Good Distractions

“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander. For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.” -‭‭1 Peter‬ ‭3‬:‭15‬-‭17‬ ‭

It’s not always bad things that distract you from the best things in life. Sometimes it’s an abundance of good things that can keep you from a great thing!

God has called you to the great work of helping souls of spiritually lost people to be saved! When this happens in even one life, it causes rejoicing in heaven (Luke 15:10)! Jesus made His mission on earth crystal clear when He said He had come to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10).

We understand the greatness of this calling, but it often drowns in the tide of many good things that distract us from this great work! We want to make a big difference, serve people, encourage others, help those in need, and do lots of other good things with our time.

However, if we never get to the point of actually sharing the Gospel with others and inviting them into a personal relationship with God through Jesus sacrifice on the cross, we are falling short of the great calling we have been given!

It is important that we do good things in the world and help lift people up practically, but the greatest spiritual need in the world is for people to find salvation in Jesus! We can bless people abundantly in the material, but they will still end up bankrupt spiritually if they don’t find Jesus.

We need to be prepared to have spiritual conversations and tell people the Good News! God‘s Word instructs us to always be prepared (v.15). We can do that by making sure we fully understand the Gospel, can articulate it clearly with our words, and that we are keeping our radar up for regular opportunities to talk about Jesus with others!

Share the Good News of Jesus with people often, invite them to experience Jesus for themselves, and watch how this great decision changes the world for good! Just don't let all the good things ever distract you from this great calling of seeing souls saved!

Right on?

Read/listen to 1 Peter chapters 3-5

Prayer focus: talk with God about the people in your life who don’t yet know Him personally and then ask God for courage to go talk to those people about Jesus

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Prayer Changes Things

“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.” -James 5:16-18

We get to partner with God in prayer to move things on earth through power from heaven! God allows us to work with Him in prayer to see the work of God move forward in the world. His mighty hand is more powerful than all the forces of earth combined and that power is available to you in prayer.

When you get stuck and all your effort is not enough or your best strategies don’t get you there, you especially need to be reminded that prayer can move what you cannot!

The Bible tells us that the prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective (v.16). Righteousness is not based on our works, but received by the grace of God as we place our faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We are covered in the righteousness of Christ through God‘s amazing grace!

However, we are still commanded to live a righteous lifestyle. When we choose to live righteously inside the righteousness of Christ, prayer is incredibly powerful and effective.

The strength of heaven is accessible to us through prayer no matter what adversity is against us here on earth! Never lose sight of the immeasurable power of prayer when accessed by faith in the mighty strength of God!

There’s no problem too big to prayer through and no amount of obstacles too many to find your way through by prayer!

Make the decision to partner with God in prayer as you live a righteous life in Him! Then watch Him do more than you could have ever accomplished in your own power!

Right on?

Read/listen to James chapter 5 and 1 Peter chapters 1-2

Prayer focus: thank God that He hears you when you talk to Him and then prayer about the important things on your mind with faith that God can do something about it

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Your Words Have Incredible Power

“When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal.  Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go.  Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.” -James 3:3-5

Your words have incredible power to change your life and the lives of other people. That change of life can either be for better or for worse and your words have the power to move things quickly in either direction.

Words shape the experience you have in life. We are all living within the consequences of our past words, both good and bad.

You won’t get it right every time with your words. Thank God for his grace through his Son Jesus, as He forgives when we ask Him! However, just because God forgives us from sinful words, it does not mean that you will always be exempted from the practical consequences of damaging words. They can break up a relationship, they can damage a reputation, they can derail a career, and they can cause many other problems.

God’s Word tells us that our words have the power of life and death (Proverbs 18:21).

The good news is that your words can also be trained to bring good consequences in your life and in the lives of others. You can build others up, spread the Gospel, and bless people in many ways!

There are a lot of words spoken every day and for many people, most of those words are not spoken with intentionality. Imagine the difference if you would choose to be more thoughtful with your words!

Decide today to use your words to bring life and build up, not cause damage and tear down! Make a firm commitment to avoid using words that are damaging, regardless of how you feel in the moment or how hurt you were by the words of others!

Walk in the Spirit and stay in God‘s Word so that your words are tapped into the best source.

Use your words to make a difference today and see how it changes things for the better tomorrow!

Right on?

Read/listen to James chapters 2-4

Prayer focus: talk to God about how you want to use your words beneficially going forward and ask for His forgiveness for words you've spoken that were not pleasing to Him

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