I am not the Christ

Did you know you aren't God?

"Of course," you say!

But in the day to day, moment by moment happenings of life, don't we sometimes act like (or like to believe) we are in total control? Being in control of people and circumstances offers a sense of security; a reassurance that we won't be taken by surprise and experience something unpleasant. Being in control means if our loved ones follow our wise counsel, they too will be safe and secure. Well, try telling that to John the Baptist whose life was cut short when his head was cut off because of his faith in Jesus.

"Now this was John's testimony ... He did not fail to confess, but confessed freely, 'I am not the Christ.'" {John 1:19-20}

John knew he couldn't save a single person, and his driving passion in life wasn't to be in control of people or circumstances, but to point people directly to the One who could save them - Jesus.

When John encountered Emmanuel, he boldly proclaimed him to be the Son of God "who takes away the sin of the world!" (vs 29} He didn't seek comfort as a priority; he didn't hide in his own little corner of the world and keep the marvelous truth of salvation to himself and his own family; he didn't take credit for transforming lives. He simply and directly pointed broken people to the One who could heal them in the most profound and permanent way - by taking away their sin and offering them eternal life.

John knew he was not the Christ. And he knew who the Christ was. If John had been seeking to control his life and remain safe, he would have missed meeting Jesus altogether. He would have missed the opportunity to announce him as the Son of God to a massive crowd, many of whom believed in Jesus and were baptized as a result. So sure, he could have been safe ... safe and ineffective.

I'll admit sometimes I try to be God in my own little corner of the world - then the words of John remind me, "I am not the Christ." But praise God I know him and I can freely testify of his salvation and truth and let him take care of the outcome. The last thing I want is to be safe and ineffective. What a tragedy! God is in control. I'm not. And that is truly a place of rest no matter the circumstances.

So I will gladly and freely testify, "I am not the Christ. But I know him, and I trust him."

He is Emmanuel. God with us.

Sowing seeds of faith

The following is from a beautiful young woman who is following hard after the Lord. At just 19 years old, she is sowing seeds of faith and will reap a harvest for God's kingdom. Keep on walking in step with the Spirit, Kjerstine!

A few days ago, I was feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. Then I stumbled upon Psalm 127:1-2, “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the guards stand watch in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat — for he grants sleep to those he loves.”

I realized I was trying to do things all on my own, and it was getting me nowhere. Good grades and some money, but exhausted, depressed, and nowhere good. It was like God picked me up and rattled me around saying "Go to sleep! Let me figure out your work and school and finances." So I did, I went to bed. I allowed myself to rest....knowing I was getting nothing done, but always telling myself God was going to figure it all out.

When I got to school the next day, I found out my teacher pushed all our assignments back, giving me a whole extra week on a research paper; and my Chemistry professor assigned nothing for homework, when I normally spend hours on it.

Also, I haven't been able to go to church lately, and haven't been tithing like I should. I was trying to make a small fortune for myself completely on my own. It wasn't working. All I was doing was working long hours, becoming exhausted and always worried about money. But then I tithed – a lot – compared to what I made, because I wanted to make up for some of the times I missed. I told myself that God would figure all my money out. The next time I worked, we had a server call off, and my manager put me in his section, a pretty popular and difficult section for a new server to handle. And then we got very busy. I ended up making more than double what I normally make on a week night. I was so in awe of Him. It's like all He wanted was to take care of me, and for me to finally let Him.

Now I'm not worrying about money; I'm working and letting God do the rest; and giving back what is already His. I've been a Christian basically my whole life and He still flat out BLOWS. MY. MIND.

Our Creator is a mighty God who is never too busy for you and is always interested in being involved with the details of your life. Enjoy Him today!

Who would you side with?

I love a good story, don’t you? I sure hope so because I’m about to share one. It’s a story my mom sent to me quite some time ago as an encouragement and reinforcement of my freedom from shame. I don’t know the source of the story, but it goes like this…
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One night in a church service, a young woman felt the tug of God on her heart. She eagerly responded to God’s call and surrendered to Jesus as her Savior and Lord. The young woman had a very sordid past, involving alcohol, drugs, and prostitution. But the change in her was evident after that night and she became a faithful member of the church.

Eventually, she began to serve in the church by teaching young children, and it was not long before this godly young woman caught the eye and heart of the pastor’s son. Their relationship and love for one another grew and they began to make wedding plans. That’s when the problems began.

You see, about half of the church body did not believe a woman with such a past was worthy of a pastor’s son. The members of the church began to argue and fight among themselves until finally, a meeting was held to settle the dispute. As various people made their arguments against the young couple’s relationship, tensions soared and the meeting was getting completely out of hand. The young woman became increasingly distressed about all the things being brought up about her past. When she could no longer bear the pain, she broke down and began to weep.

At that point, the pastor’s son had heard enough. He stood up and began to speak:

“My fiancée’s past is not what is on trial here. What you are questioning is the ability of the blood of Jesus to wash away sin. Today, you have put the blood of Jesus on trial. So, does it wash away sin, or not?”

Now it was the congregation’s turn to weep as they realized they had been slandering the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Love is the trademark of a believer. God's word says we are like a noisy gong or a clanging symbol without it (1 Cor. 13). Without love for others, our hearts quickly grow cold and our faith is useless. We become mechanical in our Christian walk; in which case, it isn’t a Christ-like walk at all.

Think about it this way. Have you ever been awakened late at night or early in the morning by a neighbor’s car alarm or continual honking horn? And were your thoughts something like, “BE QUIET! STOP ALREADY!”? Similarly, as we go through the motions of being good and doing good apart from a thriving relationship with Christ, we come across just like that loud, annoying car alarm that no one wants to hear or be around. Faith without love is a major turn-off.

May we never be accused of putting the blood of Jesus on trial. May we never be found siding with those who look down on a fellow believer. Satan is the accuser of the brethren. May we always be found siding with the blood of Jesus. He loves with a wild kind of love - a magnetic kind of love that draws people to himself. Let's love like that. Let's point people to him. When we fail at this kind of love and repent, his blood washes us clean. When we succeed at this kind of love, it's by the mighty power of his Spirit at work within us. REJOICE!

Make sure you always know whose side you're really on.