Today’s Reading is Ephesians 2:8 – 10 8 For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9 not by works, so that no one can boast. 10 For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
It has amazed me to think that I have a God that sacrificed so much for me and desires me to spend eternity with Him. All I have to do is have faith that He exists and died for my sins. How awesome is that!!! We can all have everlasting life through Him. Why would anyone want to spend eternity with a bunch of people that can’t go minutes without sinning, but He does. He desires to be in close relationship with you and I, but we wonder around thinking we’re in charge and don’t need Him. He waits patiently for us, but we continue to push Him aside until we need Him and yet He waits at the door until we open it up for Him.
We were made in His image which is one of love, joy and the desire to help others. We had the best example of this through our Savior. He loved people where they were not where we think they should be. He didn’t judge people, but loved them for who they were. Why do we feel the need to judge people? Is it to bring them down to our level so that we can feel better about ourselves? Why can’t we just love people for who/where they are as He did? Last week during John Devries visit he mentioned joy as a Christian, joy that comes when we’ve accepted Christ into our lives and we live for Him. I’ve seen this in my own life. When I truly accepted Christ into my life, my whole personality changed. I became much more forgiving, less judgemental (still working on this one) and much more joyful and content with myself. I get so much joy out of helping others, like Serve the City. This has been an amazing growth time for me in an area that I was really lacking, but Christ used this opportunity to grow me even closer to Him.
My prayer is that everyone be in close relationship with our Father, for He desires to be in relationship with you. Don’t turn Him into a vending machine God, where you put a little time in the slot and expect Him to do something for you. Instead, spend time with Him and desire to care for His people because you were built in His image. The first step in a relationship is communication. I challenge each person to wake up 15 minutes earlier each day and spend that time praying. Pray for Him to engulf your life, for the Spirit to consume your heart and for total and complete faith in Him. He will make your life more than anything you could believe if you will let Him. Are you up to the challenge?
-dave