Category: Thoughts and Meditations

“Brothers and fathers, hear me. The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran, and said to him, ‘Go out from your land and from your kindred and go into the land that I will show you.’” – Acts 7:2-3

Would you go??? If God asked of you what He asked of Abraham, would you go? Would you leave your home, your community, your extended family, and your country behind to do God’s will? Abraham did and it changed the world!

This was a crucial first step in God’s plan to bring salvation to all the nations of the world through Jesus Christ. In a very real sense, you know Christ because when God commanded Abraham to go, Abraham went in an act of radical obedience. Radical obedience is the repeated pattern of Abraham’s life. That’s why he played such an important role in establishing God’s people and advancing God’s plan of salvation. God uses radical obedience to change the world!

Would you go? Most followers of Jesus won’t ever be asked to do anything as radical as what Abraham was asked to do (and did). However, Jesus invites every one of us to take up our cross each day, making sacrifices for Him. Jesus invites you to choose to do what He wants you to do rather than what you want to do. He invites you to follow Him wherever He leads. We’re each called to radical obedience in the service of King Jesus. You’re called to radical obedience.

You may not be called to move for Jesus, but you’re definitely called to make disciples in the way God has prepared and gifted you to do. We’re all called to experience inconvenience and the releasing of our plans to embrace God’s better plans. We’re all called to #FollowJesus and enjoy the blessing of a life spent in God’s will. Will you???

“Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” – Matthew 6:34

These words of Jesus certainly resonate in our anxious time! Jesus knew we’d always have stuff to worry about. The future will always feel uncertain until He returns. He knew that worries about the future could easily distract us, overwhelm us, or paralyze us. That’s why He commands us to focus on today rather than worry about tomorrow.

Throughout the Bible, God repeatedly emphasizes and illustrates how He provides for His people day-by-day (not week-by-week, month-by-month, or year-by-year). He provided enough manna in the wilderness for that day but the people weren’t allowed to store up extra. The Lord’s Prayer asks for daily bread, not weekly bread or a Costco supply of bread to put in the freezer.

Here Jesus comes right out and commands us to stop borrowing trouble from the future. There’s nothing wrong with planning for the future – that’s appropriate and Jesus commends that elsewhere. But don’t WORRY about future things you can’t control. If you can’t influence the outcome, leave it in God’s capable hands. Don’t borrow trouble. Don’t pull worry from the future into the present. It won’t help the future but it can certainly ruin your experience of the present.

When worry stalks your mind, redirect your thoughts toward Christ. Spend time with Him in prayer, Bible reading, and meditation. Turn your anxieties and fears over to Him in great detail if you need to. Ask Him for what you need today (physically, emotionally, spiritually). Then trust that when you come back tomorrow, He’ll still be there listening and loving you just the same. Train your mind to live in the present and the presence of Christ. Don’t let the voices that influence you (media, social media, your own thoughts, the people around you) send your mind off anxiously fearing tomorrow. Jesus will be there then too! #FollowJesus

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, ‘Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?'” – Genesis 3:1

No, God never actually said that! However, this is how Satan, that crafty old serpent, often works. He love to twist and distort God’s Word, creating questions about things that are very, very clear. The devil sows confusion and invites God’s people to question the motives of their loving Creator. His goal is to pull us further and further from the bedrock truth of God’s Word until we’re easily tricked or enticed into sin, often convinced that it’s OK because of some carefully constructed (false) logic.

Sin will always be a temptation to us. However, the closer and deeper we are in God’s Word, the more difficult it is for the devil to confuse us about God’s will and ways. Make sure you are always anchored in God’s Word! Not a general affection for God’s Word. Reading and studying it for yourself. Every day! Meditating on what you’ve read, what it means, and how it applies to you. Every day! Memorizing it as Jesus did to resist the devil’s temptations.

The devil will still come at you, but he will have a much harder time beating you if you know what God’s Word actually says rather than what you kinda, sorta think it says. Don’t let the devil twist God’s Word to fool you… Get in your Bible and #FollowJesus!

“Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.” – Genesis 2:7

People matter! That means YOU matter! God created everything else we see by speaking it into existence. But people are different. In a good way! God created mankind not by word but by action. He formed us from dust and breathed life into us Himself. We alone are made in God’s image. This is why human beings, weird as we are, are the crown jewels of God’s creation.

Yes, we’ve damaged ourselves and our image-bearing through sin. That’s why God sent His Son Jesus to restore us to righteousness and a relationship of love with Him. Because people matter. Every person matters. You are precious to God! He has numbered the individual hairs on your head and knows the smallest details of your life. God loves you more than you can comprehend and gave His Son for your salvation.

God is calling you to a closer relationship with Him through Jesus Christ. If Jesus isn’t already your Savior, make that decision today! If Jesus is your Savior, then take up your cross and devote yourself to more closely obeying and becoming like Jesus in the power of the Holy Spirit. Always remember that you bear God’s image. The life you have and the breath you breathe flows out of God Himself. Rejoice in your exalted status and your relationship with your Creator through Jesus. #FollowJesus

“In the beginning…” – Genesis 1:1a

Here we are at the beginning of another new year. As always, it’s full of promise, possibilities, opportunities, and probably more than a few challenges. The best way to thrive in this new year will be to draw even closer to God. What’s your plan for that? What will you do to more fully walk in step with the Holy Spirit?

As always, we recommend that you choose a daily Bible-reading plan and start reading God’s Word for yourself every single day. Daily devotionals like this are a nice appetizer but the Bible itself should always be the main course. Read it for yourself or listen to it read. Either way, let God’s Word speak to you. That’s the #1 way God speaks to His beloved children.

Need a Bible reading plan? We offer several at https://www.lakeridgebaptist.com/read-the-bible/