When Is Enough…. Enough?

I’ve been thinking about writing this blog since I finished the last blog but really wasn’t sure how I wanted to tie it altogether. Funny/Ironic events that lead to this all happening right now like it is.

I got to go home recently for an entire week for Thanksgiving break (lucky me I know) and I got to do a lot while doing so little. I think I have finally put all the pieces together and that’s why its take me a couple weeks to bounce back from the last blog.

I consider my life pretty dang good, those that know me well know that I have everything I could ever want and need. I’m provided for, I have a loving family, I don’t struggle to do the things I consider “daily things”, so in a lot of ways I am very blessed. I also consider the life I live in many ways pleasing to God; by that I mean that I am living for Him, doing things for His glory, seeking Him first. Don’t think I am tooting my own horn here because that is far from the truth so hang with me. I STILL struggle with daily, easy, little things that aren’t pleasing to Him and it had been hitting me in a big way, yet not as much as some and I am writing this blog in hopes that people will read it and feel in some way shape or form the conviction I feel and am now confessing. That enough is enough!

I look around in the world we live in today and there is a re-occurring mentality, almost a sickness, and I’m guilty of it in ways to so I’m not pointing fingers that aren’t coming back at me. Its this issue of continued, repeated, habitual sinning. I don’t care what it is, you name it: lying, cheating, sex, cursing, lust, hate, drugs, alcohol, envy, gossip, greed, false idols, the list goes on and on and on. This is my question: When Is Enough, Enough?! We have all the tools and abilities to cut these things from our lives and be done with them yet they continue to happen no matter how much we say we want to stop doing this or that, its not happening. Our words are just that, words, there is no ceasing of doing these things. Why?! What is the point in saying that you want to stop or promising yourself or worse, promising God that you will stop tomorrow or later. Stop saying later, or tomorrow, put your words into action, I urge you, no I challenge you, I challenge myself, to actually DO IT!

I saw a billboard as I was driving back to Abilene today, it was one of those God billboards with a quote from God. (Whoever came up with this idea by the way, genius) It read, “They aren’t suggestions, they’re called commandments for a reason.”-God

That hit me pretty hard because I KNOW all the things in my life that I don’t need and that are holding me down or hindering my relationship with Christ, yet no matter how much I tell myself to be done with them, they keep popping back up. I know I’m not alone in this so I write to encourage the weary of spirit in whatever it is but I also write to call you out on the issues in your life. None of us are without struggles of sin. So what is your sin that is holding you back and when are you going to decided that enough is enough and that it is time to make a change! Stop saying and start doing! There’s nothing worse than saying you’ll do something and not following up with it, trust me. I know this was all over the place and I couldn’t convey my anger/disgust/encouragement/care the way I truly wanted to. But don’t let it be just something you deal with alone, talk to someone about the sin that is holding you down. Read Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 and then find someone, share with them what your sins are that continue to pop up and let them help you walk through being done with them. If you don’t feel comfortable asking someone, ask me, and I’ll share mine with you as well. No sin is greater than another, but there is power in knowing and living with each other through those things. Stop letting the devil have his day, enough is enough.

"Who Dat" They Call Jesus?

That’s the question I have for everyone, that’s the question I have for myself. But here’s why:
Who do I (you, us, we) say that Jesus is?
This is a question that weeks ago popped into my head, and since that time my life has been in a funk(I’ll explain that later). I know who Jesus is, I know what He did, and I know the story. We all do right? Jesus is the Son of God, sent to die for our sins, so that we may have eternal life so long as we believe in Him (John 3:16). I know that, everyone knows that, that verse is popular even with nonbelievers in the world today.

When reading Mark 8 as the disciples were walking Jesus asked, “ Who do people say I am?” And the answer ranges from one thing to another, showing that the world has different views on Jesus, everyon will have their own definition which in and of itself, I don’t think is a bad thing. But Jesus then asks, “Who do YOU say that I am?” And its perfect, the answer that we should have at the center of our own answer is what Peter says, “You are the Christ, the Messiah.” (Christ/Messiah means in essence, sent to save the world, deliver) So when I heard the question that the disciples were asked in Mark 8, “Who do you say that I am?” I realized I had never thought about what my response would be in that moment.
In the past two weeks I have continued to think about my definition that is outside of the definition that He is the Christ/Messiah. Although in reality that is all we need, I think its good to have our own summary if you may, to what that means to us, so I want to share mine with you. Jesus is the Son of God, He came to this Earth and lived a perfect life so that we may see what to strive for and live like, and He died for the sins of undeserving people so that we may spend eternity with Him. Woah! That may sound elaborate or intense but its not, and what’s worse, is it took me 2 weeks to even come up with that. But here is the important thing in my own definition that I want to lay out so it will make a little more sense.
“Jesus Christ is the Son of God”, ok, pretty basic, we all know what I mean by that, its literal.

Here is where I think things get cool:

“He came to this Earth and lived a perfect life so that we may see what to strive for and live like”-Jesus came to Earth, our Earth, He, came to be a human, if that doesn’t blow your mind already I don’t know what will. He is one of us! You ready for something more crazy, He lived a perfect life! Who can say that they have lived a perfect life? No one, no one can say that they are perfect, but Christ. What an example that is to try and follow, notice TRY.
“He died for the sins of undeserving people so that we may spend eternity with Him”- He died, gave up His life, so that we may live. When I say undeserving, don’t downplay what that means, not one person who has lived on this Earth has deserved for Jesus to die for them, so they can spend eternity with Him? What? Not only does He want to die so that we may benefit, He wants to die for us, so that we can benefit by hanging out with us forever?!
So come-live perfect-die for sinners- spend forever with them…. Interesting concept because no offense because I am one of those sinners, but who wants to die for a sinner to spend forever with them! That is why Who Jesus Is, is an incredible thing. It’s something that is hard to put into words but I did the best I could in my own sense, I hope you enjoyed it. At the center, He is THE Christ/Messiah. But I would encourage and promote you thinking yourself what does “Who Is Jesus” mean to you. I’d love to hear some feedback on what your definition is, I know mine isn’t “right” or “perfect” but it’s an interesting thought isn’t it?

Much love!

Romans 5:8
“God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”