Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Why Should I? Why YOU Should!

There are many things we are told to do in life...

Eat your vegetables!
Do your homework!
Wash your hands!
Clean your room!

Most often, these directives are given in the form of commands from parents to children, but certainly we can all see that commands like this come from teachers, bosses, coaches...

At some point, we begin to wonder...'Why should I'?
It's actually fairly normal to do so...healthy, even!
    
    Depending on the attitude you ask it with.

It can be a defiant "Why SHOULD I?", or it can be a curious quest for information and enlightenment--"WHY should I do this?"

These questions even come up in matters of faith, and the exhortations you hear: 

Read your Bible!
Pray!
Go to Church!
Serve Others!

It is normal...spiritually healthy even...to ask "why"...but if we're not careful, we start to do so in a defiant, unhealthy or rebellious way, as though God were imposing on us.

The Answer to all of these questions is multi-faceted.

Why should you? 

Because it glorifies God, and as a believer, that is your chief purpose.
Because it strengthens you in the Spirit, necessary for the Christian life to 'work'.
Because it combines to make us more like Jesus, and
Because doing these things is part of how we 'embody' the person of Jesus to this world.

Remember, Jesus said "The Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:28), and "If anyone would come after me, He must deny himself, take up his cross and follow me." (Matthew 16:24)

At KCC, we encourage you to GET INVOLVED.
We encourage you to serve with others, and to serve others.

We encourage you to participate in our "3 on 3" Saturdays, we encourage you to help out with the Mud Run, and to serve on one of our many Serving Teams.

This is not only so we can have a good supply of volunteer labor (although that is part of it), but more so that we can accomplish the world changing, life changing mission that He has called us to. 

This Saturday, for example, is a BIG day...lots to do. 

We will not be able to do it if we only have the 'regular' 3 on 3 people show up...we need some new participants!

Will it be you?

You'll be glad you did...and you'll understand the "Why"? 



 


Wednesday, May 1, 2013

The Key to Victory

How do you react when things don't go your way?

For many, myself included, you look for an explanation or someone to 'blame'. 

There simply must be a reasonable explanation for why I didn't get my way.

...but what if there isn't an explanation, and there isn't someone to blame?

What do you do then?

I think the Scriptures are pretty clear: 

Trust God.

Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding, acknowledge Him with all your ways, and He will direct your paths."

There is both an 'active' and a 'passive' way of doing this: The 'Active' way comes down to "acknowledging Him" in all our ways. 

It means living as if He IS Lord--of the universe, of course...but also Lord and Master over our lives!

The 'passive' way is that of "Trusting in the Lord". This is more a mindset. It's a way of thinking which KNOWS that God is at work, and He has us in His hands. 

He has not lost sight of us, He has not forgotten us, and He is not insensitive to our situation. 

He knows what is best!

So, when we face troubles, we are to react differently than those who don't have a relationship with Him.

James wrote that...

"when troubles of various kinds come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow. 

So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing." (James 1:3-4)

Again, it's dependent on our trust being in the Lord...HIS strength, HIS wisdom and HIS work 'behind the scenes'.

That's really why we at KCC are going through the "Rise Above" series that we are...because we are all going to face trials, and we need to know how to deal with them.

But look at what James wrote: That we should actually "Consider it an opportunity for great joy..." 

God doesn't only want us to 'survive' the trial...He wants us to 'THRIVE' within the trial! He wants to give us Victory over it and Growth through it!

Remember the famous passage from Isaiah 40:31
"those who trust in the Lord will find new strength.
    They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
    They will walk and not faint." 

It comes down to this:

Trust.

He is worthy of it, and demonstrating it will change you!