Philippians 4:6-7 “Don’t worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.” ~CSB
 
We have all heard those stories about how a little boy is being bullied by another boy, larger and stronger than he is. The little boy warns the bigger child that he has an even bigger brother that will come and protect him from being bullied. When that bigger, stronger brother shows up, all the problems that came with the bully go away.

Now let us imagine that all the worrying we do, comes from the problems of pain, suffering and stress that are brought on by our very own bully, Satan. Look at it, John 10:10 said he comes to steal, kill and destroy. He does not want God’s work in us to succeed. He has no power, but he does have strong influence. He influences our surroundings, our enemies, even our family members through negativity, when we try our best to follow God’s direction. That bullying done by the devil pushes us every day.

But when we read the text above, we see that we must pray in thanksgiving. That young man in the story above asked and petitioned his big brother to come and help him in his situation. He did this in ‘thanksgiving’ because he had faith and trust that his big brother would do what he asked. We also have someone with us who is bigger and stronger than the devil. As Christians we must believe that when we pray in thanksgiving, we are showing God that we have the faith and trust in Him to protect and provide for us as He said he would.

Satan likes to bully us with problems, pain and suffering. But when we put in a request to God and we do it through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, God will show up. He will take care of those things we cannot.

Remember we cannot do two things at once. Worrying and Trust do not go hand in hand. We must let go of the worry in our lives that comes from the bullying of Satan. And embrace the faith, trust and belief in God who loves us and will protect us from everything that is not of Him. When we do that, we will allow His peace to surpass our thoughts, “…and guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”

​May God bless and keep you embraced in His love and protection as you journey in Jesus’ name.
 
Amen

1 Timothy 4:12 “Don’t let anyone despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.” ~CSB

​Tina is 10 years old. She is about to give a speech in front of her peers at school. She was entered into a contest by her teacher. This will be Tina’s first time participating in a speech contest. Tina’s father looks at her before she takes the stage and says, “No matter what happens sweetheart, I am proud of you.” She responds, “You will be even prouder when I win.” Her father did not want her to get her hopes up. So, he adds, “Well, you are going up against other students who have participated in this contest before. Just do your best. This is all you can do.”
 
“Dad…” She begins. “…nobody can beat me at being me. Speaking on what I believe in, is ‘me’.” Tina went on to win the contest. There were a lot of things that contributed to her victory. But the one characteristic that took her over the top was her confidence in what she spoke about. Her confidence showed more in her than in the others that competed.
 
As new Christians, we must know that our faith is given to us as gifts by God. In the very womb we have everything we need to be a child of God. Which means we are made for the purpose God created us for. So, when we stand as Christians, it doesn’t matter if it is the first day we accept Christ. We can boldly stand next to a veteran Christian of 50 years and praise the same way. Why is this? It is because it doesn’t matter to God how long one has accepted His Son. What matters is how we carry ourselves in knowing Jesus Christ as our savior in everything we do and speak. There are those that are lost. They want to know Christ. When we carry ourselves with the confidence of Christ, they will see Him in us. They won’t see that we are just babies on this new journey in our lives. Our confidence from our faith will allow them to see God in our actions and speech. With this we have accomplished God’s main command for us as Christians. And that is to make disciples.
 
We must let go of comparing ourselves to other Christians who may have walked this spiritual path before us. Instead, we must embrace our calling of being His children. And live our lives as an, “…example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.”

May God continue to bless and keep you in his love and protection in Jesus’ name.
 
Amen

2 Corinthians 5:16 “From now on, then, we do not know anyone from a worldly perspective. Even if we have known Christ from a worldly perspective, yet now we know longer know him this way.” ~CSB

I have great memories of my grandfather. When I was little, I remember his smile, his laugh, his jokes and the different voices he made telling those jokes. His laughter, during those times he watched cartoons with me, made me laugh then, and still laugh today. He was the funniest fun person I’ve ever been around. That is how I knew my grandfather as a little boy.

​When I became an adult, and after he was gone from this world, I learned who he really was. I learned that he was an even 'greater' man than I remember. He was a more serious man in the world because his calling was education. He became a well-known principal of Cameron High School here in Nashville, TN. And when I talk with former students of his, they all speak highly of him because he cared so much about their futures. His impact on those students and the community was so strong that there is a school named after him here called Hull / Jackson Montessori School. I bring up my relationship and perspective about my grandfather because I want to show you a different perspective of how we view Jesus Christ.

We grew up as Christians knowing the story of how Christ died for our sins on the cross. When we were children, we knew the story. But as we grow older, we need to understand the story for ourselves. So that we understand the ‘great’ in Jesus Christ. In other words, it’s one thing to know about the story. But it is another to know Christ personally.

As a child, I viewed my grandfather from a worldly perspective. But when I spiritually matured, that is, when I grew spiritually in my walk in Christ, I realized that my grandfather was given a calling from God to be a man that would affect so many people. The same is said for our knowledge of Jesus Christ. Our spirituality grows as we meditate on God’s word and in turn that meditation will seed our relationship with Him. Our prayers and questions through that relationship, will be answered with direction, and in miracles of healing from God that will allow us to know our Savior for who He really is. In the Spiritual way that we should.

We begin to transition from seeing Jesus as just a man who died on the cross, to knowing Our Lord died to pay a debt we could not pay. And we see our Lord and Savior was resurrected by God for our salvation as well. It is time to grow away from our worldly perspective on everything. And begin to live and trust in our spiritual views on all things of God. Now that we see Jesus through our spiritual eyes, we can also now see others through those same eyes.

May God continue to bless and keep you in His love and protection as you journey in Jesus’ name.
 
Amen