The Start of Something New

If you haven’t heard the news, yesterday I was laid off for financial reasons at Crosspoint Christian Church.  I wanted to write today not to complain or to say, “Woe is me”.  I just want to share what Christ is guiding me and teaching me through this process.

1. I can say that I’m at peace with what happened yesterday.  Would I have liked things to be different or happened differently?  Yes, but the instant I received the news I received “… the peace of God, which transcends all understanding…” (Phil 4:7).  Even though I have a range of emotions, PEACE is always the one that rises to the top and comforts me.
2. Do I know where I’m going or what I’m going to do?  I don’t have a clue.  That is something that will require some serious prayer.  One thing I know is that God will guide and direct me to where He wants me.  With that being said, if you know of an opportunity, please let me know!
3. The main thing that God is teaching me is FAITH.  Faith and obedience was the main topic of my personal time with Christ before coming into the office yesterday morning.  I said to God, ”Whatever the cost, whatever the hardship… I submit to You!  My number one priority is to be in Your will, to hear Your Spirit, and to be obedient in following Christ.  Please give me the strength and courage to do just that.”  I can honestly say that yesterday morning’s prayer was probably one of the quickest answered prayers I’ve experienced.  God heard and responded.  I’ve always heard it said, “Be careful what you pray for…”  God was ready to move and ready to shake things up.  He has a plan for me and this is part of it.  This I am confident of.  This I have FAITH in.
4. Crosspoint Christian is still and always will be my family.  I pray that many of the friendships that have been created over the last couple of years will continue to grow and flourish.  Particularly the small group I’m part of, you guys ARE my FAMILY. 

Today begins the start of something new.  This I know: God is and always is in control.  God will be praised.  Even though this will be a hard time for both Crosspoint and the Hope family, my prayer is that we all seek Him and give Him the glory.

Enemies and Prayer

 You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.

Matthew 5:43-45

Matthew 5:43-48 is one of the more difficult teachings of Jesus.  To start off with Jesus acknowledges how the world thinks and operates.  Be nice to the people who are nice to you, but hate those who are opposed to me.  “Scratch my back and I will scratch yours.”  For the most part this is how our society operates today.  We are more than willing to help other people in so much that we know they will pay us back, there will be some type of reward or we will get some type of recognition.  What’s in it for me?  How will I benefit from this?

Jesus’ teachings were just as countercultural in the 1st century as it is today.  We are to LOVE our ENEMIES!   What in the world is that?  Enemies are people who are out to get us.  They want to see us harm us.  When it comes to LOVE, enemies would be the last group of people who would receive LOVE from us.  But Jesus challenges us with something beyond human understanding and comprehension.  He asks us to go beyond our normal instincts and do something out of the ordinary.  There are no conditions on the request.  He doesn’t say love the nice enemies or the enemies or those who might be swayed by your kindness.  It’s just a straight forward commandment.  LOVE.

What makes things even more difficult is the LOVE that Jesus is describing is the same LOVE that God has for us, unconditional LOVE.   Love without merit or performance. 

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.  Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God’s wrath through him! For if, when we were God’s enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!

Romans 5:8-10

So when we LOVE our ENEMIES we are doing what God has already done for us through Christ Jesus.  He loved us when we didn’t earn it.  He loved us and when we were ENEMIES of God!    Jesus is not asking us to do what he himself has already for us.

So back to the practical side of things: How does this work in daily life?  We all have experienced times when we have a disdain for someone we work with, someone in our family or the guy who cut us off in traffic.  It’s easy to just want to hate them and move forward with our lives.  It’s easy to talk behind their backs, gossip and try to justify why we hate that person.  We feel right in our action to hate because we were wronged.  It’s their fault.  But when we buy into that philosophy we are following in line with ”Love your neighbor and hate your enemy’. We are doing the very thing that Jesus asks us to do.   The first thing we must do is to realize that our patterns of gossips, slanderous talk, anger and hatred are of the world and not of God.

The second thing we must do is pray.  It’s no coincidence that Jesus mentions LOVE and PRAYER almost interchangeably in Matthew 5:44.  Jesus wants us to realize that we can only LOVE others unconditionally through the power of Christ through the Holy Spirit.  We can only demonstrate the LOVE of God if the LOVE of God is real in active in us.  The only way that happens is being truly connected to Christ through prayer.  If we try to accomplish this level of LOVE on our own, we will fail.

So what enemies is the Spirit bringing to mind as you read this article?  Who have you had an attitude of hatred towards?  What names need to be added to your prayer list in order that you may demonstrate the LOVE of Christ that resides in you?

What is God’s Will for You?

Every month at Crosspoint we’re challenging the congregation to memorize a verse together.  The memory verse for the month of my is 1st Thessalonians 5:16-18:

 Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

Many books, many sermons and many teachers have tried to presents answers to the question, “What is God’s will for my life?”  Many have come up with complex formulas that believers should follow in order to determine God’s will for their lives.  Paul when wrapping up with his letter to the church in  Thessalonica gives us on of the simplest answers.

When the outside world looks in on the church do they see us living out a life of joy, prayer and thankfulness?   Or do they see the opposite?  Depression, guilt, and complaining?  What the world needs is not another plan of salvation, 3 point sermon, or feel good message.  What the word needs is Jesus Christ.  When Jesus fully takes center stage in someone’s life they cannot help but to be joyful, live a life of prayer and to be thankful?  Why?  Because salvation give the greatest joy!  It starts with knowing the God of all creation, the Alpha & Omega, the greatest conceivable being loves you and sent his Son to earth to die for you and for the forgiveness of sins.  And not just that!  He came that you would have life and life to the fullest.  Not just in heaven but here on earth.  And not just that!  Through the Spirit of God, Christ dwells within us.  No greater joy can be found other than knowing that!

The other attributes fall into place after knowing the love and grace of Jesus Christ.  Who could not have joy?  Who wouldn’t want to continually connect to the Father in prayer?  Who wouldn’t be thankful of it all?  God’s will for us is that we live our life in such a way that others can see through our emotions and actions that Christ does dwell in us and we have salvation in him.

So this month’s memory verse is not just about memorizing 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, it’s about fully embracing Christ and through Him living in you, you will not just memorize 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, you will live it.