Christians in Action

"...And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch." ~Acts 11:26

"Treat everyone with politeness, even those who are rude to you - not because they are nice, but because you are." ~Author Unknown

"What this world needs is a new kind of army - the army of the kind." ~Cleveland Amory

Christian - "Christ-like".

When I was in high school I was in a club called Christians in Action (aka: CIA :-). I feel the name of this club sums up the excerpt below I felt to share. While we, as Christians, are not saved by works, if God's Spirit is truly in us it WILL show through in the fruit we bear...Love, Joy, Peace, Longsuffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness, Temperance.

The below is from a fictional book I am reading titled "The Silas Diary" by Gene Edwards. While it is a fictional work, it is based on the real journeys of the Apostle Paul as recorded in the Book of Acts. Whether or not this is the way it was, only God knows...however, this IS the way it should be and I truly belief the way it can be:

...During the course of a year, some who have rooms lose them because they have no money or nothing left with which to barter. During the winter, some barter all they own for food. In this region of Galatia, many slaves, when given the opportunity, refuse to be set free. Others, once freed and on the edge of starvation, sell themselves back into slavery. Hardship is a constant companion in the lives of these people. Such are the people who make up the community of believers in Pisidia.

A group of people have become brothers and sisters, their new way of life wonderful and joyful. It is a way of living never before seen on the face of the earth. Yet God ordained that it come into being in this poor and remote region of Asia Minor.

It is amazing, as I look back, to see how these holy ones take care of one another. If one brother finds a job in the marketplace and the supervisor needs more help, that brother runs to find another brother so he, too, can work that day.

When several brothers work together, they work harder and better. They share a spirit of joy, often singing, often praising. Though the masters and supervisors don't understand it, they remember these men who work so well together. As they hire workers each morning in the marketplace, they search out these faces first. Some of the merchants have been known to say: "You, today you work. Go find your friends, the ones you call brothers, the ones you laugh and sing with."

In the gatherings, brothers tell one another about possible places to look for a day's work. The next night they tell everyone about how the Lord provided them a job, while the rest listen, rejoice, laugh, and interrupt.

Nor were the brothers alone in this new way of meeting needs. This new life inside them was changing everyone and everything, affecting the women as much as the men. The sisters in Pisidia began caring for one another, a phenomenon unknown in the Gentile world. They care for one another in the most unexpected ways. In childbirth, of course, but also working together at the river and in their homes and rooms. (Those who have no home and have to sleep in the forum are especially cared for.) Any sister who becomes sick is soon cared for throughout the night and day.

I have often seen the sisters working together in the fields, caring for one another's children, sharing vegetables and grain with one another, or cleaning rooms together. Sometimes they meet only to sing, to talk, to cry, to care, and to be cared for. If one somehow manages to have more than a day's supply of food, they often come together and prepare one big meal so all can have a good meal that day.

"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!" ~Psalm 133:1

The End of The Beginning

"If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are to be pitied more than all men." ~ 1 Corinthians 15:19 (NIV)

I have had this verse on my mind all week...how very true it is! I am so thankful for the blessings of God in my life, but way more than that I am thankful that this 70 or so years isn't all there is. I have an eternity in Heaven with my Savior to look forward to! An eternity of total peace and joy. The link to the song below is about how Jesus dying on Calvary was not an end, but a beginning for all of us! Through Him rising and conquering sin, we are able to have our own personal relationship with Him. No more veils. No more standing outside while a designated man goes into the Holy of Holies. WE get to stand boldly before God's throne when we pray! When we repent, He forgives. When we are baptized in Jesus name, our sins are washed away and we feel cleaner than we have ever felt inside, and when we ask for Him to fill us with His Spirit, He is glad to oblige. (Acts 2:37-38) His greatest desire is to dwell in us. If we let Him live in us, the options are limitless as to the awesome ways He can use us for His glory and for the good of those around us!

The two quotes below, by the author C.S. Lewis, describe well what that yearning that every human being feels deep inside...it also explains how that yearning is proof of great reason to be sure to treat those around you with the special care they deserve. I pray God blesses and ministers to you as you read and listen to the below.

..."If I find in myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world...If none of my earthly pleasures satisfy it, that does not prove that the universe is a fraud. Probably earthly pleasures were never meant to satisfy it, but only... to suggest the real thing. If that is so, I must take care, on the one hand, never to despise, or be unthankful for, these earthly blessings, and on the other, never to mistake them for the something else of which they are only a kind of copy, echo, or mirage...I must keep alive in myself the desire for my true country, which I shall not find till after death; I must never let it get snowed under or turned aside; I must make it the main object of life to press on to the other country and to help others do the same."

"It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbor. The load, or weight, of burden of my neighbor's glory should be laid on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken....It is a serious thing... to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you could see it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare....There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. It is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit--immortal horrors or everlasting splendors...All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or the other of these destinations."

End of the Beginning

Pr"i"de

Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, all of whose works are truth, and His ways justice. And those who walk in pride He is able to abase. ~Daniel 4:37 (NKJ)

Pride- "faith in yourself"

Many years ago I remember the then UPCI's National Bible Quiz Master's wife, Sis. Claudette Walker, speaking at a quiz extravaganza I was attending. That day she spoke about pride...or rather Pr"i"de. She was of course speaking to a group of around 70 teams, so her main purpose of the message was basically the concept that there is no "I" in team and that pride will destroy both a person and a team.

Recently I was talking to a friend about this same issue and afterwards continued to still have this word on my mind. "Pride". I can probably quote most of the Bible verses that contain this word. But I got to thinking... what exactly is pride? How would you define it? I knew how I personally would define it, but how would someone else? What causes it? What are the signs of it? How does one overcome it? I have developed the tendency to avoid people that struggle with the sin of pride like they have the plague. I loathe it. For some reason I had begun looking at it as the "incurable disease".

But, the last few days God has convicted me about this and been reminding me that people with this issue need deliverance just as bad as people with any other sin in their life...therefore, I have been wondering how in the world a friend/ family member can play a role in helping someone over come an issue like this...one that the root is believing there is no issue. One that is the root of many other sins. The human side of me automatically thinks "just 'put them in their place' a few times & that will bring them down a notch"...Obviously though, this is not the proper godly route to take. No, I believe understanding is the first step and prayer the second. There are other things as well, if one is in authority or a very close relationship with someone, that could be done (such as directly addressing the issue), but in general, for every situation, prayer is the key.

I have seen so many amazingly talented & anointed people's lives destroyed due to pride..not from pride itself, but rather from what pride begot. It saddens me to think about it.

Out of curiosity I decided to look up what was available online about this subject and found this great,extremely informative website to which I have posted a link below. I encourage you to check it out. It defines pride, symptoms of pride, causes of pride, differences between pride/arrogance & faith, etc.

One thing I don't know that I total agree with that's mentioned in this article (though it's more true than not) is where it says "A proud person does not pray much, and a praying person is not bothered much with pride." I have not always found this to be the case and the only reason I can think of is that while a person may pray a lot, if there prayer is one sided, rather than two sided ---talking, but not listening, they are not placing themselves in submission to authority...which is a sign of pride.

Perhaps each of us can find an area we could improve in while reading the symptoms list? I am thankful there is no such thing as an "incurable disease" for Jesus is in the healing & restoration business! Let's be sure to always keep our faith in God, NOT in ourselves.


God Hates Pride

Unredeemed

One of the perks I enjoy best about serving God is getting to watch Him work miracles. Every time I see Him work one it just reminds me how much He loves us and how His love is limitless. Thankfully I have been blessed to get to see quite a few miracles lately...some in my own life, others in those of my friends and acquaintances.

Recently I have had the privilege of watching God begin to restore a family to which I am quite close. A while back I wrote a blog entitled "The Battlefield". In this blog I referenced my dear friend and the guilt and misery she was feeling at the time. Shortly after on Facebook I posted a video to a song that I felt very strongly to share with her. What to many would look like an impossible situation, God could and is redeeming. Below are the lyrics to this beautiful song. "But when anything that's shattered is laid before the Lord"---This is the key. God HAS TO be in it for redemption to come...and because of grace it WILL come. The catch? You must ALWAYS keep God the center of your universe. He's only going to show off for those who will give Him the praise He alone deserves!

Redeem: to release from blame or debt

Grace: unmerited (undeserved) favor from God

Unredeemed
The cruelest word
The coldest heart
The deepest wound
The endless dark
The lonely ache
The burning tears
The bitter nights
The wasted years

Life breaks and falls apart
But we know these are
Places where grace is soon to be so amazing
It may be unfulfilled
It may be unrestored
But when anything that's shattered is laid before the Lord
Just watch and see
It will not be unredeemed

For every choice that led to shame
And all the love that never came
For every vow that someone broke
And every life that gave up hope
We live in the shadow of the fall
But the cross says these are all
Places where grace is soon to be so amazing
It may be unfulfilled
It may be unrestored
But when anything that's shattered is laid before the Lord
Just watch and see
It will not be unredeemed

Places where grace is soon to be so amazing
It may be unfulfilled
It may be unrestored
But you never know the miracle the Father has in store
Just watch and see
It will not be
Just watch and see
It will not be unredeemed

In a Moment...

I've been thinking about the story in John 9 lately...There's a man who has been blind his whole life. Jesus heals him. Immediately the Pharisees begin to interrogate him and his parents, asking them questions about Jesus, questioning whether His healing power really came from God,etc. He stands up for Jesus and then is cast out from them...Then the following happens:

Jesus heard that they had cast him out; and when he had found him, he said unto him, Dost thou believe on the Son of God? He answered and said, Who is he, Lord, that I might believe on him? And Jesus said unto him, Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee. And he said, Lord, I believe. And he worshipped him. ~John 9:35-38

In John 4, the longest conversation with Jesus recorded in the Bible occurs..with an outcast Samaritan lady who is living in sin. Jesus is sitting at the well. She's in the process of drawing water from it. She's there for the type of water that evaporates. He's there to share with her living, eternal water. As their conversation continues, eventually the following ensues:

The woman saith unto him, I know that Messias cometh, which is called Christ: when he is come, he will tell us all things. Jesus saith unto her,I that speak unto thee am he. And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her? The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? John 4:25-29

"Thou hast both seen him, and it is he that talketh with thee."

"I that speak unto thee am he."

What must it have been like to have been standing face to face with Jesus and heard him say these words?! In a moment their lives were completely changed. In just one single moment.

The formerly blind man worshiped. The ex-adulterer left the water pot she may have been taking back to "her man" and instead began to witness about the amazingness of God.

In a moment.

Just. One. Moment.

Anything can happen in a moment. Good or bad. The point is though..it only takes a moment. A moment to make a decision to choose God. A moment to make a decision to follow that calling. A moment to make things right with that family member or friend. A moment to give that item or money to the poor. A moment to open your mouth and tell someone about Jesus. Just one moment.

Life is full of moments. They all add up and we need to be sure to make them count. Eventually our moments will all be used up...

In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. ~1 Corinthians 15:52

In preparation for THAT moment, let's be sure to use our moments wisely.