First Friday Fellowship

Being a believer definitely doesn't mean that life is about to take a major turn toward the easy and comfortable, because we've chosen to follow Christ. In fact, becoming a believer in most cases, is the beginning of some pain… the pain of change; and God definitely loves us enough not to leave us who we were.

We're going to fall. When we do, just stay down there for a minute. Stay down there when you fall… when we fall, and get on your knees, ask for His mercy, ask for His forgiveness, and mean it, and LOVE Him and trust Him. And then, stand up, and BE RENEWED. 

See, and feel, and experience the mercy of a perfect creator, a perfect father, the one who loved us so much, that He sent His Son, so that we could have eternal life.

It's not enough to point at the world around us and blame them for everything that is happening, when we, His people, have corrupted ourselves with the world in hundreds of ways.

It's time for His people to start dealing with OUR OWN corruption. 

We're saved by the grace of Christ, and with that salvation, we are called to face this world with courage.

When it comes to healing this land, we need to repent. We, His people, His believers… we need to repent. We need to seek His face, and ask Him to heal our land.

Declaring “Jesus is Lord,” is important. However, it is not enough to speak the truth of God's Word. We must also DO His will. 

Our actions support the fact that we believe it. We start living a life that glorifies Him, because we BELIEVE He is who He says He is. 

Words are cheap. 

Any of us can say, “Jesus is Lord.” Any of us can write, “#Jesus loves you!” 

But, that's not the same as living a life that shows the world, that I know Jesus loves me, that I know Jesus died for me, that I know Jesus is Lord, and King, and God, and He is my personal Savior.

He died for my sins.

The scales of justice on this earth are simply not balanced. Great people have lived and died, and paid the ultimate price for us. And we will never know their names or anything about them.

Life isn't fair.

For that matter, the greatest Man to ever walk on this earth, was brutally killed without ever committing a crime, or a sin of any kind, JUST so that we could have eternal life, and be reconciled to a perfect and Holy Father.

Life. ISN’T. Fair!

And when we live our lives without gratitude, without bowing our hearts and our knees, first to the one man Jesus, that gave us everything, and second, to all the men and women that have gone before us, to give us the life that we currently live, WE CONDEMN ourselves by OUR LACK of gratitude.

The greatest gift, the greatest tribute that we can give to a God that's done nothing but give to us, is be thankful, to be grateful, to get on our knees. Ask Him to forgive us for any lack of gratitude, and thank Him for His abundant blessings in our lives.

Exodus 20:17 / Hebrews 13:5 / 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 / Ecclesiastes 5:18-19

Satan's entire goal is to turn our eyes from Jesus. 

Why? 

Because our Redeemer lives, and our salvation is near, and there is no name under heaven in which man can be saved. 

Simplify the battle. See this world for what it is. This is just a spiritual battleground.

Simplify the battle and you will see far more clearly that this all comes down to Jesus. 

The media we consume will either, subtly and carefully, turn our eyes away from Jesus, or directly and boldly turn our eyes TO Him.

Choose carefully.

What happens to us when God puts us under intense pressure over time… when He puts us to the refiners fire?

God is not interested in making us rich, or for us to be respected by the world. He's interested in real, authentic growth. And that growth does not happen without pressure, without pain.

The refiners fire of God's hand, the pressure that God allows us to be placed under, is what takes the normal and leads it to the extraordinary.

God himself, being directly interested in our growth, our development, our ability to impact others, for HIS namesake!

1 Peter 1:6-7 / Job 23:10 / Matthew 3:11-12