Category Archives: Christian Living

Blogs in this topic are designed focus on living a life that’s honoring to God.

Taking the time to pray

Posted on August 9, 2016 by | Comments Off on Taking the time to pray

time to prayHow long ago was it when you set aside a part of your day, some of your time to pray? I’m not referring to prayers we say at mealtime or bed time, but time spent with our Lord when we intentionally share the things that we are concerned about. Time spent praising Him for His wonderful grace given to us or even just sharing time with Him with the things on your heart. I remember from an undergraduate psychology class that it takes nearly eighty hours of personal contact between two people to develop a close and meaningful friendship. Since then, I’ve come to believe that this also applies to our relationship with the Lord also.

Going to church can’t replace personal prayer time

As important as regular church attendance is for Christians, it cannot replace our personal time in prayer to the Lord. Jesus taught on this very subject: And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly (Matthew 6:5-6). Jesus was teaching that our prayers, where we are getting personal and completely honest, are not to be done in the synagogue – or the church. They belong between us and the Lord.

We all have experienced the occasional person who has been called on by the pastor to pray at church. What should be a prayer of thanksgiving or an invocation prayer can become a sermon within itself. These were the prayers Jesus is referring to as the Bible recorded His words, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men… There’s a verse within Proverbs that fits well into how many of us view those who pray with a lack of sincerity in public: Whoso boasteth himself of a false gift is like clouds and wind without rain (Proverbs 25:14). 

Time in prayer is spending personal time with the Lord.

In some of the churches I’ve attended, there’s been a special time set aside during the mid-week service where the members gather to lift their voices in prayer. As great as that was, and as much as the presence of the Lord could be felt there that evening, it still did not replace the personal time in prayer we are to have with the Lord alone. There’s a big difference between praying with others versus being alone with the Lord in prayer. Jesus taught during his earthly ministry, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret… a call for us to spend personal time in prayer – alone with our Lord only!

When we pray with others, even with our family or best friend, we tend to pray only what we want them to know. It’s a part of the natural man to gloss over the things we don’t want others to know about us. It is natural to leave sin unconfessed, to leave needs unspoken. When we are alone and pray to the Lord, we are more open and honest. We have a tendency to pray and seek forgiveness for sins more freely. When it is just us and the Lord, we share our needs more openly and honestly. In my own life, there is a big difference when I pray alone with my Saviour than when I am praying with others from church or even with my own family.  I have to make the time to pray to my Lord  each day.

Prayer is like any other meaningful event in life

When it comes to the things that have special meaning in our lives we spend time practicing. I know people who spend time preparing their bodies for the next marathon. Each day, I try to schedule time to practice my cornet. There are some in our church that spend time practicing their crochet and knitting so they do not lose those skills. Athletes practice the skills necessary to play their sports. The thing is if we want to get better at something, then we continually practice. We can do the same thing with prayer. Paul tells us to Pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17) – and pray for everything! 

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Posted in Christian Living, My Walk, Our relationship with God

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Is your life cluttered with boxes?

Posted on July 13, 2016 by | Comments Off on Is your life cluttered with boxes?

boxes

Boxes are a common sight in our modern world. They come in cardboard, plastic, wood, and metal. We’re surrounded by boxes in our workplace, in stores, and in our homes. Right now, in various closets in my home, there are boxes that have remained unpacked since the family’s last move in 2011. The truth is that boxes are a part of our world and are around us everywhere. This morning, as I watched my cat play inside a box, I was reminded of a conversation I had with one of my college students yesterday.

Who are you at your core?

William Shakespeare, the great English playwright and bard, wrote a line in his play, Hamlet, that is actually very sound advice: “This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man” (Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3, 78-80). We are living in a time where society demands the opposite.

As a college-level instructor, I am often asked how, in modern American society, should a person’s faith be apparent. In fact, I was asked a variation of this very question yesterday and was able to explain to her why her interpretation was not dangerous. She approached me with the idea that somehow she must leave her faith at home when she is at work, performing some civic duty (such as jury duty or voting), and while at the college. She then explained that society demanded she do just this very thing. Her actions and this view, which is held by many, is far from the advice offered by Shakespeare’s character, Polonius, or the Bible, for that matter.

I believe that one of the mistakes made by many Christians is the idea that our faith is just a religion. After all, how can we hold any other view of Christianity if this is all that has been taught for generations? As a part of my responsibilities at the college where I work, I also teach world civilization. This includes a fairly lengthy discussion on religions and philosophies of the ancient world to about 1500. One of the things that has always intrigued me is that Christianity, in its purest form, is not supposed to be just a religion. Biblical Christianity is supposed to be a way of life, a philosophy and a religion. And this is where we fail to adhere to the teachings of Jesus. When we do anything but allow our faith in Jesus affect all that we do, we are living a double life and have two sets of standards – the “secular” and the “religious.” It is when this happens that we transform the power of the gospel from something that is truly life-changing into something that has very little impact in our life.

The apostle James wrote, A double minded man is unstable in all his ways (James 1:8). This double-mindedness is what happens when we begin to place parts of our lives in boxes. One box has everything about our faith, one box has how we are to behave at work, and another box for school, and another box for social organizations, and yet another box for family… Pretty soon, our lives can begin to look like a warehouse of boxes stacked to the ceiling. Instead of being one complete person which is the way God created us to be, we divide ourselves into parts to fit every situation and demand.

When we divide who we are and how we behave among any number of boxes, we are actually dividing our loyalties. We are no longer Christ-centered. Our faith becomes a small part of our lives instead of being what God intended it to be – the core of our existence. There is so much that Jesus tried to warn us about during His earthly ministry. In fact, he told all who would listen, No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (Matthew 6:24).

Vaya con Dios: Go with God…

I am a fan of older movies, especially Westerns. In many of those movies, the phrase, vaya con Dios became a popular part of the western movie genre vocabulary. It is a simple phrase meaning, go with God. In the context used, it was a blessing that one bestowed on a friend, compatriot, or family member as they departed on some quest or journey. It is actually a great reminder in whatever we do, wherever we go, we should go with God. Our belief in Jesus as our Lord and personal Savior should be a part of everything we do and everything we are: And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men (Colossians 3:23).

We have to come to the understanding that as Christians, we are still living in this world. Just because we live in the world does not me we have to live as the world. In 2006, I made a promise to the Lord that I completely gave Him and him alone lordship in my life. I noticed that as my excitement and love of the Lord began to grow, so did the impact He had on my life. It changed the way I studied history. It changed the way I performed at work and in my graduate classes. It changed the way I studied politics and foreign policy. It even began to change how I saw myself and my relationship with others. This is God’s intent with the free gift of salvation He offers to all – it is to be a life transforming moment! From that moment, it is meant to be a continual process of spiritual growth and development. It is meant to be an active faith that takes us from this life and beyond.

Emptying the boxes of our cluttered lives

Once we fully accept obedience to Jesus is to be the central focus of our life, everything else falls into its proper perspective. For me, the most challenging part of it was unpacking all the mental boxes I had created over nearly a lifetime. I was not a Christian until 2006 but I still had those mental boxes. It is actually a liberating experience when we come to the realization we do not need the boxes and we can be the same person and behave the same way regardless of where we are.

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Posted in Chrisitian Philosophy, Christian Living, Our relationship with others

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Do you have obscured vision?

Posted on May 16, 2016 by | Comments Off on Do you have obscured vision?
© Sjanie Gonlag | Dreamstime Stock Photos

© Sjanie Gonlag  Dreamstime Stock Photos

Obscured vision can keep us from some of life’s most simplest pleasures. As someone who suffers from chronic migraine headaches, there are times where my eyes cannot focus. While others may not know, except for when I grab my bifocals, I do. For me, it becomes difficult to even do the simplest of tasks when I face those moments of having obscured vision. Obscured vision is simply having something, such as a health condition or physical object, that acts as a barrier that keeps us from focusing on a target.

Obscured vision comes from a lack of focus

Within our Christian faith we can also develop obscured vision when we shift our focus away from the things of the Lord. I’m reminded of the verse, No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon (Luke 16:13). Jesus, in speaking with his disciples, was telling them that either they could follow after Him or follow after the world, but not to do both. Through the scriptures, He calls upon us to do the same thing; as long as our loyalties are divided between this world and following after Jesus, we will always have obscured vision. Paul understood this and wrote, Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier (2 Timothy 2:3-4). He was providing Timothy, and us, with the most important advice to support clear vision – to stay firmly focused on Jesus and the work He has called us to do. He knew that Timothy, or any Christian, would not be effective for Jesus if there were other distractions in his (or our) life.

We live in a world that has an abundance of distractions that can easily give us obscured vision. It is easy to become distracted by a favorite television show, a hobby, and other things that keeps us from focusing on things that strengthen our walk with the Lord. It is easy to become distracted and develop obscured vision when we know we need to read the Bible, spend time in prayer, or share the gospel with others. I think of this passage of scripture: And it came to pass, that, as they went in the way, a certain man said unto him, Lord, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest. And Jesus said unto him, Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests; but the Son of man hath not where to lay his head.  And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said, Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father.  Jesus said unto him, Let the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God.  And another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them farewell, which are at home at my house.  And Jesus said unto him, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God (Luke 9:57-62). 

In the case of the first man, Jesus was warning him that if he was to follow Jesus he wouldn’t have a home in the traditional sense. For many people, and it is no different two thousand years ago than it is today, where they live is decided upon two main factors: where they grew up or where the extended family lives. Please do not underestimate the power of this – when I was in the service I saw a number of marriages end when the spouse would refuse to move to where the Army was sending the wife/husband. For some people, the familiarity and need to have family nearby overrides all else – including the willingness to follow Jesus. The second man wanted to follow but stated he had a family obligation – to go bury his father. Contrast this with Abraham and the testimony that is preserved within the Bible: And the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time, And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son: That in blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies; And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast obeyed my voice (Genesis 22:15-18). It is not that God wants us to forsake our family obligations, but that He wants us to place our family – the ones whom we love – in His hands and simply serve Him. This is exactly what Abraham did. He was determined to fulfill the ultimate sacrifice – the offering of his son – as requested by the Lord. Our desire to follow the Lord should be so strong that we trust Him completely with our family and loved ones. (1)

The third man told Jesus he wanted to go home and tell those there that he was going to follow Jesus. He responds by telling them, No man, having put his hand to the plough, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God. It wasn’t that the Lord didn’t want this man to bid farewell to his family and friends, but this man was placing that desire above all else, including his following after the Lord. This man didn’t want to postpone his following Jesus for the sake of saying goodbye; he wanted one last day living within his old lifestyle. 

In all three of these men and the lessons as taught by Jesus, He is using these three specific sets of circumstances to warn us about losing our focus on Him. In each case, the Lord is teaching us that if it comes to the choice of where to live or following Jesus, our obvious choice is to follow Him. Missionaries, pastors, and other Christians have answered that call and have moved to locations far from home and although they miss their families and friends, their devotion to Jesus and the desire to answer His call overrides every other concern. He must come first in every aspect of our life; He must come before our family, where we live, what occupation we have, even what our hobbies and recreational activities are. If we want proper perspective in our life’s journey, we must stay firmly affixed to Jesus and not the convenient distractions of this world.

Continued on the next page

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Posted in Chrisitian Philosophy, Christian Living, Our relationship with God, Our relationships with other Christians

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