I Want to Bother People (A Life Worthy of the Gospel)

I want my life to bother people. To bother them when they contemplate and judge the actions and decisions I have made in my life. I want the world to look at what i have done and have no explanation for it. I want to live a life worthy of the death of Jesus Christ. To radically abandon what this world considers valuable for the wealth of the relationship with my savior.

Phillipians 1:27 Live your life in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ.

At no point in my 12 years of faith in Jesus have I ever become worthy of the Gospel, of the salvation that Christ brought to me. This verse has hung in the foyer of my mind for many days and slowly am I understanding the call to live worthy. The question reverberating in the confides of my soul is have I lived my life worthy of Christ. Have I abandoned my prerequisites of comfort and safety to follow Christ Worthy of the Gospel. Have you?

Hebrews 11:24-26 Tells us that  “By faith Moses refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to be mistreated with the people of God than to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of sin. He considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt, for he was looking to the reward.” Moses decided to live a life worthy of the Gospel. Worthy of the calling God had put on his life. He gave up the power of the world, at that time, to become a shepherd of sheep. He gave up the wealth of the nile for the threat of the wilderness. Do you understand what Moses gave up for the greater reward of Christ. He gave up the American dream of money, a big house, nice car, and being revered by those around him. That is a life worthy of the Gospel.

Moses risked all he had to gain more than he could have ever dreamed. Living a life worthy of the gospel means we serve of savior with everything we have. If he calls us to give it all for him then so be it. If he calls us to change our jobs, move from family, risk our health, give up the comforts we have dreamed of since we were seven, then so be it. Because our salvation is worth more than all the things of this world. Could you be like Moses though? Could you resist the power of the world for slavery to Christ?

Luke 7:41-47 Tells of a parable of two debtors forgiven by the lender. One had a debt of 5 dollars and the other a debt of millions of dollars. Who has greater love for the forgiveness shown. Jesus says it is the person who has been forgiven more. We are the people who have been forgiven of the largest debt of all time. We sinned against the only God of creation and deserved death. Christ through his death brought salvation into the world. Christ died in our place to pay the debt that we could not cover. Our thankfulness and love for him is our faith in him. To even try to display how humbled we are by being able receive salvation, we must live a life worthy of the calling of the Gospel. To give up everything to gain everything. To be willing and waiting to abandon all that we think we are to become the servant God needs us to be. This is the calling he has put on our lives. If we can truly understand the cost of our salvation then our lives need to be lived in service to our Savior. That is the only way to really live a life WORTHY OF THE GOSPEL.

Is your life so radically serving Christ that it unnerves the depths of people who see you live? Is it confusing to the lost because of how much you love Christ? Have you been lying to yourself for years now pretending to be worthy when in reality you match perfectly with the grey tints of the world. Can they tell a difference between them and yourself? Can you?

What do you Consider?

¹Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession… For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses…  Hebrews 3:1-3

Just Pondering Creation

I was preparing for last nights evening services here at Inglewood, going over Hebrews 3:1-6.  After studying for this some i opened up MacArthurs commentary on this book. He pulled a point out that has really stuck with me.  In the first verse the writer is emploring his listeners to CONSIDER Jesus as greater than Moses. Then he goes to explain.  As the writer states, yes Jesus is greater than Moses, but then I began to ponder the question of ,”What do I consider greater than Christ?”

By this i mean, just as the Jews of the time were holding onto the past Law of Moses and not looking forward to Christ, what was that for me.  This question was even posted to my sutdents. I told them to try to look at two differnt sides of the room at the same time.  IMPOSSIBLE  i know.  Just as we can’t focus our sight at different places, we also cannot focus our hearts on different things.  We either consider Christ in the moment or something else. We should consider Christ in all things. From what job to work, classes to take, conversations to partake in, relationships with others, to life in general.  Consider Christ…. Is this not an awkward statement? Consider.. you know if you wanna think about it…..think about CHRIST and his glory that can come from this.  That is ridiculous. Of course we should consider Christ. He is better than anything else we may chose to put our focus on.

So why do we do this? How can we overcome this?    I think the answer is in the word Consider.  Moment by moment think of Christ. Not saying that you need to have an hour prayer before you decide where you are gonna o eat lunch. But in life directions also.  Consider him. Win the battles to win the war. Next time you go to a coffe shop, in a conversation with that one friend, or filling out applications for a new job. Consider Christ and what he wants. And what will bring him the MOST glory. The more we do this the more we retreat to his embracing arms and wisdom. Guiding us to his grace.  The father is amazing and the son has saved, the spirit is perfecting, and i am nothing but the humble servant that deserves none of this. Thank you for your Grace.