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by
Chris Hodges
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June 3 - July 1, 2018
This is exactly what our Enemy wants to accomplish through a cultural identity change. He wants to distract us from focusing on our relationships with God and instead get us to focus on pleasing others, being enslaved to their approval. It’s easy to get caught up in the number of likes, Facebook friends, positive comments, and retweets we can accumulate. It feels good to have this seemingly clear proof that we have value, that our choices have value, that they are right. It’s intoxicating, this twenty-four-hour access to continual validation.
If the devil cannot define a persons identity he will shift the world to a place where comprimise is a comfortable place to be and being uncomfortable is a picture of being different. As soon as we rise up against it he will turn those who have grown to accept the moral difference that gods word emplies through following it.
Our identities shift when we value those looking at the art more than the Artist.
In almost every name-changing story in the Bible, after an encounter with God, a person’s identity becomes more authentically revealed.
He recognizes what you’re capable of doing and activates the greatness in you that you don’t see in yourself.
When we’re not connected to our God-given identities, we will plug in to other outlets to define ourselves. For some of us, it’s our physical appearance and an attempt to remain beautiful and youthful. But the truth is: we all get older and life takes its toll on us. Scripture reminds us that real beauty emanates from the inside. “The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7).
It’s always easier to resist the winds of change if your roots run deep in God’s truth.
Without some firm and compelling basis for suggesting that such acts are inappropriate, people are left with philosophies such as “if it feels good, do it,” “everyone else is doing it” or “as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else, it’s permissible.” In fact, the alarmingly fast decline of moral foundations among our young people has culminated in a one-word worldview: “whatever.” The result is a mentality that esteems pluralism, relativism, tolerance, and diversity without critical reflection of the implications of particular views and actions.2
Just because its popular it does not mean its right,
When we worship God, we embrace his attributes. We see him as omnipresent (everywhere at once), omniscient (all-knowing), omnipotent (all-powerful), totally good, and totally loving. Worship is not about responsive readings or singing hymns. Worship is surrendering yourself to the power, majesty, and goodness of your Creator, letting God be God—even when you don’t understand what he’s doing or when you disagree.
We must stay full of the Word of God, using it as the guiding light for our daily lives and the moral basis for our value system. We must be careful to rely solely on truth, avoiding gossip, hearsay, and the opinions of others.
Holiness requires us to maintain a standard of salt-and-light leadership to those around us. It acknowledges God’s lordship over our lives and demonstrates our willingness to follow in the sacrificial footsteps of Jesus. It means we think through our words, actions, habits, and attitudes at all times.
Families take care of one another. “Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever” (1 Tim. 5:8). One relationship that is central to the family is marriage.
HUMILITY reflects an attitude of service, compassion, and strength. It’s the quality of placing the needs of others above your own, refusing to grandstand and draw attention to yourself.
So why do we call it the Holy Bible then? Because this book tells the truth. If this were a human book, it might not report all the warts and flaws of its heroes. It would just give biographies about the good things they did—their great exploits. But the Bible, when it talks about Abraham and Moses and David, tells us all their weaknesses and demonstrates that they blew it just as much as we do. They made just as many mistakes, and their families were just as messed up as ours are. They had as many problems and addictions as everybody else. The Bible tells the truth.
Convictions are all about the choices we make before we’re challenged. Faith is our ability to act on our convictions when tested.
Everything great is learned and earned through pain.
Worship is your lifeblood. It will produce courage to fuel your faith when you’re being tested. The more time you spend with Jesus, the less time you’re going to spend being intimidated by the opinions of others or worrying about your problems.
Culture wants to claim you—but you don’t have to let it. You have all you need to pass any test you face. You have the courage of the Lord.
Our Enemy can take us out of the race and rob us of the purpose, peace, and joy that God created us to experience.
The Christian life can be distilled down to our daily struggle over what and how to worship.
We are the only part of creation that does this—that offers up our worship. Why? Because we are created in God’s image, created to bring pleasure and glory to the One who made us. But not all of us choose to worship God—and if you’re not worshipping him, I promise you, you’re still worshipping something. It’s like breathing; it’s how you’re made. But you’ll never be satisfied, empowered for your purpose, or fulfilled in life as long as you worship anything other than God.
What to do when you dont know what to do? Look to what you worship, remember what has taken the place of God. Remember the unfulfilled expectations because those expectations become fulfilled when you trust in the only one that can take that place and transform your lifestyle, and reform your future. Because Hope in its right place produces power and power, the power of God produces love. Love reaching its fullest leads to an impact that surpasses our understanding.
The key to courage always comes back to spending time with Jesus.
You see, courage doesn’t try to figure out all the answers and refuse to act until it understands. Courage comes from the heart. Like love, courage requires a commitment of unbreakable trust.
When we have no courage we change our perspective to a fear based understanding of those things that are in front of us.
And I would answer you by directing you to what Jesus said: “Stand up for me against world opinion and I’ll stand up for you before my Father in heaven” (Matt. 10:32 MSG). And if we don’t? The next verse explains the consequences: “But everyone who denies me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven” (Matt. 10:33 NLT). Do you realize how important it is that you not be a coward about your faith? Jesus said essentially, “Hey, if you deny me here on earth, I will deny you before my Father in heaven. If you’re ashamed of me, I’ll be ashamed of you.” Sound harsh? Not if you’re
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We need to understand who we are in him, what he says about a matter that is prominent in culture. If we are not getting our understanding from the representation of what God says about an issue.
Faith is deliberate confidence in the character of God whose ways you may not understand at the time.
Deliberately stand on Gods word in confidence that he will follow through on what he says.
