Forgiven

You are forgiven. IT DOESN’T MATTER HOW BIG YOUR SIN WAS. It is taken care of. That is why Jesus came. We needed a perfect sacrifice, He paid that debt, and to receive that mercy takes nothing more than a prayer, a humble crying out to God, admitting you were wrong and willingness to follow Him. That’s it. There’s no hidden hoop to jump through. No fine print. If you are willing to change, He’s willing to save you.

So the question is, are YOU willing to change?

Are YOU willing to put down that selfish spirit and stop doing/saying/ thinking ____ ? Are YOU going to be strong enough to admit you were wrong, weak enough to know you need to change, and faithful enough to call Him Savior?

These questions are very simple, they can even be “yes” or “no” answers. But the aftermath of this decision will last an eternity.

If you are willing – He is capable.

If you are humble – He is waiting.

If you are ready – Get on your knees –

And He’ll meet you half way, just before you hit the floor, so to speak, and bring you back up again in the wholeness, a purity only HE can give.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace… Ephesians 1:7.

Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Acts 2:38

“The time has come," he said. "The kingdom of God is near. Repent and believe the good news!” Mark 1:15

The Lions of God Creed…

Our lives can be ended so easily that its scary to think one minute you're here and the next you're before God's throne. That's why we have to make it count. Nothing we will ever do will make us better than anyone else.

But that doesn’t mean we should conform to a fallen world.

We have to stand up in it, be proud to be His sons and daughters, yet be humble enough to realize we're no better than those we witness to. We have to dance and sing when others are silent and act when others are afraid. We have to pray in Jesus Christ's name while others curse in it. We have to see the world through His eyes and act with His hands, listen through His ears, and speak in His words.

That is our calling. To "Go into all the World and preach the good news to all creation." In His name we will "drive out demons, speak in new tongues, place our hands on snakes and not be poisoned, lay hands on the sick and they will get well." (Mark 16:15-18)

We have the power. We have the opportunities. All we lack is the courage to be the Lions we are called to be. We have Christ inside of us. Your friends, your teachers, your enemies will see Him in you and ask themselves 'what makes him/her different?', and in that little thought the gates of their mind and heart will be opened enough to let God in.

Savior Complex

 

One of my best friends (no, not Jesus, or my mom,) recently introduced me to this term and how it applied to his own life and relationships, and I realized that many, (if not most people, and especially Christians,) can also be caught in this deadly trap.

Christ was made to be our sacrifice. He is our Savior. He is the One we are meant to bring our sins to for healing, the One we are to go to in prayer and in a humble spirit, the One made to save us from ourselves… He is the answer to every problem we will ever have, in some way, in every way, He is our Source.

Yet, we all to often try to take on this roll of a savior for the people we hold dear to us. (I’m guilty too.) We try to be the answer to all their problems, the band-aid to all their hurts, the medicine to all their illness, the doctor to their disease, and the sacrifice to all their sins… And that, is plainly wrong.  It isn’t how things were made BY GOD to be. If we were made to be each other’s saviors, there would be no need for Jesus. 

But, as I hope we can agree to, we are all in desperate need for Him – so why is it we think we can take upon His Cross as our own, and become the superficial antidote to a fellow sinner, the cure to a fellow human’s sins, past, and pain?

I think it boils down to pride. Of course there is a form of love involved, because you obviously care about that person very deeply, to want to help them so much, but who are YOU, who are WE, to believe we're even remotely capable of helping someone else fix their whole life when we can barely keep ours in order??

My friend was strong enough to see that truth, that we are imperfect, and thusly cannot be capable of being that. He realized that as much as it hurt, he had to let a certain relationship go in order for him to work on his relationship with God. Was this an easy choice? No. Not at all. It was extremely trying, both emotionally and spiritually, for him, and I’m sure for the other person involved, but he did it. He had to. We are only responsible for our own spirituality, and he saw clear enough to comprehend that. He understood that he had no business being someone else’s savior when he was in need of his Own.

We cannot be a savior to anyone. No one has that right. Only God. All we can do is help lead them in His direction.

PUT GOD FIRST

 

I cannot stress this point anymore than He already has. He will have no other gods before Him. Period. Whatever you define yourself with, whatever you let consume you, is your god. Even if what it is, is done in the name of God, it is wrong.

Your girlfriend, your boyfriend, your job, your money, your charity work, your friends, your status socially, how much attention you can get, how much appreciation you receive, sex, drugs, pornography, too much co-dependence on another individual for the needs only He is supposed to provide. All these things are commonly allowed to take the place in our heart where only God needs to be.

It can be so sneaky, but it is so very, very crucial that it is fixed as soon as possible. God Himself admits to being a jealous God, and will only put up with our antics and selfishness for so long before He allows something to happen to us that will bring us to our knees, and make us put Him back on the throne of our hearts.