Sarah Lamb's Mission Perspective

Going on missions trips has been very humbling and life-changing for me. It has opened my eyes to the needs of those around the world. I’ve been privileged to meet brothers and sisters in Christ from numerous different countries. I’ve been amazed by their testimonies, shared in their suffering and joy, prayed with and learned so much from them. Being completely out of my “comfort zone” has also made me more dependent on Jesus. I have clung to His Word like never before. It’s hard to explain how real and vital His words become, how precious His presence is…having peace in knowing that no matter where I am, He is with me…what a staggering reality.  

I remember the first time I went to Mexico, we visited/went to minister to people who lived, literally on the edge of a trash dump. To this day, it is vivid in my mind...people in their "homes" beside heaps of garbage. The reality of poverty struck, and has stayed with me since then. It's hard to fully describe how that changed my perspective. There are such intense needs in this world, and Jesus calls us to help. Sometimes the needs aren't always physical, but people with needs are all around us. Jesus sees each of those needs and cares deeply about them. I want to care deeply too. I want to be moved with compassion like He is. This was one of the times in my life that I gained a greater desire and urgency to give to the poor and to help those in need. That my life wouldn’t be about my own will and selfish desires, but about doing His will and spreading His Kingdom.  

I also remember noticing how joyful the people in Mexico were during the church services/meetings I was a part of with them. Even the blazing heat didn’t stop them from passionately praising! It was such an authentic lesson: worshipping God isn’t about our comfort. There are people all across the world who come together to worship Him without shelter, or even at the risk of their lives.

As far as my time in Italy, one day I’ll always remember is the day of our children’s Christmas program. Because of the snow here in Padova, a number of our children and their families weren't able to make it to church Sunday morning, which meant less voices to sing and one main speaking part missing. We were sad that some of our kids who had been practicing with us weren't able to perform with us. In addition to that, Sunday was the first day we actually went through the program in the "sanctuary" so there were details that we didn't have completely worked out. Needless to say, numerous things didn’t go “according to plan.” But as the Lord always works so wonderfully, the day turned out to be a beautiful reminder of what is truly important. Not speaking lines or song words being completely memorized…not every detail of the program you practiced week after week being carried out perfectly…those don’t faintly compare to the glory of one who was lost being found. A beautiful Filipino girl who had participated in our program asked Jesus to be her Lord & Savior after Pastor Steve's sermon. During part of his teaching, he talked about gifts...that the best gift that has ever been given or that can ever be received is the gift of salvation. The Father gave His only Son so that we might be saved. The gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus. How glorious for her to accept His gift. What better way to celebrate CHRISTmas? After all, it's all about Him.  

Sarah Lamb

Cheri Bunch's Mission Perspective

Cheri Bunch has had the opportunity to travel on several missions trips and she graciously agreed to be interviewed for today's radio show. These are highlights from the interview.
Cheri spoke about mission trips being a time that people are taken far outside their own comfort zones. She shared that one Bible verse in particular was encouraging to her when she was traveling in countries where personal safety was an issue.
Habakkuk 3:19 (Amplified version)
The Lord God is my strength, my personal bravery, and my invincible army; He makes my feet like hinds' feet and will make me to walk (not stand still in terror, but to walk and make spiritual) progress upon my high places (of trouble, suffering, or responsibility)!

I can definitely see myself taking comfort in the thought of God himself being so protective! Cheri spoke of the discomfort of knowing the government was in a state of unrest, in the country she traveled; she spoke of physical discomfort of illness from exposure to foreign germs. She also shared about the joy of seeing Christ change lives in dramatic ways.
One person Cheri met in particular who made a big impact on her was Valle. Valle's story begins in a slum- dirty and hopeless. Women from a church decided to go to the slum and share Christ with the people there even though they would be going into a dangerous area. Because of those women's obedience Valle's life was changed.
The ripple effect was something Cheri got to see firsthand. Cheri's eyes light up as she speaks into the radio microphone to tell of her first encounter with this vibrant believer, "she came to me and said, 'You know Jesus!?' with the biggest smile. I'll never forget that." Valle began sharing Christ with those around her in the slum. Because of her faith and the incredible difference Jesus made in her life, many came to accept Christ as their personal savior. The change was not just internal, not just spiritual. Many of those who surrendered to Christ have had opportunity to move out of the slum and work to have a better life now because of the faith of a few women who were not afraid to share Christ.
Cheri was adamant about expressing a key thought, as important as the things are that we can take to the mission field to share with those less fortunate, "the best thing to take is the Gospel. That will be lasting!"

Chari Kauffman's Mission Perspective

Our mission trip changed everything for me. My eyes were opened to our "prosperous" American mentality. It made me realize that the poor are filled with joy, yet we American's, who are wealthy beyond their imaginations (even when we don't think we are) are poor because we have no joy. They rely totally and completely in God, and we struggle with not relying at all on God....trying to do everything ourselves. 

When I got back from Kenya, I started reading everything I could get my hands on regarding what the Bible says about caring for the poor. I would recommend several great books for those who would like to explore this a little deeper: 

A Hole in the Gospel - by Richard Stearns, 

Radical - by David Platt, 

Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger - by Ronald Sider, 

Make Poverty Personal - by Ash Barker, 

There's Always Enough - by Heidi Baker, 

Compelled by Love - by Heidi Baker, 

The Poor Will be Glad - Peter Greer, 

It's Not OK with Me - Janine Maxwell. 

Several things stand out from the mission trip. Matthew 25: 31-46 really came alive. Water is not readily available. They have no running waters in their homes, at the school, etc. They have to carry purchased water that is very heavy long distances just to have water to bathe in, flush a toilet (if they have one), cook with, etc. I personally drink a lot of water every day, so this especially stood out for me. We would take small bottles of water and give them to the teachers or the school kids, and inevitably in your mind you would hear, "....I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink." Also, something very similar, there were a group of kids outside of the school gate looking in on the Wazungos (white people). I shared a bag of potato chips and a bottle of water with these 5 - 6 children. They were so hungry....it broke my heart. I wept later (not in front of the children....they don't know anything else) and felt deeply touched that God would give me the opportunity to share such a special moment with these slum kids. One of these little girls I would have taken home with me in a minute. 

The thing that I contemplate most is how to impress on my children to go against the grain of our American Materialistic Society. We're thinking of taking them back with us to Kenya this summer. I want them to see that when they look at our pantry that is stocked with food and they say "there's nothing to eat" how blessed they are. That when they have more than one change of clothes that they are blessed. That if they eat every day that they are blessed. That when they are sick and we can take them to the doctor that they are blessed. 

I saw this great quote from Mother Theresa the other day....

Hungry for love, He looks at you, 

Thirsty for kindness, He begs from you, 

Naked for loyalty, He hopes in you.

Sick and imprisoned for friendship, He wants from you. 

Homeless for shelter in your heart, He asks of you., 

Will you be that one to him?

--Mother Theresa

Shared by Chari Kauffman

Houston, Texas

Kandace Rather's Mission Perspective

Not all missions experiences are overseas. Kandace shares how she is a part of something more local.

She writes, "Are you familiar with Treasure Hunts? It's something we have been doing here in Joplin for over one year now. It's seeing your own community as your mission field...going out, finding the "treasure" that God sends you out to find. Before we go, we pray and ask the Lord to give us clues for our treasure map....when we go out, there is hardly ever a time that we are not amazed the preciseness of what He has shown us. One in particular is a young woman who felt like the Lord showed her a yellow submarine. Later that night, her team starts ministering to a lady at Walgreens and come to find out this lady has a yellow submarine tattooed on her arm. There are so many stories like this. We also have healing teams who are going out and seeing people healed instantly and more important, getting saved. Most of the teams are young adults....it's glorious!" 

I love hearing about the exciting things that happen when we trust God. I also love Kandace's perspective on reaching out right where she is, right now. We can be God's hands and feet. We can do God's work right in our own hometowns

Faith that Amazes Jesus

In Matthew 8:5-10,13 we read about an encounter between Jesus and a centurion, a leader in the Roman army.
As Jesus went into Capurnaum, a Roman officer came and pleaded with Him, "Lord, one of my young servants lies in bed, paralyzed and in terrible pain."
Jesus said, "I will come and heal him."
But the officer said, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you come into my home. Just say the word from where you are, and my servant will be healed. I know this because I am under the authority of my superior officers, and I have authority over my soldiers. I only say go and they go, or come and they come. "
When Jesus heard this He was amazed. Turning to those who were following Him, he said, "I tell you the truth I haven't seen faith like this in all Israel!"

What an incredible thought- to be able to amaze Jesus Christ! I think far more often I amaze Him at how long it is taking me to learn a lesson- and how stubborn I can be. This is an amazing story of faith that make me think we can examine our hearts and think about if we are living a life of faith and trust in Jesus Christ. If we stumble and find ourselves doubting Christ then we know He has mercy to offer. We must turn away from doubt and sin and run towards a way of right living detailed in the Bible.

Sometimes Stories are Hard to Hear

The impulse is to close our eyes to the hurt around us. The first reaction is to turn the channel, think of something more exciting, or more comfortable. It can be difficult to hear some stories. How do we handle stories that are vastly different from our own? What about when someone voices an opinion drastically different from your own?

Sometimes the best foundation for relationship is just listening, especially when the goal is forming relationships in order to have opportunity to invest in a life- not just preach at someone. One of our main goals at the FireEscape youth ministry is to build relationships with youth, some of whom are unchurched, in order to more meaningfully connect them with Christ.
Some of the subjects of the interviews conducted at the FireEscape expressed opinions that went completely against what I hold to be true. I did not try to interject my faith as I asked students about theirs, but as a result of the interviews conversations arose about God that night. I was able to share some truths about God and Christianity. Here are a few more of the interviews from that night. I'm convinced, in my humble opinion, that there is no room for judging these teens- but that we must ask ourselves if we are doing enough to share Christ's love and message of hope with the people around us who believe much the same way these young people do.


Mia described himself as a transgender. He did not seem nervous and was eager to talk. I asked him,"What do you believe?" He looked around a moment before answering, "I’m not a religious person, I have my own Bible, but I think religion is overrated. Religion can be confusing to me. When I was around 12 years old I really started thinking about faith." He looked at me and said,  "Most of my family is very religious. My Grandma was religious, she had pictures of Jesus and crosses everywhere. If you didn’t believe like she did you were going to hell."Some of his friends were seated there around us, they had also agreed to be interviewed. He said, "I have a few friends that believe in God- they’re not big advocates of their faith."

Scott Wheeles was one of the people sitting there waiting to be interviewed. He was ready to talk without much prompting with questions. He leaned forward in his chair and said, "I don’t believe in anything; I’m an atheist." I asked him how he came to believe that way and he said, "I was thinking too much, came to alot of conclusions to why it just can’t be. I talk about faith alot, I like to argue about it and I’ve been known to stump people in conversations." He began to relate some of his perspectives on why he doesn't believe in God. I could tell that he liked a good argument, but not wanting to be drawn in I asked if he also rejected belief in anything supernatural. He said with conviction, "I’ve had experiences that make me believe in the supernatural but I reject religion." He talked for a moment about his experiences and then I asked about his family's beliefs. He admitted,  "There was a point that I related to the religion of my grandpa. I was a mormon before I became an atheist. I think other religions have similarities to Christianity. I think other Christianity branched off from other religions. I believe they’re all the same- they’re all just changing the rules." I wanted to move on to the other people who had told me they were willing to be interviewed, even though Scott was still willing to talk and argue his point. I'm sure more conversations will come up and I even mentioned to Scott that many of us volunteers would be willing to talk to him more about whether or not God exists, if he wanted to talk more with us.

Do the people around you believe much the same way as the you, or are there major differences? Is it daunting to think about what some of those differences would be if you began talking with others about their faith?

Photo by Kira Stevens

Stories of Faith from the Coffeehouse

Roxy Lathrom allowed me to interview her when she was visiting the FireEscape. I asked her about what she believes and what her family believes.

"My parents and me don’t talk- I don’t know what they believe. I go to youth group with my friend, but she doesn’t really talk about what she believes, she is made to go to church by her parents." 

She was a little fidgety and worried about not having anything to say as we sat in a booth in the coffeehouse, "Maybe God is real," she said, "maybe not. I’ve not had anything good happen to me so-" She paused and I encouraged her and she shared some details about her life with me. Then I asked her if any religion was appealing to her, if she knew of a church she would want to be a part of and she replied by shaking her head, "Sometimes Christians act mean."

I asked her if there were times when she had to make a decision or if she was going through something hard if she thought about faith. She thought for a moment and said, "If I think about faith sometimes it depends on my mood. Sometimes I think about praying when I’m having a bad day, but I don’t know what to say."

Conversations like this are eye opening. It can be hard to begin a conversation, but those I spoke to were very willing to share. I'm so glad Roxy was honest with me and shared her story. Talking with her made me want to be more bold to ask others around me about their story. It made me want to be more open to share my faith in Jesus Christ that gives me hope during my darkest days. I was able to share some encouraging words with Roxy on the night of the interview and I was able to tell her that I would be praying for her.


Photo by Kira Stevens

Your Story Interviews from the FireEscape Coffeehouse

Our story of faith can find us in such low places, sometimes. 

One of the Pharisees asked Jesus to have dinner with him, so Jesus went to his home and sat down to eat. When a certain immoral woman from that city heard he was eating there, she brought a beautiful jar filled with expensive perfume. Then she knelt behind him at his feet, weeping. Her tears fell on his feet and she wiped them off with her hair. Then she kept kissing his feet and putting perfume on them. When the Pharisee who had invited him saw this, he said to himself, "If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him! She's a sinner!"

v. 50 And Jesus said to the woman, "Your faith has saved you; go in peace." Luke 7:36-39, 50

This woman, known to be a sinner, poured out the expensive and humbled herself completely. Not much is know about the rest of her story of faith, but her faith brought her peace.


Some of the young people visiting the FireEscape Coffeehouse on Friday, February 11 were kind enough to let me ask them questions about what they believe and why. One recurring theme through the interviews was how highly relationship is valued by these high school and college age young people.

Josh McCloskey

I’m a Christian. I believe in God and Jesus. My mom is a Christian- she always talks about Jesus; brings it up when anything happens. She makes sure I believe. Ever since I was a kid its been this way. Busy-ness keeps us out of church. I think about faith before I make decisions. I ask God for a sign to help me make a decision and I believe prayer works.

Chelsea Reeves

I believe in God. He’s the reason for everything. I believe hard in relationship and not religion. I think there is something wrong with every religion, relationships are more important. I believe the Bible says ‘if you love God but not your brother, you are a liar’ I care about people even my enemies. Christians gossip in church, hate is shown against people sometimes. 

When I was younger we didn’t go to church then my grandparents took me alot. Later, in Arkansas I went to lots of church functions. After that it dawned on me that something is wrong with every religion. I feel that Christianity’s biggest problem is gossip.

One thing I hold dear is the saying, ‘why strive to be perfect when you can fall in love with your flaws’ 

Now we’ve started going back to church. I live by Proverbs 17:22 I think it says: 'A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones' and I live by the quote, ‘live for the moment and live for God’. I have an app on my phone that gives me a daily scripture, that’s how I’m memorizing Bible verses.

Tomorrow I'll post more interviews from the FireEscape. What's your story of faith? Why do you believe what you believe?

Musicians' Stories of Faith: Heather Williams and Matthew West

Heather Williams' story is one of her experiencing poverty, neglect, abuse and how she came to know Christ at the age of 18. Click here to watch her video on YouTube.

Matthew West's new album is called The Story of Your Life and is inspired by letters from his fans, telling their stories Click here to read one of the stories of faith.

Share your story of faith in the comments below. Tune in Tuesday to Moments of Grace to listen to a few stories from interviews conducted at the FireEscape.

What's Your Story?

I'm wondering about your story- have you been through some really hard trials lately?

Has God been blessing you incredibly?

Have you been learning about really being grateful for the simple things in your life?

How did you come to follow Christ?

What are some questions you have about faith, God and the Bible?

This week I'll be talking on the Moments of Grace radio show about stories of faith; some from the Bible, some from interviews recently conducted at the FireEscape.  Tune in Monday through Thursday from noon- 4pm on 93.1 KFEX in the Chanute area or listen online by clicking here.


Please share your story of faith in the comments. I would love to hear from you!

I need God's Word

For me the reasons for turning to God's Word are not academic and practical, they are not easily translated into a bullet-point list for quick perusal. For me the need to seek His comfort and wisdom is much deeper than any quick tip or point of advice. I have not always made the right choices, or done my best at living out a life of Christian discipline, but I have needed God. I have heard the message of doubt, taught by professors who claimed to be Christians. I needed God's Word then. I have seen my own shortcomings, as a young woman in high school who didn't really know what it meant to live a life of purity in action and attitude. I needed God's Word then. I have felt the crushing weight of depression as I counted my mistakes again and again. I needed God's Word then. I have held a sick baby in my arms and begged God for relief from fever, coughs, pain. I needed God's Word then. I have paced and rocked and sang myself silly with a colicky baby and sobbed for sleep. I needed God's Word then. I have witnessed friends' marriages tested, seen my own marriage tested, wondered if I really had known what I was getting myself into as a young bride. I needed God's Word then. I have bent an ear and lent an empathetic heart to a friend's heartache and desperate need for answers that I didn't have. I needed God's Word then. I have looked around me and felt the weight of all I haven't done, all I didn't do good enough, all that is left for me to do, a weight so heavy I want to run somewhere just to breathe.

I need God's Word.

The beauty strikes me and I barely breathe;
I long for You,
You promise to be found.
You are found!
Here in the middle of rising flood
All I must do is need You
I need You!
My need is ever before me

                           Corrie Lawrence
                                    October 2010


You have said, "Seek My Face, inquire for and require My presence as your vital need." My heart says to You, "Your face (Your Presence) I will seek, inquire for, and require of necessity and on the authority of Your Word." What, what would have become of me had I not believed that I would see the Lord's goodness in the land of the living! Wait and hope for and expect the Lord! Psalm 27:8,13-14 (Amplified)


In the morning You hear my voice, O Lord; in the morning I prepare a prayer, a sacrifice for You and watch and wait for You to speak to my heart. Psalm 5:3 (Amplified)

I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. Therefore my heart is glad and my glory, my inner self, rejoices; my body too shall rest and confidently dwell in safety. Psalm 16:8-9 (Amplified

God says, "I have swept away your sins like the morning mists. I have scattered your offenses like the clouds. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free." Isaiah 44:22

"And I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, that you may know that it is I, the Lord the God of Israel, who calls you by your name." Isaiah 45:3

You can have the treasure and the riches written about in Isaiah. You must open a Bible, and open your heart to the truth contained in its pages.

Photo by Cheri Bunch

The Whys and the Hows

God gave us something to teach us, to illuminate what is wrong in us, to correct us, to prepare us and to give us the tools we need to do His work: the Bible. 
So how do we start reading the Bible? How do we make God's Word be the top priority that it should be?


It starts with an open heart, and the simple step of opening the  Bible. Some have suggested that if you've never read the Bible before the best place to start is in the New Testament, with the gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. I have always loved the Psalms; reading them has helped me through some really dark times and given insight during some really good times.
If you have read the Bible, but have found yourself giving Bible reading a lower priority in your everyday life, be encouraged! There is grace for those of us who don't have it all together! 
Check out these links for more encouragement as you strive to give God's Word top priority in your life.

Early Morning Memories Here a young lady shares memories of her mom rising early to read the Bible and pray.


Its Proper Place This young mom doesn't regret the times she has spent in early morning Bible reading

Got Bible Questions?/ You can submit your Bible questions, or search their archives for questions that have already been answered and posted.

The Canon of the Bible This gives more evidence to shed light on how we came to have the Bible we read today. 

The Hardest Thing to Do is Open the Bible by Molly Piper. On incourage.me

Bible Reading Plan

On this site you can chose what kind of plan you want to set up.

www.crosswalk.com has a daily Bible reading posted on Bible Study Tools                                          

What Really Matters?

The book of Philippians, in the Bible, is a letter written by the apostle Paul and by Timothy to all the Christians at the church in Philipi.

What was said to them can also be applied to our lives today.

9 I pray that your love for each other will overflow more and more, and that you will keep on growing in your knowledge and understanding. 10 For I want you to understand what really matters, so that you may live pure and blameless lives until Christ returns. Philippians 1:9,10

So what do we need to understand, what really matters?

It really matters that you believe that the Bible is the Word of God and is able to change your life. It has no errors; the New Testament is the account of eyewitnesses to the events of Jesus’ life and the effects His life had on people; the Old Testament is the Word of God, telling of His character- His love for us- His plan to save us from our sins.

It really matters that you believe that Jesus Christ is God’s own Son, sent from heaven to live a sinless life, die for us and rise from the dead.

It really matters that you know that God has a perfect plan for your life, that He loves you enough to believe the best about you and expect the best from you, even when you are at your lowest.

God loves you and wants you to use the Scripture He gave to guide you in how to live a life for Him.


Photo by Kira Stevens

Is the Old Testament really God's Word?

One way to verify if a manuscript is authentic is to find the earliest handwritten copies, made before the invention of the printing press and compare them to the manuscripts we have today. There are many manuscripts that verify that we do have authentic copies of the Old and New Testaments. One example of this is the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. These were discovered between 1947 and 1956 and are the oldest group of Old Testament manuscripts ever found, according to CenturyOne.com. Fragments of every book of the Hebrew Old Testament were found, with the exception of the book of Esther.
The ancient documents are remarkably similar to the Bible we have today, with the only differences being simple spelling or grammatical differences. This is not the case with other ancient documents

Another way the Bible demonstrates its reliability is through prophesy that has already been proven to be true. Prophesy can be simply defined as telling what is going to happen before it happens. Old Testament prophets, like Isaiah and Jeremiah, prophesied many events that later came true. They could not have known about the events at the time. Some of their prophesies came true years after they had already died, but we can compare what happened with what they said and see that they in fact did tell the future. They told the future with such detail that the chances of a random event fulfilling the prophesy are astronomical.

We can also trust in what the Scriptures shows Jesus thought of the Old Testament. If we believe that Jesus is perfect and we read about Him quoting from Scriptures, then we can place our trust in Scriptures as well.

You can follow this link to read more about the Dead Sea Scrolls

This link contains quotes from ancient historians outside of Scripture, that reference Jesus Christ.
Clarifying Christianity

Is the New Testament really God's Word?

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. 2 Tim 3:16-17 

Is the Bible a reliable and trustworthy document?

     The Bible must be valued as God's Word so that we allow it to "teach us what is true, make us realize what is wrong in our lives," and, "correct us when we are wrong." The Bible is the only source of God speaking into our lives to prepare us and equip us to do His good work. There may be other good books but the Bible is the only inspired Word of God.  The Bible is the only book that has the power to truly change our lives.

     
     These are just a few evidences dealing with the reliability of the New Testament. There will be more on this topic and on evidences for the reliability of the Old Testament in coming posts and radio shows. Also listed are links you can follow to begin researching these topics for yourself.

     
     When historians want to verify if an ancient document is authentic there are many things that can be done. These tests have been applied to ancient, handwritten documents as well as the ancient copies of the New Testament. The other ancient documents may have as many as one thousand years between the writing of the original and the oldest existing copy of the manuscript. (The longer the gap between the original and the oldest exisiting copy then the more time for errors to creep in.)  The oldest exisiting manuscript of part of the New Testament was written within 40 years of the original. There are 14,000 manuscripts of all or part of the New Testament, but there are only a few copies of other ancient documents. 

     During the early days of the church, the first generation of church leaders, there were many quotes of the New Testament. They quoted the New Testament 36,289 times. So if all the ancient manuscripts of the New Testament and every copy on earth of the New Testament were destroyed we could still reproduce New Testament (with the exception of only 11 verses) just from the writings of these early church leaders quoting the New Testament. (Source: The Case for Christianity)

We can believe without doubt that the New Testament we have today was written by the people who were eyewitnesses to the events. 

Please follow these links to research the reliability of the Bible for yourself.

Is the Bible without error? From Christianity101

How do we know that the Bible is true? From ChristianAnswers

ClarifyingChrisitaninty This link contains quotes from ancient historians that reference Jesus Christ in ancient documents besides the Bible.

Sweet Mercies Bible Study

Wrong and Right

        This post contains excerpts from "That's Just Wrong,"

How do we know what is wrong and what is right?

        This question could be asked by anyone. We may have asked a question like this ourselves. We must look to Jesus Christ and to His Word, the Bible, to see the source of right. We see people choosing to act in ways that hurt themselves or others and our world is full of wrong because of these choices. In the Bible the list of wrong choices is long:

"They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless."  Romans 1:29-31

       The idea of wrong and right is “written on our hearts” the Bible says in Romans 2:15. It sounds harsh, but even we can see that the result of wrong living is death. Even though we chose the wrong path again and again, God loved us so much that He sent Jesus Christ to rescue us from ourselves. Since death is the result of our sin, Christ chose to die instead of us, even though He had never sinned. He died so we could be seen by God to be righteous- not sin-filled. 

"This righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus. "

Rom 3:22-24

Three days after He died, Jesus Christ miraculously rose from the dead! We can live for Him, knowing that our sins are forgiven.

Follow your heart or follow His?

       Most of the instances I think of involving my heart misleading me are when I was chasing some relationship with a guy! I have to admit that being in a relationship was such a major focus for me when I was in high school. I wish I could take back some lost time that I spent wishing some guy would notice me, or pay more attention to me. I would've been better off to pour that time into my relationship with Christ!

So I know the truth in the statement, "My feelings lie to me." Have you ever followed your heart just to find out that it was leading you wrong? The path I think my heart is leading me on may end in a trap. But the great news is that the Lord rescues me from traps! Even when I become trapped simply because of my own hard-headed stubbornness and silly pride.

"The Lord is good and does what is right; He shows the proper path to those who go astray. he leads the humble in doing right, teaching them His way. The Lord leads with unfailing love and faithfulness all who keep his covenant and obey his demands." Then,"who are those who fear the Lord? He will show them the path they should choose." Psalm 25:8-10, 12

     There are so many times that my prayers include a plea that God will show me the direction I should be going. He is faithful to show me His way, but I'm not always faithful to follow!

       So what are we to do? The world tells us to follow our feelings, follow our hearts and yet that leads nowhere. The way of the Lord can be found. If you seek God- He will be found:

       "I will be found by you," says the Lord. Jeremiah 28:14  

        I will meditate on Your precepts and have respect to Your ways, the paths of life marked    

         out by Your law. Psalm 119:15

     

       He is waiting for you to seek Him. God's heart is to be found by you and anyone who will seek Him. If we seek Him He will be found- you can't get much more straightforward than that! I need that kind of clarity sometimes when my heart is so confused by the emotions that try to lead me.