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We live in times where there really is an app for that. Consider that we can, with the touch of a button with our finger, order food, have groceries delivered to our home, purchase clothes, purchase airline tickets, etc. all from the comforts of where we are at. We have a term for dining and it’s called fast food. I would call the times that we are living in as fast “I want it now-just give me the app.”

What about our faith and our dedication to our Lord in these times? Is there an app for that?  We have seen drive-through churches, drive-through funerals, and many other attempts to put the “fast I want it now” syndrome on some of the more serious things in life.

When it comes to our faith and our diligence to stay close to the truth, there isn’t a newfound, new age thinking, that puts a spin of using an app to follow through in our walk with our Lord. Just as the apostle Paul says in Philippians 2:12-16, “Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence, continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose. Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life. And then I will be able to boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.

Paul talks about “working on your salvation and holding firm to the word.”  This concept of working and holding require actions not pushing buttons. Just as the men of faith over the past 2000 years worked diligently in their faith, we must do the same today and there isn’t an app for that. 

What does it mean to be spiritual or to be spiritually minded?  Are we claiming to be something special or to be better than others if we claim to be spiritual?  So, what does it mean?  How is my life different from “when I was not spiritual?”

Look at Romans 8:12-14: “Therefore, brothers and sisters, we have an obligation—but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live. For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God.”  

What does it mean to put to death the misdeeds of the body?  This infers that being changed and to live spiritual is a “life-changing” event. We are to be led by the spirit. 

In 2 Peter 1:20-21: “Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”  These men were spiritual through God and the understanding they had by walking and living by Gid’s will. 

Paul in Ephesians 3:16 states, “through his spirit to strengthening me through his words to move.” 

On bended knee I come, With a humble heart I come. Bowing down before Your holy throne. Lifting holy hands to You, As I pledge my love anew. I worship You in spirit, I worship You in truth. Make my life a holy praise unto You. On bended knee We come, With a humble heart We come. Bowing down before Your holy throne. Lifting holy hands to You, As We pledge our love anew. We worship You in spirit, We worship You in truth. Make our lives a holy praise unto You. Make our lives a holy praise unto You.

My God is so big, so strong and so mighty. There’s nothing my God cannot doMy God is so big, so strong and so mighty. There’s nothing my God cannot do. 

He made the trees. He made the seas. He made the elephants too. My God is so big, so strong and so mighty. There’s nothing my God cannot do. 

My God is so great, so strong and so mighty. There’s nothing my God cannot do. My God is so great, so strong and so mighty. There’s nothing my God cannot do. 

The mountains are his. The rivers are his. The skies are his handy works too.   My God is so great, so strong and so mighty. There’s nothing my God cannot do. 

I’m sure that all of us have been in situations where we either did something or said something in haste. Consequently, after some time has elapsed, we wish we would’ve thought more about that situation before we reacted.

It is normal human behavior to take a stance or make a statement when pushed in the corner or before we have time to really think about what we want to do or say. In fact, sometimes our reaction to a less than thoughtful response is to just say “that’s the way I am!”  This is usually because we really don’t care what others think about us or because we don’t want to change and be sensitive to others.  But really, shouldn’t we be sensitive at times?  What if what say really hurts the ones we love?

In today’s social and digital world, it’s so easy to just push that button sending a text or email or some other post that hits the entire world instantaneously. In fact, too many of us have a social or digital footprint that we wish we could erase. Haven’t you made remarks or statements similar to these footprints that you wish that you could erase as well?   This is the world that we live in today.

“Think twice before you speak, because your words and influence will plant the seed of either success or failure in the mind of another.” – Napolean Hill. 

The apostle Paul addressed how we should think which gives us guidance in what might come out of our mouth or from our digital fingerprints in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

Throw in the towel. Say you can’t go any further. It’s too difficult for me. I don’t have the energy. All of these are signals and statements of giving up.
Have you been faced with a challenge or situation that gave you this deep pit of the stomach feeling that you could not go any further and you can’t accomplish your goal?

Some of us are built with this inate fighting spirit to go all the way to the end or going down on our own sword even in defeat. What that usually accomplishes is success, at least in some sorts, that otherwise we would not have obtained. Buy this never ending desire to go on, we endure and migrate through various obstacles that make our fighting spirit even stronger. 

When it comes to our faith , we need that same fighting spirit. We know that we will face challenges and difficulties in this world. The Bible tells us that Satan can pull us through his snares and temptations and away from our focus as a Christian. The apostle Paul seems to have had this same kind of fighting spirit as well.

2 Corinthians 12:5:..7–I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses. Even if I should choose to boast, I would not be a fool, because I would be speaking the truth. But I refrain, so no one will think more of me than is warranted by what I do or say, or because of these surpassingly great revelations. Therefore, in order to keep me from becoming conceited, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger of Satan, to torment me.

Think about Paul’s desire and fighting spirit to serve his Lord and God but at the same time, the torment he was under. Did he say quit?  No, he keep the faith and preserved through it all. This is how we must fight onward in our daily struggles and see it through to the end even when we want so much to quit. 

Another of Paul’s words for us and to keep our focus in front of us is found in Philippians 1:21-26: For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, so that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me.

Let’s stay focused ou our ultimate goal!!

isn’t it wonderful to walk outside to smell the fresh air and to see another blessed day that God is created for us.

What do we take for granted when it comes to the ordinary things of the day? Do we see God’s creation around us in the midst of almost anything we face?

We are confronted by many situations where we have to take a stand on our views or opinions. In many instances, this bold stance that we make can lead us to be looked down upon or ridiculed by our friendsor just those people around us.
How do or just those people around us. How do we gain the confidence to stand boldly for Lord? How do we take the position that in many ways is like a person on an island?

How many times do you start feeling down and deflated after you have reached a high in some way, accomplished a feat, moved on from some major activitiy to the next, or just notched one of your bucket list items and “then you kind of feel an emptiness?”  How should you deal with this feeling?  How do you move on with the enthusiasm needed for the daily activities that are right in front of you?

Sometimes you need some solitude to just let things settle in. Sometimes you have to be careful not to totally separate yourself too long from friends and family to allow yourself to start feeling like you are falling off to the opposite side of the high you just experienced. 

Jesus saw the need to separate himself from the multitude of people at times to take a respite from not just the daily grind but from the real highs or exhausting experiences of his personal ministry for his Father. Think about the times he did that and then the times he took his closest friends (his apostles) to spend time just with them. The Sermon on the Mount was such a time of solitude and a special time with his closest friends. 

In Matthew 5:1-2: “Now when Jesus saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them.”  Just before this as recorded in Matthew 4:1-2, “Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted a by the devil. After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.”  He clearly had experienced an emotional even and was coming off that experience. The lesson here is how do we come off our highly emotional experiences?  

Sometimes it is the best to seek out our trusted friends to help us after these events for emotional support and to see us through these times. 

Have you ever worked hard trying to achieve something that took an extreme amount of effort and fighting spirit to accomplish?  How did you feel when your achievement was successful?  How about if it wasn’t successful or what you thought you would achieve or feel after this feat?

Many of us have plowed our all into some activitiy or event to come out on the other side with an odd feeling or certainly a feeling that was unexpected.  I guess the Whois what should we feel like in those circumstances?  What was the prize we were looking for?

The Apostle Paul had a goal. He pursued a prize. He worked tirelessly for the pinnacle moment. In  Philippians 3: 7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. [8] What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ [9] and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. [10] I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, [11] and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead. [12] Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. [13] Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, [,14] I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.