Day 117: The Example

"For in that He Himself has suffered, being tempted, He is able to aid those who are tempted."  Hebrews 2:18

This is one of the greatest reasons for which I follow Jesus.

We, as humans, like to find things in common with one another.  When we need to speak to large crowds of people, one of the things people recommend is that we find something in common with all those people.  Even more poignant, how many times have you immediately responded to news with something that makes the news about you or connected in some way to you?  When somebody says, "My friend is not doing so well right now," you immediately reply with, "Oh yeah, I've had something myself."  We always want there to be a connection.

Not surprisingly, we want for the same connection to exist between us and our God.  If I may be brash, take a look at what so many artists interpret how Jesus looks.  Look at all the many depictions of Jesus in our movie screens, TV screens, pictures, ads, paintings.  Jesus was a brunette, white man, with long hair and a not too long beard!  Now, if we look to scientific evidence, there is almost no way Jesus could have looked like that.  Yet, that Jesus that shows up in our English-speaking, America-centric because he looks like your run of the mill American man, with one or two distinguishing features.  That depiction of Jesus connects us as Americans with him (although I don't quite identify, with me not being of directly European descent, but hear me out).

Depictions aside, though, we do have something universal about Jesus that transcends his Middle Eastern heritage or Hellenistic Gospel or any of the countless traditions that have risen from his ascension.  Jesus lived as a human.  Jesus felt the everyday pains that we do, the hunger, the heat, the struggle of working for long periods of time, the frustrations with friends, the human desire to survive.  On top of all that, Jesus shows us so many ways we can overcome the temptations that face us everyday.  We are not alone in our struggle, and we are being offered a helping hand.  Reach out and take it.

Day 088: Godly Joy

"May all who seek You greatly rejoice and be glad in You, and let those who love Your salvation always say, 'Let God be magnified.'"  Psalm 69:5 (70:4)

This is a prayer that we should always pray, for we want for others to feel the same joy that we do.

Living a life in God is very rewarding, but sometimes we find that the difficulties can be too much for the moment.  God challenges us to strengthen our faith, and through every test, we come even closer to God.  But sometimes our friends will react negatively to us because of our faith.  Why would you waste your time going to church?  Why do you even read the bible?  What has prayer ever done for you?  Our answer to these questions should always remain the same, "God is magnificent."  We gather in praise of God so that we can feel comforted and loved.  We want to show others around us the same love that we feel from above.

However, many times we allow for the challenges to get the better of us.  We will start answering the above questions with, "yeah, I guess you have a point." However, when we turn from God, we start to feel empty inside.  We will start wandering on our own, questioning why we have no protection.  The world is very tough out there, and the only way we can manage to continue forwards is with the guidance and protection of Almighty God.

So, rather than allowing for your tests to get the better of you, take the opportunity to bring your friend along your walk with the Lord.  Show how great salvation feels.  Demonstrate all the good things that God has done in your life.  Rejoice and be glad in God, for God has indeed done so much out of God's unconditional love for each and every one of us.

Day 54: God Is Faithful

"No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it."  1 Corinthians 10:13

This is one of my top five favorite verses from the bible.  Reading it in context caused the verse to have extra resonance with me.  If you can, I recommend you committing some verses to memory, at least enough so that you can come across it and speak the words before they appear on the page/screen in your reading.

This verse is very powerful because it comes at the end of a summary of the unfaithfulness of many of the Israelites during the period of time covered in the Pentateuch.  Paul even makes it a point to say that it was some of the Israelites who strayed, not all.

No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man

This statement can hurt a little, because it makes any situation you're in sound quite diminished.  But that's the point.  We like to bring our troubles to our neighbors, while they have just as many issues to deal with as we do.  However, this statement is also there to help us, because we can then look for how other people dealt with our problems.  We can consult our parents, grandparents, priests, teachers, friends, and so many other people.

But God is faithful

If you're struggling with a specific situation, you need to look no further than the bible.  In 1 Corinthians 10, you can find the different temptations that came about.  But, you can also see that God delivered the entire nation of Israel from destruction time and time again.  Read Exodus to see one story of deliverance.  Read Joshua for yet another story.  Read Kings and Chronicles for so many more stories of deliverance.  And, most definitely, read the gospels, any of the four: Matthew, Mark, Luke, or John.  You'll understand that God has been faithful to us throughout all our troubles and tests.

[God] will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape

Here is our safeguard.  Times are going to get tough, but they will never get impossible.  Even at the point of death, God is there to save our soul, and when our time comes, God is in control.  Our legacy will last as an example for all those who are struggling.  The great thing about living as Christians is that we have one great escape: the church.  We can go and refresh ourselves with prayers we pray or from those of our fellow Christians.  We can talk to many more faithful people to learn about how great God is.

That you may be able to bear it

Here is an important distinction.  It is one thing to have a way out of our problems.  The easiest way out of any problem is just by doing nothing at all.  We can stay in the comfort of our bed all day unto eternity, allowing our bodies to waste away, let away our minds, our dreams, our talents.  But that's not what God wants.  God is sending us out there into the world as sheep against wolves.  God will guide us through all the difficult parts, but it will all be for our personal growth.  This last clause implies that we weren't able to bear our challenges to begin with.  What's the only way to bear a heavy weight?  Get stronger!  God is guiding us through our difficult times so that we can become stronger beings.

During this Lent, let God guide you through your discipline, whether it's giving up sweets, reading more of the bible, saying a prayer every once in a while, or even just to step foot in church just once this season.  God is faithful, and will guide us through all of our trials.

Day 035: Tests

So they answered Jesus and said, "We do not know."  And He said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."  Matthew 21:27

This is one of those passages where I say to myself, Jesus was pretty sassy.  The neat thing, though, is that there is no malice behind what Jesus says or does here.  The leaders are trying to test him, and Jesus makes them think anew.

Today, we have an issue with our pride.  With the availability of so many resources, we start to appoint ourselves as great leaders.  Some of us will just go far enough to answer questions during lunch or during down time at work or even before or after the youth group meeting.  However, some will go as far as becoming self appointed/ordained ministers.  We will take all of the matters into our own hands.

Yet, things start to fall apart when times get tough.  Jesus is there to keep us in check when we are going crazy.  Jesus, the man with all the wisdom and the most impeccable timing as an orator, is speaking to us constantly, always to encourage us.  However, Jesus encourages us to go in his direction.  He has a ministry that he has established a long time ago, and he is calling all of us to join him.  Through his earthly ministry, he taught us all that we need to know in order to be initiated in this journey.  However, just as he described in the Gospels, sometimes the journey isn't exactly what we want it to be.

We want for things to go just our way.  We want to have our names in big letters, removing the cross or Christ from our storefronts or billboards.  We want all the credit to go to us.  But, then Jesus will ask us, "Is this your goal, or ours?"  Indeed, we can pursue whatever we want to, but if we are not doing what Jesus is calling us to do, we will end up destroying ourselves.

So, what's the best way to ensure that we know what we are doing during the test?  Study!  The issue with the leaders in the above passage is that they were asked a question where they could only answer "we don't know" so they could keep up with their own beliefs.  We have the textbook, we have the methods, and we definitely have the means to pass our spiritual tests.  We just need to keep in constant conversation with our instructor, Jesus Christ.

God Is Unfailing

"But you are always the same, and your years will never end."
(Psalm 102:27)
Today's readings concern the times of trials.  Jesus reassures us of God's mercy and grace with the beatitudes.  Paul stands up against the authorities and speaks out to the Jews with a sermon that is nothing more than a summary of his life: a living testimony.  People escorted Paul around like a wild cow: always wandering but never belonging.  However, Paul preached without wavering.  I believe that that is how we should be as well.  We must live our lives in Christ at all times, regardless of what is going on around us.  Jesus always teaches us to give our lives to God, for God will use us how we need to be used.  Our will becomes God's.  So in the face of a test, remember that God is there with us (1 Corinthians 10:13).  When your LGBT family asks why God, simply remind them that you are of the same family, and live your life as a testimony to the goodness of God!