Hope for Him

1 Corinthians 9:22 To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. This verse shows are we are to be empathetic with others. What we go through such as weakness can help others that have the same weakness. Doing this helps others so that they are encouraged in their walks. This has happened to me a couple times. One of my friends was going through a hard time and GYGI was able to encourage her because I had the same struggle. I was able to help her and give her verses that got me through tough times. I have also gone through times where I had a friend and she found out something about her fiancé. This was so hard on her and I was able to help her by being by her side and be vulnerable with her. Being vulnerable is necessary to either empathize or sympathize with others. Being open shows the other person that you trust and care for them. I have become to close to my friends with opening up to them ab

John 12:26   If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.  Following God is the first action of service. Then after comes the transition to becoming a servant. Most of my life I thought I was following God. I was serving in the church and did a really good job at playing church and making it look like I was a serious Christian. But I had no fruit after serving. I did not feel like I was making a difference. It seemed like I was serving just to look good. I did it because it was the right thing to do. But now after surrounding my life to Christ, service comes naturally. God gives us the ability to serve him with a meek and humble hearts. When we lay everything down it is easy to serve Christ with our whole heart. Serving God in the past year has been different in the way that I can now see fruit in my life. God has blessed me with spiritual blessings and has been killing my pride. God will hum

Luke 17:7-10 Will any one of you who has a servant plowing or keeping sheep say to him when he has come in from the field, ‘Come at once and recline at table’? 8  Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’? 9  Does he thank the servant because he did what was commanded? 10  So you also, when you have done all that you were commanded, say, ‘We are unworthy servants; we have only done what was our duty.’  Humble service is necessary when we give our lives to the Lord. When we are serving, we are to go the extra mile. When we finish a task, we should ask if we can do anything else. We should not expect special praise for doing things that we are expected to do. A servant does not get special praise from his master for doing his job. Likewise disciples have certain responsibilities which they are to fulfill in humility as God’s unworthy servants. Our attitudes when serving shoul

Matthew 20:26-28 even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  When we further the Lord’s kingdom we are to do that through service. In God’s kingdom, the ones who will be esteemed are those who serve and serve in humility. I have to ask myself do I serve in humility? Most of the time I am not serving in humility, but I am serving just because I am told to. So often we serve and look around to see if anyone is watching us. But we do not have to worry about that. We have a God in heaven who watches our every move. He watches us when we serve and that is all that matters. We do not serve man but God. Christ did not come into the world to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many. Christ came down from heaven to be the perfect sacrifice and to pay the price for our sin. When we serve it should be sacrificial. The things which God has blessed us with should not be hidden. We are to give what Christ ha

Phillipians 3:8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ  We should not give up stuff for Christ and regret it. We can give up things of the flesh such as lusts or material things. When we sacrifice those things God blesses us. Paul’s prior privileges are pointless compared to experiencing Christ. He lost all to live for Christ. We need to do the same and rejoice in those things that happened. The things of this world are temporary and we will gain justification in Him. Paul was sanctified, he became righteous and Holy in the sight of God. He got the future glorification of heaven giving his life to Jesus. We would not enjoy heaven without Jesus. We need to find satisfaction in Jesus. That is what heaven is. Whatever we go through it doesn't matter. God has planned so much because He loves us. The purpose of

Philippians 3:10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, Suffering is a major occurrence in the life of a Christian. We can suffer by non-believers, attacks from the enemy, or even our own minds. Paul went through so much for the sake of Christ. He got imprisoned, stoned, whipped, and eventually martyred. I need to praise God in my sufferings.  When I suffer do I go through it for the sake of Christ? The things I go through Christ has also gone through here on earth when God sent His son. We have a great High Priest in heaven who has gone through the same time temptations as me and will help me. When and I go through them, he will save us and after I am to give glory to God. We should not boast of ourselves getting through these valleys but God bringing us through those hardships and struggles with His power and strength. I am going to now count it all joy when I fall into these circumstances because I kn

John 15:15 No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you. God can make anything known to us. A master would not typically make known everything to his servant. But Christ calls us his friends so he can make known to us things about our future. So often we can keep asking God to reveal the future to us but if he did that we wouldn't be present. I know I want to know the future. I want to know who and when I am going to get married. I want to know where I will be in five years. But I don't know for a reason. God has a plan and his timing is perfect. I do not need to interfere with the plans of the Lord. We know that our God has control of our lives and his ways are far beyond anything we could ever hope for or imagine. That is why we can put our hope and trust in Him. So often I doubt that God is in control. Trust has been brought up

Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead,  We are to chase after the life of Christ and perfection through Jesus Christ. Paul is a great example because he loves Jesus and wants to live a pure and holy life so he can experience all that He has for him. Do I give my life completely over to God so I can experience all for Jesus? Since we are not at the end of our life, we are to move through our life and through the seasons because the seasons come and go. During this season in my life I am constantly looking onto the next season. I want to be done with this season I am in but I know God has so much to do and show me. I need to pursue Jesus in every season of my life whether I want to or not. Paul was constantly pursuing more of Jesus. He was pr

Philippians 3:9   and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— As followers of Jesus Christ we are not under the law. Christ coming down from heaven as man allows us to live under the new covenant. In the Sermon on the Mount it shows that the old covenant was based on laws and rituals. Jesus shows the contrast of how the Pharisees act (old covenant) and how Christians are to act (new covenant). Jesus talks about the Pharisees and their righteousness which contrasts to our righteousness with the new covenant which is between man and God. We are under grace now since Jesus died on the cross. When we have faith that he did indeed do that, we are found in Him. We are sanctified also through Jesus. We are made holy and set apart when we are washed by the blood of Christ. He does not want us to live a hypocritical life like the pharisees and live wanting

Philippians 3:11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.  When we live in Christ our bodies gain new life. We no longer have to fear death or what will happen to us when we die. We will either die and go to heaven or get taken by Jesus in His second coming. This subject reminds me of a friend in Bible college who has this burning passion of Jesus’s coming. Every prayer she asked Jesus to come. This zeal for the Lord’s coming was seen all over her joyous face. It burned in my classmates that same desire for the Lord’s coming. So often people forget that Jesus could come at any moment and we need to be prepared and ready for that coming. I have had to ask friends who are in sin what would happen if Jesus was to come in that moment. It can put fear in their hearts but a healthy fear. I think this fear is necessary for what Jesus asks us t be prepared for. He tells us to be ready so why are we forgetting that. It convicts me in moments of my life and it