Ive been seeing a lot of stuff lately on facebook lately about how we can't believe that we have messed up and we think all is lost. I can really relate to this.... sometimes I feel that I say one thing, or do another and peace just will just never be achieved. I can see why we get so upset. In today's society relationships are what make or break, and if you lose them it seems as if our balance of friendships with one another just goes way out of order.
I feel though that I've left one relationship unchecked, and that I have been worrying about other relationships that just don't compare to this one. My relationship with Jesus Christ should be the most important thing in my entire life, yet I feel that we often worry about the wrong thing.
If we strengthen our relationship with Jesus Christ we will be on top of the world. We can do anything, we can live for a much better purpose and not only will we have developed a relationship witht the most amazing and important person in this world, but relationships will be healed and others will be formed.
God Bless,
Jeremy Shafer
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Christianity in America
First of all I would just like to say that it is very strange how God leads us to do things after it seems we may never come back to doing them.
What inspired me to writing this post had occured last wednesday at my church. I have been taking a class call "Radical" based on the book by David Platt. Now before beginning the lesson the teacher had set out maps showing the current global mission of Christianity. Now the thing that caught my attention was indicated by the colors green and red. Green represented those who have heard the good news of Jesus Christ, and red represented those who hadn't. (Rought estimate for each case) Now as expected the U.S. was pouring with Green with limited amounts of red, orange or yellow. (Orange and yellow representing small amounts of people who have heard about Chirst) Now I looked towards the country of India a country where Hinduism is the main religion and where Poverty is the hardest, this country had a small percentage of Christians, but I began to think maybe this country has more genuine faith than America.
Don't get me wrong we are very blessed in the states to have very nice churches and a very strong Christian community. But I'am afraid that we as a country have drifted into the "What Next?" attitude. We are so worried about all the stuff we have, that we have forgotten who our main focus should be, Jesus!!! I mean do u think Christ said "I am the Alpha, the Omega, the beginning and the end" because he was wanted to focus on something other than him, No!
Now im not saying that if you have a lot of stuff that you are a bad person, I am simply saying that we need to examine ourselves and find out where we stand in our Faith towards God. We should be thanking God for all the blessing that we have, and reaching out to those who need it because frankly I believe that most Americans can live on half their salary, maybe even less than that.
It doesn't come as a surprise to me that the Faith of people in third world countries is so strong. It is because these people rely on God alone that they are able to develop a close intimate relationship with Him. If we as Americans just simply devote less time to ourselves and more towards others, imitating the humility that of Christ we will be able to develop a close intimate with God as well.
My challenge for everyone reading this isn't to drop everything you have and live in the wilderness, or put one hundred bucks into the offering plate. My challenge for everyone reading this is to see during the week what you can do for others that can demonstrate the Love of God and what he has to offer them. If we as a community of Believers work side by side humbling ourselves before God, and not worry about what modern day corporate America has to offer I am certain that we can do great things around the world.
Please feel free to send me any prayer requests to my facebook page or to my email uga81694@gmail.com
"Whoever so exalts himselfs will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted" Luke 14:11
God Bless, Jeremy
What inspired me to writing this post had occured last wednesday at my church. I have been taking a class call "Radical" based on the book by David Platt. Now before beginning the lesson the teacher had set out maps showing the current global mission of Christianity. Now the thing that caught my attention was indicated by the colors green and red. Green represented those who have heard the good news of Jesus Christ, and red represented those who hadn't. (Rought estimate for each case) Now as expected the U.S. was pouring with Green with limited amounts of red, orange or yellow. (Orange and yellow representing small amounts of people who have heard about Chirst) Now I looked towards the country of India a country where Hinduism is the main religion and where Poverty is the hardest, this country had a small percentage of Christians, but I began to think maybe this country has more genuine faith than America.
Don't get me wrong we are very blessed in the states to have very nice churches and a very strong Christian community. But I'am afraid that we as a country have drifted into the "What Next?" attitude. We are so worried about all the stuff we have, that we have forgotten who our main focus should be, Jesus!!! I mean do u think Christ said "I am the Alpha, the Omega, the beginning and the end" because he was wanted to focus on something other than him, No!
Now im not saying that if you have a lot of stuff that you are a bad person, I am simply saying that we need to examine ourselves and find out where we stand in our Faith towards God. We should be thanking God for all the blessing that we have, and reaching out to those who need it because frankly I believe that most Americans can live on half their salary, maybe even less than that.
It doesn't come as a surprise to me that the Faith of people in third world countries is so strong. It is because these people rely on God alone that they are able to develop a close intimate relationship with Him. If we as Americans just simply devote less time to ourselves and more towards others, imitating the humility that of Christ we will be able to develop a close intimate with God as well.
My challenge for everyone reading this isn't to drop everything you have and live in the wilderness, or put one hundred bucks into the offering plate. My challenge for everyone reading this is to see during the week what you can do for others that can demonstrate the Love of God and what he has to offer them. If we as a community of Believers work side by side humbling ourselves before God, and not worry about what modern day corporate America has to offer I am certain that we can do great things around the world.
Please feel free to send me any prayer requests to my facebook page or to my email uga81694@gmail.com
"Whoever so exalts himselfs will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted" Luke 14:11
God Bless, Jeremy
Friday, February 26, 2010
God's Great Wall....and other Great things.
After a long task filled week at school, I found it really hard to kinda focus on God a lot. But from what I did read really changed my idea of God's greatness.
Nehemiah a member of the tribe of Judah really shows that with God all things are possible. Nehemiah was called by God to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem which had been devastated by a fire. Although Nehemiah knew that what he was about to do looked nearly impossible and ...he knew that with God by his side something amazing would happen. And it sure did with the help of many people he was able to rebuild the walls in 52 days, which stood at 1.5 square miles. With this hard devoted work Nehemiah was able to reform Israel and reestablish God's trust in Israel.
Now you may be asking right now "What does this have to do with my life?" Well it is a fine example of how God came through with his will and that there was no need to worry. Nehemiah could have easily looked at God and said "No way that is impossible" but he had faith and God was able to do great things with him. Now as Christian we should be able to put our entire trust in God because it will be the best overall thing for our lives. Now I can agree with a lot of people that it is not easy...we often have situations in our lives were we simply force ourselves to get things done on our own, but with God's trust we can be assured that his Great Plan for us and all the Great Things he plans for us to do is being fulfilled.
Now my challenge this week is to put all my trust in God because I know that my life will come much easier with God looking over my shoulder. I will be praying for every Christian that they will be able to do the same.
God Bless,
Jeremy Shafer
Matthew 21:22
Nehemiah a member of the tribe of Judah really shows that with God all things are possible. Nehemiah was called by God to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem which had been devastated by a fire. Although Nehemiah knew that what he was about to do looked nearly impossible and ...he knew that with God by his side something amazing would happen. And it sure did with the help of many people he was able to rebuild the walls in 52 days, which stood at 1.5 square miles. With this hard devoted work Nehemiah was able to reform Israel and reestablish God's trust in Israel.
Now you may be asking right now "What does this have to do with my life?" Well it is a fine example of how God came through with his will and that there was no need to worry. Nehemiah could have easily looked at God and said "No way that is impossible" but he had faith and God was able to do great things with him. Now as Christian we should be able to put our entire trust in God because it will be the best overall thing for our lives. Now I can agree with a lot of people that it is not easy...we often have situations in our lives were we simply force ourselves to get things done on our own, but with God's trust we can be assured that his Great Plan for us and all the Great Things he plans for us to do is being fulfilled.
Now my challenge this week is to put all my trust in God because I know that my life will come much easier with God looking over my shoulder. I will be praying for every Christian that they will be able to do the same.
God Bless,
Jeremy Shafer
Matthew 21:22
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