COUNT YOUR BLESSINGS

Count your BLESSINGS 

instead of your crosses;

Count your GAINS 

instead of your losses.

Count your JOYS 

instead of your woes;

Count your FRIENDS 

instead of your foes.

Count your SMILES 

instead of your tears;

Count your COURAGE 

instead of your fears.

Count your FULL YEARS 

instead of your lean;

Count your KIND DEEDS 

instead of your mean.

Count your HEALTH

instead of your wealth;

Count on GOD 

instead of yourself.

(Unknown)

MY GRACE IS SUFFICIENT FOR YOU

Jesus said: “My grace is sufficient for you...” (2 Corinthians 12:9)

There is a lot of teaching that markets itself under the big umbrella of Christianity. This can be very confusing for new Christians, and even for mature Christians who are experiencing a season of hardship.

If you are a person who is seeking to better understand how Christianity is different from other world religions, and you are overwhelmed by all of the apparently conflicting teachings that say they represent the Christian religion, you should know this:

True Bible based Christianity is very simple. Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. 

Nothing more. Nothing less.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. 

John 3:16

Amen.

GREAT IS YOUR FAITHFULNESS

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; 

his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

Lamentations 3:22-23

FORCE RIPENED FAITH

Have you ever eaten a tomato that was tasteless, obviously picked prematurely and forced to ripen in a delivery truck on the way to market many miles (or continents) away? 

Have you ever bitten into a vine-ripened tomato? What a difference! The vine-ripened tomato is juicy and colorful and it has the full flavor of the sun and the soil and the seasonal rain.

Sometimes in our faith, especially as baby Christians, we want to grow up quickly. We want to show the world how much, and all, that we know. Our enthusiasm is not to be discouraged. But faith cannot be forced ripened. Faith is experiential. Faith is personal. We can learn from others’ trials of faith, but until our own faith is tested we will never know the true power of faith to transform our lives and the world around us. 

...knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing. (NKJV)

...for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. (ESV)

...because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. (NIV)

You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you may become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. (The Message)

James 1:4

FAITH CAN MOVE MOUNTAINS

For truly, I say to you, if you have faith like a grain of mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, “Move from here to there,” and it will move, and nothing will be impossible for you.

Matthew 17:20

This is a tricky verse to share with anyone who is not a Christian. Even Christians struggle with it. It’s hard to imagine moving a mountain, especially when you are standing in front of one, whether it’s an actual mountain or a mountain of problems.

There is one important thing to note about this verse: we are not moving the mountain. It is our faith that moves the mountain.

I am always amazed at how easy it is to lift and transport a heavy item when it's resting on the platform of a moving dolly. The long arm of the dolly takes all of the difficulty out of the task. This phenomenon is called leverage.

Faith is our leverage in this life. 

We don’t need big muscles to do impossible things. We need faith. Even faith the size of a mustard seed can do great things. Christ tells us it can move mountains! 

Let’s be clear: we are not talking about using our minds to perform a magic trick. We are talking about having faith in Christ and using that faith to do impossible things.

What seems impossible to you? Before we challenge God, maybe we should challenge our faith.

DOING BATTLE WITH THE DEVIL

If you have any doubt about the seriousness of sin, reflect on this passage from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians:

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil...having fastened on the belt of truth....having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace. In all circumstances take up the shield of faith....take the helmet of salvation....and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God, praying at all times in the Spirit....keep alert with all prayer and perseverance.

Ephesians 6: 10-18 (selected)

This passage does not list the rules of engagement for playing in a sandbox. It's a battle cry! Orders to prepare ourselves for war! The war against sin.

Our first order from God is to “stand.” We cannot fight a battle sitting down and expect to win it. We must be at the ready, prepared with our feet planted firmly underneath us. 

God does not instruct us to grab a bucket and a spade to do battle. He instructs us to put on our whole body armor. Just as an NFL player must wear all of his protective gear to survive the physical battle of a football game, we must prepare ourselves for battle with the devil by putting on our whole suit of armor. 

All good emergency response plans rely on a comprehensive check list, and God has very kindly provided one for us. We will need:

• belt of truth (everything depends on it)
• breastplate of righteousness (to forget it could be fatal)
• comfortable shoes for the long fight (it’s in the battle plan: peace and assurance of the gospel)
• shield of faith (it’s our secret superhero power that melts the bad guy)
• helmet of salvation (even NFL players, who are about as tough as they get, know the importance of protecting their noggin)
• sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God (we should call this our AMEX card - - never ever leave home without it)

Have you ever packed your suitcase for a vacation, and on arrival at your destination realized that you forgot the most obvious and essential thing, like your underwear?

After we have diligently checked off our list, God reminds us of the most important thing that we should take to our fight: prayer. And not just any old half-hearted prayer. God instructs us to pray at all times in the Spirit. This is fervent prayer. It is not a time to multi-task. It is a time to be focused, to be a prayer warrior.

Fighting sin is serious business and it requires a well-trained warrior. 

God tells us, “keep alert with all perseverance.” The battle against sin is never-ending. If we think for one moment that our fight is over, and that we have won, we have already been ambushed. The moment we let down our guard and relax, the moment we rest on our laurels and think that we can claim any lasting victory over sin before Jesus returns, in that moment we are already a casualty of the war.

Fighting sin is a battle of endurance. We must put on our full battle armor, arm ourselves with the sword of the Spirit, and pray like our life depends on it. Because it does. 

A NEW LIFE

“Something is [terribly] wrong when our lives make sense to unbelievers.”

Francis Chan, Crazy Love (2008)

...put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires...and put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.

Ephesians 4:22,24

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.  And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. 

Galatians 2:20

DILIGENCE

Diligence is excellence lived out with consistency.

HAPPY VALENTINES DAY

Many waters cannot quench love,

neither can floods drown it.

Song of Solomon 8:7

JESUS, LOVER OF MY SOUL

Jesus, Lover of my Soul,

Take this heart and fill it.

Take this life and make it whole;

Jesus, Lover of my Soul.

JMSmith

ACCEPTING THE GIFT OF LOVE

So, God wants to give us this gift, but we can only receive it by placing our faith in Him, and He is not asking us for anything in return.

Doing something for you, bringing something to you - 

that’s not what you’re after.

Psalm 40:6 (The Message)

Imagine I give you a lovely painting for a gift, but you say, “No thanks, please take it out of here.” My gift is still a gift, even if you refuse to receive it. Or, imagine I give you a book for a gift and you say, “Thanks,” then you immediately put my gift on a shelf with all your other unread books.

I imagine this is how God feels most days. He wants to give us the most precious gift of all time - - in fact, He has already given us this gift. We just have to receive it. But instead we say, “Thanks, that’s very nice of you. Just put it over there with all my other unwanted and unappreciated gifts.” 

The gift of salvation belongs to everyone. We just have to take it, to receive it. And we receive it by believing in Him.

What does that mean, believing in Him? 

If I have worn the heavy boots of sin all my life, am I suddenly expected to say in one moment that I believe everything the Bible says about God, even though I haven’t read it?

God says we must believe IN HIM to receive the gift of salvation.  The moment we accept Christ into our lives, the moment we confess our sin and turn away from it, when we ask God’s forgiveness for living wrongly, we receive the gift of God’s Love into our lives. In that moment we believe in Him. We can say, “Thank you God for this wonderful one-of-a-kind gift. It is very special and I will treasure it. Every time I look at it (read the Bible, gaze at a beautiful sunset, encounter some unexpected kindness) I will think about You and give thanks for it (say a little prayer to you).”  

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

1 John 1:9

THE GIFT OF LOVE

Imagine a person who you love dearly.

Now, imagine that I walk up to you and I say, "If you give me [that person who you love dearly] I will give you “a whole and lasting life.” (For the purpose of our imagining I can do that.) Would you make that exchange? 

If we could imagine for a moment how difficult it would be to let go of someone who we love dearly, even for the promise of something extremely special in return, we might come close to realizing just how much the gift of God’s Love means.

God gave his Son. He gave his Son. God gave his Son as a gift. A free gift. No repayment. No cost to us. Nothing required in return.

That’s Love. 

Simply put, love is a gift. 

It does not expect or demand anything in return.

For God so loved the world, that he GAVE [as in A GIFT] his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16 (square brackets added)

THIS IS LOVE

I wonder how many people refuse the gift of salvation because they just can’t grasp the vastness of God? 

I wonder how many people walk away from the chance to have real everlasting joy in their lives because the concept of some ‘invisible being’ is just too much for them to grapple with? 

I wonder how many people miss out on the most satisfying relationship of their lives because they cannot imagine someone loving them in spite of all their failures and mistakes - - the ones they have already made, and the ones they will make again and again for the rest of their lives?

This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life.

John 3:16 (The Message)

PRACTICING FAITH

Wouldn’t it be great if once we accepted Christ as our Savior we could just go about our days and never ever have to worry about a single thing ever again? If that were so, I am certain that people would line up to get saved. 

Repentance and forgiveness are just the beginning of a lifetime committed to doing God's work.

There are Christians who never profess their faith. I use to be one of them. I used to think that it was enough that others could look at me and see my niceness; they didn’t need to know my religious beliefs. Of course, if those same people encountered me on a bad day, they might question my Christian values (and my niceness).

I will never be a charismatic Christian. That is not my nature. However, I am aware that it is hypocritical to call myself a Christian and never know what that really means in my own life, much less share it with someone else. 

While faith is sufficient to be saved, the Bible tells us that to grow as Christians our faith must be accompanied by works. 

Believing in God is one thing; serving God is another. We must practice our faith.

For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead. 

(James 2:26) 

Our service to God is essential: it is the breath that sustains our faith. Our faith is complete when we put God’s commands into action. 

THE POWER OF PRAYER

When I read the Scripture, I am inspired by God’s Word. I want to be that good person that God exhorts me to be. I want to be loving and kind to others. I want to be patient and tender-hearted. I want to bless others with my words and grow in wisdom. I want to be merciful and forgiving toward those who do me wrong. I want to be generous with my time and money for building the Kingdom of God. 

But no sooner am I resolved to be the best person that I can be for God’s purpose, than I am faced with some temptation, and my weakness is exposed, my will shattered. 

We all have those days when everything is going great, then someone says the exact wrong thing to us, in the exact wrong tone of voice, at the exact wrong time. All the good intention in the world is not enough to overcome habitual ways of reacting to certain situations. To change our hard-wired reactions to certain situations we need to change our perspective, and that can only be achieved through the power of honest prayer. 

Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.

(James 4: 7-8)