1 Peter 4:8 "Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins."
I was washing my car the other day and there were the black spots I just could not get off. I've got a silver car so black spots just don't look good. They're always there and they always tick me off. I wash my car and then I go back over it specifically to scrub very hard on those spots. The worst part is, they never go away. But if I scrub hard enough, they turn into red dots. I can't explain it but I'm just telling ya what I see.
Anyway, it got me thinking. Maybe those dots are like sins. We've trained ourselves to think that if we scrub hard enough they will all go away in the end. That's not how it works. That's not in our power. What is in our power is to love. Our love is like perfect silver paint. We can cover the dots. They are still there, but they don't matter one bit. So quit trying to make up for your sins or scratch at the sins of others, leave that to God. Until then, love. Lover covers a multitude of sins.
Monday, May 31, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
The Death of Sarcasim
James 3: 9-12 "With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praisea nd cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both a fresh water and a salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water."
As a Christian we constantly work towards living out our lives pure without any hypocrisy. But for some reason we all make excuses for our mouths. We all come up with exceptions for things we say. "It's a just a joke" "They know I don't mean it" No. We've got to cut that out. If we want to be pure, we must be pure in every aspect. No more sarcasim. No more jokes at others expense to gain attention or respect for ourselves. Love others with everything you have, including your mouths.
As a Christian we constantly work towards living out our lives pure without any hypocrisy. But for some reason we all make excuses for our mouths. We all come up with exceptions for things we say. "It's a just a joke" "They know I don't mean it" No. We've got to cut that out. If we want to be pure, we must be pure in every aspect. No more sarcasim. No more jokes at others expense to gain attention or respect for ourselves. Love others with everything you have, including your mouths.
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Snowball Effect
A quote from Blue like Jazz by Donald Miller. Awesome book. Get it.
"What happened was that I realized I was not alone in my own surroundings. I'm not talking bout ghosts or angels or anything; I'm talking about other people. As silly as it sounds, I realized, late that night, that other people had feelings and fears and that my interactions with them actually meant something, that I could make them happy or sad in the way that I associated with them. Not only could I make them happy or sad, but I was responsible for the way I interacted with them. I suddenly felt responsible. I was supposed to make them happy. I was not supposed to make them sad. Like I said, it sounds simple, but when you really get it for the firs time, it hits hard."
If we brighten someone's day, they could brighten someone else's day, and they could brighten someone else's day and so on and so forth. The exact opposite is true as well. If we ruined someone's day, they could ruin someone else's day, and they could ruin someone else's day and so on and so forth. With this snowball effect, we have the power to make a difference in alot of peoples lives in just one day, even people we don't know.
Make the choice to at least truly love one person tomorrow, brighten their day and by doing that you're loving others, maybe even those you haven't met before.
Romans 12:10 "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves."
Start the snowball today. You're in control.
"What happened was that I realized I was not alone in my own surroundings. I'm not talking bout ghosts or angels or anything; I'm talking about other people. As silly as it sounds, I realized, late that night, that other people had feelings and fears and that my interactions with them actually meant something, that I could make them happy or sad in the way that I associated with them. Not only could I make them happy or sad, but I was responsible for the way I interacted with them. I suddenly felt responsible. I was supposed to make them happy. I was not supposed to make them sad. Like I said, it sounds simple, but when you really get it for the firs time, it hits hard."
If we brighten someone's day, they could brighten someone else's day, and they could brighten someone else's day and so on and so forth. The exact opposite is true as well. If we ruined someone's day, they could ruin someone else's day, and they could ruin someone else's day and so on and so forth. With this snowball effect, we have the power to make a difference in alot of peoples lives in just one day, even people we don't know.
Make the choice to at least truly love one person tomorrow, brighten their day and by doing that you're loving others, maybe even those you haven't met before.
Romans 12:10 "Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves."
Start the snowball today. You're in control.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Be a Lifesaver
James 5:19-20 "My brothers, wif one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins."
Let's all be lifesavers. Let's all be prepared to share our faith and explain it whenever someone needs to see the light of Christ.
1 Peter 3:15 "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have."
Who needs you to save their life?
Let's all be lifesavers. Let's all be prepared to share our faith and explain it whenever someone needs to see the light of Christ.
1 Peter 3:15 "But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have."
Who needs you to save their life?
Sunday, May 23, 2010
God's love
Ephesians 3:17-18 "so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ"
Do I really need to say anything else?
Do I really need to say anything else?
Friday, May 21, 2010
Numbers Game
James 2:1-4 "My brothers, as believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ, don't show favoritism. Supppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in shabby clothes also comes in. If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, "Here's a good seat for you," but say to the poor man, "You stand there" or "Sit on the floor by my feet," have you not discriminated among yourself and become judges with evil thoughts?"
When we treat others in that way we are essentially assigning everyone a number. Let's pretend we're playing the numbers game. Everyones a number.
That means whenever your with people of better ranking you either brown nose or you don't live up to your standards because you except the fact that they are better than you. That means your not living to the potential God has for you.
It means whenever your with people of lower ranking you either treat them like your stepping stone or you don't acknowledge them at all. That means your not loving them.
Besides those two problems, when you play the numbers game, everyone is just a number. You subconsciously live to fit the part your playing or the number your filling. Your more than a number to God. God doesn't play favorites he loves everyone just the same.
And whats the number one goal of Christianity again... o ya. Living like God aka loving like God.
Love everyone the same, don't play favorites.
It starts with one step... today, let's step out of the numbers game.
When we treat others in that way we are essentially assigning everyone a number. Let's pretend we're playing the numbers game. Everyones a number.
That means whenever your with people of better ranking you either brown nose or you don't live up to your standards because you except the fact that they are better than you. That means your not living to the potential God has for you.
It means whenever your with people of lower ranking you either treat them like your stepping stone or you don't acknowledge them at all. That means your not loving them.
Besides those two problems, when you play the numbers game, everyone is just a number. You subconsciously live to fit the part your playing or the number your filling. Your more than a number to God. God doesn't play favorites he loves everyone just the same.
And whats the number one goal of Christianity again... o ya. Living like God aka loving like God.
Love everyone the same, don't play favorites.
It starts with one step... today, let's step out of the numbers game.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Living like God
James 1:19 "My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,"
As Christians our number one goal should be to live like Jesus, which also means living like God.
I want you to think.. how often is God listening? God listens all the time to all our prayers and thoughts and conversations about him.
How often does God speak? We hear God alot less than he hears us. That's because God's love for us is the perfect love, the flawless love. There is no love greater than His love for us. Of course he listens to us more than he talks.. he cares so much more about us than we do about Him whether or not we'd like to admit it or not.
What about God's anger? God's anger is always a selfless anger. It's a righteous anger that is for the good of others. We are imperfect humans, most of our anger is selfish anger. Angry at the guy who cuts us off in line at the grocery store, on the highway, in conversation. That's why we must be slow to anger. We're mostly angry for the wrong reasons and this type of anger usually leads us to sin. Although if you can attain the truly selfless anger of God it can be one of the most beautiful things in this world.
This verse in a nut shell is telling us to love like God. So just a few more things to help you love like Jesus..
Listen alot - Proverbs 18:2 "A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions."
Slow to speak - Proverbs 10:19 "When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise."
Slow to anger - Proverbs 29:11 "A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control."
If your struggling with one of those... write it on an index card and keep it with ya for the next couple days. Make your first step to loving like God.
As Christians our number one goal should be to live like Jesus, which also means living like God.
I want you to think.. how often is God listening? God listens all the time to all our prayers and thoughts and conversations about him.
How often does God speak? We hear God alot less than he hears us. That's because God's love for us is the perfect love, the flawless love. There is no love greater than His love for us. Of course he listens to us more than he talks.. he cares so much more about us than we do about Him whether or not we'd like to admit it or not.
What about God's anger? God's anger is always a selfless anger. It's a righteous anger that is for the good of others. We are imperfect humans, most of our anger is selfish anger. Angry at the guy who cuts us off in line at the grocery store, on the highway, in conversation. That's why we must be slow to anger. We're mostly angry for the wrong reasons and this type of anger usually leads us to sin. Although if you can attain the truly selfless anger of God it can be one of the most beautiful things in this world.
This verse in a nut shell is telling us to love like God. So just a few more things to help you love like Jesus..
Listen alot - Proverbs 18:2 "A fool finds no pleasure in understanding but delights in airing his own opinions."
Slow to speak - Proverbs 10:19 "When words are many, sin is not absent, but he who holds his tongue is wise."
Slow to anger - Proverbs 29:11 "A fool gives full vent to his anger, but a wise man keeps himself under control."
If your struggling with one of those... write it on an index card and keep it with ya for the next couple days. Make your first step to loving like God.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
God is Love
1 John 4:8 "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."
I believe almost everything, if not everything, in Christianity comes down to one thing. Love.
I hope you come to notice that as I post on this blog.
I wanted to move on from my old blog cuz I couldn't change the url and it wasn't a url i wanted to keep for college.
chuckjohnbob.blogspot.com ... if you haven't seen it check it out for all my old posts which were a bit different. I want to make this blog more bible based so I'm confident that it is God writing through me.. I don't want this to be a religious blog but one based on bettering our relationship with God and how we can let God live through us in love.
Thanks for stopping by :)
I believe almost everything, if not everything, in Christianity comes down to one thing. Love.
I hope you come to notice that as I post on this blog.
I wanted to move on from my old blog cuz I couldn't change the url and it wasn't a url i wanted to keep for college.
chuckjohnbob.blogspot.com ... if you haven't seen it check it out for all my old posts which were a bit different. I want to make this blog more bible based so I'm confident that it is God writing through me.. I don't want this to be a religious blog but one based on bettering our relationship with God and how we can let God live through us in love.
Thanks for stopping by :)
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