2020

How to Stay STRONG

Let’s be perfectly clear I am a Christian. I am not a racist, I am a Christian. So your question might be, “What is the Christian Life?” And you just might ask, “Where is the Christian Life?” And you might go on to ask, “Why does the Christian life exist?” These three questions are asked by my missionary / Pastor friend Bud Carlos McCord who lives and ministers in Brazil. He was our beloved pastor when we lived in Florida in the 1980’s.​

I am a Christian and I believe the Bible is the inspired word of God. It is my guide to help me to be more like Jesus. Why do I live to be more like Jesus? Because that is the answer to the first question above. Jesus is the Christian life!

“This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 
If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love.
God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus."     I John 4:13-17

Jesus is the Christian life! And the Christian life is in me and this is more fully documented in the book of Colossians, chapter three (3).

In the same way my physical DNA in me makes me like my father and my mother, my spiritual DNA is like Jesus who indwells me.
Every believer in Jesus Christ enjoys a special relationship with God our creator. In the Epistle by Paul the Apostle to the Corinthians he writes;

“And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father."

This is the summation of the whole letter to the believers, the Christians in Colossae. In this letter to the church Paul makes the relationship we have in Jesus pretty clear. 
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Where is the Christian Life and Why does the Christian life exist? McCord answers; “it sets the stage to help us realize the Christian life in me is to expel my fear and to perfect my love.”

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Last month I mentioned I have lived in the best of days. Since then I have given this comment a lot of thought. My question, why do I feel this? Recall my DNA comment. My family was Christian, believers and followers of Jesus. This chart indicates the decline of religion in America started in 1962.

Blessed I am indeed that most of my parents and my wife’s parents and grandparents celebrated their 50th wedding anniversaries. Christian, yes spiritual DNA runs in our families. Commitment to marriage is an indication of stability and although during my youth there was social conflict in America, through the lens of my life, centered on the church and my focus on becoming more and more like Jesus, my hope was for resolve of divergent opinions and conflict in America. That is still my hope while remaining focused on being personally responsible for the relationship I have in Jesus. It is my desire that those I come in contact with come to know and accept Jesus Christ as Savior.

                       ​I stay STRONG by knowing I have Jesus, do you?

Perhaps the decline of religion in America is happening because of a breakdown of the family unit. The two statistically seem to go hand-in-hand.
We are thankful we have been able to share our faith in Jesus as our Savior in many different countries and cultures. We still are connected and support partner ministries through this ministry Reaching People far from God.

Spend some time on this site to see what God is doing as they share their faith in culturally effective ways . . meeting spiritual and physical needs.