Our Proximity To Jesus Matters

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. Acts 4:13 

A few times in my life I have been surprised by the reactions of others. Once a female co-worker apologized to me after she said a cuss word, implying she was sorry for her words because I was a Christian, even though I never made an issue of my faith to her. 

At another time a fellow worker at a different job brought up religion to me, commenting that he noticed I read my Bible sometimes during lunch break. 

People are watching us. They notice how we act. They can often tell we are Christians even when we don’t make an issue of the fact. So, we must be wary of careless words and actions. 

When you spend time with Jesus in prayer, reading His word, and obeying His teachings, people will notice. When Christ is within us, He cannot help but be seen by those around us. 

Just as we are influenced by the people around us in daily life, we cannot but help being influenced by our Creator when we spend time in His word and presence. Contact with Jesus is recognizable. Living in close proximity to Jesus manifests itself in what we say and do and it matters. 

Spend time with Jesus. Get to know Him better. Then let the world see that you are someone who has spent time with Jesus. You might be surprised at how influential you are to those around you when Jesus is within you. 

Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to always be good representatives of You. Teach us every day how to be more like You in our words and deeds. Amen. 

He Is Our Sacrifice

This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 1 John 4:10  

I am eternally grateful that I will not be held accountable for every stupid thing I have said in my life, every thoughtless action, and every sin I have committed. Without Jesus we would be doomed. No one has lived a sinless life except Christ our Savior. 

We take comfort in the mercy and grace of God our Father. Through His kindness we can hold our head up high as the children of God. Not through anything we have done, there is no place for pride. It is through the goodness of God and the sacrifice of Jesus that we have hope and endless blessings. 

It would be frightening if you were facing a prison term. Yet think how much more frightening it would be to face a prison term for eternity because you lived outside of God’s mercy and grace.  

No matter how difficult your life is on this earth, and even if you are serving a long prison term here, know that in the life to come you will have eternal bliss because of Jesus. We can face just about anything because we have hope through Christ and what He has done for us. 

Your life may be miserable. Perhaps you are dealing with circumstances beyond your control. I encourage you to embrace Jesus, accept His sacrifice, and find redemption for your soul. If you are already a believer, then I would encourage you to remember there is more to this life, there are great blessings to come. And before you reach your eternal destiny, you have a God who cares and is with you in your difficulties. 

Prayer: Dear Lord, what You endured for us on the cross is beyond our comprehension. Your suffering must have been horrible. We remember it with gratitude knowing it was for us that You endured so much pain. Thank You for being our sacrifice! Amen. 

We Must Avoid Losing Ourselves To Hardship

“He has besieged me and surrounded me with bitterness and hardship.” Lamentations 3:4-6  

  

  It is not easy to live with hardship and to suffer enduring pain. We can lose ourselves in the hardships that come into our lives. Not long ago I was talking to someone who told me about a member of his family that was so caught up in a disappointing event that the person had a mental breakdown over it.  

  We can let our hardships become so all-encompassing that it is difficult to see beyond them. Even single events in our lives can swallow up the good things that God would have us focus upon instead.  

  If we were to balance everything out on a scale, the good things, the undeserved blessings, the wonderful events in our lives, they would far outweigh the bad experiences that have come our way. I do not make light of hardship. But wrong thinking, and obsessive thoughts about only the bad circumstances in life can swallow up the many blessings around us.  

  We need the Lord to keep us off of the dark path of pessimism. We may not always be cheerful and feel uplifted, we may even struggle continually with depression, yet there is reason for hope as Christians. The pathway may be dark on occasion, and the hardships may seem overwhelming, but the end result is glory and paradise with our Lord. And on earth fellowship with our Savior and those who are His children.  

  Don’t let pessimistic thinking and focusing upon hardships rob you of the many wonderful blessings God has brought into your life. Focus instead upon the Lord’s blessings and place our disappointments in their proper context. Both hardship and blessings are ours in this life.  

  You may feel weighed down by disappointment and hardships, but if you will start adding up the blessings God has given you throughout your life it will help you to gain perspective.  

  Prayer: Dear Lord, help us to see the entire picture of our lives, and to place hardship and disappointment within a context that also includes the many blessings You have given us.  

Your Brothers And Sisters In Christ

And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life. Matthew 19:29 

Whether they are being imprisoned in China, or killed in Nigeria, your brothers and sisters are suffering in many places throughout the world. 

I have a brother and sister on my mom’s side of the family, and two more brothers and two more sisters on my dad’s side of the family. Yet my six siblings are not even a fraction of the number of brothers and sisters I have throughout the world, and the same applies to you as well. 

When we became Christians, we not only become followers of Jesus Christ, we were adopted into a huge family of believers. You cannot begin to count how many siblings you now have in the family of God. 

Some may be sad because they are an only child in a small family. Others may be orphans with no family at all. Yet those who become Christians suddenly have an innumerable group of brothers and sisters spread throughout the world.  

If we ever truly receive a revelation of who we are in Christ, and the close relationship we have with fellow believers, our entire perspective on life will be changed. Who would we hate, blame, condemn, or see as unlovable when everyone around us is either a brother or sister or potentially could become so? 

You may feel lonely, abandoned, and without help in this world. I encourage you to open your eyes and realize you have brothers and sisters all around you. 

Prayer: Dear Lord, we are so shortsighted. Open our eyes and help us to see that there is a world of Christian brothers and sisters who need our help and love just as You love us. Amen.