First of all I’d like to apologize for not writing much this summer. I was really slack and just didn’t feel motivated so I’m sorry.
Anyways, I learned a lot this summer. For those of you who don’t know, I stayed in Clemson almost all summer and did research because I got a grant from NASA that paid me to do so. It paid well, the hours were very flexible, and the work was pretty easy so it was an awesome deal. But let me tell you why I originally applied for this grant. My research adviser told me to. For the past year or two, I’ve had people telling me what to do. What to apply for, what to be involved in, how to strengthen my résumé, etc. My advisers and professors know that I have potential, and they want me to advance my career and eventually my salary by spending my time doing things that “look good” to employers or grad schools. I hadn’t thought much about it before this sumer, but I was doing everything I was doing for the wrong reasons.
I know a lot of my friends worked or volunteered at camps this summer serving God, and I personally would like to thank you for doing that. I know that my thanks isn’t what you did it for, but you really are servants and what you did was seen and will be rewarded. You saw an opportunity to serve our Creator, and you took it. I, on the other hand, saw an opportunity to serve myself and my future and took it. You expanded the Kingdom of Heaven, I tried to expand my wallet. I realized that this summer I did not serve God in the way I could have. And also (ok this may sound greedy but I promise it’s not), I know that God will provide for me financially whether I build my résumé or not. If you put your faith in God and serve him, he will bless you beyond all your imagination.
So what am I saying? We should never do anything other than volunteer and we should all go into ministry? False. Each and every one of us can serve every single day nomatter where we are or what we’re doing. I just didn’t take the opportunities in my work this summer I had to serve. I was more worried about doing work that maybe reaching people in my own lab or my own building that need Jesus. There is no picture of what serving God looks like- it changes from person to person. We are called to use the gifts that God has given us to reach people for Him. Just remember that everything we do should glofiry the Lord. It doesn’t matter if we’re at a Young Life camp or at home working as a waiter at a restaurant, we can glorify God in everything we do.
But wait! There’s a flip-side to my situation. For everyone that volunteers or gives time to serve God, I want to ask you a quick question? Why are you doing it? Serving our Lord should be about giving ourselves to Him completely and unconditionally. I think a lot of people get this one wrong, including myself. I know people that love to tell how much they serve God on a daily basis. I’m sorry, but do you really need to tell people you are serving? If you do something to glorify God, he knows about it and thanks you. I don’t need to thank or praise you. Trust me, I have no say on who gets into heaven or not. You may want to take that one up with Him. If you go out of your way to tell someone how awesome you are for serving the Lord, you probably aren’t serving the Lord. You are serving yourself. Nice try, but you should know that trying and good deeds and earthly thanks don’t get you into heaven. The appearance of serving gets you nowhere, even if you’re on stage in front of hundreds of people. Lastly, I would encourage you to talk with God about serving, because you need to know you are doing it for the right reasons. I know I get pushed a lot of times by peer pressure to volunteer here or help out there. We should not serve just to make our friends happy or because it is the cool thing to do. Again, we are serving ourselves and our friends before serving our Lord.
“Be careful not to do your ‘acts of righteousness’ before men, to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven. So when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by men. I tell you the truth, they have received their reward in full. 3But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, 4so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” -Matthew 6:1-4
I want to end with a little summary. We can all serve each and every day no matter where we are or what we are doing. But, just because we look like we are serving, we may not be. If you serve to be recognized or to get a “Thanks!” you need to re-examine your reasons for serving. God doesn’t care what our situations are, we are called to serve. Period. He will bless us beyond all of our wildest dreams if we please Him. We don’t need to worry about pleasing anybody but our Creator and King. I encourage all of you to serve, but make sure you know why you are serving and who you are serving. Are you serving God, yourself, society, or something else?
God Bless,
Matt
(I know some people will notice that I am writing this when I should be at FCA. I decided not to go because I didn’t want to take the seat of someone who may need to hear the message, and also I didn’t feel led to go. I felt led to write this. For those of you in FCA or another similar group, why do you go to your meetings every week or serve within the group? Do you serve and glorify God or do you do it just because everyone else does and there is pressure to? Think about it.)
All throughout the Bible, it is said that we are to fear the Lord. I want to give a few examples, but there are plenty more that I do not mention. Here goes:
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. -Proverbs 1:7
All who fear the Lord will hate evil. -Proverbs 8:13a
The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. -Proverbs 9:10
The fear of the LORD is the instruction of wisdom, and before honor is humility. -Proverbs 15:33
The fear of the LORD leads to life, and he who has it will abide in satisfaction; he will not be visited with evil. -Proverbs 19:23
Praise the LORD! Blessed is the man who fears the LORD, Who delights greatly in His commandments. -Psalm 112:1
The LORD is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him in truth. He grants the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cries for help and rescues them. -Psalm 145:18-19
The LORD takes pleasure in those who fear Him, In those who hope in His mercy. -Psalm 147:11
Serve only the LORD your God and fear Him alone. Obey his commands, listen to his voice, and cling to him. -Deuteronomy 13:4
Like I said, there are tons more times when the Bible mentions fearing God, but those are just some of the ones I wanted to throw out. So I never really grasped what that meant or why we are supposed to fear the Lord. I have always heard “fear the Lord” but I have also always heard “God loves you, he wants to be your friend, and he wants the best for you.” That doesn’t really sound like the kind of person I should fear, does it? So I started thinking about fear and reading more into fearing the Lord. Here’s what I came up with:
Most people talk about fears as being afraid of something. For instance, I know people that are afraid of snakes, and they will run away from a snake when they see one. Some people are afraid of heights. Some people are afraid of rejection. The list can go on and on. Some of these fears can be healthy, but some are irrational. But I really don’t think fear of the Lord is like any other fear. Fear of the Lord should not be the kind of fear where you are truly afraid of Him. God does not want us to run from him in fear like we would a snake or spider or whatever else. It is not that type of fear. It is a similar fear to the kind of “fear” we have of our parents when we are young. We know that they made us, they are in control of us, they are bigger than us, and they want us to the obey them for our own good. Now, God will never make mistakes like our parents so often do, and we will never grow up enough to start to know what’s best for ourselves more than He does, but I think a healthy fear of our parents is the closest thing to fearing the Lord. So, I’ve kind of focused in on three main things that I consider parts of fearing the Lord. Humility, awe, and obedience.
To truly obtain life, wisdom, knowledge, satisfaction and everything else that the Lord has promised us if we fear him, we need to be humble. We need to acknowledge and God made everything, owns everything, and governs everything. He alone is worthy of all worship and praise. Anything good we do in life is only because He has given us the strength to do so. We do not deserve any adoration or praise. We are so much smaller than we could ever imagine. We need to understand that God alone has permission to judge us, and he loves us so much that he chose to send his Son to wipe our sins away. None of us could ever be humble enough (those of you who know me know I am very guilty of this), but we need to understand how HUGE God is and how small we are to have a healthy fear of him.
Also, we have to have complete reverence for God and be in awe of Him. We need to be in awe of His creation, power, glory, mercy, grace, love, greatness, and the list could go on forever. I, personally, am completely blown away by how God has blessed me in life, and I am in awe of his blessings on me. We should all be in awe of how he loves us and blesses us each and every single day. He is our creator! We should be in awe that he brought every one of us into this world for a purpose, and he knows each one of us better than we know ourselves. We should be in awe of every single aspect of God. If you find something that God ever did that was just OK, please let me know.
Lastly, to have a healthy fear of God we need to be obedient to him. This obedience comes from not only hearing him, but doing what he commands. As I showed above, all those who fear the Lord hate evil. If we are in fear of the Lord, we will hate evil things, and live a more holy life. This obedience stems from the humility and awe because we should absolutely love to get to serve the creator of the universe. We should want to be obedient to Him because of his awesomeness and righteousness. Also, we should be obedient to our heavenly Father because he wants the best for us, and he will reward us for our obedience. He loves us more than we could ever imagine.
So that’s basically what I got from thinking and praying about it. We shouldn’t be afraid of God and run from him. We should be aware of his power and be aware of how awesome He is and be obedient to that. So think about it tonight. Do you really fear the Lord? Am I afraid of Him or am I in awe of Him?
Ok so lately I’ve been listening to the band Tenth Avenue North like it’s my job. I really love all of their songs, but one has been on my mind more than the others lately. It’s called “Beloved” and it was written from Jesus’ point of view as a wedding vow. This is a love song from God. The vow is to us, showing us how much he loves us and that divorce is not an option in this marriage. So, take a listen and see what Christ’s vows would sound like to you or me. I think it’s pretty awesome to know how much he loves us and wants to be with us. I’m going to post the video andthe lyrics are shown on the video since there is not an actual music video for the song. Enjoy!
My mom sent me this story and I wanted to share it with yall. It moved me and I hope it moves you as well.
A man from Norfolk, VA called a local radio station to share this on September 11, 2003 – two years after the attacks on the World Trade Centers. His name was Robert Matthews. These are his words:
A few weeks before Sept. 11th, my wife and I found out we were going to have our first child. She planned a trip out toCalifornia to visit her sister. On our way to the airport, we prayed that God would grant my wife a safe trip and be with her. Shortly after I said ‘amen,’ we both
Heard a loud pop and the car shook violently. We had blown out a tire. I replaced the tire as quickly as I could, but we still missed her flight. Both very upset, we drove home.
I received a call from my father who was retired NYFD. He asked what my wife’s flight number was, but I explained that we missed the flight.
My father informed me that her flight was the one that crashed into the southern tower. I was too shocked to speak. My father also had more news for me; he was going to help. ‘This is not something I can’t just sit by for; I have to do something.’
I was concerned for his safety, of course, but more because he had never given his life to Christ. After a brief debate, I knew his mind was made up.. Before he got off of the phone, he said, ‘take good care of my grandchild. Those were the last words I ever heard my father say; he died while helping in the rescue effort.
My joy that my prayer of safety for my wife had been answered quickly became anger. I was angry at God, at my father, and at myself. I had gone for nearly two years blaming God for taking my father away. My son would never know his grandfather, my father had never accepted Christ, and I never got to say good-bye.
Then something happened. About two months ago, I was sitting at home with my wife and my son, when there was a knock on the door. I looked at my wife, but I could tell she wasn’t expecting anyone. I opened the door to a couple with a small child.
The man looked at me and asked if my father’s name was Jake Matthews. I told him it was. He quickly grabbed my hand and said, ‘I never got the chance to meet your father, but it is an honor to meet his son.’
He explained to me that his wife had worked in the WorldTrade Center and had been caught inside after the attack. She was pregnant and had been caught under debris. He then explained that my father had been the one to find his wife and free her. My eyes welled up with tears as I thought of my father giving his life for people like this. He then said, ‘there is something else you need to know..’
His wife then told me that as my father worked to free her, she talked to him and led him to Christ. I began sobbing at the news..
Now I know that when I get to Heaven, my father will be standing beside Jesus to welcome me, and that this family would be able to thank him themselves ..
When their baby boy was born, they named him Jacob Matthew, in honor of the man who gave his life so that a mother and baby could live.
This story should help us to realize this: God is always in control.
We may not see the reason behind things, and we may never know this side of heaven, but God is ALWAYS in control.
“Give thanks to the Lord for He is good. His love endures Forever.” Psalm 136:1
I know we all say it a lot. What if this happens? What if that goes wrong? What if I don’t know what to do? We are all afraid of “What ifs”. Here’s another one. What if we didn’t get caught up in the possibility of something going wrong and just lived our lives? We always get caught up in what might happen next. What if I don’t get accepted? What if I’m not good enough? We always worry about the bad that could happen. What if I get my heart broken? What if I get hurt? We let these worries take control of our lives and affect the things that we do. What if i fail? I’m here to tell you not to worry about the “What ifs” in life and know that whatever happens will be God’s will, and it will be for the best.
To show this, I’m going to use an something I read in Wild at Heart. It says that “The ultimate risk anyone ever takes is to love.” I would agree with that. Putting your heart on the line, not knowing what might happen. Personally, I am not afraid of death, but I am afraid of losing loved ones. So I would agree that loving someone is a huge risk. Some of us are afraid to take that risk on some people. Not so much always our families, but other around us. I know of some people that are afraid of getting involved in serious dating relationships because they are afraid of the “What if”. What if we break up? What if he/she breaks my heart? What if I’ll never be the same? Do you really think you’re supposed to be the same the rest of your life? One thing I know is that we are supposed to learn from our experiences and mistakes. Being heartbroken is definitely an experience we all can grow from. Being rejected- same story; we can learn and grown from that.
Ok, so it sounds easy to say not to let “What ifs” control your decisions, but are we called to do that? Well, we are all called to live Godly lives, so let’s see what God does in a situaion like this. Let’s take the biggest risk of all- giving free will to mankind. Think about the whole thing. God had the choice to force Adam and Eve to love Him and obey Him. The other option? Let them decide for themselves. Think about what comes along with that for God- rejection, heartache, devastation, etc. Most of us try to avoid those things at all costs. God’s question was “What if I let them go, and they never come back? What if I allow them to choose, and they don’t choose me?” But oh wait! God is all knowing, and this includes past, present, and future. So, God KNEW that some of us would reject Him. God KNEW that He would pour out oceans of love only to get them thrown back into His face. God KNEW that His heart would constantly be bleeding for mankind. So God continually takes the biggest risk of all, knowing the doomed outcome for some, and He continues to let us have free will. So then, why are we afriad of the possibility of a bad outcome? Why should we let that affect the choices we make? So what if something bad happens? It is in God’s will for it to happen. God knew what was going to happen when He let us fly freely, and now His heart shatters every second of every day as billions reject Him. So don’t worry about what might happen. Trust in knowing that God’s will is perfect, and He will always help you through it.
“No test or temptation that comes your way is beyond the course of what others have had to face. All you need to remember is that God will never let you down; he’ll never let you be pushed past your limit; he’ll always be there to help you come through it.” -1 Corinthians 10:13
Let me preface this entire post by saying that it is past 4:00 AM, so you’ll have to forgive any grammar, punctuation, spelling, incoherence, or rambling that follows. I’ve been lying in bed for a hew hours, but God was telling me to write this because I’ve been putting it off for too long. He wouldn’t let me fall asleep so here I am.
I say I’ve been putting this post off for too long because it’s one that is going to be hard to write about. Why? Because it’s an issue that I and every other guy struggles with a lot. That being said, this post is mostly for guys. Girls can read it and get something out of it too, but I see it mostly with guys. The issue is standing up to your friends when you know what they’re doing is wrong. This wrongdoing can be anything from getting drunk, sex, or even just putting other people down with negative comments. A lot of times, we’ll see a friend doing something we know he shouldn’t be doing. What are we called to do in this situation? We’ll get to that in a little bit, but as I see it there are only about 4 reactions to any of those situations. And to illustrate each of those reactions, I’ll use an analogy. We’re going to assume that the negative situation your friend has engaged in is equal to an innocent old lady getting beaten and robbed in an alley. Hopefully we never have to imagine this or see it, but I hope it makes it hit home.
Reaction #1: Adding to the problem
If you see your friend in a situation he shouldn’t be in, you get mad or upset. That’s not adding to the problem. You should feel upset when you see immorality. You add to the problem when you bottle those feelings up inside. Emotions should not, for the most part, be kept inside. When you don’t speak your mind, those feelings only grow stronger. You grow more upset that these things are happening around you but you don’t do anything or say anything to stop it. This breeds animosity and hatred towards your friend, and now you’ve created a larger problem than where we started. You hold grudges, do not forgive, and you become a ticking time bomb- about to explode because of all you’ve held in. So, with the analogy, this would be similar to walking over to the guys beating the old lady and joining them. Go ahead, take a couple of swings and grab her wallet because you are only making things worse when you hold your emotions toward your friend’s activites inside.
Reaction #2: Ignoring the problem
This reaction is basically letting whatever your friend is doing not bother you. You try to just let it slide and not cause confrontation. After all, you don’t want anyone getting mad at you, right? This reaction is usually caused by fear. Fear of the consequences of standing up for what is right. So you just decide to forget about it and live your life. The only problem is, you should be convicted that it is wrong. You know in your heart that it is wrong, and you shouldn’t fight it and throw it out of your heart. With our old lady, you would just see the beating and robbery and walk right by. Five minutes down the street it would be clear from your mind. You wouldn’t want to get involved because you don’t know what would happen, but you also wouldn’t want to consume your time thinking about it. You have more important things to think about, right? Wrong. Don’t let injustice slide off you. Don’t let something that you see not convict your soul to do something about it. Take a stand.
Reaction #3: Praying about the problem
I will confess, this is what I probably do the most. I am not proud of this, but I am working on it. Reaction #3 is similar to #2, but instead of not worrying about it, you pray about it. You still don’t act on anything or say anything, but you feel bad about what is going on and hope that God will take care of it. He will, but this doesn’t mean that you should let him do everything. This also stems from fear of getting involved too much. Now, this reaction is, in my opinion, better than not caring about it, but not what we are called to do. So just walk by the old lady being beaten and pray for her. Dear Lord, please give those thugs a change of heart so that they give her her money back and let her go. Amen. If you feel better about yourself and the situation, you need a reality check. You haven’t done much to help out the problem. Prayer is an AMAZING thing, but sometimes you have to step in and get your hands dirty.
Reaction #4: Joining the Fight
This is what we are called by God to do. We are called to be tough on each other. We are called to not let immorality slide. We are called to sharpen our Christian brothers “as iron sharpens iron.” When you see a friend screw up, let him know about it. Don’t be rude or mean, but let him know that what he’s doing is ungodly and wrong. Don’t let him off the hook so easily. Guys, we are in this fight together like a team. If we want to be successful, we have to back up our teammates and let them know what they’re doing wrong so we can improve as a team. A team is only as strong as its weakest member, and we are called to build each other up and strengthen each other in faith. Don’t let a friend disobey God and then not call him out about it. Let him know he screwed up and help him try to change for the better. When you’re walking down that street and look in that alley, fight for what you know is right. Defend the old lady, and don’t stop throwing punches until your arms fall off. Don’t give up and don’t back down. People are often afraid of this reaction because of the consequences. You may say,” If I tell him to stop doing that, he won’t want to be my friend anymore” or “I’m embarrassed at what other people may think if I say that.” Or you may be worried that those robbers and bigger and stronger than you and you may get hurt. Let me tell you something. God does not call us to be safe. He doesn’t want us in our comfort zone. He wants us to get our hands dirty and do some work- whether this means losing a friend or getting some cuts and bruises. We have to be tough on each other and join the fight to be able to grow as brothers and as a team. I encourage you- join the fight, even if it means it’s going to cause you some pain.
In closing, I want to throw a shout out to all of my tough teammates out there. God has placed some absolutely amazing guys in my life (you know who you are) that I would not be where I am without them. They let me know when I screw up, and they hold me accountable for it. They are doing God’s will by being my accountability partners and sharpening me while I sharpen them. It’s never easy, but it’s always worth it. I just want to say I love you guys, and thanks for joining the fight.
God Bless,
Matt
(Again, its almost 5 AM so disregard any nonsense in this post. Thanks)
Something amazing happened to me yesterday morning. God spoke to me in a way He never has before. I woke up before my alarm went off and the first thing that came to mind was “Titus.” I looked around, and said to myself, “Titus? What the heck?” So then I went back to sleep. I woke up later and was thinking about it. I knew that Titus was a book in the bible, so I figured God may have wanted me to read Titus, but there had never been an experience in my life where God put a certain part of the Bible on my heart. I grabbed my bible and went to Titus, which is right before Hebrews for those of you who want to read it (I would recommend this by the way). Reading through Titus, I liked it a lot, but I didn’t really understand why God told me to read it. Until I got to Titus 3:3-7. This part hit me like a freight train. I’ll just go ahead and put it all here.
3At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. 4But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, 5he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, 6whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
This is IT! This is huge! God doesn’t love us any less because of what we have done in the past. We all have made mistakes. The thing is, if you know Jesus Christ, those mistakes don’t matter because you are saved. Saved by what? Not be being a nice person or doing good things, but saved by Jesus Christ. When I read through this passage, a few things came to mind. One was the song by The Backstreet Boys entitled “As Long as You Love Me.” Don’t laugh at me. In the chorus it says ” I don’t care who you are, where your from, what you did, as long as you love me.” Now, I don’t think of the Backstreet Boys as God, but maybe they’re onto something. God doesn’t care who you are, what your background is, what kind of family you come from, or what you have done in your life. He just wants you to know and love Him. Ok so now that was somewhat of a joke, but another song I thought of while reading this was Chris Tomlin’s “Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone)” which is an amazing song, by the way. In the chorus, it says “My chains are gone, I’ve been set free. My God my Savior has ransomed me. And like a flood His mercy reigns. Unending love, amazing grace.” I know a lot of us, including myself, feel like the past is weighing on us constantly. We have things that we regret from the past, and we feel like we can’t escape them. But I’m here to tell you that because of God’s love and grace, those chains that have been holding you back are gone. You are set free from your past because of the love of Christ. All you need to do is ask for forgiveness from God, and he will grant it. You don’t need to feel like there is a weight on your heart constantly. If Jesus is in your present and future, you can forget the past. Now, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t learn from mistakes you make, but we need to move on from things that we regret so that we can feel free of that burden. I want to encourage everyone to think about something in your past that you think maybe has been holding you back. Ask for forgiveness. And then forget it. Don’t dwell on something you can’t change, and let God clear it from your thoughts. I hope we all can realize the love that God has for us, and how he doesn’t care about what we’ve done in the past.
God Bless,
Matt
I went to Pretty Place, NC a few days ago around midnight with some of my friends, and let me tell you- getting out into the mountains with the people you love is an amazing experience. For one, the stars out there are absolutely amazing. We had worship music playing, great conversations, and some cigars to puff on. What could be better? We were all able to really just connect with God. Then, we slept for an hour or so on a big rock and woke up for sunrise. It was AMAZING! It was truly one of the best sunrises I have ever seen. It was also one of the best nights and mornings I’ve ever had. Getting away from school and work and obligations is soooo fulfulling. It was just awesome to see God’s creation in all of its glory without thinking about anything else. It really puts things in perspective. It puts in perspective how God is HUGE! He created everything we see every single day, but seeing it all away from everything just makes it that much more awesome. Knowing that He created everything we were so amazed with made me feel so free. God is in control of everything in our lives. We don’t have to worry about our future or anything because God has a plan for us. God is bigger, more graceful, and more loving than any of us could ever fathom. This was so important for all of us to experience because it is the weekend before finals week. Finals usually cause a lot of stress for everyone, but I had an incredible peace about everything being up in the mountains overlooking God’s country. God wants us to know that He reigns over everything, and this includes our relationships, school, job, summer, and everything else. I know that this post doesn’t really have a story or anything, but I am writing it just to express how much we need to praise God! He loves us and is in control! Praise Him in all his glory! I encourage everyone reading this to, sometime this week, just get away from everything and praise God. I don’t care if you go to Pretty Place or even just a bench outside. Take a good hard look at God’s amazing creations and thank Him. Spend some time in his fresh air to slow things down and realize that God reigns over everything. Let God put you at ease. Take a few minutes to enjoy nature and praise and glorify God. I promise it will be worth it.
God Bless,
Matt
The Cross at the Chapel in Pretty Place during the sunrise
As most of you know, I usually only write about things I am convicted about. Well yesterday, a friend of mine mentioned that he was a little ticked because he felt like someone was being ungrateful when they didn’t say “Thank you” after he did something nice. I was thinking about it and I feel the same way sometimes. Occasionally, it’s nice to hear that you are apprecaited for doing a good deed. But then I thought about it a little more, and giving with the expectation of receiving a “Thanks” is the worst way to give. We should be able to give unconditionally. Does that word “unconditionally” sound familiar? I wrote it in one of my last posts in regard to how God love us. Let me repeat, God loves us and he gave us his son unconditionally. He didn’t say, “Well, I’ll only let my son die if they promise to say thanks.” God gets rejected by people every day, but he still let his son die for them. Jesus gave his life for us. Anyways, in the Bible it talks in Matthew 6:1-4 about giving. It basically says to give in private so that nobody sees your good deeds. If you try to show them off to everybody, then you are giving for the wrong reasons. You should do good things because you want to and you want to serve God. God sees everything you do in public and in private, so your reward is on its way. However, if you expect praise and thanks after your good works, then enjoy your reward while it lasts because that is all you’ll be getting-praise and thanks from people the same as you. So, how often do we give without any expectations? I know that I feel like people are a little rude if they don’t acknowledge my service. Do you realize how messed up that is? We don’t need praise from other people that are just as broken as we are. We need to serve a Holy God! God wants us to give to people and serve others unconditionally. Without expectations. God sees your works and he knows what is in your heart. Serving and giving is one of the best ways to glorify God, but don’t do it to glorify yourself. Now, that being said, the Bible also says to give thanks. So, if someone serves you, thank and encourage them. I encourage all of you to do something nice for someone without any expectation. If possible, don’t even let anyone see you do it. Even better, serve a complete stranger. I don’t care if this means paying for the lunch of someone in line next to you or helping someone with car trouble on the side of the road or just giving someone a random compliment. The opportunities to serve God instead of yourself are everywhere, we just need to take advantage of them. You , me, all of us.
God Bless,
Matt
So the other night at Bible study, we were talking about times when we could meet and stuff in the coming next year. Some ideas were thrown out and then my good friend Brent said something that kinda hit me. He said that it doesn’t matter when we schedule it because if we knew about it ahead of time and we cared about it, we could schedule around it. He mentioned that Thursday night may not be the best time for everyone to have FCA, but that’s when it is and people come because they schedule around it. If someone asks them to do something at that time, they say they’re busy. Why? Because it’s a priority to them/me/us.
What should be a priority in your life? I know personally, my intramural dodgeball is high on my list for me right now. I will skip studying, meetings, etc to play. But think about it. What things in your life matter to you enough that you set aside time to do them and don’t let anything interfere with that? Obviously, class is semi-necessary. But other than class. Is it a favorite TV show? (Here’s my plug for House and 24, the best shows on television.) Is it FCA? Is it an intramural team? What about a bible study or a quiet time with the Lord? I know I struggle with my priorities, and I am tempted to skip my small group bible study some nights to study or catch up on homework. Is that putting God first in my life? Not quite.. Time with the Lord should be a #1 priority in our lives. It’s hard, but it’s the truth. Whether it’s a bible study, quiet time, or just prayer, time with the Lord is HUGE! God gave us his son to die for our sins and he loves us unconditionally, and what do we give him in return? Maybe a few extra minutes each day could be good for us.
If I were to ask you how you would grow in a relationship with someone, you would probably say spend time hanging out with them, talking to them, and getting to know them. Hanging out with Jesus may be a literal impossibility, but we can talk to Him and get to know Him by reading his word. If you and I are serious about growing in our relationship with the Lord, we must spend time with Him.
So I’m asking you to examine your priorities. I know this is tough for me, because I realize how much I am neglecting the Lord. But, God knows we are not perfect and he forgives us and ALWAYS loves us. However, I would suggest trying to push Him upwards on the list of priorities in your life. Even if its just a few minutes you devote to prayer or reading your Bible each day, I guarantee you will see a change in your life and your relationship with Christ.
Guys this is one of my biggest struggles with my bioengineering major and all the work I have to do. Please pray for me in this aspect of my walk with God. We all need encouragement and accountability. Try to find someone who wants to devote more time to God and hold each other accountable for time with the Lord at least to get started. It’s an issue of will power, and sometimes we need to be pushed and encouraged.
Thanks for reading. God Bless,
Matt
