Chosen

Ephesians 1:11, Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan. 

As children of God, we have an awesome place in Christ's kingdom. We can give ourselves a sweet name like, "The Chosen Ones," or something cool like that. And it's not just a cool name, it's just plain cool that we have been individually chosen by God to complete a task in life. Only YOU can do your task. He has created you for a purpose, and he chose you while you were in your mothers womb to run after it like a mighty soldier. Pretty cool huh? Absolutely. God gives us the promise that we have received an inheritance from Him. An inheritance in the Kingdom of God that we will share with our fellow soldiers in heaven.

You might thinking, "Chosen for what? I can't do anything cool like sing or play the piano, or play a sport. I can barely do a sit up. How can God use someone like me to do something like a mighty soldier? Why did he choose me?"

The Lord says in his word that we are all created for one purpose, to Glorify him. I'm pretty sure you don't have to be an amazing singer or pianist or sports player to give glory to the Lord. You are CHOSEN to give him glory. Every single person on this earth has the same calling, not to the same locations, or with the same talents, but we are all still chosen to Glorify him.

We can Glorify God every time we speak: (Not cussing, using our words to witness, singing to God, building someone up with encouragement, being an example in our maturity in language, and much more.) How about every second of the day with our actions: (Not dressing immodestly, not being ashamed to wear things that praise and glorify Christ, Not being afraid to witness, handing out tracks, just being a friend to someone that's gone unnoticed.) Glorifying by obedience: (Listening to what the Lord has to say to you and doing it, changing your heart when convicted, obeying his commands, reading his word daily, and honoring what your parents ask you to do.) Glorifying in lifestyle: (Not listening to bad music, not going to see movies that you wouldn't bring Jesus to, not wasting your days online starring at that hott chick or dude on Facebook, ;) Driving speed limit and not getting road rage.)

We are Chosen to do these things. Come up with a list on your own of what you were chosen to do in Christ. You were chosen to do more than these things, but it's your job to ask the Lord for guidance and then obey him when the time comes. Follow your calling, and be the chosen child of God. You don't want to be lazy and procrastinate and then your calling be given to someone else. That would definitely not be pleasing to your Creator.


~Whatsoever Things are True
Philippians 4:8

Mind Firefighters

Mark 7:20-23, And Jesus said, "The things that come out of people are the things that make them unclean. All these evil things begin inside people, in the mind: evil thoughts, sexual sins, stealing, murder, adultery, greed, evil actions, lying doing sinful things, jealousy, speaking evil of others, pride, and foolish living. All these evil things come from inside and make people unclean."

The mind is a very well studied subject. People take classes on this subject, and they study it, trying to unlock the secrets that it hold. Though there are many speculations about the mind, and many mysteries that have been undiscovered, there is one fact that is certain: the mind is to be guarded with all care.

The mind can be like gun powder sitting in your darkest corners. One spark of a evil thought can get your whole mind set aflame by it.

As Christians, we should be making a study of the mind in the same way that scientist study the mind. We should be learning and reading and listening to other peoples stories about how to contain and destroy an evil thought.

Once a fire starts to burn, what does that fire need to keep it going? First of all it needs oxygen. Once you cut the oxygen off from a fire, then the fire will die out quickly and be no more. We need to do the same thing to our inflamed thoughts. We should be doing our best to make sure that our whole body does not become inflamed with our thoughts, and the only way to do that is to destroy the fire. To cut the oxygen off, we must separate ourselves from whatever is inflaming the thoughts. Stay away from the things that are making you dwell on the evil things. Dunk your head in the water of the word of God, Constantly. Just sprinkling a little water on a fire does nothing, you need to immerse yourself in the water until you are sure the water has destroyed your fire. And continue to immerse yourself daily. The fire cannot restart if you continue to sit in the water of God's love and teachings and will.

Your relationship with the Lord will benefit you enormously. He will help build a fire-resistant mind, and he will help you become a firefighter in your own life. Give your thoughts to the Lord. Don't let them burn any longer.

~Whatsoever Things Are True
Philippians 4:8

My True Love

1John 4:8, Whoever does not love God, does not know God, because God is love.

First of all, Happy Valentines Day. The one day of year that people spend with their loved one, or spend it alone. You many be lonely this year because you don't have anyone to hold in your arms, or be held by. Maybe your sad that you don't have anyone to whisper sweet words in their ears. Maybe you are sad that everyone else seems to have a date for this day but you. But I'm here to tell you otherwise.

Jesus has been the ultimate Valentine for centuries before the holiday was even created. His love for you does not limit him to one day of the year.

You may be thinking, "well spending time with Jesus today won't make me feel any less lonely. I'm still single." Let me ask you a question. What is Love? Love is something you give right? Yes you get love too, but it's a two way thing right? Yes it is! So I want to challenge you guys today to make Jesus your Valentine, and give him all your love. Jesus receives more complaints every year about singleness than he does love. And he is waiting right there next to you to be your Valentine. But we ignore him looking only to physical love from a person.

Make this years day a self-giving day to Jesus. Let your Valentine's day be FILLED to the brim with Love for Jesus.

How do we do that?

#1, Spend time with him. More than you usually do. Tell him how much he means to you. Write a list. Make something for him. A poem. A dance. Write a song. Make a card. Do something that you don't normally do for him. Give him more attention today than you want for yourself.

#2, The bible says in Matthew 25:40, "Whatever you did for the least of these, you did for me." Show your love of Christ by giving it to other people. Be a servant to your family today. Love on your parents. Take someone that doesn't have a lot of hope in life out for lunch. Do something to show the Love of Christ.

#3, Praise him. We were made to glorify him. Go all out. Sing loudly, make your actions praising to Christ. Let it be known that you are not single this year because Jesus is your true love.

Give today. It will be the best Valentines day you ever had.

~Whatsoever things are true
Philippians 4:8

Faith in the Storm

Matthew 8:25b-26A, "Lord save us! We will drown!" Jesus answered "why are you afraid? You don't have enough faith."

So what is your wave? What is it that you have not given up to God? What are you afraid of drowning in? Stress? Worry? Troubles? Death? Fear of the unknown? Maybe you are getting hit with the wave of persecution, or maybe you are drowning in something else and you are stretching out to see if you can look above the wave coming at you to see if there is light on the horizon. Sometimes we yell to God, "Lord! Save us! We will drown!"

The Lord answers, "Why are you afraid? You don't have enough faith."

Faith. A thing that we should all poses. Faith keeps us from giving up. Faith makes us say, I know that these troubles would not come to me if God didn't have a plan through them. Faith makes us think, The Lord knows what I can handle, and I am going to ride my boat through this storm with Jesus at the Helm.


Your Helmsmen 
You will always survive a storm and never drown if Jesus is at the head of your vessel. That doesn't mean that you can't do any work. On the contrary, a vessel needs a crew as well as a helmsmen. If you let Jesus do the steering, then all you have to do is put effort into following his commands as he shouts to you in the midst of the wind and waves.

Getting Wet
When you are going through tough areas and the storm is raging, you have to expect to get a little wet. Just because Jesus is the head of your vessel, doesn't mean you will come out of this totally untouched by the waters. Hard times are going to come, and he means for you to get a little wet so when you come out the other side you will have experience and knowledge. He may be testing your skills to see if you are ready to handle bigger parts of your craft.

Your Boat
Your boat will only hold together for so long right? So what if your in the middle of a storm if it suddenly breaks apart. Well the glue that holds your boat together is called Faith. If you don't have faith, then your boat will fall apart. So keep your faith strong, and your vessel will hold up in the toughest of storms. Satan will throw big waves at you and try to shake your boat to pieces, but it will always hold if you have faith.

Remember to always call on the Lord in the middle of the storm. He will always come through for you and lead you clear of the things that will harm you. Just have faith.

~Whatsoever Things Are True
Philippians 4:8

The Cornerstone of Life

Matthew 21:42b, The stone that the builders rejected became the cornerstone.

Jesus is referred to as a stone or rock many times in the word.

2 Samuel 22:47, The Lord lives! Praise be to my rock.

Deuteronomy 32:31, But the rock of our enemies is not like our Rock.

Psalm 18:2, The Lord is my Rock and my fortress.

Psalm 71:3, Be my Rock of refuge, to which I can always go.

Isaiah 51:1, Look to the Rock which you were cut and to the quarry from which you were hewn.

1 Samuel 2:2, There is no rock like our God.

Why is he likened unto a Rock? And who are the builders?

Jesus is likened unto a Rock because of what a rock is. A rock is: 1. Strong. We can use them to stand upon and trust that they will not crumble. 2. A place of shelter. Animals and people both use rock as shelter. People sleep in caves of rock so that they will have shelter from the wild beasts that roam around looking for whom they may devour. 3. A place of rest. We can rest on a rock and have peace of mind that nothing can climb up and destroy.

Jesus is all of these things. He is strong, and we should stand upon his words DAILY! He is a place of shelter. We can go to his house and pray and seek him and be among fellow believers that build us up in him. He is a place of rest. We can rest soundly at night knowing that he holds all things in his hands so we should not have to worry. Jesus is the Rock of my salvation that cannot be moved.

Now, knowing all of those things, who wouldn't want to have Jesus to build their lives upon? Lot's of people actually. The scripture says that the rock was rejected by the builders. The builders are any person who lives on this earth. You are a builder. I am a builder. We all build our lives every day that we live.

Jesus was rejected by the people who crusified him yes, but people today reject him. Christians reject him by refusing to share their faith. People reject him by saying that evolution makes more sense. The stone is still being rejected.

But there is good news! Jesus is the cornerstone of MANY organizations, businesses, and lives today. People are building their lives with him as their base. This is the smartest decision to make. People who make their lives on Cornerstones of lust, greed, or selfishness will be sorry that they did so because those things will crumble sooner or later. They are week substitutes for the true Cornerstone Jesus.

Evaluate your life. Who is your Cornerstone? Jesus or Satan? Jesus will lead to a strong building if you use him in your life, but you will crumble and fall with Satan holding you up. Satan has no good plans for you or your life, he only wants to use you. Jesus is the only smart way to go. If you realize that he has been pushed out of your life and replaced with another stone, then stop and repent. Rebuild your life, but this time put in the right Cornerstone: Jesus.

~Whatsoever things are true
Philippians 4:8