You know what’s frustrating? People who are all about the rules and forget that Christianity is about a relationship with Christ—those people frustrate me. Yeah, okay, so the rules go along with the relationship, but that is NOT what it’s all about. You don’t need baptism to be saved; however, it is a step of faith professing your love for Christ. I think everyone who is saved should be baptized. It is necessary as a next step, but not as a key to salvation. You also don’t need to have evangelized to 300 people each month. Evangelism is a step of faith and a way to profess your love for Christ, but it is not necessary for salvation. Do you see what I’m getting at? Our walks should become a way of looking like Christ and we should be obedient to the next steps that we are called to, but these “next steps” are not necessary for salvation. Why else would Jesus have told the thief on the cross that he would see him in paradise? The thief wasn’t baptized. The thief didn’t get a chance to evangelize to people. The thief didn’t get the chance to go to church every Sunday. This love we have for Christ is not about the rules, it is about a relationship and it is sad how many people forget this and let the rules get in the way. I hope you haven’t forgotten it. If you have, it’s never too late to let your love for Christ be the center of the relationship instead of the rules.
Now, don’t misunderstand me, we are to take steps of faith once we trust God with our lives. After we are saved, we are to be baptized, we are to go out and evangelize, we are to bear good fruit, we are to live a Godly life, but these things do not save us, only our faith in Christ does.
I hope I am not offending anyone, but if you disagree, I would love to sit down and talk with you over a cup of coffee or something. I do not want to make anyone mad at me, but I believe this because it is what the Bible preaches, in my opinion.
Moving on, my Introduction to Biblical Counseling class is so good, I am learning a lot, but I feel so convicted by it all the time. I hate that haha. A couple weeks ago, in class, we talked about the heart and whatever you fill the heart with is what will come out during tough circumstances. My professor gave us 10 questions she called “X-Ray” Questions, they were as follows:
1) When you became ______ (angry, depressed, upset, etc.) what did you want that you weren’t getting?
2) What would make you happy?
3) What brings out the worst in you?
4) What brings out the best in you?
5) If you could change your situation, how would you change it?
6) What do you think about more than anything else?
7) Why did what happened/what so-and-so did bother you so much?
8) What would it take for you to be a successful person?
9) At the end of your life, what do you most want to have accomplished?
10) What is it that you want more than anything else in life?
Answer these questions for yourself. What comes out of your heart is what you serve the most and what consumes you the most. I wish I could say that God consumes me the most, and on some days, He does, but not every day, and that’s what’s so convicting.
Also, this week, my small group and I met and discussed Chapter 5 of Crazy Love by Francis Chan. For those of you who don’t know, I am a huge Francis Chan fan! I think that God has gifted him with the ability to teach and discern what Americans today need to hear. Anyways, we were going over the chapter and it was super convicting. It was talking about all our leftovers that we give to God. It’s almost like making God play fetch. “Here, God, fetch this three minute prayer at the end of the day. Fetch this fleeting Bible Study where I don’t remember anything. Fetch this good work I decided to do just so I could puff myself up.” How many times do I do this, whether on purpose or on accident? I, so many times, have gotten in bed and thought, “I am exhausted. Might as well just not do my Bible study since I won’t remember it.” I hate that. I hate that this is what crosses my mind. I hate that sometimes my love for God is that of someone who is not being sanctified. And I have no excuse for it. My love for Christ should daily overflow out of me so much that I want to spend all my time with Him. I think, though, that we are the toughest critics on ourselves. Maybe that’s a good thing though. It felt so good to be convicted on this. I need to give more to God. I need to place ALL of my faith in Him and trust Him with all I have; otherwise, I’m only lukewarm which disgusts God.
Enough with the deep updates, I think I may have gotten carried away. I’ll give y’all a couple small updates then I’ll be done.
Warning: Mushy update about to take place… I am in love with Clay. We both feel like God has placed us together and we are growing in our relationships with God, and it’s helping us grow together as well. I know this may sound crazy to some of you. It may seem like we’re going really fast in this relationship and, yeah, you’re right. If I were an outsider looking at us, I’d yell, “Slow down!” But, we are covering this in prayer. We have thought about this. This isn’t just an on-the-whim sort of thing. We are being smart. But, thank you to everyone who has cared so much as to make sure we are being smart. I really appreciate that.
I love my classes at Crossroads. I am so glad God has allowed me the opportunity to learn here. My classes are convicting and that’s a good thing. I am seriously growing in my faith and I can tell God is working in my heart in so many ways through this school. I don’t always agree with my professors, but it’s not over life or death things so it’s fun to debate them.
Lastly, I just wanted to say that I love my family and friends. God has provided me with an amazing family that encourages me and is there for me all the time when I need them. My family keeps me in line and calls me out when I need to be called out, but they are so loving when they do it which shows me an excellent example of how to biblically correct someone. It’s so encouraging. Also, my friends are incredible. I feel like God has placed us all together to encourage one another and build each other up in our faith. I can see His Divine hand at work in so many of my family and friend’s lives; it’s really an awesome thing to witness. Take a step back one day and just observe those around you. You’ll learn so much about who your friends are and who your family is. You may even learn a lot about you.
Now, don’t misunderstand me, we are to take steps of faith once we trust God with our lives. After we are saved, we are to be baptized, we are to go out and evangelize, we are to bear good fruit, we are to live a Godly life, but these things do not save us, only our faith in Christ does.
I hope I am not offending anyone, but if you disagree, I would love to sit down and talk with you over a cup of coffee or something. I do not want to make anyone mad at me, but I believe this because it is what the Bible preaches, in my opinion.
Moving on, my Introduction to Biblical Counseling class is so good, I am learning a lot, but I feel so convicted by it all the time. I hate that haha. A couple weeks ago, in class, we talked about the heart and whatever you fill the heart with is what will come out during tough circumstances. My professor gave us 10 questions she called “X-Ray” Questions, they were as follows:
1) When you became ______ (angry, depressed, upset, etc.) what did you want that you weren’t getting?
2) What would make you happy?
3) What brings out the worst in you?
4) What brings out the best in you?
5) If you could change your situation, how would you change it?
6) What do you think about more than anything else?
7) Why did what happened/what so-and-so did bother you so much?
8) What would it take for you to be a successful person?
9) At the end of your life, what do you most want to have accomplished?
10) What is it that you want more than anything else in life?
Answer these questions for yourself. What comes out of your heart is what you serve the most and what consumes you the most. I wish I could say that God consumes me the most, and on some days, He does, but not every day, and that’s what’s so convicting.
Also, this week, my small group and I met and discussed Chapter 5 of Crazy Love by Francis Chan. For those of you who don’t know, I am a huge Francis Chan fan! I think that God has gifted him with the ability to teach and discern what Americans today need to hear. Anyways, we were going over the chapter and it was super convicting. It was talking about all our leftovers that we give to God. It’s almost like making God play fetch. “Here, God, fetch this three minute prayer at the end of the day. Fetch this fleeting Bible Study where I don’t remember anything. Fetch this good work I decided to do just so I could puff myself up.” How many times do I do this, whether on purpose or on accident? I, so many times, have gotten in bed and thought, “I am exhausted. Might as well just not do my Bible study since I won’t remember it.” I hate that. I hate that this is what crosses my mind. I hate that sometimes my love for God is that of someone who is not being sanctified. And I have no excuse for it. My love for Christ should daily overflow out of me so much that I want to spend all my time with Him. I think, though, that we are the toughest critics on ourselves. Maybe that’s a good thing though. It felt so good to be convicted on this. I need to give more to God. I need to place ALL of my faith in Him and trust Him with all I have; otherwise, I’m only lukewarm which disgusts God.
Enough with the deep updates, I think I may have gotten carried away. I’ll give y’all a couple small updates then I’ll be done.
Warning: Mushy update about to take place… I am in love with Clay. We both feel like God has placed us together and we are growing in our relationships with God, and it’s helping us grow together as well. I know this may sound crazy to some of you. It may seem like we’re going really fast in this relationship and, yeah, you’re right. If I were an outsider looking at us, I’d yell, “Slow down!” But, we are covering this in prayer. We have thought about this. This isn’t just an on-the-whim sort of thing. We are being smart. But, thank you to everyone who has cared so much as to make sure we are being smart. I really appreciate that.
I love my classes at Crossroads. I am so glad God has allowed me the opportunity to learn here. My classes are convicting and that’s a good thing. I am seriously growing in my faith and I can tell God is working in my heart in so many ways through this school. I don’t always agree with my professors, but it’s not over life or death things so it’s fun to debate them.
Lastly, I just wanted to say that I love my family and friends. God has provided me with an amazing family that encourages me and is there for me all the time when I need them. My family keeps me in line and calls me out when I need to be called out, but they are so loving when they do it which shows me an excellent example of how to biblically correct someone. It’s so encouraging. Also, my friends are incredible. I feel like God has placed us all together to encourage one another and build each other up in our faith. I can see His Divine hand at work in so many of my family and friend’s lives; it’s really an awesome thing to witness. Take a step back one day and just observe those around you. You’ll learn so much about who your friends are and who your family is. You may even learn a lot about you.