You are Responsible for You

 Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not only as in my presence but much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure. Philippians 2:12-13

You are Responsible for You 
It is a popular concept to blame someone or something else for our own poor behavior. We blame our parents, our spouse, our circumstances, or whatever we can to take the responsibility for our actions off of ourselves. As graduates who are leaving their homes and beginning new lives apart from their immediate families, it is important to realize that you are responsible for all your choices and to know they all have consequences. There is no such thing as irresponsibility. You are responsible for everything you think, say or do or fail to do. Whether you are person enough to accept it is another story.

 

God has a plan for your life and your first job before doing anything else is to discover it. No matter how much we like to think we are in control of our lives, we truly are not. The more we try to take that control of our lives away from God, the more trouble we find ourselves in. 

You can stand on a mountain and shout, “I am the master of my fate!  I am the 
captain of my soul!” and God will laugh at you. - Van Houser

You are not in full control of your life, you never were…and you never will be!

But responsibility is another matter. Nobody is responsible for your happiness and success but you and God. If you intentionally work at finding contentment in God, happiness will never be a problem. Happiness, or unhappiness, becomes a problem in our lives when we turn to other things to make us happy, or what we think makes us happy. Happiness is about our circumstances and our circumstances will sometimes be hard and maybe for a long season. But if we find true joy and contentment in God, difficult circumstances will not steal that away. Joy and contentment will be yours regardless of your family situation, your job situation, or your friends. The joy and contentment we find in God is the only thing that will never let us down. 

Nobody Owes You

It takes effort to work yourself into a life where you realize no one owes you anything. As kids we get a lot of special treatment but that goes away as an adult. We are all responsible for making our own way in this world, seeking the direction and guidance of God. Up until now you have had your life organized for you by school, church, little league, community, and family. Now it is your responsibility to organize your own life. 

Above All - Work Out Your Salvation!  

The most important and responsible thing you can do for your life is to make your relationship with God the number one priority in your life. It doesn’t mean that everything will be perfect, but a life built upon this foundation is what can sustain you through every trial. 

To work out our salvation means to pursue obedience in the process of sanctification. After we are saved, the process of sanctification begins, and we are never done with that process until we get to heaven. The fear part is that we have a healthy respect for the majesty and holiness of God and a healthy fear of offending Him through disobedience. Working out our salvation will bring the greatest joy, peace, and strength we need to get through this life. It is for His good pleasure, and it is His good pleasure to bring good things to us when it is according to His will and purpose for our lives. 

So go fly but be responsible. Think about your choices and what the consequences will be, before you act. Start building on the perfect foundation and walk with your Heavenly Father, leaning into Him for every decision and working out your salvation along the way.

Don’t Throw Your Faith Away

Tuesday, May 23, 2023

Remember also your Creator in the days of your youth, before the evil days come and the years draw near when you will say, "I have no delight in them"; Ecclesiastes 12:1

Don’t Throw Your Faith Away

Many people today are caught up in what they call “deconstructing their faith.” Unfortunately what happens is that they don’t every “reconstruct their faith.” At an alarming rate people (mostly younger) are discounting the Word of God as truth. They are believing Tik Toc videos and social media influencers over the words of the Bible that they have heard their whole lives. It is okay to figure out why you believe what you believe, but go to the source of truth, not someone who wants to lure you away from the truth. 

It is completely okay to examine, study, and research what you hear, but don’t throw the Bible out because you think it is dated or offensive. If you think what the Bible says is offensive, you need to examine your heart. The words in the Bible are there for our guidance and direction in life. People who want to live in their sin may throw out the Bible because it says we are to honor God with our lives and live differently. We are to repent and confess and if we are in sin, we should feel bad about it. We should work it out with God and then move on. It doesn’t mean we live in shame. It means if we are Christians, we should have a problem with sin in our lives. We shouldn’t decide we won’t read the Bible or listen to anyone that preaches that the Bible says the sin in our lives is wrong. When others we love or care about have sin in their lives, we love them and pray for them. We can still love people and not agree with some of their choices. For others who may not be family, we can love them with the love of Christ. We can stand on our principles of faith without judging. Judgement is not our job. It is God's job. That does not mean we condone the sin. As Christians we should never ignore what the word of God says in order to keep from offending someone.

As the graduates of 2023 are embarking on a new frontier, respect and remember what you have been taught about God. It is not the time to leave Him behind. It is the time to begin to build your own life on the firm foundation of faith that was given to you. Life is a series of mountains and valleys and He will be with you in every valley and on every mountaintop. His Word is truth and stands the test of time. It is as relevant to your life today as it was the day it was written. Dr. Warren Wiersbe said, “Our faith is the foundation that we build everything else on.” Real faith is about trusting God and His promises. It is about relinquishing control over our own lives and seeking His guidance and direction in every move we make. It is sometimes about waiting and sometimes about moving forward. Your faith will always be tested in difficult circumstances so building your faith muscle in important.

If you are graduating from high school or college or if you are an older Christian just getting ready to face another day, remember the influences of those in your life that laid the foundation of Christ for you. Remember what they said, and most of all, seek the most important influence in your life, the founder and perfector of your faith. He’s where it all started, and He finished it for us on the cross by sacrificing His life so we could be forgiven and have eternal life. There is no social media influencer that will do that for you, nor can they guarantee your place in heaven. Only Jesus can do that for you. He has the power of life and death, and in the gift of the Holy Spirit that we receive when we become Christians, we have it also.   

 

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Hebrews 12:1-2