Awake At 30

Questioning Our Mindset "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God." Colossians 3:1-3 NKJV How are your thoughts this morning? What have we consumed our time with doing, our minds with thinking, our tongues with speaking thus far? What are our plans for the day? Is God the focus as we go about our earthly duties, or is it carnal things? Are we thinking and acting carnally or spiritually? Are we ordering our day, this day of life God has graciously granted us, around carnal things? Or, are we preparing ourselves in such a fashion that we order our lives as to get to heaven and making sure each action, thought, and word of this day fit into that plan? If someone were to ask us today, "How do I get to Heaven?" are our lives such that we can say, "Follow me! I'l...

For Eternity Consider that your conduct today may be the very thing you think about, for eternity. Consider that if you are unrepentant of your sins, and either the Lord returns or your life ends, you will be lost for eternity. Based off the discussion the rich man has while in torment in the text, this is what I infer ( Luke 16:19-31 ): Your thoughts there will be of your sin. You will have knowledge of where you are. You will know there is no crossing over. You will know that you are unrighteous. You will know you are eternally separated from God. Hence the following, according to your sin: you'll acknowledge your foolish actions and rebellion to God, but won't be able to do anything about it; you are forever reaping the consequences of your actions, the result being your separation from God for eternity; the realization that there is no relief and you cannot repent and be saved once there (hence the weeping & gnashing of teeth - Mk.9 ); all those missed ...

Training And Admonition "And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord."  Ephesians 6:4 NKJV What will my son see when he looks at me? Will he see a man; or will see a boy, posing as a man? Will he see me as a man of God; or will he see me as a man of the world? Will he see one who is Christ-like; or will he see a liar, a fake, a poser? What will my son see as he looks at me? Since finding out that we're having a son, my mind has been filled with so much, but primarily my charge before God and how I am to raise this son to serve God faithfully. What has gone through my mind these past few days is that it is my charge to teach this boy how to become a man, which infers that I must first be a man myself in every sense. This means putting away childish things, standing firm in my life, being unwavering in my standards before God, and that I speak the truth always and speak boldly. It means t...

Social Media Usage "All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful; all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify. Let no one seek his own, but each one the other’s well-being."  1Cor.10:23-24 "All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any." 1Cor.6:12 Paul speaks of that which is lawful, but not helpful nor edifying. He speaks of that which is right to do, but which he will not allow himself to brought under its power. Right actions can be used in a wrong manner. Now, before the wall is put up by those reading, allow me to explain. Social media and usage of the internet, in general, are not inherently wrong in and of themselves, I believe these fit rightly into matters of liberty and lawfulness. As with anything that is lawful, and especially in matters of liberty, these are perfectly right so long as we do not stray off into areas of abuse ...

Never Forget I see "Never Forget" everywhere today, and rightly so. I don't think I'll ever forget that day on September 11, 2001. However, it is evident to me that we have forgotten in our nation. We have allowed ourselves to be lulled back into the same state of mind, if not worse, that we were in before those attacks. We have allowed our lives to, yet again, be consumed with pettiness (worst it's ever been in my lifetime), disregard for basic moral goodness and decency, and a lackadaisical/apathetic attitude about what is right and good. We don't hold those in power to their promises, we don't really mean it when we say we want change, we talk a good game but we fail to even show up for practice in our daily lives - all this clearly evident by our failure to learn from our mistakes and our propensity to elect the same people every election, just with different names. We are not awakened, we are not alive, we are not free from the ills that threate...

Without Hope Every life you meet today is going through some trial. Everyone you see has issues that they must confront on a daily basis, some great and some small; yet even the smallest of issues in our lives can seem insurmountable and make us feel like we have the weight of the world on our shoulders. Everyone has the opportunity to be freed from that weight, but not everyone takes advantage of that opportunity ( Matt.11:28-30 ). Think about your own struggles; it can be seriously difficult some days to just make it through, can't it? However, if you're a Christian, think of the joy and peace you have because you can take it all to the Lord in prayer with the confidence He will hear you ( Jms.5:16; Phil.4:4-7 ). Recognize how you're even able to make it through each day, and who gives you the strength to face and overcome the issues of life. Think of the hope you have, that hope of eternal life, if you will but persevere faithfully to the end ( Rev.2:10; Phil.3:12-1...