Radical

I just got done reading Radical by David Platt. I really really enjoyed it. I am not opposed to reading christian books especially when they aren't legalistic or replacing reading the actual Word! It was a really great book that just challenges you and makes you want to follow God more and thrive for Him in any way possible and really by any means spread Gods light. Is it more important to send $3000 to Africa for food and help for them or to pay $3000 for a flight and go there and actually talk to the people about God and lead them to repentance and Christ and let God provide the other things. Because in reality He is the only thing we actually NEED!!!! Something I thought about throughout this book is what it means to be a christian. I think christian is an overused word and can be very hypocritical. Nonetheless I am still a christian but I prefer to say believer. One of my close friends when I told her that said well I prefer follower of Jesus Christ. I think sometimes when we think about christians we are always trying to be a certain way or find the next book that will lead us to a perfect life or find someone we look up to, to show us how to live or just that someone has the secret. Following Jesus there is no perfect way to dress, no perfect amount of money to donate, no perfect amount of service hours to do, no perfect size house or amount of possessions that is okay to have as a christian the only thing we can do is love God and live our life for Him. He truly has called each one of us to different things in life and how He wants people to see us. Some people may seem absolutely crazy and I am not saying to follow God you have to be crazy and out of control because you have to be able to give your heart to God and let Him control it. Others may seem like they just get to have the perfect life and get to have all of the riches of life and sometimes that is okay in God but Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Truly I tell you, it is hard for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I tell you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 19:23, 24 NIV). It can be just as much of a struggle for a rich person as a dirt poor person. A poor person literally has nothing else and knows they need God but a rich person thinks they can do it on their own and don't need Him. I am not saying either way is perfect and awesome. 

My main point is as followers of Jesus we have to stop comparing ourselves to other people christians and non-christians. Just because one way worked great for someone else does not mean it is the perfect way for us or what God has called us to. He may have blessed us with lots of money but that doesn't mean we go spend it on clothes, cars, expensive food or even a water park. Comparing ourselves to others is so pointless and fruitless. It can really cause deep damage to our heart; in worldly and Godly ways. If we want to look a certain way it may never be good enough for us. If we want to read our bible or memorize it as much as someone it can become a pride and knowledge problem. We do not have true understanding of God then. That is why our #1 relationship and most prioritized should be God. He is the first person I talk to in a day. I should be striving to be more like Him even though the truth is I will never be, but that doesn't mean I don't try. 

Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ. (Galatians 1:10 NIV). 

We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. (2 Corinthians 10:12 NIV). 

If we really love God and trust Him and have faith than we have to trust that He put His spirit in us and is guiding us to specifically how He wants our life to go. The only person we are trying to please is God. This does not mean we are not loving or being rude to others it means in pleasing and loving God, He WILL allow us to love others. 

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” (1 Samuel 16:7 NIV). 

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. (Psalm 139:13-16 NIV). 

God cares about our hearts and our hearts are what control our actions when we love God. Loving God is talking to Him, praising Him, worshipping Him, reading His Word and just loving Him out. Through loving God He will teach us His righteous ways and show us how to serve Him. It will not always be one way in our lives. I can sometimes struggle with making sure everyone is okay and happy but I believe when I really truly have joy in Christ, He just provides and will show others His light through me and take away my worries. 

Another important point is that not to think we are better than others just because we don't do this or we do do that. God is focused on our hearts not what we think of others hearts. Like I said He may not have convicted them of certain things that He has us, they may not see His true glory yet and want to live as passionately. We need to stop judging others and let God be the supreme Judge He is. We should worry more about how can I love and know God more?!?! 

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. (Luke 6:37 NIV). 

 “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7 NIV). 

Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand. One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister ? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. (Romans 14:1-10, 13 NIV). 

I ask that God would just help me live for Him alone!