What are you living for?

What are you living for?

Want to know the answer to that question, then look at what you do with your two most valuable resources: your time and your money.

Are you spending these 2 on earthly treasures trying to make your life as safe, pleasurable, and comfortable as you can in this world?  Or, are you spending them on things that are making His glory known and His saving power made among all nations?  

We have the tendency to look at people using their resources for the latter,  the ones building up treasures in heaven, and who sell themselves out for the gospel, and we think they are nuts. We ask them, or more than likely talk behind their backs, why would they leave the comforts of America to go deliver the gospel in some of the toughest areas of the world. We see people risk their reputations, or sacrifice money, gifts, trips, and possessions to making Christ's glory known, and we question their motives.  

But, I believe these kind of feelings should drive us to look into our own hearts and ask...
"Where is my treasure? Am I building up treasures here on earth, or am I building treasures in heaven?"  Jesus tells us, where our treasure is, there our heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)

So, let's look upon the cross and the empty grave, and remind ourselves, He is worthy of giving our lives, our time, and our money.  Earthly treasures pale in comparison to His majesty.  Let's live with minds and hearts focused on building treasures in heaven, not the things of this world.

God, give us grace to see the bigger picture.

thanks for reading. 

Peace,

bg

twitter: @gossettbrandon

Do not love the world, or the things in this world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father  is not in Him. For all that is in this world - desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions - is not from the Father, but from the world. And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. - 1 John 2:15-17

Really?

Jesus tells us the greatest commandment is this:
 ...You shall love the Lord God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength..(Mark 12:30)

Do I love Jesus with ALL my heart, with ALL my soul, with ALL my mind, and with ALL my strength? Nope.   Does Jesus really mean "ALL"?  Yep.

Believe me, I love Jesus.  I love Jesus A LOT.  But I don't love Him with ALL that is in me.

Of all the things Jesus taught, He called this the greatest commandment. Why? Jesus knew that when He becomes our All, we would experience true joy and fulfillment, and this would drive us to obedience, a desire to deepen our relationship with Him, and to teach others about Christ.

As Christians, obeying this commandment is a struggle. We really have to ask ourselves some tough questions.  Do we love Jesus with our all? Does Jesus even get part of our love, or is He just something we talk about for 2 hours on Sunday, and then kind of forget about Him until the next week?  Jesus fits nicely in our Sunday morning schedule, but after that, sometimes He just doesn't fit in that well.  And, we can come up with great excuses for not spending time with Christ learning to love Him more; "I'm too busy", "Work is too crazy right now", "My kids have so many activities", "I just need some 'me-time'", "I'm too tired", and on and on.

I believe it's safe to say when we think and talk like this, our hearts do not reflect loving God with our ALL. So, what do we do?

We remind ourselves of the Gospel.  We remind ourselves that He foreknew our shortcomings and still forgives us.

And by reminding ourselves of that, it draws us to love Him more.

I pray that I would come to love Jesus more and more everyday, until that day He makes me new, where I will love Him with ALL my heart and with ALL my soul and with ALL my mind and with ALL my strength for eternity.

thanks for reading.

peace.
bg
Twitter: @gossettbrandon


What prevents you from loving Jesus with your all?

Date your wife

I just finished a great book by Justin Buzzard called, "Date your Wife". This is not a book review by any means (I wouldn't have a clue how to do that anyways), so don't check out just yet!    

What I do have a slight clue about though is learning from past mistakes (because I've made millions).

When Kim and I got married, life was fantastic.  It was like we were still dating, but way better!  I got to go home with this woman every night, nobody to worry about but ourselves, go do whatever we wanted whenever we wanted, sleep as late as we preferred, etc.  It was pretty awesome. 

But then we had kids.  Don't get me wrong I adore my kids.  Outside of my relationship with Christ, my wife and kids are my greatest treasure.  I would die for these 3 people.  

Kids though...well...they change the game a little bit.  

They're demanding.  

They take all your time.  

They zap all your energy.  

I'm ok with that for the most part, except letting all my time disappear and all my energy get zapped brought on other issues.  Big issues.

I didn't guard my heart against neglect of my marriage.  And that responsibility falls on me.  And men, it falls on you.  

Men, we are commanded to be leaders in our marriage.  We are called to love our wife as Christ loved the Church (Ephesians 5).  Let that sink in.  I'm to love my wife like Christ loved the Church? He gave Himself up for His church.  I'm commanded to love my wife like that?

Yes.  I am.

You know who was really bad at following the command to love their wife like that, though? 

>This guy<

I Failed.  Miserably.  

But praise God for the Gospel.  It covers my failures.  It says there is forgiveness, restoration, and redemption at the cross. And God in His infinite mercy and Grace, has blessed my marriage to be even better now (with 2 kids, I might add) than it was in the beginning when I had thought it was at its PEAK! Why? He forgave me. He allowed me to learn from my mistakes.  

And so did Kim.

I learned to love my wife better.  I learned how to better prioritize Kim and her needs. I learned I needed time alone with Kim, (probably more than she needed it with me). And, I'm still learning.  And, I've got a long way to go to be the husband I'm called to be, but I can say I've gotten better.

How did I learn to be a better husband?  I got in the Word. There is NO substitution for this. I got counseling. I watched other men in Godly marriages. I read quality books. "Date your wife" is one of those kinds of books.  It's gospel-centered, and has great practical tips and ideas that are easy to implement.  

So men, get in the Word, and see how we're called to love our wives. Let's spend time with our wife. Get a babysitter and go out.  Go on a trip, just you and your bride. Spoil your wife sometimes.  Let's not just tell her we love her, show her!  

What are some ways you "Date your wife"?

thanks for reading...

peace.

bg

Twitter: @gossettbrandon