Not for faint of heart

 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. 7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; 8 in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.

2 Tim 4:6-8 (NASB95)

Being a Christ follower is not for the faint of heart.  Paul doesn't beat around the bush with Timothy.  He reminds him that serving the King is going to require some difficult choices, circumstances and consequences.  Paul reminds us that serving means we must sacrifice ourselves willingly.  That goes against the grain for us.  We often seek comfort rather than sacrifice.

There is also required the need to get into the struggle for the Kingdom.  Kingdom living is equated to a fight or wrestling match.  Paul also describes it as running a marathon that requires endurance to finish the race no matter how much it hurts.

Yes being a Christ follower requires a commitment in which we give all but also remember the rewards.  Eternity with Him, a Crown of Righteousness and of course a, "well done, good and faithful servant."  Keep striving today in your commitment to following King Jesus!

A Good Declaration!

 I said to the Lord, “You are my Lord; I have no good besides You.”

Psalms 16:2 (HCSB)

Isn't that a great statement?  David's declaration is a complete devotion to God alone.  That is the kind of dedication and commitment we should have to our Master.  But do we really?

David was a man after God's own heart so certainly he never turned away his complete devotion from the Lord to other things.  David never sinned and broke fellowship with God, did he?  Yes we know he did and yet God still saw him as a man after God's own heart.

Well what about us?  We too find ourselves forsaking our commitment to Christ.  Rather than completely devoted and following Christ we sometimes find ourselves chasing after other things.  We find ourselves deep in sin.  But God is good, gracious and merciful.  What a great God we serve.  What a great God to give our complete devotion too.

Holy to the Lord

“Every tenth of the land’s produce, grain from the soil or fruit from the trees, belongs to the Lord; it is holy to the Lord.

Lev 27:30 (HCSB)

The tithe is a subject that can cause a lot of discussion and difficulty.  I am not going to write about the tithe today.  We'll not directly.  For this post at least we will settle with this agreement, that the Scripture clearly teaches the importance for the Christ follower to give.  We won't get into the debate about legalism, Old Testament, Free will etc . . .  Let's just agree for now God wants us to give.

But here is what I want you to focus on with me.  The last phrase says, "it is holy to the Lord."  Remember holy means that it is sacred.  It has a special importance to God.  It also means that it has been set apart.  When we give to the Lord (and it should be regularly) it has a special importance to Him and it has been set apart for His use in Kingdom work.  We are not paying, or paying off God but we are giving Him something that is uniquely special and set apart for His use.  What a privilege it is for us to be a part of something so important to God and His Kingdom.

I encourage you to dig into the Scripture and find out exactly what God has to say about your giving as a Christ follower.  Don't miss this Kingdom opportunity.

Kingdom First

But seek first the kingdom of God

Matt 6:33 (HCSB)

This passage reminds us that the Christ follower has a priority given from God.  Our lives are to be focused on the Kingdom before anything else.  We can be distracted by so many things.  Jesus reminds us that it should always be Kingdom first.

Today we may just need a small reminder to not be distracted by all the other "stuff" of life and to keep our focus on His Kingdom.