If Jesus came back now..

Would he recognize you? Not as yourself, but would he recognize you as a his follower? Would it be clear to everyone who you belong to? Or if Jesus came back now, would it be a possibility that you would be left?

I think a common idea is that all we have to do to be a true Christian is accept Jesus, and we have a free ticket to heaven. We can live our lives the way we want, we just have to go to church every week or so. Well that's not so true. Matthew 7:21-24 shows the truth.

Here's the passage in case you're on the mobile site:

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock." (Matthew 7:21-24 ESV)

I don't know about you, but I really don't want to be one of those people. But how can we be sure of that?

Look at verse 21 (the first sentence), ".. but only the one who does the will of my Father.."

We have to do God's will, not our own. We can't stay on the path we were on.
Being a Christian is more than just acknowledging Jesus as Lord.
Because of God's love for you, when you truly become saved, you want to live for Jesus. You have a passion for doing God's will instead of your own. That's a big part of what a being a Christian means. You have to adjust your life to his plan. Not him adjusting to you. You can't serve yourself and serve God.

Matthew 16:24: Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me."

• Deny yourself. You ignore what you want. You put Jesus first, putting aside your own dreams and goals. You hand them over to God, and instead, get something much better in return.

• Take up your cross. You're bearing the weight of following Christ. It's not always a light load either. But it gives you purpose. It gives you hope. And it gives you life.

• Follow me. It's pretty straight forward. You follow Jesus wherever he goes. He does not follow you to where you want to go. We have to be obedient, and trust his judgement. Jesus knows what he's doing.

If you are dedicated enough to follow Jesus as stated above, then that's being a true disciple. You aren't deciding what you want to do for God..you're following his plan, and allowing him to work through you.

And at the end of it all, either when you return back to dust, or when Jesus comes back, he wont just recognize you as yourself.

He will recognize you as his follower, his disciple, and his friend.




Have a great day and God bless!

For God so Loved the World; Not Just the Whites

There are different colored cows. Brown cows, white cows, pink cows (in Farmville, at least). And there are many different, but beautiful, skin colors that are caused mainly by the sun, which has some sort of effect on it. But regardless of what color skin we are, we are all equal. The Bible tells us so in 1Corinthians 12:13. Whether we are Jew or Gentile, or in this case, black, white, Hispanic, oriental etc., we are all in the same Spirit.

There is an overwhelming amount of hate and racism in our culture. I have heard many jokes that show disgust to other kinds of people, such as "Why are black people good at basketball? Because their knee grows," or, "How do you find the population of Mexico? Throw a penny down the street and watch how many people chase after it." I have also heard comments saying that Asians don't have souls. Now let me go over how stupid this is. I honestly don't see what's wrong about Africans being good at basketball; that's an excellent thing. Asians were made in God's image also. And stereotyping Hispanics by making fun of their poverty is exactly the same thing as making fun of whites being poor.

Like 1Corinthians 12:13 states, we are all one in Christ. God commands us to love others. In John 14:15, Jesus tells us that if we love Him, we will keep His commands. In John 15:12 and 1John 4:19, we are called to love others as Jesus loves us. We are supposed to show compassion for every single person, including those of other "races". That is an important part of what it means to be a Christian.

Followers of Christ must love others unconditionally. Whether someone is German, Italian, Brazilian, Russian, Korean, or African; love them like Jesus. We are all humans, regardless of race, nationality, or skin color. The color of our skin does not make us superior to anyone else. If we were to say it did, that would be just like saying a red box is supreme to a blue box; that statement is ridiculous because they're both boxes. The same thing applies to the "races". There is only one race-the human race.

John 3:16 says that God so loved the world that He gave His only Begotten Son. Notice the use of the word world. God so loved the world, not God so loved the whites or God so loved the Australians or God so loved the Indians or God so loved the blacks. God so loved us, the world. In His eyes, skin color has no meaning, other than the fact that we are all created by Him which makes our skin color good; we are all His beloved children. Don't forget the name of this blog: agape. Agape is loving someone with no strings attached. And yes, that also includes those of different skin colors. Remember what I said earlier: there is only one race-the human race.

-Matthew

Never Too Young: A Poem Written By Matthew

Hey, it's Matthew here. I want to show you a poem I wrote about how you're never too young to be an example of the Lord to others. It's based on 1Timothy 4:12 and it's called "Never Too Young". I hope you like it :)


Now let me talk about a common myth in our culture today
Let me break it down to prove that it's absurd
Because many teens think they can't be an example
They think that their voice cannot be heard

They've bought the lie that they can't make a difference
So they just float around through life in the adolescent years
Thinking "I'm not old enough to make a change
I'm too you to have any kind of career"

But the Bible condemns this thought as a lie
First Timothy four twelve says it's not true
My fellow teenagers can make a difference
A major change in the world can be caused by you

Let's take a look at the verse I mentioned
It says, "Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity."
So I'm asking you to be an example to the world
Regardless of age or maturity

I wanna show you how to make a difference
I wanna show you how to make a change
Because it's quite simple to be an example
Very simple and an awesome exchange

I wanna take a moment to examine the verse
I wanna make this truth heard
Because the Bible instructs the youth to be an example
In many ways, especially in word

You see, Ephesians four twenty-nine says not to use rude or abusive language
And I think we all know what this means
Let me ask you something: does cussing, in any way, ever glorify God?
Does swearing ever make your heart anymore clean?

The answer is "no" to both of those questions
But first let me show you something:
How the words that come out of our mouth can give glory to the Lord
They can be an example that points to the King

Now if you're a young person using your tongue for evil
I wanna ask you to stop, because that example could be leading others away from Christ
Might get someone thinking about you: "Man, if that's Christianity I want nothing to do with it"
So be a good example, especially with your mouth, and let all words be nice

The Timothy verse also instructs to be an example to other believers
You could inspire them to move in their mission
So stay away from swearing, gossip, and hateful words
Instead, be an example to other Christians

Another important way to be an example is in conduct
And what that means is how you act
Let the Lord's grace guide you in a behavior similar to His
Because this could show a model of Christ, which the world needs, so just know that

So don't go conforming to the ways of this world
Be the salt and light and the city on the hill
Don't hide yourself; be holy in a place of unholiness
In every thing you do, including conduct, let it be done for God's Will

Another vital key to the example formula would be this:
Showing who God is to the world by love
Let the love unconditional, let it be crazy and insane
Let this power lead others to realize that God is enough

You see, I have some friends who aren't Christians
And probably don't wanna hear me preach
So instead of doing that, I show unconditional love
To this dying world, compassion is the best way to reach

And if we show lovingkindness to other believers
That might inspire them to grow into a deeper relationship with God
So teenage Christians, be fishers of men
And let love work as your rod

Like Francis of Assisi once said
"Preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary use words"
Because love is the loudest sound
Show the example of Christ and let who you are in Him be heard

Now let's cover what it means to be an example in spirit
And how to be on fire for the Lord
Because if show Him through your actions to the world
He's so great that they'll be coming back for more

So let's be an example in spirit
And let God work through us
Teens, you're not useless
Let your life be a reflection of the light of Jesus

Youth, be an example in faith
And show the world how tall you stand
Because your trust is in God Almighty
And you know that He'll deliver you with His Hand

And if we live this extraordinary faith
The world can see and know our Shepherd
That He satisfies us
And this might inspire them to trust in His word

Now let's talk about purity
And how we can make difference
Because, teens, if we're conforming to this world
Are we really showing that we're true Christians?

So stand up for the Lord
If someone tries to pressure you into sex or drugs
Just shine the light of Christ and don't give in
Be an example by being a Jesus freak and not a thug

Always be pure of heart
Even something like, which seems small, can cause a great impact
You are never too young for the Lord to use you
That's the truth, and don't forget that

God can use you, even through the tiniest measure
Like through your words, your conduct, your faith, and in spirit
Don't forget to always remain pure to be an example
And your love can proclaim the gospel to even those who don't want to hear it

So don't let anyone look down on you because of your age
Model to them who Christ is
Even though you are young, you don't have to wait
Go be an example so you can show that you are His

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.