What comes to your mind when you think about your family? How often do you just think about your family and what it is made of? For most of us when we think about family we probably don’t think that we have the perfect family. Yet in the back of our thoughts we might be searching for the perfect family. Them family that never ever fights, that always agrees with what you want to do. As we go through life we experience it with our family, we learn and grow in life with our family. But what is family? How does one define family? Well for some of us a family is a Dad, Mom, brothers or sisters and us. But not ever family is made up the same. So what is family? So for practical purposes we will define your family as the people who you live with day to day. The people who are connected with the common purpose to be a family. So what does family look like for you? Well, only you can answer that question. We all have family, and we all will be shaped by our family experiences. Family life can be hard but it does not have to be hard. Chances are that family was not so hard a few years ago. When you think back to elementary school, family might have seemed easier, a more happier time. So what has changed? Why has family life maybe become more difficult? Well, to put it quite frankly you are changing. As you go through Middle School you are changing and things about you are changing the family. So what about the perfect family, it might appear that it was the perfect family years ago, but now things have changed. The first thing we want you to understand is this. There is no perfect family. Family is made up of people, and people are not perfect. So you can’t get a perfect family from imperfect people. That is just the way it is. If there is no perfect family then what are we to do. As you read this you might be thinking about that family that you know and you might be saying they are a perfect family. But that is not possible since it is made up by imperfect people. So why do they look perfect to you? They look perfect to you because they are not your family. They might do family different than you and they might do family in a way that you would want to do family but in no way are they perfect. The best thing for you to consider is how can you make a positive impact on the family that you have. How will you be the change in your family. As you grow and change, you will need to play a more active role in your family. So ask yourself these two questions: What role do you play in your family? How do you influence your family? Then after you start to process these questions get ready to talk, yes talk to your family. As we look at family we will be pushing to talk and communicate with your family. Scared, don’t be we are going to help you in the journey!
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The world is under the influence of the culture ansi it really does not offer a lot of purity. Advertisements are everywhere, they bombard us with images and thoughts. They seek to kill us. TV shows do not model the way we have been called to live. Movies, video games, and music teach us and seek to cause us to live in a way that is counter to purity. What are we to do, We live in this culture and it is a part of your life! Don’t worry I am not about to tell you what to do, I am not here to tell you to put away all the things of the world. No that is not what I am going to tell you to do. What I suggest is that you really think about what you want. What do you want your life to be in the end. What do you want for your life now. Figure that out and then set a course for those things. There is tension in our world, it does not support the best decisions for you, it only supports the best decisions for it. The world and the culture around us does not line up with God, or the way that he created us to live. The world is opposite from God. So what is a person to do? How are we to live a life of purity as we race after God, in a world that does not offer purity? Well first decide what you want for your life. You have to decide is God’s way the best way, or is the worlds way the best. Do you want to be radical? Or do you want to be like everyone else? What you decide will determine everything. Purity is a choice. If you seek to go after purity then read God’s word because in it a young person can find the strength and the power to live a life of purity! Psalm 119:9 Tell us this: How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. There it is, it is possible, but you have to decide, you have to make the decision about what you want to live your life for. Once you decide this then the road is still hard but at least you know what road you are walking on. The Bible tells us that we can do it and it is timeless it does not change, the standard can be reached! God’s way is the best way to live. You have to want it you have to really want it cause the tension of you wanting it would break the strongest individual. There are steps to follow and a path that is the right way to live, but you have to decide. What do you want? It is your choice, you are free to decide. All I ask is that you decide on one way or the other…. Psalm 119:9 How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to your word. Purity sets you apart from the rest of the world. It would be a challenge to anyone, to live a entire day not allowing anything to contaminate them in thoughts, speech, and action. When I think about life in middle school, well it is even more a challenge. Everything and everyone around you could possible be carrying something that could contaminate you. So with that in mind don’t forget your armor because it is a battle out there. Seeking to stay pure and live for purity is a character trait that will set you apart from others. I mean I think about the trend that we have in our culture, like gluten free. How so many people are deciding to live gluten free. Some they have to due to allergies but others just choose to be gluten free for a healthier life. Wow that is a hard one because gluten is in everything. We you meet those people you have to think wow that is really hard and you must be serious about what you are doing. They are set apart they are different than everyone else who don’t check the ingredients in everything that they eat. Just as some people choose to be very careful about what they eat, we are as followers of Jesus are called to be careful about what we allow to enter our minds. We are to live with purity as the goal. But the attack is on and it goes beyond just looking at every ingredient that we eat. All around us are images and sounds that have the potential to make us stumble in our race to live pure lives. As hard as it is it is not impossible and it is worth every effort that we put towards it! Check this out 1 Timothy 4:12 Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity. You and I are encouraged to live a life that sets examples to others. We are called to live for Purity! In this one verse we get some clear steps to work from. We are called to set examples in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity. When we set our mind to working on steps, simple things that we can do every day in small bite size portions we can achieve anything. The fight for purity starts in the mind and what we allow in and allow to let out. Here are some basic steps: 1. Think of your life as giant sign to show others who Jesus is. 2. Words are power, think about what you say. 3. Make your life match your words. 4. Make your love match your words and your life. 5. Dig into your faith let what you believe be more than just what you believe but let it guide. 6. Strive to be pure, Chase it, Fight for it. Keep reading if you are serious this EFMag is all about the how to of Purity! Purity, what is it really and why should you care? Well that is the question we ask last week and well you had some pretty incredible things to say. Purity is important and we have to fight for it in this world that we live in. There are things everywhere around every corner that will cause us to trip and fall. I think of Bat Man the movie and yes there are many of them but I am think of one of the first ones that came out and got the whole Bat Man thing started again. There is this quote in it after Bruce feel down in the well and broke I think his arm. As his father is carrying him in the house his father asks him this question. “And why do we fall Bruce?” “So we can learn to pick ourselves up.” I love that quote and I love the message that is behind it. We must never quit and we must never give up, even after our biggest failures. We have to fight on. If I was going to create a quote along the lines from the Bat Man movie for people who follow Jesus I would state it this way. “Why do we fall down?” “So we can learn to depend on Jesus to pick us up.” As we go through life their will always be an attack on us to not live with purity in mind. We will get messed up and we will mess up and then we will need to have Jesus clean us up and pick us up. The goal is to live for purity and to strive after it with everything that we have. But there will be those times that we slip and fall, and find ourselves in things that are not pure. I mentioned it last week, and I will mention it again in this article because it is such an awesome verse. I hang out on this verse all the time. Philippians 4:8 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things. This verse acts like an anchor for my mind so that I will only run after the things that are pure and right. It helps me check myself when I start talking bad about someone else. It helps me stay the course. I want to be pure but there is such a battle. We have to fight and we have to run to God’s word for encouragement and strength so that we might fight the good fight of pure living. As we continue to look at purity, one thing will stand out. God’s ways are the best. They always lead to good things. The world and the culture that we live in will try to sway us and make us think that it’s ways are best, but it just isn’t true. God’s ways are always the best! Put your life to the purity test compare and hold everything up to God’s word and see what is true, what is noble, what is right, what is pure, what is lovely and then you will learn that God’s way is the best! It’s hard and it is impossible to do without Jesus leading the way. We fall so we can learn to depend on Jesus to pick us up again… So what do you think, how important is purity? I mean as soon as you think about purity what comes to your mind? What do you think of? For most of us we think about things that we eat or drink. We think about is that drinking water clean, or is that food good or bad. Purity is well pure. It means that it does not have anything in it that is not supposed to have in it. So what do you think about your drinking water? Is it pure? Can you drink Aspen Tap? Or do your have to drink from bottled water? Purity is defined this way… the condition or quality of being pure; freedom from anything that debases, contaminates, pollutes, etc.: the purity of drinking water. So when you look at the definition of purity what jumps out to me is this that it is free from anything that pollutes it. Now if we were talking about drinking water, we could name off a ton of stuff that pollutes it. There are many things that we would not want to see in our drinking water. Purity is important, we have government agencies that only look at and ensure that things that are around us are pure. From our drinking water, to the air that we breath. This is very comforting to me, I like to know that someone else is keeping an eye on these things. Now I ask the question that you knew was coming, how is your purity? How are you living your life are you seeking to live a life that is pure? God cares about our purity and how we live our lives. Check out this verse. Philippians 4:8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable–if anything is excellent or praiseworthy–think about such things. So what do you think about? How do you see purity in your life. God knew that purity would be tough for us and knew that there would have to be a sacrifice for us that was completely pure. We need something pure to come between us and God. That person of purity is Jesus. Jesus lived a perfect life for us so that we might be able to live out of His life. The Gospel is that story we don’t have purity and Jesus sacrificed Himself for us so we might be able to claim His purity. So think about it this way would you drink contaminated water? Would you? Nay you wouldn’t and neither will God. So think about your life this way you are contaminated and well God will not have anything to do with you unless you are pure and remain in a state of purity. Now you and both know that we can do, it. So that is where Jesus comes in and He purifies us. We have Jesus, and we have control over ourselves, we need to put both things into action and live a life that seeks the pure things. If you were a cup of water would you drink you? Or would you start thinking about all the things in your life that you would rather not want to drink? See you have to believe that God’s way is the best way and when He says that we should seek to be pure, well then we need to seek it out and depend on Him to show us how we can live a life running after purity in a world that seeks to make us contaminated. What do you pray for? Have you ever thought about praying for your school, your teachers, your classmates even the ones that you do not know? That is the challenge that is before us now, we are going to challenge you to pray and pray hard for all the things listed above. When you pray for things God moves, and He moves in the area that you are praying and in you! Prayer is powerful and so awesome! Not only does it effect the area that you are praying for but it also affects you and changes you to have a bigger heart for the things that you are praying for! Check this verse out from Luke 11:9-13 "Here's what I'm saying: Ask and you'll get; Seek and you'll find; Knock and the door will open. 10" Don't bargain with God. Be direct. Ask for what you need. This is not a cat- and mouse, hide- and seek game we're in. 11 If your little boy asks for a serving of fish, do you scare him with a live snake on his plate? 12 If your little girl asks for an egg, do you trick her with a spider? 13 As bad as you are, you wouldn't think of such a thing you're at least decent to your own children. And don't you think the Father who conceived you in love will give the Holy Spirit when you ask him. Wow is that cool, Jesus is telling us that we need to pray with direct and purpose with God. We need to have a conversation with Him letting Him know what we need and when we need it! That is pretty cool! God is so awesome and so great to us. We are His children and when we have a heart for something He has a heart for it as well. So what could happen if you started praying for your school? What could happen in the school? What could happen to you inside you how do you think you would change if you were to pray three times a day and during those prayer times lift up your school? Another powerful verse about prayer is this, check it out! Jeremiah 33:3 Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known. God is telling us that when we talk with Him He will show us things and teach us things. That is so powerful, He will guide our prayers. You could try something like this, “God what should I pray for about my school?” Then see what He says see how he guides you to pray. That is some cool stuff for sure. We are going to start praying and seeking God to change us so that we might change the school and allow all of our friends that we know have a chance to hear about Jesus! But we need to pray, so get ready to go for it and I promise you it will be awesome! Worshiping God is a life style, it is a way that we live. It is not an event that we attend and participate in from time to time. We are called to worship God with our lives. We are to live lives of worship to God. Which means that we are to worship God in all that we do, all that we speak, and all that we think… That sounds like a tall order, but all the glory goes to Jesus because our works do not earn us salvation, Jesus paid for our salvation on the cross. We respond to Jesus by living our lives to draw closer to God and to worship Him in all that we do. Have you ever thought about how you live your life? What causes you to make certain decisions? Why do you do what you do? What navigates you to think certain ways about this or that? When we live our lives as acts of worship to God it deepens our relationship with Him and lets us become who we were made to be. Romans 12:1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship. What do you think it means to live your life as a living sacrifice? Do you see yourself praying all the time, doing nothing but reading the bible? That is what many people might think of but this verse goes more deeper than that. This verse points us back to Jesus and the way that He lived when He was on the earth, walking in the flesh. Jesus lived his life looking for the things that His father God wanted Him to do. He was on mission to show the world who God is. Do you live your life on mission to show the world who God is? Do you find that when you are seeking out what God wants you to do that you are growing closer to God? Living our lives as worship to God causes us to love God more and live the life that He has for us to live. The live that He has for us to live is much greater than any other life that you will ever know. James 4:8 puts it this way. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. God longs for us to be close to Him. All we need to do is draw close to Him. When we seek to live a life that is about Him, and for Him. It causes us to lose interest in the things that use to distract us away from God. Living your life as an act of worship to God is the most powerful way to live your life! When you find the power of Love you will see that God’s way is the best way. Be guided by God is the only thing that will ever matter, because God is the best way that you will ever go. Take some time this week and dig into living your life as a sacrifice as an act of worship and you will never ever want to live any other way! Worshiping God is a life style, it is a way that we live. It is not an event that we attend and participate in from time to time. We are called to worship God with our lives. We are to live lives of worship to God. Which means that we are to worship God in all that we do, all that we speak, and all that we think… That sounds like a tall order, but all the glory goes to Jesus because our works do not earn us salvation, Jesus paid for our salvation on the cross. We respond to Jesus by living our lives to draw closer to God and to worship Him in all that we do. Have you ever thought about how you live your life? What causes you to make certain decisions? Why do you do what you do? What navigates you to think certain ways about this or that? When we live our lives as acts of worship to God it deepens our relationship with Him and lets us become who we were made to be. Romans 12:1Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God–this is your spiritual act of worship. What do you think it means to live your life as a living sacrifice? Do you see yourself praying all the time, doing nothing but reading the bible? That is what many people might think of but this verse goes more deeper than that. This verse points us back to Jesus and the way that He lived when He was on the earth, walking in the flesh. Jesus lived his life looking for the things that His father God wanted Him to do. He was on mission to show the world who God is. Do you live your life on mission to show the world who God is? Do you find that when you are seeking out what God wants you to do that you are growing closer to God? Living our lives as worship to God causes us to love God more and live the life that He has for us to live. The live that He has for us to live is much greater than any other life that you will ever know. James 4:8 puts it this way. 8 Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. God longs for us to be close to Him. All we need to do is draw close to Him. When we seek to live a life that is about Him, and for Him. It causes us to lose interest in the things that use to distract us away from God. Living your life as an act of worship to God is the most powerful way to live your life! When you find the power of Love you will see that God’s way is the best way. Be guided by God is the only thing that will ever matter, because God is the best way that you will ever go. Take some time this week and dig into living your life as a sacrifice as an act of worship and you will never ever want to live any other way! In The Secret place… Have you ever made something? Have you ever created something? Have you ever been in art class? We create things all the time, and when we create things we create them with a purpose. I have made things because I needed them to preform a purpose, I had a need that they would fill. Art is the same way when we create art it creates an outlet for an expression that we longed to share. Now think about you, you were created by God, don’t you think that you were created for a purpose. Do you think that God creates to just create or does He the great creator create with a purpose in mind. 1 Chronicles 16:28-29 tells us this 28 Ascribe to the Lord, O families of nations, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength,29 ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name. Bring an offering and come before him; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness. In other words we were created to worship God. It is in us and lives there with us at all times! When something was created with a purpose it is only working as it should when it lives out it’s purpose. So do you worship God, do you do it in private, do you do it in public with others? We were made to worship God and when we worship God, we reflect God to the world around us. Our worship pleases the Lord. There is real strength when believers bring a corporate offering of praise to God in the church. God receives our worship and He sees that we are living out our purpose. Do you worship God in private where no one will ever know that you have worshiped God except God? It is a powerful thing when we get along with God and just give Him glory and praise. We all need to grow our personal relationship with God in the secret places, theses times when it is just God and you. I love these times, like when one of my children have a nightmare and I go to there bed and worship God singing them back to sleep in the protection of God’s arms. They may fall right back to sleep, but I will continue to worship God and talk to Him for another hour or so. My child knows nothing of this for they have fallen asleep. But in the quite still moments God and I just hang and I praise His name to the darkness. Worshiping God in the quite places is a powerful thing that changes us from the inside out. When we develop good habits of hanging with God and giving Him praise it helps us see what we were created for. Give it a try this week, in a quite and secret place just worship God and tell Him how great He is. Sing to Him a worship song, or create your own song to give Him praise. This is a special time where you just focus on how great He is. Take some time this week and just give Him praise. It is what you were made for! What comes to your mind when you think about the word and the action of worship? We all worship things and sometimes we worship people. But how does worship play out in our relationship with God? Is worship just about the music and the style of music? Or is worship the thing that can only happen when we are with others in church? The word worship can bring up many questions and it can leave us a little puzzled at times. So for the month of February we are going to go deep into the meaning of worship. We are going to unpack it and we are going to experience it together. So how does the dictionary define worship? wor·ship (wûr′shĭp) a. The reverent love and devotion accorded a deity, an idol, or a sacred object. b. The ceremonies, prayers, or other religious forms by which this love is expressed. 2. Ardent devotion; adoration. Now the dictionary will never ever be able to fully define worship or the experience of worshiping our God. To truly understand worship one must experience it and in the experience of it one grows a deeper understanding of who God is. In John 4:23-24 we get a glimpse of what how worship is defined by Jesus. This definition of worship comes while Jesus is in a conversation with a woman who does not know who Jesus is, she is attempting to match wits with Jesus. The discussion goes into worship and where one should worship and how they should worship. Jesus defines worship this way. 23“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” Basically Jesus is saying that worship has to do with more than just songs, it has to do more with your heart. We can sing songs but if we don’t have the right heart attitude, it really isn’t worship. So what kind of heart do you need to have? A heart that truly longs to give Him praise as a response to what He means to you. A loud cry of You are the one! A quite and still move of your heart to say that You are the one I want to follow. Worship starts with your heart and then moves out from there. What are you thankful for? What do you think of God? When you let it all out and you come before Him, then you are beginning to understand worship. God is all powerful and He loves you. So what is your response to Him? Do you just carry on with your life or do you have take some time and cry out to Him letting everything in you know that He is king and that He is worthy of worship. Worship defined: Knowing who God is and giving Him everything that you have as a response. |
Cover Articles from Extreme Faith MagazineWritten and Posted by The XGT Experience Team of leaders Archives
October 2015
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