Privilege of Persecution

This past week some of us from True North got the privilege to go on a mission's trip to Mexico! This was my first mission's trip so I was stoked, but at the same time I didnt really know what to expect. I mean, I knew that a majority of the population weren't very wealthy; however, what I saw made my heart break. I know you may hear many people say it, but going down there was such a humbling experience for me, especially after getting the opportunity to play with the kids at the orphanage we were staying at. They didnt have families like we do, let alone many of things that we have, and yet they were still so full of joy! It made me think how ridicuously selfish I can be sometimes when I ask for things and dont even need them, and I just prayed that God would forgive me for being so self centered.

Philippians 2:3-5 - "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Your attitude should be the same as that of Jesus Christ."

What a convicting verse! We need to always be thinking of others interests before our own, and Christ above all!

A message that really stood out to me while on the trip was called "Supremacy of God in Missions Through Suffering." We've been given the gift of salvation and we've also been given the gift to suffer for the name of Christ!

Philippians 1:29-30 - "For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on him, but also to suffer for him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and now hear that I still have."

He kept pouring out verse after verse saying that if you are a follower of Christ, you WILL suffer, and you WILL be persecuted. Not only that, but it is a PRIVILEGE to suffer for God's name sake.

2 Timothy 3:12 - "In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted."

These verses really opened my eyes and made me realize that it just doesnt matter what people think of us here on earth; it only matters what our Father thinks of us and how we are spreading His name here while we still can and grabbing hold of every single opportunity that we can to get His name out to the lost.

My prayer is that all of us who went on this mission's trip will keep up the same energy we had to share Christ that we had in Mexico, and spreading His Word wherever we go; we dont have to be on a mission's trip just to tell others what Christ did for all of us!

"People talk of the sacrifice I have made in spending so much of my life in Africa. Can that be called a sacrifice which is simply paid back as a small part of a great debt owing to our God, which we can never repay? ...Away with the word in such a view and with such a thought! It is emphatically no sacrifice. Say rather it is a privilege."

David Livingstone (1813-1873) Scottish missionary to Africa

Choices

I’ve heard a lot of people say that God must have created evil and sin, since God created everything. But it’s not true. God gave man choice. Man “chose” to disobey = sin. There ya have it. We were the masterminds who decided to sin against the Most High God. Pretty smart, huh? But because He is the amazing and AWEsome God that He is, He gave us a way out of spending eternity in hell. He sent His one and only Son to die on the cross for us sinful people, so that we may live and have eternal life with Him in heaven. But before we get that, we must turn our lives completely around, do a 180, repent to God of our sins, and live fully for Him on a daily basis. Another choice that we need to make. Though just because we let Christ reign over us, doesn’t mean that our lives are going to be without sin, temptation and trials. BUT He did provide a way out of every temptation and trial.

1 Corinthians 10: 13 – “No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”

So, not only did God provide a way out of temptations, but He will never give us anything that we cannot bear. I think that’s pretty gracious of Him. So, I think we all need to consider that there is always a way out of temptation, we just need to not act without thinking, which can lead to a mess. Reading our Bibles and memorizing Scripture are some bigees. If we start memorizing Scripture, when a trial comes up we'll have verses in our head that we can just pop out and realize that there is a way out of whatever were going through. It may be hard for some people to memorize Scripture but trust me, its deffinately worth getting them in our heads. Putting note cards in places you frequently are at in your house is a helpful way and will get you to think about the verse more often.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 - "All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."

Colossians 3:16 - "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God."

One Anothers

This weekend we had our first High School Winter Retreat for Compass. It was an amazing weekend! Bobby taught a series on "One Anothers." It totally impacted my life in a great way. The second lesson he taught on was about confessing our sins to other people, and confronting others with sin in their lives. This one stood out to me the most...because its not somethin I'm usually thinking about. First of all, I am deffinately not very good at confronting people( I know I need to work on that =] ). And second I honestly never really think about confessing my sins to other people...thinking that God is the only one that I need to be confessing to, right? Wrong!...completely...100% wrong! And when Bobby was talking about that this weekend I felt so convicted. The reason being is because if we just confess our sins to God, He WILL forgive us, but we need to be held accountable! If we just ask God to forgive us and move on, theres not really anyone there with us asking us how were doing in our walk with the Lord, or maybe how were doing with a certain problem that we're struggling with. So this really hit home to me. It reminded me that we need to be held accountable for our actions, not just by God, but by others as well. If we tell others of our sin, and ask to pray with them, have them pray for you continutally, meet with them regularly, I truly believe that we will better our walk with the Lord, immensly!

Another thing that I thought was a great reminder, was that everything we do, we do it for the glory of the Lord! Even something as little as homework. Homework! I mean think about that..sometimes I'll be sitting there doing chemistry, and totally not having a fun time, or even giving my full effort, when ALL that we do needs to be done for God! Yes...even chemistry! lol But it made me stop and think about all that I do, whether brushing my teeth, doing homework...or even...picking up the dog terd, needs to be done to the fullest because its for our Lord Jesus Christ! Amen?