Serving Self

 

Every person is born into this world with a combination of the traits, talents, and temperament of their forefathers.  When we are innocent little children, we belong to the Lord (Mk 10:14).  However, as we grow and eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (Deut 1:39), each one of us comes into our inheritance from Adam:  we are carnally minded, selfish, under bondage to the god of this world, under the sentence of death.  Our vision is darkened by the cloud of sin and iniquity in which we come to live.  We may be living a good life (doing constructive things) or living an evil life (doing destructive things).  Although, in either case, we are serving ourselves if we are not serving God.  Our minds are on the desires of our human nature (Rom 8:5).  We are all born heirs of the kingdom of Darkness due to the fall of Adam (Rom 5:12-21).  We are all born blind to the reality of the kingdom of God (II Cor 4:4).

Now everyone experiences problems at one time or another during their life here on earth.  It is the legacy of our common ancestor, Adam.  Sometimes we are troubled, agitated on every side.  We are, at times, perplexed, having doubts about our life and we may be in despair, hopelessly obsessed, oppressed, depressed, or defeated.  The children born into this world are sometimes persecuted, abused and made to suffer at the hands of others.  We may be cast down, humiliated and sometimes we are destroyed or killed.  Jesus said, 'In this world you shall have tribulations' (John 16:33).  We are all troubled people until we enter the kingdom of God.

 The kingdom of God:

What is the kingdom of God? 

Where is it?  

The kingdom of God is mentioned numerous times in the New Testament.  Jesus taught us to pray, 'Our Father in heaven, may your name Thy Kingdom come...' (Mt 6:9-10)  The kingdom of God is where His will is done, whether on earth or in heaven.  A person can be, spiritually, in the kingdom of God while still living on this earth.  Jesus explained this when the Pharisees asked him when the kingdom of God was to come.  He replied, 'The kingdom of God cometh not with observation: Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.’ (Luke 17:20-21) 

The Kingdom of God is within us... You and me as the children of the most high King! So if it is so that we are already citizens of this Kingdom then may we live each and every day as selfless as Christ our King did while He was here on this earth. We have Him as our best example of what it means to be selfless and give ourselves for others. It's easy to get wrapped up in this life to the point where we become selfish and uncaring.

God guard our hearts and minds and help us to be aware of the hurting and broken around us... And help us to be a help to the weary. May the Gospel message be on our lips continually.

Bearded Man Card Tract

Have you picked up one of our "Bearded Man" card tracts? Being a bearded man myself... I felt the need to have a short but straight forward tract that would grab the attention of the bearded. 

The back of the card reads...

Greetings! I'm just a bearded fellow telling others about another bearded Man who changed my life and gave me peace. You may have heard of Him before, His name is Jesus. He is no mere man as you and I, but rather He is Lord and Savior to all who come to Him to be forgiven of their sins. Jesus is the only One able to forgive and cleanse us. He earned this right by dying in our place and taking upon Himself His Father's wrath that is against all sinful men. Jesus was beaten, His beard was plucked from His face, and a crown of thorns was placed on His head, then, He was nailed to a wooden cross and left to die. Why? Because He loved us enough to take our punishment! If you feel the HolySpirit drawing you to Himself, all you must do is repent of your sins and ask Jesus to save you. Then follow Him by praying to Him and reading His word daily, finding a good bible believing church is also very important. "But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." -Romans 5:8 Even burly, bearded, axe-slinging, flannel wearing men need Jesus. 3and20baptist.com

If you picked up one of these cards and found us through the web address given at the bottom of the card then thank you for stopping by, we hope that  you are already a follower of Christ but if not then please repent of your sins and ask Jesus to cleanse you and save you before it's too late... Please contact us and let us know if we have helped you.

The Path

But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. -proverbs 4:18

As the children of God it is expected of us to understand more and more as we walk in this dark world... To grow in Kingdom mindedness as all pilgrims and strangers should. Notice the above verse says that it is the path that we are on that will shine more and more until our life here is finished. There are 2 reasons for this...

1) Because this world is getting darker the further we go... And I think as followers of Christ we see that now more than ever. So in essence, the darker this world gets... the easier it is to see the path.

Sometimes our way seems to be blurred and often unsure, and even with our best intentions to stay on the path... we can step off course.

My favorite hobby is hiking, we live near several mountainous state parks so I'm blessed and without excuse when it comes to getting out and enjoying God's beautiful creation. On most trails, the way is well marked, and instruction are given to stay on the trails or danger could befall the hiker. 

And so it is with God's word... We need it... We must have it. It is our compass and lamp. It's always a creepy feeling to be caught out in the forest at dark without a light, we need the Light to stay on our path in this ever darkening world.

2) This is my favorite point... The further we walk in this narrow way with Christ, the more we learn to love and trust Him... The more we become like Him and understand that His ways are far better than the ways of this world. Becoming more like Christ... Thinking as He thinks is our comfort and joy.

Praise the Lord that our path is well lit and will continue to get brighter as we move along. We don't have to fear what is ahead because not only is our path shinning brightly... But the very One who brightens our path is walking hand-in-hand with us. As I said above... I love to hike but I had much rather have a friend with me when I do so - not only for safety but mainly for fellowship with a brother amidst enjoying His handiwork . 

Isn't it sweet that the One who holds the world in His hand is holding our hand as we travel along this path?

Godly Men

"For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;

 Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works." Titus 2:11-14

Do we not all have a concept of what a real man is? Being muscle bound, having a beard, wearing flannel, carrying an axe on our shoulder or driving a diesel truck do not make us men. And even though I personally like these rugged things mentioned... Through Christ alone can we be true men.

For us men to truly, in our hearts, want to repent of our sins, repent of our screw-ups—for us to truly want to turn our backs on our old selves, on the self-indulgent men we’ve been—we’ve got to first trust that we can change, that we can become new men in Christ. I mean, we’ve been the way we are for a very long time, so it’s understandably hard to trust that there’s new life available, right here, right now—life that’s God-connected, God-filled, and God-honoring.

All we need to be real God-fearing men is to bind ourselves to Christ, there has never been a man like Him... And as we become more like Him we become true men.