Living Life for Christ Alone

  "'How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?'" (John 5:44) Do you have faith problems?  Much of the Christianity we have in our western culture is tainted with doubt.  Doubtful questions plague many minds...Is God's word really true? Is He really real? Will  He actually do  what He promised? Doubts about the plainly spoken things in scripture overshadow how His word is even heard. Others have more subtle doubts.  Maybe we just wonder if He really loves us.  Maybe we question our position before Him.  Maybe we live as if He never thinks about us and thus have little to no thought of Him.  Maybe we wonder if He really can forgive us for our most recent sin or failing.  I know all of us struggle or have struggled with doubt from one degree to another, simply because faith is something that starts out small, like a mustard seed, planted in the soil of our heart...

As I sit here, getting ready to share with you the biggest thing God has been doing in my life lately, I must start by being real. It is so easy to sit back on a morning when I feel no battles, no struggles and just live like I don't think I need God. Other days its so easy to worry about life and think about every detail of everything and wonder if it's going to be ok. Still other days, I find myself listening to Satan’s lies and believing him even though I know they aren’t true. Do you find yourself doing those things too? Why does Satan lie to us? Why is it that life seems"easy" one day, and then the next is the hardest ever? Let me help you out with this…

This morning, as I was reading out of the Psalms, I got stuck on Psalm 95. I read it once through and stopped. What in the world had I just read? It was amazing! I read it again. Oh, how I knew it was amazing, but I wanted to let the gravity of what it was saying to sink in. And then I read it again, one phrase at a time... "Come, let us sing to the Lord!"  (v. 1a) ...It was a call to sing to God, and it was no ordinary call. "Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation." (v. 1b) I began to wonder, "what should make you so excited that you could shout?" It must be pretty exciting!

"Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house: they will be still praising thee. Selah." Psalm 84:4 Time of prayer was had, and we get up from our knees, praising God. Lifting high His name. We leave the closet, leave the place where secrets where whispered, grace was given, love was received -we leave it and forget it, almost as though it didn't happen- and we go about our business, forgetting the precious moments we had with the Savior. And then, clouds roll over our Christian life, thunder rumbles, lightning strikes, we are dealt hatred by those we love, unkind words from those we cherish. People turn on us. We lose our most precious belongings to tragedies. Trials come that were completely unexpected. Things don't go our way. ...And what do we do? What is the first thing we run to?