25 April 2014 “Believe what you do? Or do what you believe”
Colossians 1:28-29
So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ. That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.
There is nothing worse than people who profess to be Christians and then completely deny, negate, and countermand it by their lifestyle, actions, and words.
If we really believe what we believe, we are desperate to share!
I don’t want to be like Al Gore. In ANY way! Explanation: He is engrossed in preaching his religion of Environmentalism. He is passionate about the subject. YET, he is continuously and constantly being videoed getting off big jets with just his wife as the only other passenger, and then they shuttle off in a big hummer limo. If his lifestyle matched his spoken passion about reducing the “carbon footprint” of all humans, he would be riding his bike to his speaking engagements. Prince William is the same way. These guys are big proponents of their “religion” that appeals to their out of touch elitist mentality. But their hypocrisy is sickening. They want regular people to live a certain way while they themselves have no intention of living that way at all. If they were truly convicted in their beliefs they wouldn’t be contradicting their beliefs with their lifestyles.
I don’t want to be a sick hypocrite. Granted, there are plenty of pastors out their who preach one thing and live another way. But that isn’t from God at all. Believers, like Paul, want to tell everyone about Christ. Warn them. Teach them. Not just try and sell books about him.
Penn Jillette, the magician-comedian and hardcore atheist, says he always appreciates it when a Christian tries to share their faith with him. He understands that to the Christian he is perishing in his sins, and, unfortunately, he is. Jullette says, “How much to do you have to hate a person” not to share what you believe with them? We must teach and warn because we really do know people whose sins are still being held against them because they do not believe in Jesus. There really are high stakes here in what we share not at all like the made up theories about a supposedly expiring planet.
Jesus said, in John 13:35, that the world will know us by our love. Our love for HIM and our love for others makes us different. Or it should anyways. The world will not know we belong to him by what we say. What we do has to match. (So Al Gore and Prince William are no Environmentalists!)
James 2:18 says some have faith and some do stuff. Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith by what I do!
And what are Believers supposed to do? Love.
Showing love is being patient, kind, not jealous, not boastful, not proud, or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)
This is what we teach and this is how we should be living.
Dear God,
Thank you that Jesus is for EVERYONE! Thank you for the wisdom and warning found in your Word. Help it to be evident that I am a Believer by my love for others. Let my actions and my words match that today. I praise you and thank you and pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Colossians 1:28-29
So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ. That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.
There is nothing worse than people who profess to be Christians and then completely deny, negate, and countermand it by their lifestyle, actions, and words.
If we really believe what we believe, we are desperate to share!
I don’t want to be like Al Gore. In ANY way! Explanation: He is engrossed in preaching his religion of Environmentalism. He is passionate about the subject. YET, he is continuously and constantly being videoed getting off big jets with just his wife as the only other passenger, and then they shuttle off in a big hummer limo. If his lifestyle matched his spoken passion about reducing the “carbon footprint” of all humans, he would be riding his bike to his speaking engagements. Prince William is the same way. These guys are big proponents of their “religion” that appeals to their out of touch elitist mentality. But their hypocrisy is sickening. They want regular people to live a certain way while they themselves have no intention of living that way at all. If they were truly convicted in their beliefs they wouldn’t be contradicting their beliefs with their lifestyles.
I don’t want to be a sick hypocrite. Granted, there are plenty of pastors out their who preach one thing and live another way. But that isn’t from God at all. Believers, like Paul, want to tell everyone about Christ. Warn them. Teach them. Not just try and sell books about him.
Penn Jillette, the magician-comedian and hardcore atheist, says he always appreciates it when a Christian tries to share their faith with him. He understands that to the Christian he is perishing in his sins, and, unfortunately, he is. Jullette says, “How much to do you have to hate a person” not to share what you believe with them? We must teach and warn because we really do know people whose sins are still being held against them because they do not believe in Jesus. There really are high stakes here in what we share not at all like the made up theories about a supposedly expiring planet.
Jesus said, in John 13:35, that the world will know us by our love. Our love for HIM and our love for others makes us different. Or it should anyways. The world will not know we belong to him by what we say. What we do has to match. (So Al Gore and Prince William are no Environmentalists!)
James 2:18 says some have faith and some do stuff. Show me your faith without works, and I will show you faith by what I do!
And what are Believers supposed to do? Love.
Showing love is being patient, kind, not jealous, not boastful, not proud, or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)
This is what we teach and this is how we should be living.
Dear God,
Thank you that Jesus is for EVERYONE! Thank you for the wisdom and warning found in your Word. Help it to be evident that I am a Believer by my love for others. Let my actions and my words match that today. I praise you and thank you and pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
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