Skip to main content

Much Is Required of Me

So I was thinking the other day about how I am overly blessed...or should I say cursed? It almost seems like a curse at times the blessings I have because I take them all for granite and choose to live the life of a couch potato and sometimes just tan in the light of all my shiny things....basically making them gods to me instead of worshipping the one true God. God threw a verse at me that says, "To whom much is given, much is required." So after thinking on this for a while the situation of my blessings was laid bare and I saw it all as it should be.
God has blessed me with a family of believers waiting for me when I showed up back in 84, also with a loving family in a upper middle class home and life, a chance to hear His Word everyday, plenty of food, friends, college, jobs, clothes, cars, cell phones, playstations, tvs, guitars, new shoes, and the list goes on and on. I take about 98% of all these things for granite everyday. I must learn to show thankfulness and gratitude toward God in these things and not use these toys as tools of unrighteousness but as tools of righteousness to God for His glory to be known.
God has not blessed many people on the planet as He has us Americans. The poorest of us are richer than most of the world, but rarely do we act like it. I need to step it up and starting being different for God's glory. I believe God has chosen America to bring Jesus to the world and has given us all the resources to do it. Why don't we just all take advantage of our blessings and lay them down to store up treasures in Heaven for God's glory not ours. I am tired of being the same ole camoflauge Christian I have grown up to be. I want to give up this life and start living His. If it takes me going on a mission trip every chance I get or just plain inviting over the people I hardly ever talk to that everyone else thinks less of every chance I get than I need to step it up and start doing it.
Christ requires more from us and gives us all of these blessings so that we will use them appropriately for His glory. If I have too many clothes in the closet how it is, then why do I not give them to the poor. If I have too many blankets on my bed as it is, then why don't I go give to someone who needs it? If I can go buy something at Wal-mart everyday of the week, then why don't I share Jesus with the cashier? These type of questions always run through my head, but when I am in the moment and can do something to help, excuses come flying out of nowhere. The Bible says that we are not at war with flesh and blood, but are at war with principalities and powers, so why don't we use the weapon of God's Word and of prayer to fight back? Those excuses that arise are not from us, they just disquise themselves that way.
LORD, I pray today that You will awaken my heart to the spiritual warfare around me and give me wisdom to press on and pursue Your will for the people around me and not my own. I know that Your will is for all people to know You, now help me to fulfill that. I lean upon You today and give totally of myself to those around me. I want to glorify Your name through this overly blessed life I have been given. I lay it all down to lift You up Jesus. In Your holy Name i pray, Amen (So let it be).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

7 Steps to the Pulpit

Many times I’ve sat on the front pew just prior to the sermon time looking at the steps to the pulpit. In these moments each Sunday morning I’m reminded of the great task with which I have been entrusted and my own weakness to perform it. After hours of painstaking study and prayerful preparation, I still stare at those steps and feel under qualified, knowing I’ve only scratched the surface of the message. There is a certain holy trembling a preacher feels before climbing those steps to proclaim God’s eternal Word. In centuries past, preachers like Charles Spurgeon and Martyn Lloyd-Jones had to climb winding staircases to reach the “sacred desk”, but many pulpits today are just a few steps above the floor. Whether you have many steps or none at all, it is an other-worldly task we have been given. The following are a few practical steps preachers can take before climbing the real ones on Sunday morning... 1. Get in the Word We must immerse ourselves in the text at the outset o
Post a Comment
Read more

Pastors & Spider-Man

The other night my wife and I decided to watch one of the Spiderman movies we owned at the house. During the movie, I felt an odd connection with Peter Parker and his Spiderman persona. It was then that I started thinking about all the ways pastors and Spiderman have a very similar calling. First, like Spiderman, pastors are urged to serve because of the serious need they see around them and the unique calling given them. Whereas Peter Parker is urged by the screams of people who are in danger, we are urged by the lostness around us. When Paul was at Athens, his spirit was provoked when he saw the idols they worshiped (Acts 17:16ff). As pastors, we must never stop seeing the spiritual desperation in people’s lives. All believers are called to serve others for the sake of Christ, but pastors have a unique calling to shepherd their souls as well. Second, both pastors and Spiderman share the struggle of their calling with one woman (our wives, except in the case of Peter Parker).
Post a Comment
Read more

Sleep: Keeping in the Guardrails

Sleep is great. Who doesn’t want to get a full eight hours every night and wake up feeling rested and refreshed? Yet most of us find this quite challenging, if not impossible. There can be any number of reasons why we don’t get a good night’s sleep: work demands, small children who often cry out at night, household chores that must be completed, our favorite TV show that comes on late, a guilty conscience or racing mind, or even a health problem. For those of us who don’t have as much responsibility,  over sleeping can be a temptation: college students who don’t have class until 11am, the retired or unemployed who don’t have a boss waiting on them, or the self-employed who don’t have a fixed schedule. What can we do to avoid losing control of our sleep and this causing damage in other aspects of our lives? God’s Word teaches us to stay between two guardrails: too little sleep and too much sleep. The first guardrail, too little sleep, is found in Psalm 127:2: “ It is vain that you r
Post a Comment
Read more