 Look at the young men in the image to the left. Two guys. Standing in the snow. Taking a picture. At first glance, they look like they’d be the typical youth of anywhere in the world. Probably finishing up High School or starting college. Maybe they have a girlfriend, and maybe they’re saving up to buy a car. They are 18 years old at the time of this picture.
These two (along with a third friend, same age – not pictured) young men live in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine. A year ago, they were arrested for the brutal, violent, bloody murders of over 21 individuals. What did the victims do? Absolutely nothing. Each and every one of them were complete strangers to the boys. They literally were killing for fun. For entertainment.
Another thing about their killings: they filmed almost each one. One even made it onto the internet. I saw this video a while back, and I literally did not sleep that night. It is such a sickening thing to see, hear, or witness. Do not attempt to watch it. The worse thing throughout the video was the faces, reactions, and the things the boys were saying. They were laughing. Having fun. Smiling. Cracking jokes. As they mangled a man with power tools, they were having fun.
They are currently behind bars, and are now 20 years old – no doubt ruined for life.
What’s the most amazing part of this story? The fact that Jesus loves them.
Those three, awful, wretched, murderous, evil killers… are still loved by Jesus Christ as much as you or I. ‘How,’ you may ask, ‘Could God do that!? That’s insane!’ That’s what’s so incredible about the God we serve.
His Love for us is so deep, so profound, that he, Jesus, would give his LIFE to save those three Ukrainian killers. Jesus loves people like Hitler so much he willingly went to be nailed and hung from an old beam of wood and suffer naked for hours. Jesus loves people like Saddam Hussein so much he sacrificed his body, poured out his blood, and died an INNOCENT man. THAT’S how much Jesus loves us.
But so often people don’t see it, and they abandon God, and in doing so, they abandon that sacrifice Jesus Christ made. His love for us is so deep, he’d give his body to save every last one of us filthy, wretched sinners. All we have to do is put our faith in him, and follow Jesus. That’s it. Such a glorious gift, at such an easy price.
Roman’s is one of my favorite books of the bible. I leave you with this passage.
“There is no condemnation for those who belong to Jesus Christ. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death.” -Romans 8:1-2
written by Matt
\\ tags: Murder, Romans, Sin, Ukraine Murders
Can we honestly say ‘I love Jesus!’ if we don’t even try to keep God’s commands? Did you just say ‘Yes?’
“If you love me, obey my commandments.” –John 14:15
It’s that simple. We can go around all day saying ‘I love Jesus!’ but if you go and steal, lust, are prideful, we are, on top of that, lying. Be aware that your actions do not define who you are, but what He Did does.
Sorry for the short, late post today. I woke up sick again this morning. I guess with the nice cool weather comes the nasty, yucky headcolds. Thanks for reading.
written by Matt
\\ tags: Bible, Jesus, life, Sin
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
 There are two types of people in this world – the type that, when something bad happens to them, they say ‘It could always get worse!’ and the type that say ‘It could always get better…’
What type are you? When life gives you lemons, do you make lemonade, or do you rub it in your wounds and pout about? The worst time to pout about when things aren’t going your way, is when people want EVERYONE to know they’re having a bad day, too. Always sighing, being irritable on purpose, or leaving intentionally depressing MySpace/Facebook/Whatever statuses – anything for attention. Really, all complaining is is a form of selfishness.
What does the bible say about this?
3 Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. 4 Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. 5 You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Philippians 2:3-5
11 Not that I was ever in need, for I have learned how to be content with whatever I have. 12 I know how to live on almost nothing or with everything. I have learned the secret of living in every situation, whether it is with a full stomach or empty, with plenty or little. Philippians 4:11-12
“9 Don’t grumble about each other, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. For look—the Judge is standing at the door!” James 5:9
…plus many, many more verses on this very subject. Friends – I urge you to stop complaining, and get over yourself! To live in Christ is to die to the self and to sin. If you’re still at the center of YOUR life, then you’re not living for Jesus.
Here’s some more bits of scripture on Complaining and Whining:
Exodus 15:24
1 Peter 5:7
Proverbs 19:3
Thanks for reading,
-Matt
written by Matt
\\ tags: Bible, Christ, church, Complaining, God, Help, Jesus, Letting Go, life, Selfishness, Sin, stress, Struggle, Whining, Who God Is
“It’s time for healing. Time to move on. It’s time to fix what’s been broken too long. Time to make right what has been wrong. It’s time to find my way to where I belong. There’s a wave that’s crashing over me, and all I can do is surrender.
Whatever you’re doing inside of me… it feels like chaos, but somehow there’s peace. And it’s hard to surrender to what I can’t see, but I’m giving in to something Heavenly…”
Those are lyrics to my favorite song by Sanctus Real, ‘Whatever you’re doing – Something Heavenly.’ It speaks about putting what we want aside, and focusing on what God wants. In the life of a Christian, we need to strive to MAKE what God wants we WE want. Sometimes it’s not easy, and it’s painful.
God will often call us away from something hindering us from growing in him. It can be confusing, hard, and painful, and ‘it feels like chaos,’ but I promise, there will be peace with it.
“This is something bigger then me. Larger then life… something Heavenly.”
Whatever your struggle is, the good news is that YOU don’t have to handle it by yourself! Back in Old Testament days, a Rabbi, that is, a religious leader in the Jewish community, would have students study under them. They’d say the students would ‘take up their master’s yoke,’ and in, they’d carry the burden of studying every last teaching and following EVERY LAST rule of Jewish law. Heavy burden to bear for such a little one, right? Jesus says this in Matthew 11:30,
“My yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
He takes care of us. His yoke is easy. His burden is light, if existent at all. We don’t have to worry about what comes out way, or what seems to be constant attacks against us from the enemy. Jesus took away all our troubles, and they’re nailed to his cross. This doesn’t mean the life of a believer is going to be an easy one, but when times come when you need to carry your own cross, Jesus will be there carrying it with you.
So give into something heavenly today.
CLICK HERE TO WATCH THE MUSIC VIDEO
Thanks for Reading,
Lots of Love,
-Matt
written by Matt
\\ tags: Freedom, God, Jesus, Letting Go, life, Lyrics, Matthew, Music, Sin, Struggle, Worry
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