everything and I ask God to forgive me. When I think about Paul I know that he was so God centered that he committed all his time to ministry. But we are not all ministers. We need to put food on our tables, we need to attend to our kids, wives and husbands. There is so little time for God that we usually put Him on the back burner.
How can we change the things we don't do and do the things we want to do? Like being closer to God, being in the word more and having a prayer filled life? How can we be salt and light in this world when our time is spent elsewhere.
We can't all be like Paul committed to God in every area of our lives. But we can change a few things we do in our day like pray more, have time for the word, help others, be committed to have a personal and intimate relationship with our creator. All these things can change the way we live and think and it doesn't take that much time. Throughout our day we can do these things and we'd be surprised of how our life changes. Things won't be so hard anymore. We can have more time to laugh and be with each other and to pray with one another.
The Christian life is what we make of it between Sundays. We can be the salt and light of the world by the way we act and many people especially non-believers watch the way we act to see if we'll trip up. We need to be examples to those who are watching us so they can see our good deeds and give glory to Him who is coming.
We can conform to God's ways and his commands to live better and more Godly lives. The Christian life is not burdensome but it is filled with grace and peace when we put our faith in God and live up to His standards. Isn't that what we all strive for? To please God? I do and I like Paul am looking a head and running the race to win my prize. We will all be blessed here on earth as it will be in heaven. We only need to be more like Paul and to follow in his footsteps and in this, we will make a difference in this world and a difference to others who need us and God so much.
To everyone striving in this manner, I only want to commend you and tell you that I too am striving to live a better life as a Christian.
Take care, and God bless...
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