Fear

We're always afraid of something, aren't we? Even those of us who have no reason for fear because of our Faith in Jesus Christ.

Fear of becoming old
Fear of becoming sick
Fear of our parents dying
Fear of not raising children "right"-wanting them to succeed in life, but fearing they may not.
Fear of not having enough money
Fear of losing your job
Fear of not being accepted
Fear of not being loved
Fear of rejection from people
Fear of being vulnerable to others 'cause they may take advantage of us
Fear of failure despite our best efforts
Fear of the unknown...


If we believe in Christ, there should be no fear in us, only security. Life would be more seen as an adventure because of our security in Christ. Whom shall we fear? When we die and we believe in Jesus Christ, we are to go to heaven.

EVERYONE has fear, not everyone is willing to admit to what their fears are.

Adventure of hope in God

Following God is not as simple, passive, or as easy as people think. It's a journey that's filled with all of life's troubles that is undergirded by faith. Our reactions and outlook during our journey speaks volumes of our Faith. We have hope in Jesus Christ, God's son. Sometimes we as Christians are afraid to make decisions because we are sometimes afraid we will be "out of God's will". Sometimes I think it paralyzes us to be a passive follower. Yes, I agree that there is a sense of God's timing for things to happen, but I think we need to balance that with trusting that the next step that we take will be a step of Faith.



As we step back, we know that God calls is to love Him by worship and glorifying Him. Secondly we are called to love others. These two commands are hard enough. Throw in all of life decisions that we all have to make and your mind gets overwhelmed.



Today's sermon was great. The theme is Adventure of Hope in God. The question the pastor posed was.. If finding hope in God a passive or participatory position? He states that the difference between passive trust and participatory trust is INITIATIVE. There are risks that are involved with taking initiative, but we have to trust that God is God. Any decision that involves bringing glory to God, whether it involves church ministry or otherwise, may require initiative from our part. God may require us to take a leap of Faith. A bold trust in the God that created the universe.



I guess that's why it's called an adventure. Because it involves risks. It wouldn't be called one otherwise. The question that I will continue to ask myself is...Will my adventure of hope in God be a passive or participatory one?

Maturity

Physical maturity, social maturity, emotional maturity, and spiritual maturity. All different yet all related. Growth in one doesn't necessarily mean growth in another. We all understand physical maturity. All have experienced or will experience physical, but not all will come to social, emotional, or spiritual maturity. This impacts how we interact with other people and our interaction with the world impacts our maturity. Social maturity-know how to interact with others around us with respect and being aware of how our actions and words impact others. Emotional maturity-knowing that sometimes you can't control how others react, knowing that people make mistakes, knowing when to throw your pride away and forgive, spiritual maturity-learning from Jesus Christ and following God's word. All interconnect.



The past few weeks has been interesting as I observe and interact with people around me. I'm trying to be more aware of my thoughts and actions as I interact with people around me as well. I've been observing how they deal with conflict, how they treat other people around them, and how what they about others around them. I found that I have alot of growing I need to do :-(

What I observed the past few weeks...

People being rude, people working on their own agendas, people who are self absorbed, people seeking unhealthy things to make them happy because they are unhappy in their current situation, people have tunnel vision and unable to see another perspective or the big picture, etc. I observed a lot of social, emotional, and spiritual immaturity... and I'm including myself in this mix. I'm not any better. I think alot of the reactions, feelings, etc are wrapped up around pride. We hate to let someone else have the upper hand, don't we?

We think that we are better than what we actually are. I think that's why we need to regularly and honestly reevaluate ourselves. When we see truly see what we struggle with, is when we can really begin changing. We can only truly change, when we rely on Jesus Christ. Changes that we make for ourselves are always temporary and lack satisfaction.