Suffering

For God called you to do good, even if it means suffering, just as Christ suffered for you. He is your example, and you must follow in his steps. (1 Peter 2:21)

This verse is encouraging to me. This life is painful, and full of suffering. Sometimes we assume that if we live for Jesus then our lives will be smooth sailing... Free from pain and tough times. That's simply not true. God doesn't promise us a life that's sheltered from hardship. Rather, He warns us that suffering will come.

The encouraging thing is that Jesus suffered too. You can't get more perfect than He was. He was totally committed to the work of His Father, yet He was not spared great suffering. Jesus can relate to pain. He endured intense pain on my behalf. He knows what it's like to hurt, cry, be broken-hearted, and abandoned.

So Peter exhorts us to keep doing good even in the midst of suffering. 

I'm so thankful for the strength that God gives us. He doesn't leave us out there without hope. 

The Vine

In order to live a life that is according to God’s plan, we have to remain in God. That means we have to be connected to the source of life. When we isolate ourselves from God, we then don’t bear fruit. What does that mean? That means that we do nothing for God. We’re a useless branch in the grapevine. We may claim to be followers of Jesus, but we aren’t producing fruit. No one knows that we follow Him. We may say all of the right things, know all of the stories, be able to argue and defend our “beliefs”… But we haven’t truly ever been connected to the vine.

In our generation, there are many “cultural Christians.” People who say they’re Christians because their friends are. They may have prayed a prayer when they were a kid and so they think they are Christians.

But Jesus is pretty clear:

When you obey my commandments, you remain in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and remain in his love. (vs 10)

There are many people who claim to know Jesus. But they don’t do what He says. Their lives have no evidence of His resurrection power and they also bear no fruit. They aren’t useful in the kingdom of God. My fear is that some of you are saying one thing with your mouth, but your life tells a different story…

Matthew 7:21-23

“Not everyone who calls out to me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, ‘Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name.’ But I will reply, ‘I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God’s laws.’”

The Bible is clear that not everyone who claims to follow Jesus is actually a follower… Only those who follow what God says with their lives. You have to ask yourself some tough questions…

Am I living out what I’m saying? Is my life bearing fruit? Or is it useless when it comes to the things of God? Is my life centered around Jesus? To remain means to abide… to not depart… Do you spend time with Jesus? Do you consistently go to the source of life? Or are you separated… cut off from the vine?

Maybe you need to decide to follow Jesus. Even if you’ve claimed to before. This is the most important decision you can ever make.

The Golden Rule... Online?

How many times have we heard of the "golden rule"? I know for me, I heard about it a lot growing up in church. It seems like a simple concept doesn't it? But... looking at the world would show us that it is easier said than done.

In this culture of online identity, I see the quality in which we treat others diminishing. We can hide behind our device keyboards and our avatars and post anything we want online. We can say and post things that we would never even consider saying to someone's face.

The internet has given everyone a forum in which they air their opinions. While everyone has a right to their own beliefs and ideas, not every idea should be shared. Just look at the comment section below any popular YouTube video... many of the opinions shared there should never see the light of day.

Words hurt.

Even though we may act like words and comments don’t hurt us, they do. The things people can say to us have a profound impact on us if we allow them to. We already face a tough enough battle in our own minds of dealing with negative thoughts and attitudes about ourselves… we don’t need the outside forces coming against us as well.

I follow Jesus, and I wish everyone would come to know the grace and peace that comes from a relationship with Him. However, I know that not everyone will agree with me on that thought. However, there is a principle found in the Bible that everyone can apply to their lives.

“So encourage each other and build each other up...”

— 1 Thessalonians 5:11

What if we used our online influence to help each other? What if we encourage people with our words? Do you think it might help? The internet is such a toxic place.

I’d like to think that if we commented, posted, and replied to people with the same decency and respect that we would like to receive, things might change.

Maybe the internet could become a place that fosters encouragement, not trolls or haters…

I can only control what I do. So I’m going to treat people with respect in all my online interactions.