Legacy

What kind of legacy are you leaving behind?

How will people remember you when you're gone? What will they see?

Will they see the essence of Christ? Will they see just another one of the crowd?

Will they see light? Or will they see darkness.

Abel left a legacy. And he still speaks, even from the grave. (Hebrews 11:4)

We should be like that. Our life should shine so bright, that even when it ends, it still speaks.

Here on earth, we are ambassadors for Christ.

How can we do that if we live just like everyone else?

We are the LIGHT of the world. Stop trying to cover it up. You have already been chosen.

Your mission, if you choose to accept, is to show the world who Jesus really is.

We cannot to that if we don't love God. 

We need to love him everything--especially our souls, if we want to do this right.

When you idolize a role model, you want to be just like them. You imitate them. 

That's how it should be in our relationship with God. We should love him so much we want to be just like him, 

to be just like Jesus.

Through that is how we'll leave a legacy. Not by how much money we have, or the friends we made, not even solely on our actions. 

It's by who you were, and still are. 

It's by how you see the world. 

It's by your motives, by your thoughts, by how you interacted with others, by your dreams, by how you respond to situations, by your heart, and by your soul.

And in my eyes, all of that means nothing if its not reflecting Christ. 

Our sole purpose in life is to bring glory to God, because he deserves it! 

He created the Earth,  he created what we know as the laws of physics, he created you, me, your family, friends, he made love, happiness, joy,  he created life in general. And there's so much more. 

But we need to live for so much more than just ourselves. We need to live to show the world how great our God is.

That's a real legacy. Making your life a path that leads to Jesus. 

That's how you can be remembered. 

Maybe by following Christ, your life doesn't turn out how you planned it. 

Although I can't tell you the exact outcome, I can tell you that it will be a whole lot better than what you have planned. (1 Corinthians 2:9)

So remember, in this life we represent Jesus. And let's do it right,  

by leaving a true legacy.

Also, here's the song that inspired me to write this post. Legacy- by Sanctus Real. :D

(Lyrics)

What will they say when I'm gone,
In words that are written in stone?
Under my name, what will they claim about me?
 

Oh, I want to leave a legacy to be remembered
More than just a memory that fades away
Because we only, we only get one life
 

Free me, my hands are tied
I'm so tired of wasting time
These endless inventions
Steal my attention from real life
And when its done, when its over

Oh, I want to leave a legacy to be remembered
More than just a memory that fades away
Because we only, we only get one life

And will the world see Christ
When they look at my life?
Oh, will the world see?

Mmm, come on, give me, give me, give me real life
And no more, no more, no more wasting time
Because we only, we only get one life (Just one Life)

Oh, I want to leave a legacy to be remembered
More than just a memory that fades away
Because we only, (Get one shot, at this one life) We only (One moment in time)
Because we only, we only get one life

Have a great day and God bless you guys!

 

The Gospel in 578 Words

What if I came up to you one day and asked  how you were doing with your relationship with God? What if I asked you how hard you were trying? What would your answer be? I hope you don't say you're trying. Why? Because if you are, you've already failed.

In John 5:39-40 Jesus tells the pharisees that they search the scriptures, for they think they will find life in them. But that is not the case. Life is in Jesus. Now let's take a look at these religious men of the day. They would do their best to follow the Law of God because they were deceived and believed that they could get right with God by their own works. That is a thing called religion.

The pharisees were deceitful and mistaken about the true gospel, and so is a lot of our world today. They did not understand that God didn't give the Law so that we could obey it; because we can't. The Law's purpose is that we fail. No one can honestly say that they haven't ever lied, stole, lusted, taken the Name of the Lord in vain and coveted. No one. Not even these "righteous" hardcore religious people.

We are all guilty of breaking the perfect, holy, and just Law of God (Romans 3:23). How then, do we seek and know Him? There is only one way: Jesus Christ (John 14:6). God loves you and me SO much that He gave up everything so that you could be in His family: His only beloved, begotten Son (John 3:16).

We seem to always be underestimating God's standards and thinking we can be made right with Him by our works. If you go to church every Sunday of your life, feed every poor person there is, and never cuss- but don't have Jesus- you still aren't reconciled with the Lord. There is nothing you can do to save yourself (Ephesians 2:8) and there is no way possible to earn grace through works of the Law (Romans 11:6)

If you have seen the viral video Why I Hate Religion but Love Jesus by Jeff Bethke, you will recognize when I quote some lyrics from this awesome poem-

Religion says do, Jesus says done

Religion says slave, Jesus says son

Religion puts you in bondage while Jesus sets you free

Religion makes you blind, but Jesus makes you see.

There is no prayer, no ritual, no practice, no pilgrimage, no life dedicated to an idol, and no good work that can get you into Heaven. Jesus did it all on the cross. Salvation can't be earned; only received. When Jesus was dying for you, He said "It is finished"(John 19:30). That means He did it all. Religion tells us to  be obedient so we can earn God's love, but the truth is that we are called to be obedient because the love of Jesus makes us want to be. Religion says that God will love us when we do something for Him, but Jesus tells us that we are loved now (Romans 5:8).

Remember that 1John 4:19 says that "We love Him because He first loved us", not "He loves us because we first loved Him". Redemption, bought by Jesus Christ, is a free gift. All you have to do is accept His gift that has no cost. Call upon His name and be saved (Romans 10:9). You are an imperfect person loved by a perfect God.

Psalm 139

Okay, we're going to start this up now. 

So anyway, people seem to think God doesn't care about the little things, or their day to day lives. They think God only cares about "godly activities" such as going to Sunday school or giving your tithes. Now don't get me wrong, those are things we need to do, and God cares about that. But he also cares about you as an individual.

In reality, we don't know ourselves as well as we think we do. We end up surprising ourselves daily. But, we never surprise God. He's that friend that knows you better than you know yourself. 

During my youth group on Wednesday, we read Psalms 139, which is what I based this whole post around.

So read it below, and really think about how this applies to you, and how much God cares and knows about you.

 

 

Psalm 139

New International Version (NIV)

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

 ¹ You have searched me, LORD,

   and you know me.

² You know when I sit and when I rise;

   you perceive my thoughts from afar.

³ You discern my going out and my lying down;

   you are familiar with all my ways.

⁴ Before a word is on my tongue

   you, LORD, know it completely.

⁵ You hem me in behind and before,

   and you lay your hand upon me.

⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,

   too lofty for me to attain.

 ⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit?

   Where can I flee from your presence?

⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;

   if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.

⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,

   if I settle on the far side of the sea,

¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,

   your right hand will hold me fast.

¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me

   and the light become night around me,”

¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you;

   the night will shine like the day,

   for darkness is as light to you.

 ¹³ For you created my inmost being;

   you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

   your works are wonderful,

   I know that full well.

¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you

   when I was made in the secret place,

   when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.

¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body;

   all the days ordained for me were written in your book

   before one of them came to be.

¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts,^[a] God!

   How vast is the sum of them!

¹⁸ Were I to count them,

   they would outnumber the grains of sand—

   when I awake, I am still with you.

 ¹⁹ If only you, God, would slay the wicked!

   Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty!

²⁰ They speak of you with evil intent;

   your adversaries misuse your name.

²¹ Do I not hate those who hate you, LORD,

   and abhor those who are in rebellion against you?

²² I have nothing but hatred for them;

   I count them my enemies.

²³ Search me, God, and know my heart;

   test me and know my anxious thoughts.

²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,

   and lead me in the way everlasting.

God is God. He knows everything about you. He knows what you love, what you hate. You he CREATED you, so he definitely knows you without a doubt. He also loved you enough to die for you. 

John 15:13 says "Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends." (NIV) 

If he loves you that much, don't you think he would care about your day to day life? It makes a lot more sense.

So today, just remember that God 

loves you,  

cares about you, 

and knows everything about you, because he created you. 

There isn't anything you have to hide. He knows. And he loves you anyway.

God bless and have a great day! :D

 

Soul? Love? How is this going to work?

Hello again xP

Okay, so I'm guessing you're up to speed on everything concerning what this blog is about and what our mission is right? If not, go back a couple posts.

But if you do, I bet you're wondering one of two things: (1) what is a soul? and/or (2) how do I love someone with my soul?

Well from my understanding, your soul is basically your core. It's you. It's your personality, how you view the world, your thoughts, etc.

It's not the same as your heart, which (again, from my understanding) is your passions, desires, goals and your emotions. That's just from what I know though.

I could have some details mixed up. :P But yeah.

Now the question is, how do you love Jesus with your soul?

Well, you first need a relationship with him. If he's a stranger to you it's going to be hard to love him in general. And its going to be especially difficult to love him with everyone you are.

The next thing is that you imitate Christ.

If you love someone with your soul, they are like a role model to you. And that's what Jesus should be. We all should want to be just like him.

We've fallen away from that. Christian means "of christ."

We should live in a way that people can tell we follow Jesus, or at least be able to tell that there's something different about us.

A lyric from one of my favorite songs goes

"Moonlight illuminate my night,

let my day's sun-ray

make the people say,

had a vision something's missin'

now they're screaming out loud,

keep my feet on the ground and head in the clouds"

We should imitate Jesus, and live in a way, that people take notice. They take notice and wonder why you're like that, and they aren't. They'll want to find what's missing in their lives. Possibly to the point of coming to Christ.

That is what most of my posts are going to talk about.

(1) Getting to know Jesus, and coming to love him

(2) Making him your role model and imitating him

(3) Continuing to live like him and obey him, and how your actions can affect people in the craziest ways.

I may end up combining 2 and 3, (maybe I'll call it 2.5 xD) but that's basically your preview for what I'm doing. :) Just wanted to do that so you weren't completely lost and/or confused xD

Anyways have a great day and God bless :]

Intro: Matthew

Hello, my name is Matthew and I am yet another contributor to this awesome blog. I write a blog called Loving Christ With Your Mind (LCWYM). In my blog, I write about apologetics and defending the Christian faith. I really wish to write some posts on this blog that discuss how to witness to those who don't know Christ. Let me start with discussing who I am and what I mainly aim to accomplish.

I was raised into a "Christian" home (and still am). My family called itself Christian just because we believed in Jesus. Throughout the years before I got saved, I was mainly focused on religion and trying to please God with my works. I was absolutely terrified of hell, and I wrongly thought that I had to do something to go to heaven. This all changed last summer when I truly got into a relationship with the Lord.

One day, my dad brought me to this awesome church. We were just kind of visiting. One thing I really enjoyed about it was how awesome the music was. The first service I attended was on Easter, and my dad and I continued to go to that church. In the time around the summer the pastor talked a lot about salvation and what it meant to be saved. One verse that he went over really spoke to me. It was Ephesians 2:8-9, and this is what it says:

For by grace you have been saved through faith and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.

It was an amazing moment. I finally realized that I didn't have to do anything to go to heaven. All I had to do was trust in God's saving grace that works cannot earn. Now let me talk about how I got into apologetics.

Well I was a new real Christian who had just been saved from sin and religion. I wanted to go show Christ to the world. I remember one day that my sister introduced me to this app on my iPhone called opinionated (now called Thumb). I started showing my faith on there, and there were many atheists on that application. They completely destroyed my faith, and I really did not know why I believed what I believed. I really wanted to believe that there was a God who loved, for I had just recently struggled with depression.

One day I almost gave up on my belief in Christianity. I considered becoming agnostic. But what's really cool, though, is what good God could bring about through this situation. I started to search for reasons to believe in the Bible. I found that there was so much (which you can check out on my other blog). I was soon gaining more and more faith day by day.

But another obstacle hit me: my sin. I always tried to overcome my sin, but I found that my own efforts were never enough. Throughout my fights with temptation, I thought of a line from a Relient K song called For the Moments I Feel Faint. The lyric is, "I think I can't, I think I can't, but I think You can, I think You can." What this line means is that we cannot do anything without God.

I can't imagine something more true than this. Throughout all my hardships and my sin, God never gave up on me. That's what agape is. Agape is the Greek word for unconditional love. God's love is not like human love. His is unconditional. We humans often hold a mindset that if someone does a certain thing, we won't love them anymore. I hope that my friends and I can write some posts describing how to live showing agape. A Christian is one who loves God and others, and my firmest intention is to show others to Christ.

Give me no glory. This blog is for the Lord. May God use it to bless you. I hope you enjoyed my post and I hope you look forward to more.