Understanding Freedom

Psalms 118:5, In my anguish I cried to the Lord, and He answered by setting me free. 

Definition of Freedom: The power or right to act, speak or think as one wants without hindrance or restraint.

Freedom is talked about a lot these days. People think that they can do whatever they want because they have the freedom to do so. America is a free country because our forefathers have fought to make it so. So why am I discussing this? We know what freedom is. The definition tells us! Maybe we missed the whole idea of Freedom when we decided that freedom means we can do whatever we want.

When we begin to act as if Freedom is what we want to do whenever we want to do, (freedom from parents, freedom from authority, freedom from rules, regulations, ect.) then Satan is taking away whatever freedom we might have possessed before. When we fall away from the path of doing the right thing and following God, we are really being put into bondage.

I've heard people say before, "How can you follow a God who wont allow you to do what you want to do? Your like a slave to him."

Well my bible says in Romans chapter 6 verse 16: Don't you realize that you become the slave of whatever you choose to obey? You can be a slave to sin, which leads to death, or you can choose to obey God, which leads to righteous living.

To me that is pretty clear that whatever you may call freedom, probably isn't. When we submit to God, we are free from sin and regret and bondage. You cannot ask for a better kind of freedom.

So the question you should ask yourself is: Are you really "free?" And if not, then what do  you need to become free from? Swearing? Sexual sins? Hanging out with the wrong crowd? Drunkenness? Watching the wrong things? Facebook?

The Lord will help free you from these things. You only need to ask him! He can help you. But you have to make a conscious decision to follow after God, and be willing to leave behind the things that are holding you in chains. Hand your life over to true freedom. It's the best thing you will ever decide to do.

~Whatsoever Things are True
Philippians 4:8

Strive

1 Corinthians 9:24, Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.

Racing is a very popular thing all over the world. There are marathons, and 4k's, and many different events in which people run. If I were to tell you that you were going to be running in a huge race that lasts a lifetime that you are required to run, what would you do? Watch TV until the time of the race? Would you eat unhealthily and not worry about the race at all until the day of? I sure hope not. You should want to prepare for this race, mentally, and physically. You would be working out, you would be eating right, you would be pushing fluids into your body and buying the right equipment for the run. 

Right now, you and I are getting ready for the big race in life. The race to Glorify God and win the prize of his kingdom in heaven. If you aren't prepared for that race, then you are going to be in sorry shape for it, and you will probably give out in the first stretch of the race. But we have time now to become ready for our race. 

When we get ready we:

Work out.

Proverbs 13:4, The soul of the sluggard craves and gets nothing, while the soul of the diligent is supplied richly. 

Drink Water

John 1:14, But whoever drinks the water that I give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. 

Be Prepared

1 Peter 3:15a, But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give a reason for the hope you have. 

So get prepared if you aren't already. The race is long and the road is tough. Don't be unprepared or you will fall out of the race. 

~Whatsoever things are true

Philippians 4:8

How to Stay Awake

Mark 13:36, Always be ready. Otherwise he might come back and find you sleeping. 

This verse strikes fear into my heart for many people when I read this. I know people who have fallen asleep in their faith, and I don't want Jesus to come back while they are spiritually sleeping. Also, I don't want to be one that's sleeping when the time comes for Jesus to come back. The consequences of sleeping when he returns is Eternity in Hell. Not somewhere ANYONE want's to be.

So how do we keep from falling asleep?

Keep Company
We can surround ourselves with friends who also wish to stay awake. They will do their best to make sure that you don't fall asleep, and you can also do your part to make sure they don't nod off. They will help keep you accountable, and help council you when you feel weary. Hebrews 10: 24-25 says, "Let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the day drawing near."  Get Bible studies going. Call your friends and talk about Christ. Do things to stir each other up. The day is drawing near.

Drink Energy Drinks.
Drinking Energy Drinks? Yeah, that's right. Reading the Bible, spending time in the prayer with the Spirit, listening to your pastor and other pastors, reading books with testimonies, these things will help give you that extra boost when you are down. Isaiah 30:41 says, "They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not grow faint." To wait upon the Lord means to have total dependence on Him, and complete obedience in our walk. When a waiter waits upon you, what does he do? He serves you. We should do the same to our father. This will give us the best energy of all.

Keep Busy
It is very difficult to lay back and sleep when you are constantly doing things. Witnessing, praising the Lord, being active in what the Lord wants done is a great way to stay awake. Stay hyped up for Christ. Stay awake in the Lord. If you find yourself drifting into slumber, be quick to slap yourself awake. 2 Timothy 2:15 says, "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth." Be a worker that has no need of shame. That does not limit you to just outside your house. By all means, prepare yourself for your future on earth and in heaven by disciplining yourself now. Work in the Lord, stay awake.

Ask the Lord
You can always go to your Father who created you to ask for help. He can see when you are drifting, and he may even let you know about it. Go ask him to jolt you awake. Ask him for help, don't be afraid to. The Bible says in Matthew 11:28, "Come to me, all who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." The Lord want's you to ask for his help. He will give you rest, not in the sense of making you fall asleep and therefore be in danger of Hell, but in the sense of the purest rest: Peace. He will give you peace in the midst of a storm, which is the greatest of rests.

So stay awake in him. Use scripture to help you, and just come before the Lord and let him know what's going on in your life. But mostly, never stop trying to serve the Lord.

~Whatsoever Things are True
Philippians 4:8

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