Christ Daily

A friend of mine once said “If we don’t show our love, do we really love at all?” And that’s a good point.

A huge part of being a Christian is witnessing. When we witness to people who don’t have a relationship with God, we explain about the Gospel and God’s plan, and on top of that, who God is. A good number of folks who don’t have Christ in their life were probably never actually explained or talked to about who He really is.

As Christians, one of our sole responsibilities is to get the message out to those around us. We need to spread the good news of Jesus Christ and not just keep it to ourselves!

¹⁹Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in^[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

- Matthew 28:19-20

Imagine if the man who discovered binary math kept it to himself; we would not have computers. Imagine if Thomas Edison didn’t share his invention of the light bulb; we may still be living in darkness! And as Christians, that’s what we’re supposed to do – to spread and bring the light to those who don’t have a relationship with God.

So pass it around! See if you can get it to the other side of the classroom…

written by Josh \\ tags: God, Jesus, Matthew, salvation, witnessing

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.”
Matthew 16:24, KJV

Last night, I was at a Tenth Avenue North concert (which was amazing, by the way), and the lead singer was speaking for the moment between a song set, and he mentioned that verse in Matthew that says for us to ‘Deny Ourselves.’  He talked a bit about that, and I loved what he, Mike Donehey, said about it.

We hear ‘deny ourselves’ and a lot of the time, we think about giving up what we think is fun, entertaining, or things that make us happy for God.  For some reason, a lot of Christians have the mindset ‘God wants us to be miserable… for him!’  This is not the case at all!  Did you really think a God that loves you wants you to be miserable?

I think we can all agree – sin is tempting.  Haha.  We think it looks so good – it’s so tempting.  That’s why it’s called temptation.  It looks so good.  Lovely.  Harmless.  Pleasurable.  How else could The Enemy get us to disobey our God?  It looks like ‘This will not hurt me,’ or ‘Oh, this is harmless.’

We THINK these things, but we know the truth – we know these are bad, awful things that God hates.  Real happiness, real love, real pleasure, real joy does not come from sin.  It comes from God.

‘You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.’
Psalms 16:11

When Jesus say ‘Deny Ourselves’ he does NOT want us to be miserable or unhappy.  Just the opposite.  He wants us to live the BEST life possible.  We KNOW this is the best life possible, too – God obviously did.  He sent Jesus to DIE for THIS LIFE you’ve been gifted with.

When Jesus says ‘Deny yourself,’ he means for us to deny ourselves of the things we THINK look attractive, but what he and we know are wrong.  Stealing something that does not belong to you.  Sex and pornography.  Lying to cover up something.  All these things looks like good ideas on the outside.  ’If I steal this, I’ll have something without paying for it!’  ’Sex feels so great!’  ’If I lie, then so-n-so won’t know what I did – I’m off that hook!’  But we know, from the bible, what these things cause.  It does not end up good.  Sin leads to death and a miserable life – exactly the opposite of what Jesus wants.

So next time you want a Cheeseburger, eat a Cheeseburger – you don’t have to deny yourself.  Next time you’re sleepy, take a nap – you don’t have to stay awake ‘For Jesus’ sake!’

Deny yourself of the things that make your life miserable and that make you unhappy.  Jesus loves you, and wants to see you smile.

So smile.  Jesus loves you.

Thanks for Reading,
Lots of Love,
-Matt

written by Matt \\ tags: Bible, Christ, Deny Yourself, God, Jesus, Love, Matthew, Music, Psalms, salvation, Sin, Story

When you believe in something, why not take a stand for it? Defend it! If you truly believe in something with all of your heart, be proud of it, and let it be known!

It’s not hard to take a stand for what you believe in; people do it all the time. Whether it be views on politics, sports, or laws, people go out and make their opinions known.

This is extremely important and applies just as much to Christianity as it does to anything else. As Christians, we’re supposed to be spreading the good news of Jesus, not keeping it to ourselves, and on top of that, taking pride that we’re Christians!

¹⁶I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

- Romans 1:16

¹²Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

- 1 Timothy 6:12

written by Josh \\ tags: God, Jesus, salvation, standing-up

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has praised the contributions of American Muslims at a dinner to celebrate the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Obama joined Cabinet secretaries, ambassadors and members of Congress to pay tribute to what he called “a great religion and its commitment to justice and progress.”

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/09/01/obama-calls-islam-great-religion-ramadan-dinner/

Islam may be a “great” religion. But guess what – it’s WRONG. No offense, but it’s wrong. Plain and simple. The Lord is the way, the truth, and the light, and He is the only way, truth, and the light.

“You shall have no other gods before Me. 4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

- Exodus 20:3-6

Today, public schools in America teach practically every religion to students except Christianity, and that’s because it teaches it’s the only acceptable religion – and that’s exactly the case.

Sorry, Mr. President, but you’re wrong.

written by Josh \\ tags: Christ, God, idols, Islam, Obama, Religion, salvation, schools