2:261 – If Loving Jesus Is Wrong, I Don’t Want To Be Right.

#faithbites #faithjourney #redletterchallenge Jesus

This might be repetitive, but the Red Letter Challenge is all about loving and spending time with Jesus, hence the red words. What is ironic, is we use the gifts he gives us to go after many things that are interesting but not super important. We take time to cherish material things rather than spend time with him. In many circumstances, people are looked down for being in solitude reading the Bible instead of being active in anything.

Imagine if we took our time to praise God in everything we do. I’m not talking about speaking in tongues, rolling on the floor, or shouting Hallelujah, but praising him.

Thanks, Jesus for this food. Thank you, God for helping me in this challenge. Lord, you are awesome. God, show me in your word, how I can be a better follower. These are simple, short, prayers to show worship, praise, and being in Christ. It may be wrong to some to not volunteer for another opportunity or miss an outing to spend time in the word. But the Word is how we stay on track.

Scripture

Sing to the Lord a new song;
    sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord, praise his name;
    proclaim his salvation day after day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
    his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise;
    he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are idols,
    but the Lord made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before him;
    strength and glory are in his sanctuary.

Ascribe to the Lord, all you families of nations,
    ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
    bring an offering and come into his courts.
Worship the Lord in the splendor of his^[a] holiness;
    tremble before him, all the earth.
 Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.”
    The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved;
    he will judge the peoples with equity.

Let the heavens rejoice, let the earth be glad;
    let the sea resound, and all that is in it.
Let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them;
    let all the trees of the forest sing for joy.
Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes,
    he comes to judge the earth.
He will judge the world in righteousness
    and the peoples in his faithfulness.

Reflection

Saying no, means saying Yes. You can say no to earthly things to focus on Christ. Christ then opens doors and opportunities for you. How can you be good at anything if you don’t read the manual and practice what it says. From how to pray (Matthew 6:9-13) to Jesus’s commandments (Matthew 22:34-40) and everything else. We learn these spending time in his word.

To do that we need to worship him and take time for him. The Psalm above gives examples of how he expresses his love and how we can worship him. Taking time is different for everyone. We need to schedule it in and make it routine.

For me, it’s #faithbites. For others it could be silent meditation, listening to Christian music, prayer, reading his word, or a hundred other things that give you time to Be in Christ. Whatever it is, make time for Him.

Challenge

Make time for Jesus. Schedule it, post a remind, put up a sticky note, put the bible next to the coffee maker. Whatever you need to do, say no to the distractions in life for a few minutes to say Yes to Him.

Prayer

Lord, you show us how awesome you are on a daily basis. You give us the guidebook on how to live, how to pray, and how to be saved. Help us to use the tools at our disposal. Remind us that the busyness we fill our lives up with isn’t what is truly important. Spending time with you is. When we spend that time, we learn more about you and how you want us to spend our time serving you. Help us be mindful in that mission. In your name, Amen.