Ranking your rivals...

John 5:41-44 The Message
"I'm not interested in crowd approval. And do you know why? Because I know you and your crowds. I know that love, especially God's love, is not on your working agenda. I came with the authority of My Father, and you either dismiss Me or avoid Me. If another came, acting self-important, you would welcome him with open arms. How do you expect to get anywhere with God when you spend all your time jockeying for position with each other, ranking your rivals and ignoring God?

Each one of us has the tendency to act tough and say we don't care what other people think about us. To an extent that may actually be true, but deep down inside every person there is a need to be approved and accepted by people.

I look at this passage and I just love what Jesus says. "I'm not interested in crowd approval." Jesus was here on a mission and that was to spread the Words and Love of His Father to as many people as He could and then die on the cross for all. Do you think He had time to get caught up in the daily worrying of whether or not someone liked or approved of Him? Absolutely not. He didn't come with a self righteous attitude. He says in Matthew 20:28 he came not to BE served but TO serve! The people didn't understand that and what they couldn't understand they wouldn't accept...like people often do. The key is that Jesus didn't care!

I could write this blog every day only to read the comments people write on it, or I can write it knowings its pleasing my Father and leave it at that. How often do we allow people to stand in the way of what we're put on this earth to do? We seek their approval, go out of our way to please them, we get offended by them, and we allow their words to distance us from Gods plan for our life. We fight for a position or a platform and then get upset when someone else gets it rather than seeing that its not about the position or platform at all! Its about staying true to the love of our Father and carrying out the plan He has for us alone. Jesus stayed true to what He was put here to do. Jesus knew it wasn't about how "cool" people thought He was or the "position" He had.

I love how this version says we "rank our rivals and ignore God". We forget that the only promotion that ever matters only comes from God. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks of us or says of us, Gods opinion is the final answer. If we live to please Him and Him alone THEN we're modeling the life of Christ.

I wanna leave a Legacy...

This past weekend I spoke at The Rock Church Girlfriends Getaway where the theme was "Legacy - Living a life worth leaving behind." I spoke about Jesus and the legacy He left us as well as the new legacy He gives us thru encounters with Him.

My question to you today is what legacy are you leaving? If you have children, when they watch you what do they see? Do they see someone who is busy all the time just to be busy? Maybe they see a life full of bitterness, anger, frustration and unforgiveness. Do they see a person who holds grudges against others and/or a selfish person? Or do they see a person who lives life to the fullest, taking every opportunity to shine light? Do they see someone who puts God first, loving others, giving of their time, offering forgiveness quickly and living a life set apart for Him?

Take a moment to ponder that....

Being a student ministries Pastor from ages 0-19 puts me in check about this very thing quicker than anything. I don't ever want to live a life that models "do as I say, not as I do" to young people around me. I want them to look at my life and see it as one they can model and appreciate for its honesty and realness. I make mistakes and I'll be the first one to say that I do but I would also like to think I'll be the first one to lay it before God and ask Him to help me with it. I think its important they see that aspect as well.

What do your children, or the young people in your life see? How do you respond when you know you've missed the mark, because we all do at one time or another. Do they see you quick to repent and make it right to others as well as to God or do they see you swell up with pride and keep going never admitting your fault?

We only have one legacy to leave to others and it should be Christ's legacy thru us. I definitely don't want to leave MY legacy to my children and those around me. I want to leave HIS legacy, Him thru me. Me left on my own is bad news, but allowing Him to shine thru me makes my life absolutely beautiful!

What legacy are you leaving?

Welcome to the world of me..

Here I am in the world of blogging! Starting a blog is something I've had on my heart for a while so I figured its time to just get on with it already. :)

You may ask why and my response would be I just have so much in my heart to share and this is one more avenue that would allow me to do that. If you know me, you know I love God with all my heart. He has been doing so much in my life and teaching me so much I figure its only fair to share it with others.

I ask you now to excuse my grammar because nine times out of ten it probably won't be correct, I often make up words and sometimes I might ramble on about life experiences you could care less about, but I hope that in reading my postings you will learn more about the heart of God and more about me in the process. :)

Stay tuned...