Happy New Year Everyone...
Welcome to 2019!
How has your January been so far? I hope it's been rewarding spiritually and otherwise. As for me i made a resolution i hope i can keep, to put up more blog posts regularly this year. So help me God!
So you know how several challenges have been trending on social media? Complete with their hash tags, they take up the entire cyber space and that's all people talk about for the next few weeks they are able to receive people's attention. Recently we've witnessed the #10yearchallenege and more recently in my part of the world #thefallingchallenge.
Well i came up with a challenge I'm sure the Lord will want us all to undertake every single day of our lives, #TheJesusChallenge. It's basically pointing us towards living more for Him and laying down our lives daily.
At the beginning of the year we usually would take out some days to fast and pray because a lot of churches encourage this and it seems like a nice thing to do for a Christian. I'll like to employ us all to go above and beyond to make our worship personal this year. If and when we do fast and pray or deny ourselves from certain things to devote time to the Lord, let it be because we desire to know and love Him more, we are genuinely seeking His face to understand how to get closer to Him and our hearts are bare before Him to do with them as He pleases. Because He knows what's best for us all.
So without further ado, here are some points i penned down for #TheJesusChallenge. I hope we enjoy giving more of ourselves to Him daily.
#TheJesusChallenge
Episode 1
·
The purpose is
not just to fast but to live a fasted life. Fasting means to stay away from
food and other worldly consumables to focus on God. Get closer to Him, hear Him
clearer, love Him more and prepare more accurately to obey His commands. To
eradicate the focus and purpose of everyday life and make that focus Jesus
Christ.
#TheJesusChallenge
1 Kings 8:61
“And may your hearts be fully committed to the
LORD our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time.”
NIV
·
The
purpose is not just to stop sinning but to understand that sin is a nature outside
Jesus Christ. Sin is Death’s messenger. Death sends sin to start the
destruction it intends to finish. Be encouraged to embrace life in Jesus Christ
by receiving grace to walk according to His commands and to please Him.
#TheJesusChallenge
James 1:15
“Then when lust has conceived, it gives birth to
sin; and when sin is accomplished, it brings forth death.” KJV
·
The
purpose isn’t to go to church every Sunday as an obligatory responsibility but
to be the temple of God. It means no abuse must come to your spirit, soul,
body.
Spirit: Watch what you let get past you or overtake you: Anger,
bitterness, envy, unforgiveness, rage, refusal to let some habits go, thoughts, considerations, plans,
ambitions, motives, ideas.
Soul: Watch what you enjoy, spend money on, watch,
read, friends you hang with, music you listen to, handles you follow on social
media, places you go, what you’re proud of, what you struggle to accomplish.
Body: Watch what you eat, drink, consume, how you sleep,
how you dress, your indulgences. Are you a slave to these things or completely
in control of them?
Mark 12:30
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with
all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.” NIV
Everything about you matters to Jesus.
Everything! He wants you completely. If you ask me that’s a privilege. That the
creator of the whole world desires you totally because of His immense
love for you. But still he gives you a choice whether to love Him in return or
go your own way. What will be your decision today? May the Lord help us desire Him as much as he desires us... Amen.
Until next time, remain ever in the presence of our God!
Shalom!
MJA
