Defeating the Darkness

   Imagine you are at home and it is night. You are enjoying watching some tv, reading, or spending time with your family then suddenly the power goes out. Now, depending on your age you may be feeling different things. If you are young and afraid of the dark, you may be freaking out at this point. If you are an adult you may be going through your head thinking about a generator, candles, or flashlights are. You probably are not thinking: "let me pull my sleeves up, put on my boxing gloves, and punch this darkness until the lights come back on." That would just be silly, right?

   Well, I can tell you that some people do try to fight darkness. Christians have used darkness and light as a metaphor for sin for years. Darkness is sin, therefore light is the influence of Christ. We think we need to fight this dark sin. Let me ask you this, do you think you can fight sin? I'm not saying that you should fall into temptation of sin. I'm talking about trying to defeat sin. We go throughout our days in a constant battle. That makes us tired. Do we have to be so tired?
   1 John 4:18 says: "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears us not made perfect in love." Our battle isn't against sin. That battle has already been won by someone far greater than us. Our battle is against fear. We are afraid we will mess up. We are afraid to lose our job, friends, and family. We are afraid we will never be good enough. The list of fears goes on and on. We try to defeat the fear/darkness in different ways. Some of us just accept the fear and give in. How can we combat this fear and darkness?
   Look back at 1 John 4:18 and you will find the answer. The answer is love. You may be saying, "how does that make sense? Isn't the opposite of fear bravery?" Let's say you are afraid you will let your boss down at your job, or your parents down. If you love them, love others, and act in love while at your job then you'll be driving out the fear.
   I'll tell you I am very self-conscious and I don't like letting people down. In fact, it got so bad that at one point I had severe anxiety. I tried to think logically, forget about the situations, and pray about them. The prayer helped a little but then I realized that in these situations I wasn't letting my light shine as much as I could've been. I was doing the bear minimum trying to defeat the fear on my own. Instead of fighting the fear on my own, I asked God to show me how to let my light shine. I asked him to help me show love.
   We don't have to fight the darkness because it only takes a light to stop the darkness. If all Christians showed love to others by letting their light shine there would be less darkness in the world. We can make this world bright by helping those in need, listening to those who are hurting, and so much more. That's how fear and darkness will be defeated.
   So, are you trying to defeat fear and darkness in the wrong way? Are you showing love to others and letting your light shine? How can you let your light shine today?

   1 John 4:18 and John 1:5

   Image from here. 

He Didn't Stay Because of the Nails: An Easter Blog

   At camp YoliJwa during some weeks in the summer they have a night where you focus on your relationship with Jesus. One time, when I was there, they had a cross. You wrote on a piece of paper a sin you felt had a hold of you, or you couldn't let go, then you took a nail and nailed it to the cross. It kind of gives a new meaning to my sin is "nailed to the cross and I bear it no more."

   You may be thinking, "well that's exactly what the song says. We are nailing our sins to the cross." You're right; you are nailing your sins to the cross. But, if you forget the message of the cross you lose the whole meaning of nailing your sins to the cross.

   Imagine being there the day that Jesus was killed. Imagine you taking the hammer, grabbing the nail, lining up the nail to go through his hand, and then pounding the nail into his hand. Many of us don't want to imagine that because it's gross, I know I don't like blood so I'm in the same boat. But, in essence, that's exactly what we all did.

   No, we were not physically at the cross when Jesus died; but, Jesus stayed on the cross for our sins. Jesus could have called it all off. He is God. He could have said, "this is too much. These people are not worth it." Instead, he stayed. He stayed because of my sins. He stayed because of your sins. He stayed so we could be with him in heaven. He stayed because he loved us so much and wants to be with us forever.

   This Easter, I encourage you to think about what Jesus did for you. Think about how your sin held Jesus on the cross. Think about how much he loves you. Thank him for what he did for you.

   Image from here. 

What If? How God Works Things for Our Good

   One question people who are or who are not Christian ask a lot is, "why do bad things happen if there is a God?" We begin to ask these kinds of questions when bad things happen in our lives. Questions like, "why did I lose my job?" "Why did my family member die suddenly?" "Why did so many people did in that shooting?" If God were good, then he would not let so many bad things happen.

   Then, as we think more, we begin to question our actions. We wonder what we could've done differently. We ask, "what if I had chosen to talk with this person in a different way?" What if I had noticed the warning signs?" What if I would have cared about this person more?"

   In the end, we are kind of looking for someone to blame. Most of the time we don't want to blame ourselves, we want to blame God. That's when we ask, "why did God let this happen?"

   One answer is that we have free will to choose what we do. Some people make choices that impact others in some ways that are not good. But, there is another answer. Sometimes God let's things happen because he is either testing us or it is a part of his plan. You may be thinking, "why would God let a bad thing like that happen in his plan?" Let's think about some examples of people's lives that didn't go perfect.

   Joseph was his father's favorite. Then his brothers sold him into slavery. Joseph worked hard, was wrongly accused, and thrown into prison. God could have saved Joseph from the pit and prison. It seemed like Joseph did no wrong and he was beat up at almost every turn. God let Joseph become a slave so he would be in Egypt for the famine. God was testing Joseph in prison to see if Joseph would rely on God or give up. Joseph passed the test and became a great leader in Egypt who saved many lives from death, including his own family.

   Moses had a speech impairment and he killed a man. He chose to kill the man of his own free will, thus God could not stop him, because God gave us free will. I'm sure God could have stopped him in some other way but he didn't. The speech impairment happened so that Moses would know he could do nothing without God. Moses killed the man and ran to the wilderness where he became a follower of God. The he led his people to freedom away from Egypt.

   Jesus was mocked, beaten, falsely accused, and so much more. God let these things happen to his own son. These things happened to fulfill scripture and to save us. Jesus died on the cross. He could have saved himself. He could have let us die. But, he loves us so much that he died so we could be with him. This happened for good.

   Look back at your life. Your life probably wasn't perfect. Can you look back at your life and see some of the problems happened for a reason. I know that I have grown so much because of the problems I had. I know I have met people I would not have met if I did not have certain things happen in my life.

   Yes, these problems hurt. I've lost friends; I've lost family members, lost jobs, messed up, hurt people, etc. But, I have found that I grow more because of these things. It's like if you mess up on a test and you see how you messed up you remember it better. When we make mistakes we learn. We also see that things happened in our lives because God was leading us to something greater. Just look at the 3 examples from the Bible.

   So, do you focus on problems too much, or blame God for your problems? Do you realize that everything happens for a reason? I encourage you to look back at your life and see where your problems led you. Then thank God for what he's done in your life. Thank him for what he's doing to do in your life and grow in him.

   Ecclesiastes 3:1-15

   Image from here. 

Why Do We Celebrate Palm Sunday?

   Today is the day we celebrate the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem. But, why exactly do we celebrate Palm Sunday? I mean all that happened is Jesus came into the city, people waved palm branches, and Jesus went into the temple. What’s so important about that?

   One reason it is important is because Jesus was fulfilling prophecy.  John 12:14 says: ““And Jesus found a young donkey and sat on it, just as it is written, ‘Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your king is coming, sitting on a donkey’s colt!’” Another reason it is important is what happened after.

   Picture this: You are going about your day in Jerusalem. You see dust kicked up from so many people being here. You smell animals and sweat because it is so hot. Yet, there is some excitement in the air. People are getting ready for Passover. Then you hear that Jesus is coming. You hear that Jesus has performed miracles, healed others, and could be the Messiah. Other people begin to grab palm branches and run outside the city to greet him. You go out and see that people are dancing and singing because salvation has come. Then you hear Jesus weep and say that Jerusalem will be destroyed.

   Based off of what you visualized how are you feeling? You probably are confused and maybe even a little angry. Wouldn’t a savior protect his kingdom? What many people forget is that Jesus is an enigma. He has a perfect plan that has come about and will continue to come about. His kingdom isn’t temporary or earthly. His kingdom is an eternal kingdom. And, what is even better is that his kingdom isn’t just for the Jews. He died on the cross so that ALL could be saved.

   This is why we celebrate Palm Sunday. This day started the week where Jesus would die and be resurrected. I encourage you to think about what Jesus did for you. He took the burden of sin for you. He came into Jerusalem knowing that he would die. He came saying “not my will but yours be done.”

   This blog was shortened from a sermon I preached at Maytown Church of God today. If you would like to hear the whole sermon you can click this link to hear it. Then scroll down to find the sermon called "Why Do We Celebrate Palm Sunday?" And click audio (you may have to turn on the volume to hear the sermon).

   Image from here.

Being Different is Okay: Lessons from The Greatest Showman

   I'm sure that you have heard the hype about The Greatest Showman at some point this year or last year. People have been saying many things about it. I saw it and there are so many great messages behind it.
   Barnum came from a poor family and felt that he had to prove to others that he was more than what he came from. He starts a circus. He puts people who were rejected by society on stage and gives them a purpose. Many people did not like that but others did.
   The show became a huge success. But, there were still some people who protested the show because it celebrated people who were different.
   God created all of us differently. We may wonder "why do I have to be so different?" God has a purpose for everything he does. It's not easy to trust him sometimes but it is worth it. These people in The Greatest Showman were rejected because they were different. Because they were different they were able to do things that other people couldn't do. Through the the process of putting on a show they became a family and changed the way people look at others.
   I won't go into too much more detail in case you haven't seen the movie, I do recommend it by the way. There are some other really great messages in the movie as well.
   So, when you see someone who is different what will you do? If you are treated like an outcast what will you do? Will you trust in God and his plan?

   Psalm 139:14, Proverbs 3:5-6, John 13:34

   Image from here.

5 Minutes of Fame

   We've all had that dream in one way or another. Many of us, especially when we are little dream of being famous in one way or another. We want to be an actor, scientist, inventor, sports player, etc. We work hard to get better so that one day we will be recognized on the street and people will say, "there goes ________ he's/she's famous."
   Have you ever noticed how many famous people are not all that happy? Have you ever wondered why that is? It may be because of different reasons; but have you ever wondered what those people had to do in order to become famous?
   There's a song by Barlow Girl called 5 Minutes of Fame. In it they talk about how much someone has to sacrifice for 5 minutes of fame. They question if it is worth it? Sometimes people have to give up relationships, morals, money, etc. Just to get what they think they want. But, is what they want what they need?
   Many times we pray to God to ask for things we want. We want a new car. We want our house to be fixed. We want this burden to be taken from us. But, God knows what we need. He sometimes gives us what we want because he loves us, but he always makes sure we have what we need for his plan to come about.
   However, sometimes we are not okay with what God gives us. We want what we want when we want it. We want to be recognized for something. We want people to love us. If we have to bend our morals here and there, so what? We can still go back to God later and he will forgive us, right? Yes, God will forgive us but people may look at us differently. Our testimony will have changed forever.
   Switching gears a bit, if you are willing to give up so much for fame what are you willing to give up for God? He offers us eternal life. He loves us and wants us all to be saved. We just have to give up our pride, admit that we cannot do this on our own, and ask God to forgive us. He will forgive us for it all. We may not have fame and fortune but we will have the greatest thing we could ever be given: God's love and eternal life with him.
   So, have you compromised your morals to get what you want? Will you choose to follow God and trust him no matter what?

   John 14:15 and Proverbs 10:9