This was originally written as a facebook note on September 22, 2009
Last Saturday, I went to a Rangers game with Blake and my family, and there was a MercyMe pregame concert. Josh Hamilton spoke before the concert. He started off by asking everyone if they heard about his incident in January. He talked about it and said that things were going great until he put his relationship with the Lord off to the wayside. He then got into trouble, and his alcohol addiction got the better of him. The theme of his talk was that our first priority in life should be a relatioinship with Christ. I pondered those words but never truly realized what he meant until now.
I have had a darn lot of school going through these first couple of weeks, including lots of late nights doing random things and procrastinating only to find that I was way behind. I recently got a new phone, and I have been using the calendar to plan my stuff in advance, but I always fall short. I have a couple short devotionals for the morning and I try to pray at night but too often I just skim over them just to check them off the list. I was not whole heartedly doing it. I would always ask God for help one day and think I could do it all on my own the next. I never truly dove in, and I have been struggling with what all of the problems in the world are because of. These days Christians argue about everything from Abortion to Death Sentances to healthcare and everything in between along with the rest of America. We are trying to find truth but often avoid the only source of truth - God. That is when I realized, like Josh Hamilton said, everything fell apart once he walked away from God. That kind of ties into the story of Peter walking on the water until he took his eyes off of Jesus, his source of strength. We CAN get through all of the hard times, but their is one thing we need to do. Only one thing. Keep our eyes on Jesus.
Guys, we need to wake up, we say that Christianity is a relationship with God and not a religion, but are we living that out? Do we talk to God every day, and rely on him as our refuge and strength? Do we have a true relationship with him? Or do we just go through the motions? Are we truly trying to conform to Christs image or trying to conform Christ into our image? We all fight against saying "Jesus take the wheel." I believe that this is the biggest crutch to Christianity, that people are complacent and go through out their daily lives and do not strive for their relationship with God. Isn't it funny how we say we do not need God, and then when things go wrong we blame him? Maybe it is our fault that everything is falling apart because we walk away from him.
By definition, Christian means Christ follower, how can we follow Christ if we do not even know him? How can we support a politician if we do not even know what he supports? It is the same way with Christ. St. Augustine said that he believed that the true mark of a christian was a desire for knowledge about him. Do you know what Jesus is about and what he supports?
Dr. Lewis's sermon was about how people long for amusement, but do not realize that they want adventure. We spend lots of time watching TV, listening to music, and playing games for amusement. But we long also for adventure. True adventure comes when we truly believe that Christ Jesus can change lives and when we let go and ask us to use him in the world. You want to be real? Emptied inside? You want to be someone someday? How do we do that? We need to lay it all down before the King.
Have you ever noticed that the most exciting times and fulfilling times in life are Choir Tours, Mission Trips, and Celebrations? Do you know why? Cause we have Jesus time, we go out and do the work of Jesus. That is when true fulfillment comes. When we are close to the Lord and have a relationship with him.
In the end I want to say that your life follows from your relationship with Christ. When we follow God and pursue a relationship with him, and follow his will and speak with him, then everything else in life will fall into place. I can not speak of how much this means. This is what will change the world, the LOVE of Christ and a relationship with him.
My life song right now is Whatever you're doing (something heavenly) by Sanctus Real http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZayut9i45M
I am not tagging anyone. I believe that people who need to see it will. Feel free to comment in ANY way you like. If this resonates with you, tell other people about it. I am not going to try and get you to read something that you do not care about. But the only way this will get out is if you spread the word. I am going to let you make that decision. As a side note, when I originally wrote this, the right people did end up hearing this message. Coincidence? I'll let you decide that for yourself.
Last Saturday, I went to a Rangers game with Blake and my family, and there was a MercyMe pregame concert. Josh Hamilton spoke before the concert. He started off by asking everyone if they heard about his incident in January. He talked about it and said that things were going great until he put his relationship with the Lord off to the wayside. He then got into trouble, and his alcohol addiction got the better of him. The theme of his talk was that our first priority in life should be a relatioinship with Christ. I pondered those words but never truly realized what he meant until now.
I have had a darn lot of school going through these first couple of weeks, including lots of late nights doing random things and procrastinating only to find that I was way behind. I recently got a new phone, and I have been using the calendar to plan my stuff in advance, but I always fall short. I have a couple short devotionals for the morning and I try to pray at night but too often I just skim over them just to check them off the list. I was not whole heartedly doing it. I would always ask God for help one day and think I could do it all on my own the next. I never truly dove in, and I have been struggling with what all of the problems in the world are because of. These days Christians argue about everything from Abortion to Death Sentances to healthcare and everything in between along with the rest of America. We are trying to find truth but often avoid the only source of truth - God. That is when I realized, like Josh Hamilton said, everything fell apart once he walked away from God. That kind of ties into the story of Peter walking on the water until he took his eyes off of Jesus, his source of strength. We CAN get through all of the hard times, but their is one thing we need to do. Only one thing. Keep our eyes on Jesus.
Guys, we need to wake up, we say that Christianity is a relationship with God and not a religion, but are we living that out? Do we talk to God every day, and rely on him as our refuge and strength? Do we have a true relationship with him? Or do we just go through the motions? Are we truly trying to conform to Christs image or trying to conform Christ into our image? We all fight against saying "Jesus take the wheel." I believe that this is the biggest crutch to Christianity, that people are complacent and go through out their daily lives and do not strive for their relationship with God. Isn't it funny how we say we do not need God, and then when things go wrong we blame him? Maybe it is our fault that everything is falling apart because we walk away from him.
By definition, Christian means Christ follower, how can we follow Christ if we do not even know him? How can we support a politician if we do not even know what he supports? It is the same way with Christ. St. Augustine said that he believed that the true mark of a christian was a desire for knowledge about him. Do you know what Jesus is about and what he supports?
Dr. Lewis's sermon was about how people long for amusement, but do not realize that they want adventure. We spend lots of time watching TV, listening to music, and playing games for amusement. But we long also for adventure. True adventure comes when we truly believe that Christ Jesus can change lives and when we let go and ask us to use him in the world. You want to be real? Emptied inside? You want to be someone someday? How do we do that? We need to lay it all down before the King.
Have you ever noticed that the most exciting times and fulfilling times in life are Choir Tours, Mission Trips, and Celebrations? Do you know why? Cause we have Jesus time, we go out and do the work of Jesus. That is when true fulfillment comes. When we are close to the Lord and have a relationship with him.
In the end I want to say that your life follows from your relationship with Christ. When we follow God and pursue a relationship with him, and follow his will and speak with him, then everything else in life will fall into place. I can not speak of how much this means. This is what will change the world, the LOVE of Christ and a relationship with him.
My life song right now is Whatever you're doing (something heavenly) by Sanctus Real http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZayut9i45M
I am not tagging anyone. I believe that people who need to see it will. Feel free to comment in ANY way you like. If this resonates with you, tell other people about it. I am not going to try and get you to read something that you do not care about. But the only way this will get out is if you spread the word. I am going to let you make that decision. As a side note, when I originally wrote this, the right people did end up hearing this message. Coincidence? I'll let you decide that for yourself.
WOW! That is a power message...Keep it up.
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