Happy Day to my
peeps, my sisters, and my friends! I hope you had a great Easter with
friends/familyJ
So…there was a curious
frog that found himself on gas stove and jumped into a nice pot of water. The
water felt warm so he did not try to jump out of the vessel, instead just
stayed in it. As the temperature of the water started to rise, the frog managed
to adjust its body temperature accordingly. As the water started to reach the
boiling point, the frog was no longer able to keep up and manage its body
temperature according to the water temperature. The frog tried to jump out of
the vessel but with water temperature reaching its boiling point, the frog was
not able to bear it and couldn’t make it.
As followers of Christ,
this world is not our home. Like this frog, we can find ourselves tempted in so
many different ways by the luring, warming, and often times, deceptive paths of
this world. Jesus understood this because he lived it and prayed for us to have
the strength to overcome it. In Jesus’ last moments before being arrested, he
prayed for you and he prayed for me:
“….Now I am coming to you. I
told them (disciples) many things while I was with them in the this world, so
they would be filled with joy. I have given them your word. And the world hates
them because they do not belong to the world, just as I do not belong to the
world. I’m not asking you to take them out of the world, but to keep them safe
from the evil one. They do not belong to this world any more than I do.
Make them holy by your truth; teach them your word, which is truth. Just as you
sent me into this world, I am sending them into the world. And I give myself as
a holy sacrifice for them so they can be made holy by your truth. I am praying
not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me
through their message.” John
17: 13-20 (You can read the whole amazing prayer in John 17)
Can I just say how much
I love Jesus? While preparing to die, he is teaching us how to live.
When we seek happiness
from the world, we have find ourselves in pot of water on a burning stove. It
will last for a while but it will NEVER be good enough. We will constantly try
to keep up with the ever-changing culture. Yes, we can adapt but our hearts are
slowly dying in the process. This can take the form of compromising our faith
out of fear of the world. Giving into a sinful temptation that may have
been knocking at our door. Following the ways of this world instead of setting
the example of God’s. The question I have to ask myself and want to ask you as
well, how are we choosing culture over Christ? What we watch? Who we are in
relationships in? Where we go? What we do?
The enemy is not
Culture, but often the culture follows where our enemy is leading….away from Jesus. This enemy Jesus prayed about is real and will come at us two ways:
Temptation and Opposition. The bible teaches us how to handle this:
1) Flee from Temptation
2) Fight opposition
Unfortunately, we do the
complete opposite. We will fight temptation and flee when it comes to
opposition. All the frog had to do was jump out when the water started to get
warm, but instead fought the temptation until it slowly killed him.
Girls, WE MUST CHOOSE
CHRIST OF CULTURE, FOREVER JOY OVER TEMPORARY HAPPINESS, THE TRUTH OF GOD’S
WORD OVER THE LIES OF THE ENEMY IN THIS WORLD. Praying for you all now!!!
Love you all!
