Never and Always

Our faith is full of "never... " statements, and by acknowledging all of them we can better pursue our God!

It's kind of ironic, huh? Before Jesus, God's perfectness demanded atonement for every injustice, so we had sacrifices, but even more so, we had "thou shalts" and "thou shalt nots". These rules helped us stay in the guidelines God had set for us. The Pharisees went a little rule crazy and added more than a few, burdening those who followed God. And then Jesus showed up! He changed it all by offering Himself as eternal atonement for our transgressions... in plain-speak, Jesus is the price that had to be paid to purchase our souls for God. Otherwise our previous owner, Sin, would have dominion over our lives. But no longer!! And in place of all these rules and laws, Jesus left us with a command to love (which is a fulfillment of the law). Along with this command, we have many promises of God's provision, and with it, a few phrases I've devised to make this easy to remember (and cool sounding):

Never Look Back. You know, you have been purchased at a GREAT price. Jesus hung on that cross to keep you from regret and worry. By looking at your past and dwelling on how bad off you were, you are being selfish, and not focusing on Jesus! Every day we live through is one step closer to Jesus, and one step behind us that we NEVER need to regret! Our old man is dead and gone, and our God is constantly shaping us and creating us every day! Which means as we shed the sinful man every day, we have potential for retrospective sorrow every day... but why sorrow when we can feel joy? Instead of looking back, look forward to JESUS, who is slowly creating you to be more and more like Him! You are beautiful to Him, and slowly but surely, His plan for you is coming to fruition! Grace covers your mistakes, and you never need to revisit them! If God has forgotten them, you should to!

Never Give Up. This life can get awfully hard. It can beat us into the ground with responsibility. It can lead us into valley after valley, each one full of shadows and death. It can refuse to give us what we want, yet wave it under our noses as if bating us to grab for more. This life is full of snares, traps, tricks, and trials. Traipsing through life will NOT work; we need to be vigilant! We cannot just waltz through life; we need to army crawl through it. Our God has provided a hope undeniable, though! While this life is wearying, He promises to give rest. While this life is stressful, He promises peace. He promises a great many things; find them embedded in His word! And He is our Father, so He loves to hear His children call out to Him and remind Him of His own promises! Through our cries, He will answer! Let your affliction be known to Him, recieve relief, and press on! Never ever give up because He has never given up on you!

Never Envy Others. It can be easy to look at a strong believer and say, "Man, if I could have what they have, I would be happy." This behavior is WRONG! In our society engrained in consumerism, it can be easy to pick and choose which attributes the 'ideal' faith would have. However, God gave you EXACTLY what you have because THAT faith is perfect for YOU. God gifted me with writing, and while I admit I wish I was better at conversing, the fact is, I'm not. And this is probably for the better, because I live a ways away from town and texting is one of the greatest ways I can outreach to others, rather than face to face! I wish I had a deep spiritual connection with Jesus, but the fact is, it's easier for me to understand Him through logic and reasoning. Some of you may be like me, and others of you may have no idea what I'm talking about. IT'S OK! God made us all different for a reason! If there was just one flavor of Christian, how would our diverse world see Jesus?! Therefore, joyfully accept all that God has blessed you with and turn that back to praise! It is amazing grace that you have so much!

Never Be Afraid. Did you know the phrase "do not be afraid" is written in the Bible 365 times? That's once for every day. Coincidence? I think not! And see, I struggle with fear everyday. It plagues me. I combat it with all I've got, and it STILL wins out! It's a tough enemy, and can only be defeated by Jesus Himself. See, now that we've started living for Jesus, we have a hope. This hope is one of eternity in Jesus's arms; ETERNALLY safe in His presence! A place where this world's memory will fade and forever (that is a LONG time, by the way) will be lived in a rapturous love and communion with our Bridegroom! Oh, what a glorious thought! DWELL ON THIS! This hope, just described, is our fuel to help our faith-trains plow through the brick wall (fear) in our path! By understanding this world really has no power over us, we can share our faiths shamelessly with others! Fear is only an illusion constructed by a complacent mind. A mind that does not want to love will make excuses. Let that bake your noodle.

Never look back. Never give up. Never envy others. Never be afraid. But you know what? ALWAYS, forever and ever, pursue Love. With a capital 'L'. Because in the end, only faith, hope, and love remain... but love is the greatest of the three. Why pursue a lesser thing when you could have a greater thing? Why settle for good when great awaits you? Love is all that matters, and our God IS Love... pursue His love and be free to love. Unconditional love outpoured from an eternal source flows through you and into others... so open the floodgates! What are you waiting for, believer? #LiveItLikeJesus!