The Great Commission

Matthew 28: 18-20 says this, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

This is the Great Commission, the final words of Jesus Christ, Go and make disciples of all the nations. This is not a request, not a recommendation, this is a command. If we love Jesus, we obey His commands, if we obey His commands, we are out making disciples of all nations, both the one we reside in and those abroad. The entire world is our oyster, folks. The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.

We are responsible for the fulfillment of the Great Commission, we are responsible for making SURE that the ENTIRE world knows who Christ is, and has had the opportunity to choose Him.

This is the question: Are you obeying Jesus? Are you out on the mission, making disciples? This is Jesus’ final command, and it carries a heavy weight. This is our mission as Christians: to make disciples of the world, baptizing them in the name of the FATHER, the SON, and the HOLY SPIRIT, and teaching them to observe all that Jesus commanded.

Are you making disciples? Are you obeying the commands of Jesus? Or are you living in disobedience and in action. Lying their on your couch, just going to Bible studies and church and not DOING what Christ commanded? Do you have faith but no works? If you do, I would strongly urge you to fix your ways. Do not sow disobedience and laziness, get out there and do what we were commanded to do. Go and make disciples, teach them to obey God and do just as you are.

John 15 talks about being fruitful, James 2:14-26 talks about having faith & works, Matthew 13:1-23 talks about the parable of the sower–all the sower did was spread the word. That is our responsibility. Mark 5 talks about Jesus casting a Legion of demons from a man, and what did Jesus tell that man to do? “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.”

Why would we be any different from the demoniac? So go, obey your King, hold fast to his commands and make disciples of the nations, just as the demoniac did, just as the sower did, and just as Jesus did.

5 Ways Accepting Jesus Can Improve Your Life

“What’s in it for me?” I must confess that’s the question I am sometimes tempted to ask before I make a decision. If I am going to choose something, it needs to improve my life, enhance my enjoyment of life, or somehow make me a better person.

It may be easy to think about Jesus in the same way. How is He going to help? Is Jesus just some ethereal being, minding His own business in heaven? Does He really have a tangible benefit for the rough-and-tumble of my daily life? Let’s ask the question. Let’s see if accepting Jesus can really improve your life.

Jesus actually gives you new life.

Just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life (Romans 6:4).

According to the Bible, you’re dead unless you have Jesus. Seriously, check it out (Ephesians 2:1). It’s more than an analogy. It’s a spiritual reality. The only way to gain new life is to accept Jesus. “New Life?” That’s more than just improving your life. That’s the beginning of life —-new life-— spiritual life.

Jesus causes you to fulfill your whole goal in life.

Whatever you do, do all to the glory of God (1 Corinthians 10:31).

The Bible makes it clear that every believer’s goal in life is to glorify God. The only way to do so is to accept Jesus into your life. Think about goals for a minute. Accomplishing goals is the only thing that gives life real purpose. The believer has a goal—glorifying God. Accepting Jesus, God’s only son, is the only way you can achieve this goal. Pray to Jesus and ask Him to help you glorify God.

Jesus is the reason you can come to God.

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus (1 Timothy 2:5).

(Jesus): I am the way, the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through me. (John 14:6)

There is little dispute over whether or not God can improve one’s life. But the only way to get to God in the first place is through Jesus Christ. As we mentioned above, accepting Jesus is the only way to glorify God. However, there is more to it than that. Jesus is the only way to God. Do you pray to Jesus? You should, because He is the only way to God. Come to God through Jesus.

Jesus totally cleans up your life.

In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace (Ephesians 1:7).

Life can get complicated, dirty, and rather unpleasant. Most of the time it’s our own fault. It’s sinful choices: bad decisions, self-centered living, and prideful actions that create a mess of life. Jesus is in the business of changing life from the inside out. He forgives sin. He banishes every bit of evil from your life, giving you a new nature. If you’ve ever longed to get “cleaned up” in an absolute and final way, Jesus is the answer.

Jesus gives you new meaning in life.

No longer should you always ask, “What’s in it for me?” Jesus gives you a new purpose for life. Now, the question you will want to ask is, “Will this glorify God?” That’s real meaning. That gives purpose to the empty feeling that you may have as you go through life.

Accepting Jesus changes everything. In fact, listing five ways that Jesus can improve your life doesn’t even begin to touch on all the ways He changes you. He doesn’t merely improve your life. He gives you a totally new life, helps you to fulfill your purpose as a human being, makes access to God possible, and cleans you from the top down. Pray to Jesus. Accept Jesus. Experience a total life transformation.

The Problem of Pain, Part 2: Pain’s Positive Role

“In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart, I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

While it seems as though a loving and just Father would do everything to prevent His children from enduring suffering, Jesus told His disciples during the Last Supper that they would have trouble. This is a message that has transcended the bounds of history through the pen of John, the disciple Jesus loved, and reached our eyes and ears. The message wouldn’t have made it this far if God didn’t want us to know and understand that we truly would endure trouble. But how can we take heart when tragedy strikes? Sometimes the grief simply seems insurmountable, and it causes us to doubt the love of God. Could it be that our doubt simply stems from a misunderstanding of God’s love and how He can use pain to make a difference in our lives?

The normal person would wonder, at this point, how pain can possibly be beneficial. When truly painful things happen, they are often completely beyond our control and miserably frustrating. It can sometimes be so bad that it causes us to feel as though life is no longer worth living. In the initial stages of grief over our pain, those of us who pray may ask God to either take away our affliction or take our lives. Those of us who don’t pray might languish for a long time before finding our solace in some earthly pleasure. This is a solace that, if we are honest with ourselves, is temporary because what we placed our hope in is temporary. As soon as this object is taken away, we are back to square one.

The apostle Paul is a wonderful example of this exact principle. This man had been through pain and frustration of a magnitude that many of us cannot imagine for the sake of the Gospel at the time he wrote 2 Corinthians. Not only that, but He had a “thorn in [his] flesh, a messenger of Satan to torment [him].” This man, like many of us, prayed that God would take away His affliction. And do you know what Christ said to Him? Christ, the loving and merciful Savior, said, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness.” Read 2 Corinthians 11:16-12:10 to get the full story.

God allowed this to happen to Paul in order to keep him from becoming conceited. God brought Paul to the point of complete dependency on Him so that Paul wouldn’t think that he could do any of his ministry on his own, because frankly he couldn’t. Paul was called by God to minister to the Gentiles and served as a catalyst for the spread of the Gospel all over the world. This was not easy, and Paul needed to depend on the power of the Holy Spirit in order to endure it!

You see, if we are to serve God and fulfill His purpose for our lives, we must depend on Him for every ounce of strength. Pain brings us to our knees in order that we may have humility and realize that we can’t do this on our own, in dependency on other people, or in dependency on other things. The benefit that pain has to offer us is the opportunity to fall into God’s open arms, crying “Abba, Father!” He is there to bring comfort in the midst of our distress, and He wants to! He wants to have a relationship with you, and He is jealous for you. Let Him have your life, and you will never see your pain the same way again. You will have a loving and all-knowing Father to lead and guide you every step of the way. He holds the past, the present, and the future, and even if your pain feels as though it is needless, realize that He is big enough to use any circumstances, whether they are painful or not.

Does God Care?

Does God Care?
Usually that is a question people ask when they are faced with seemingly insurmountable obstacles and calamities.

Why does this happen? In Ecclesiastes 9:11 it says, “The race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance will happen to them all.”

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:1-2)