"Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us."
1 Peter 2:11-12
"I am not coming to church because it is just full of a bunch of hypocrites." We have all heard this or maybe have even said it. I have always said this is not true, but is it? I am not saying it is a valid reason to not come to church, because it certainly is not. What I am saying is this...
As Christians we are supposed to look, act, and sound different than those who are not Christians. Can people tell the you are a Christ follower just by how you act at work or at school? If not, than we are not being aliens in this world. If we are acting just like the world then there is a possibility that hypocrisy will creep into our lives. Hypocrisy is defined as he practice of claiming to have moral standards or beliefs to which one's own behavior does not conform; pretense. In other words it means, saying one thing and doing another. We go to church, we tithe, we will even go on the summer mission trip to Europe, but we go back to work or school and start talking bad about someone. We all have done this at some point. So guess what? We are ALL hypocrites. So how do we stop this problem? We have to check ourselves everyday. We have to ask ourselves, "Is this lining up with what the Lord tells me?" We need to do so because non-Christians are going to accuse us; like by calling us hypocrites. And when we are doing right they will not be able to accuse us because they will see our good deeds and will HAVE to glorify God!
So let me simplify all of this. Do not say one thing and do another thing. Act, sound, and look different than the lost world, and live good lives among sinners so that they will have to glorify God. Let's stop giving people the excuse of not coming to church because "the church is full of a bunch of hypocrites."
Love God. Love others.
Love yourself!
-Hannah
Monday, February 27, 2012
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Filled Up with the Fullness of God
Ephesians 3:16-19 NIV
"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
Is there something inside of you the yearns for more of Christ? Do you want to be filled with the Spirit? I know, lately, that I have just had something burning inside of me that hungers for a new measure of the Holy Spirit. I want to be "filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." I was driving down the road and I thought, "I want to be rooted and grounded in love!"This scripture, which is a prayer for the Ephesians, is just what I needed to read. I am at a point in my life where it seems like the pressure is on to decide what I want to do with the rest of my life. There is no pressure on me though, because I have laid all those pressures on my Heavenly Father. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7
When I let go of the stresses of being a college student my priorities begin to simplify. The reason is because things that seemed so important before are in God's hands and he will take care of them. Since I let go of the "pressures of a college student," I have been longing for a deeper more intimate relationship with my Creator.
So this is what Ephesians 3:16-19 has said to me...
As Christians we have to let Christ reign over ALL aspects of our life. You are his creation, he should be able to do whatever he wants with us. We can only give everything to Him when we let the Holy Spirit empower us. If we try to give God our messy plans on our own, it seems that we end up picking our burdens back up, instead of leaving them in his hands. And when I say everything, that even means our weak areas where there is sin. Those weak areas are holding us back from all God wants to do in our lives. That one secret sin that no one else knows about IS hindering you and the fellowship you have with the Holy Spirit and other Christians around you. Once we let him take complete control he lines up our paths like he originally designed it. When the Holy Spirit intercedes in our life, we will "be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
-Hannah
"I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
Is there something inside of you the yearns for more of Christ? Do you want to be filled with the Spirit? I know, lately, that I have just had something burning inside of me that hungers for a new measure of the Holy Spirit. I want to be "filled to the measure of all the fullness of God." I was driving down the road and I thought, "I want to be rooted and grounded in love!"This scripture, which is a prayer for the Ephesians, is just what I needed to read. I am at a point in my life where it seems like the pressure is on to decide what I want to do with the rest of my life. There is no pressure on me though, because I have laid all those pressures on my Heavenly Father. "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7
When I let go of the stresses of being a college student my priorities begin to simplify. The reason is because things that seemed so important before are in God's hands and he will take care of them. Since I let go of the "pressures of a college student," I have been longing for a deeper more intimate relationship with my Creator.
So this is what Ephesians 3:16-19 has said to me...
As Christians we have to let Christ reign over ALL aspects of our life. You are his creation, he should be able to do whatever he wants with us. We can only give everything to Him when we let the Holy Spirit empower us. If we try to give God our messy plans on our own, it seems that we end up picking our burdens back up, instead of leaving them in his hands. And when I say everything, that even means our weak areas where there is sin. Those weak areas are holding us back from all God wants to do in our lives. That one secret sin that no one else knows about IS hindering you and the fellowship you have with the Holy Spirit and other Christians around you. Once we let him take complete control he lines up our paths like he originally designed it. When the Holy Spirit intercedes in our life, we will "be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God."
-Hannah
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