John

    By His love we are called His children. Not by our world. Not by the people in it. Not by the things in it. Or by the things we love and consider our passions. We are called His by His love. He is the ultimate example for us. If we never had Him as the very first example then we would have nothing to go off of except for this world. People go off of this world only, a lot of the times but where are their lives leading?

                                                   

“See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him.”

    It sounds kind of snobby right? People that don’t believe in Christ don’t see our faith? I saw this verse in a light of how much we are truly transformed by Christ. Yes there is a truth that those that don’t believe do not have that other world a part of their lives. They are missing out on several things but it’s the point that they don’t know that because they don’t know any differently. This just seems to be a really weird and touchy topic to bring up. Because either way you say it, it sounds like we are above those that ‘just don’t get it’. In this lesson we are going to look directly at how the love of Christ is the central message. Notice that the beginning of this chapter starts off by telling us that the God of the universe loves us so much that He literally claims us! And having that seal of awesomeness adds a whole new dimension to our lives. We go from a person of this world to a child of God. Both types of these people are special and made in their own ways but the depth of each differ by a lifetime.

^“Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is.  And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.”

    You didn’t think I was going to let you act all cocky did you? That you have the longer end of the stick being a child of God? Well you do. You have the eternity of God’s love which is something that this world could never buy. But notice that you still don’t have all the details being His child. There are a good bit of nonbelievers that think we have it all together and that we know what tomorrow holds. The end has not come yet and the new beginning hasn’t either so how can we predict what He is fully like and what we are fully like?

“We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.  If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person? Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.”

    Our hearts and minds have the ability to push Christ out of the picture. That is pretty scary to think since we are also told how much power we have in comparison to the holder of the universe. Our hearts, when filled with hate or jealousy or greed or anything of this world, can and will push Christ right out as if He never belonged there in the first place. When we allow the wrong feelings into our hearts they fill us up and they will eventually set themselves as the foundation. Once this is rooted into our hearts then where does Christ have to go? It won’t allow Him to survive in us.     

“This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous.  So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.

If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.”

~Lesson based off of the book of 1 John 3~

Yourself

This may sound weird and kind of rude to hear. That we need to focus on ourselves. Yes I said it…ourselves and nobody else. Now this is coming off pretty bad, right? I mean, our whole lives we are taught how to always be looking out for others. Because nothing ever comes from being selfish! God tells us in Philippians 2:4 “Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.” So it does say to look out for ourselves but others as well, in an equal state of mind. So where exactly am I going with this focusing on ourselves thing? Well…has your faith ever been in such confusion that you can’t find the answers?

            We are all put into these times when we can’t make sense of our own relationship with God! These times are hard to work through but most importantly they are hard to face alone. He has meant for us to never be alone. Even when this world and the people in it abandon us the Lord never does.  But think back to the last troubled time that you had and what your first action was. Chances are you probably went to someone you trust to give you the advice you either need or want to hear. Or you will go to the Lord for guidance. But most of the time I think we notice us going to Christ second.

            I have heard this guilt trip several times to run to Christ for the ultimate guidance. But have you ever heard to trust yourself? To think about yourself and not others? I also bet that when you think about this concept you don’t think about God being included in it?

            Try to think about a busy driven life. You are constantly surrounded by life and commotion. This drains on you and even being in a awesome Godly group you sometimes have to get your own space. I am not trying to say that God wants your worship to be secret and to yourself. He calls you to discover things with your brother in Christ then to spread that through missions or evangelism but He also has different things you get when it’s just you and Him. Having to be able to both of these things equally will create a good balance in your life because you are able to understand yourself a part from everything else.

            I remember back to my second Dominican trip and realize how I was surrounded by so many of my missions team but how I was so close to just God. When there was mass worry and chaos around us I had looked up to the sky that night to notice the moon and how calm it was and the stars as they had shown their beauty. It sounds corny I know! But that is where I found Him. It was in that moment that I knew I wasn’t sure of who was returning home from our team but one thing I did know was that I wouldn’t return the same. And I was more than okay with that because it was in that time that I was able to tune out the chance of extreme disaster to find myself and it was there that I found Christ.

            There is a part of your mind that you can actually hear yourself. To actually look at yourself as well…yourself. Being able to understand what your feeling and what God is showing you. And what you want or need and just what you are going through. This is such a freeing sense of mind. Think back…do you ever remember a time where you were just alone with, you? Sounds like some channeling your inner peace and that yoga would be easier. But as cheesy as it sounds, this is rather important. If you can’t find yourself a part from what worldly things you are in than what are you? If you aren’t able to sit back and just reflect with yourself then how can you find God? He is based at the central heart of your body and that is where you can find yourself without any other voices. This creates an image of yourself being one with Christ and that is the best picture you could ever imagine.  

“Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.”

~Romans 12:2

“But when you pray, go away by yourself, shut the door behind you, and pray to your Father in private.”

~Matthew 6:6

            It is not that we can’t be real around other people it is that this world distracts us. It takes away our focus often and it will twist what we think we are asking for in the first place. Challenge yourself this week to take a walk with nothing but you and God, your dog can come. Or sit back and relax with just yourself. Or go to that beautiful park you always pass and just sit with yourself. You will start to find out that being alone isn’t as bad as you think. Don’t think of this as a typical quiet time, though you should still do them! Think of it as not only chilling with friends but it is just you and the Lord to ultimately listen to what your heart has to say.

Experience It

    God gives us so many awesome things as a child of well, Himself. He calls us to glory here and in heaven. All of which He wants us to embrace the fact that He wants us to have these glories. We are loved constantly and perfectly by Him every single day. Some of us might be thinking that well, we don’t deserve that much pampering. But Christ calls us to experience the riches of our salvation. Of course none of these literal and figurative riches will come without salvation through Christ. It is just such an amazing thing for others to see how truly awesome it is to be a child of God. He calls us to enjoy those things but to not boast with the wrong intentions.

  “so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,” ~Ephesians 2:7-8

     He wants us to wake up every morning to look ourselves in the mirror to see nothing but himself. For if we only see ourselves and the ways of this world discouragement will come along. And this will cause us to want to constantly correct ourselves when that is for us asking for forgiveness and God granting that. This also causes us to blow past all that He has given us. The world is so disastrous that we tend to forget how amazing it is. If you stopped and asked everyone to explained the world in one word it would most likely be ‘horrible.’ Now I am not saying most people are nonbelievers and that they don’t see the good in God. Because some Christians would say the same thing. It is all in the matter of our ability to stop and look what is truly around us and how much of it is from God’s will.

“Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession”   ~Hebrews 3:1

    So consider these verses and ask yourself..how do I look at myself in the mirror? If it isn’t with the ideals of God’s amazing works then what is it with? Challenge yourself to understand all that God has you to experience for His good. If that is misunderstood or even hard to understand in your life ask for it at the feet of the Lord because you may be missing more than you think.




    So I want to apologize for not posting these on the right times and what not. I just have a huge lack of motivation because not only do I feel like my audience is dwindling but that I no longer have blog ideas. Starting in August I will be doing one blog a month on the first Sunday of every month. This is due to my college schedule coming up and the fact that I have been struggling to write these. If any of you have ideas for post please respond below!! I need your help! Also feel free to respond your opinion below as well. Thank you all for reading. And stay tuned for the next year or so for an extended version of Rooted opened to the whole world. Leaked details to come soon…

“Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.”  

~Psalm 34:5