Why Do You??

It is a question I am asked quite a bit. What is it you may ask? "Why do you volunteer so much?"  "What do you mean?" I reply. People want to know why I volunteer so many hours for the Feed My Starving Children mobile pack event. That answer is an easy one. First, God called us to do it. It says so in His word.

Isaiah 58:10(NLT)

¹⁰ Feed the hungry,
    and help those in trouble.
Then your light will shine out from the darkness,
    and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.

 

Then people want to know why I volunteer handing out food to people in our community with Northern Illinois Food Bank. Once again, God tells us in His word.

 

Matthew 25:35-40(NLT)³⁵ For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home. ³⁶ I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.’
³⁷ “Then these righteous ones will reply, ‘Lord, when did we ever see you hungry and feed you? Or thirsty and give you something to drink? ³⁸ Or a stranger and show you hospitality? Or naked and give you clothing? ³⁹ When did we ever see you sick or in prison and visit you?’
⁴⁰ “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

Now I'm not calling the people coming to pick up food 'the least of these'. They could be down on their luck, or just having a rough season of life right now. If handing them a bag of food shows them the Love of Jesus and that He cares about them by using me, then use me. Here I am Lord! I am Yours. Do what You want. Have Your way!

Why do you do all these walks? Because I believe in what we are walking for, the cause. I believe that a cure can be found for C/F. Breast cancer. Cancer in general. Raising money for all of these causes, will help doctors and scientist discover a cure that God will provide.

Jeremiah 30:17(NLT)

¹⁷ I will give you back your health    and heal your wounds,” says the Lord.

 

So that's why I 'do' all this volunteering. I not posting this to say or look how good Keven is, cause I'm not. I'm just trying to be the dude that God wants me to be. If He says it in His word, then I want to be a doer, not a watcher.

 

James 1:22 (NLT)²² But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves.

Thank You Lord!

 

 

 

 

Have You Ever Felt....................(adjective)?

Have you ever felt _________ fill in the blank. Down, disappointed, frustrated. Depressed, upset, anxious. Hurt, lonely, forgotten, unwanted? If we are honest, we've all been here before. Maybe even more than one at a time. I know I've sure been there before. Even as an adult. It still happens to this day. People say unpleasant things to us, or do mean things. Try to take away our joy, our happiness. Sometimes we really give people this kind of power over us. We try to please everyone, and we just can't do it. There will always be somebody who is upset or mad with you, because you didn't do something exactly they way that they wanted. That is when I really dig into God's word. Look to Him for comfort in these situations.

Galatians 1:10(NLT)
¹⁰ Obviously, I’m not trying to win the approval of people, but of God. If pleasing people were my goal, I would not be Christ’s servant.

When I'm at my job, obviously I want my boss to be happy with my work. I want my co-workers to know that I am giving my best and will be there for them. Although, what  I am really doing is seeking God's approval above all else. He is the one that I am trying to please. I want my work, my attitude, my speech and actions to be a pleasing aroma to my God!

Colossians 3:23-25(MSG)
^22-25 Servants, do what you’re told by your earthly masters. And don’t just do the minimum that will get you by. Do your best. Work from the heart for your real Master, for God, confident that you’ll get paid in full when you come into your inheritance. Keep in mind always that the ultimate Master you’re serving is Christ. The sullen servant who does shoddy work will be held responsible. Being a follower of Jesus doesn’t cover up bad work.

Aren't you glad that you aren't defined by people. People will let us down, time after time. Our identity comes from Jesus Christ. He alone is whom I want to be identified with.

1 Peter 2:9-10(MSG)
^9-10 But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.

So if the enemy comes calling and starts whispering in your ear that you're not good enough, smart enough, whatever enough. Tell him that you are a child of The Most High God. He alone tells me what I am, in Him.

Take Back.

It's time we as Christians take back. Take back our Christianity. Take back our faith. Our boldness for The Lord. We have become sugar coaters of His Word. Telling people what they want to hear instead of what they need to hear. When did we become so sissified in our faith. So afraid to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm tired of being told I can't say something about Jesus, you might stir the pot. Well if talking about Jesus and proclaiming His Gospel is stirring the pot, than I am going to stir away!

Romans 1:16 (NIV)
¹⁶ For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

Matthew 10:33 (MSG)
³² “Stand up for me against world opinion and I’ll stand up for you before my Father in heaven."

Jesus is calling us to stand up for Him no matter what the world brings against us. Christianity is being attacked on all fronts. Seems like the whole world is against us.

John 15:19 (MSG)¹⁹ “If you find the godless world is hating you, remember it got its start hating me. If you lived on the world’s terms, the world would love you as one of its own. But since I picked you to live on God’s terms and no longer on the world’s terms, the world is going to hate you.

We need to stand together, stronger than ever before. Keep speaking the truth. Stop worrying about if we are going to offend anyone. I don't think that Jesus cared if he offended anyone. He told it like it was. He loved all and cared for all, but He let them know that there is only one way to Heaven.
Not many or several, just one. Through Him.

John 14:6 (NLT)
⁶ Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

We need to repent of our sinful nature. Jesus will be coming back soon. We need to get right with Him.

Matthew 3:2(NLT)

² “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.

 

We need to keep telling others about the reality of hell. The Devil is real and isn't playing around. He wants your soul. This isn't a game with a reset button on it, or a do over. It's a matter of life or death.

 

Ezekiel 3:19 (NLT)
¹⁹ If you warn them and they refuse to repent and keep on sinning, they will die in their sins. But you will have saved yourself because you obeyed me.

 

Heaven is real and Jesus is wanting us to spend eternity with Him. We need to start living for Him, obeying Him.

 

2 Peter 3:9 (MSG)

⁹ God isn’t late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn’t want anyone lost. He’s giving everyone space and time to change.

 

I pray that we as Christians stand up and take back everything that has been taken from us. Continue to be bold for Christ. He died for us, so that we may live for Him. Let us not water down or diminish the work that He has done for us.

They Had Time.

It's amazing what God will reveal to me when having conversations with co-workers. A guy was telling us a story of something that happened the other night. He was talking about how he witnessed a car going down the road when it came upon a family of ducks crossing the  road. The mom, dad, and all the little ducklings were trying to cross. The driver had plenty of time to stop, but instead, the driver floored it and proceeded to mow down several of the ducklings and one of the parents. All my co-workers were abhorred by this. They could not believe that someone would do this intentionally. I thought the same thing, but also started thinking, "how come they're not this upset when a women aborts her baby?" The intentional ending of her pregnancy. They were all upset about these ducks being run down, which is indeed sad, but a woman having an abortion is just another normal day. That makes me sad.

Just like this driver had plenty of time to stop from hitting the ducks, a woman has plenty of time before deciding to end the life of her baby. I don't believe that she just wakes up one morning and decides to end her child's life. When a woman becomes pregnant she has three options.
1. Parent. She could choose to carry the baby to term and be a parent.
2. Adoption. Maybe knowing that she can not give her baby the life that she would like, she could choose adoption.
3. Abortion. She can choose to end the life of her unborn child. This what the enemy wants. The first part of John 10:10 tells us,

John 10:10 (NLT)
¹⁰ The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy.

Some of our states are doing very well at proving this verse true. Passing pro-abortion bills that allow late term abortions or even partial birth abortions. The state of Illinois just passed one of the most extreme abortion bills in the country.
Gods word says this to us,

Psalm 82:2-4 (MSG)

^2-4 “Enough! You’ve corrupted justice long enough,
    you’ve let the wicked get away with murder.
You’re here to defend the defenseless,
    to make sure that underdogs get a fair break;
Your job is to stand up for the powerless,
    and prosecute all those who exploit them.”

He wants us to be a voice for the voiceless. To stand up and defend the unborn. He wants us to pray for abortion minded women. Pray that they choose life over death. Pray for those who have aborted and now may have some regrets about it. Pray continually.

1 Thessalonians 5:17 (NLT)
¹⁷ Never stop praying.

This is what I intend to do!