Do you remember your first car?

What was your first car? Do you remember it? I’m sure you made some great memories in that car! One of the first cars I ever had was a little white Ford Ranger. It was a manual truck and it had no cruise control. At the time I loved it! I still remember when I first was learning to drive it, it was a clear day, and it was the first time I was driving a manual transmission. My dad and I were practicing in the church parking lot, and it was a clear, sunny day. After a little while my dad told me to drive home. A couple minutes after pulling onto the road, a crazy thunderstorm hit, and it was so bad I could hardly see out the front windshield! I had just learned to drive it, and now was the first real test (we made it home safe, just in case you were worried :)).

Back to the fact that it had no cruise control… I love driving manual and I didn’t really take long trips with the truck, so cruise control wasn’t much of an issue. I do vividly remember this one time, though, when my sister was attending Taylor University, I drove that manual truck down to Taylor from our hometown in Mishawaka. The drive is only a little over two hours, but without cruise control and having to keep a foot on the gas pedal the entire time, my right leg was almost numb when we got there. It was a grueling drive! I was not looking forward to driving it home!

But what in the world does this have to do with Christianity, you might wonder? Well, at first glance, not much. When we take a closer look, though, I think it has a lot to do with it.

It has to do with comfort. Cruise control is a luxury. Not all cars have it, but you know when you don’t have it. Taking a long trip without cruise control can literally be painful.

The Christian life really needs to be a life that does not have cruise control. There should never be a time when we’re not pressing the gas, when we’re not growing, when we’re not pressing forward.

We should never get stuck in comfort with these control on. When cruise control is on, the only thing pushing or driving us forward is the mechanics of the car. There is no real work being done, and it is much easier to be distracted, to text and drive, or to take in the scenery around you. In Christianity, on cruise control, the only thing driving or pushing us forward is a habitual obedience, just doing what we’ve always done (whether that is good or bad).

Are you surviving on cruise control today? Did you know we were made to thrive and live an abundant, joy-filled life through the power of Jesus Christ? A life that is uncomfortable, but full of power; a life that is extraordinarily out of the ordinary, but full of passion; a life that is seen as weird, but is full of purpose.

Take off the cruise control and live with power, passion, and purpose for the glory and Name of Jesus Christ! You’ll never regret it!

The enemy of the everyday

The Christian life is an everyday thing. I previously wrote a post describing how there is no day off, no vacation, for the true follower of Christ. This is a continuation of that post as I continue to grow in that understanding and think things through on this topic.

The enemy of our faith is the everyday mundane-ness of the Christian faith.

There is power and abundance and joy, for certain. There is security and love, compassion, forgiveness and acceptance.

But faithfulness is an everyday battle we must engage.

There’s a funny Nyquil commercial that’s going around, where a dad walks in to his baby’s room and says, “Dave, I’m sorry to interrupt, I gotta take a sick day tomorrow.” And then the commentator chimes in and says, “Dads don’t take sick days. Dads take Nyquil.”

It’s the same way in our Christian walk! The enemy of everyday is that it’s every day. We don’t get a break. We can’t take a day off.  We don’t get a sick day.

The encouraging news?

In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus says, “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

It can be exhausting and discouraging and overwhelming to realize that we never get a day off. But take heart, because as we live in this world, God gives us rest and joy and courage. He gives us strength and endurance, and gives us the power to persevere.

Let the enemy of everyday drive you to the feet of Jesus. Take up His yoke and His burden. Keep your eyes focused on Christ and your everyday becomes just a little bit easier because it’s not under your own power but under the power given to you by the Holy Spirit.

What are you leaving behind?

Reputation. Family name. Legacy.

There is one thing that we all have in common. No matter what your age, race, socioeconomic status, living situation, family situation, country of residence, job, we will all die. Death has even been called “the great equalizer.” When we go, we will be leaving something behind. What is it that you will be leaving behind? What kind of legacy will your life leave? When your name comes up in conversation, what kind of reputation will you have left?

These are all good questions, and sometimes very difficult to answer. We all know we are often not in the exact place we want to be. We all have more to learn and have room to grow.

There is one person who lived who left behind one of the greatest reputations and one of the greatest legacies ever recorded: Jesus Christ. He didn’t accidentally leave behind a legacy or reputation; He very purposely lived His life and John 14:27 even records that He chose what He was going to leave behind. He left behind more than just this one thing, but to His disciples, here is what Jesus said He was going to leave:

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

Jesus is getting ready to be taken away from His disciples to be delivered over to be crucified. But, before He leaves them, He encourages them.

The disciples don’t have to be afraid when Jesus leaves this earth because of what He is leaving behind. He doesn’t leave behind money or fame or high social standing. Jesus Christ leaves behind peace. This may not be an external peace, because the disciples experienced a lot of turmoil and crazy harsh circumstances after this point, but I think Jesus is talking here about an internal peace.

A peace that, no matter the circumstance, no matter the hardship, no matter the struggle, no matter the pain, no matter the confusion, can bring joy and comfort. A peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7) that then guards our hearts and our minds so that we can relentlessly pursue Jesus Christ and stay faithful to Him.

Jesus left behind quite the legacy. We are still talking about Him, falling in love with and following after Him thousands of years after His life, death, and resurrection. It is in the legacy of Jesus Christ that we can live fearlessly victorious over the power of sin, death, and hell and live a life of joyfully abiding in Jesus Christ (John 15).

Don’t be afraid of what you may or may not leave behind. Live in the truth of what Jesus left behind for those who follow Him.

“God has not given us a spirit of fear…” (2 Timothy 1:7)

For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

This is a simple and straightforward verse. When we are in relationship with God, through faith in Jesus Christ, we are able and equipped to live in the truth of this verse.

What does it look like to not live in a spirit of fear or timidity? We are able to live in a spirit of power. We don’t have to be afraid of anything or anyone. We don’t have to fear the opinions of others, gossip, expectations, etc. We can live in power, through the power and strength of God, our Creator, Savior, and Lord.

What does it look like to live with a spirit of love? I think maybe it looks like giving people the benefit of the doubt, treating them like Jesus treated people, and showing love even when we don’t feel like it. If you were to go through Matthew, Mark, Luke and John in the Bible and look at how Jesus Christ treated people, it is incredible! He showed so much love and care and compassion, and so much purpose and intentionality in relationships with others, always desiring to give them what they need (though it wasn’t always what they wanted!!).

Moving on, what does it look like to live with a spirit of self-discipline? I think this is pretty much what it says. We live a life of discipline. This doesn’t mean anything legalistic, but we use our time wisely, are good stewards of all the resources we are given, and live a life committed to walking in God’s ways.

What does your life look like right now? Does it look more like a life living through a spirit of fear? Or a spirit of power and love and self-discipline? What choices or decisions maybe need to change in your life to begin living through a spirit of power and love and self-discipline?

What kind of power do words have?

I don’t know about you, but I often wonder about the words that I speak. I wonder, “Does what I say matter?” “Does what I say have any affect whatsoever in the lives of the people I am talking with?” “What is the purpose of what I am saying?” Every week I have the opportunity to speak to youth, but does what I say carry any weight? Does it help change anyone’s life? Is it encouraging or is it beating them down? Does it challenge and encourage them to reach their potential or does it require impossible things from them? These are not easy questions to answer, but they, and many more like them, are what I can’t get out of my head.

 

I constantly think about the way I communicate. You should too. Why? Because we all communicate every day! 

 

Right? Communication matters. The words we use on a daily basis can change the lives of the people we are talking to, working with, or hanging out with every single day. Your words can also change you.

The Bible says:  “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29).

So cool, the Bible says it, but what does that matter? What if I don’t believe in the Bible? What if I don’t care what it says, or it’s not relevant to my life?

Put those questions aside for a second and think about the content of what the verse says. Think about the words you can use each day: do unwholesome, crude, mean words help anyone? Do encouraging, strengthening, uplifting words benefit those who hear them? I think the answer is yes.

 

We have a choice, you and I. We can use our words for good; or we can use our words for evil. Unfortunately our mouths don’t come with instruction manuals on how to use them properly. I think a lot of problems could be avoided if we were all able to better use our mouths to speak well.

Throughout my 24, almost 25, years of life, I have been a first-hand witness as to how destructive words can be to a person’s self-esteem and image. If you’re like me, you’ve experienced hurt at the derogatory words of someone else, and you’ve seen others beaten down by someone else’s words. Why not be the change? We can use our power for good! We can speak life!

If Peter Parker can learn this lesson from Uncle Ben, we can too: “With great power, comes great responsibility.” Words contain great power. We have a great responsibility to use them well and to realize the kind of power that come through what we say–even those things we say that we don’t think matter.

Sometimes I can be careless with my words. When I am tired, when I am not thinking, when I am busy, when I am annoyed, etc., I don’t always think about what I am saying, how I am saying it, and the power of the words that are coming out of my mouth. I have seen the great power of these careless words, and have seen the damage they have done. The careless words weren’t worth the damage they caused..

Remember that your words, all of your words, have power!