9/22/2013
"The Defining Moment"
"When
the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, "Who
then can be saved?" Jesus looked at them and said, "With
man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible."
-Matthew
19:25-26
For
many of us, there is that one moment in our lives where we can all look back to
in much awe and amazement. For one minute, I would like you all to take
a moment and visualize a point in your life where you had a defining moment. My
defining moment was when I walked across the stage at my May 2013 graduation
ceremony and received my undergraduate degree. This moment was defining because
I was the first person within my family to graduate from college. There are
many other moments in my life that are amazing such as winning a soccer
championship with my college during my freshmen year, or traveling for 17 hours
with Ryan, Nathan, and other friends to Florida. Whatever that moment may be of
yours, each and every one of us, as
believers in Christ Jesus have a defining moment. That defining moment was when Christ was nailed to cross for our
sins.
When we think about world changers, many of us think of Nelson
Mandela, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., and Mother Theresa but few of
us really think about Christ. What Jesus did on the cross was the defining
moment in every Christian’s life. It is the moment that separates us from the
world. It is the moment when we were
adopted into the family of God.
In Matthews 19:25-26, the disciples asked Jesus a question that
is impossible with man. "Who then can be saved?" It is only through
Jesus that we can be saved. It is only through the power of His cross that we
receive salvation. That, my brothers and sisters is the defining moment in our
Christian lives. It is the moment we
look back and say with empty hearts, "here I am Lord, use me. Forgive me.
I repent."
My graduation has significance and is important to me, but it
does not compare to what Christ did for me. How many of us are searching for
the next big thing? The biggest thing that can ever happen, actually already happened;
and it occurred on a cross. My spiritual mentor, Larry Shaw (a fellow
98.6 Too Cold blogger), has kept
reminding me to look at the cross of Christ. He keeps bringing me back to the
cross, to see what Jesus did. If we
never fully grasp the action that took place on the cross, then we will never
fully understand its importance. And for many of us, we have accepted
Christ in our lives, but we have not truly grasped with what He did on the
cross. Larry has helped me understand the importance of the cross as the
defining moment in my life because it was there at the cross that my life
changed. It was at the cross that
heaven's door opened. It was at the cross, that a sinner like myself
was offered salvation. It was at the cross, where I was reconciled with God.
"With man that is impossible, but with
God, all things are possible." This is the defining moment of our lives. The moment God made salvation possible for
all of mankind, through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ.
At the beginning of this blog, I
asked you to visualize that defining moment in your life; now I am asking you
to visualize OUR DEFINING MOMENT in our
Christian lives, when Christ was crucified for us. It may be
a surprise for many of us that we can think of
Christ's crucifixion during the month of September because we are so
used to just thinking about it at Easter time, but…
WAKE UP
CALL!
We
should remember what He did for us every day of our lives!
9/15/2013
“Fumble”
In the book of Romans, we are faced with a moment where Paul is insisting that we do not ‘roll boulders’ in the paths of our brothers and sisters.
My four years at Nyack College were amazing. I am grateful to God for giving me the opportunity to play collegiate soccer and be a student leader at Nyack. However, behind those highlights was one of the life-changing moments of my life: when I became friends with Ryan and Nathan (two of the other three fellow bloggers). Through the ‘thicks and thins’ of college, those two boys stood by my side relentlessly. On a typical day when I was angry after a soccer game or was frustrated at them both, they were always there by my side no matter what. They understood me and still do to this day. There were many things we all struggled with but one of things we tried our best to do was never to "cause your brother or sister to fall." We upheld standards for ourselves because we knew that we were young men of God and living like the world was not an option. We tried our hardest to never roll boulders in each other’s way. Nate and Ryan always picked me up. They always drew back on things they knew I was struggling on. (In fact, if I'm being honest Larry, a fellow blogger, played a role in this as well even from afar. I'll expand on his contribution in a later blog.)
Imagine a Church where brothers and sisters go beyond themselves to make it their priority that they do not cause a brother or sister to sin. Isn't this what scripture is calling us to be like? To STEP UP to a level where we, as much as we are committed Christians individually; we as a whole, as one body, the body of Christ, live a life that cares for the person next to us. We should look at a world not through earthly eyes because then we will miss seeing as Jesus sees, but we should look at a world through the very lens of our Savior and we’ll live a life that reflects His.
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another." -John 13:34
People, Jesus doesn't just want us to love one another, He wants us to love one another as He loved us. Never once did Jesus cause His disciples to fall. Through all His miracles, He pushed His disciples to believe in Him; to grow more in faith in Him. This is what we are commissioned to do. To help each other grow in faith, and this simply begins by us not doing things in the presence of others to cause them to stumble. Note that this is not being pretentious, not at all. This is simple saying if Ryan or Nathan struggles with drinking for example, I will not drink in their presence or encourage them to go have a drink with me.
For many of us, it is time we rent a couple U-Haul trucks to remove those boulders we have placed in the paths of others. I challenge you this week to make it your duty with all your might to not be a stumbling block. This however first begins when we ask Jesus to remove the blocks in our eyes so that we can see with His eyes, the true and perfect love He has and is still calling us to live out, not only to our fellow Christian brothers and sisters, but to a lost and broken world.
"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
-John 13:35
9/8/2013
“Looking Doesn't Hurt”
-Colossians 3:2 (NIV)
It is a struggle not to lust because we see people
every day, but when our hearts and minds are set on Jesus, our view of others
changes. Our natural tendency to sin evaporates, and spiritually we are
focused on Him. Last week Ryan mentioned that we need to be aware of the things
we listen to, but I encourage you to
evaluate yourself on the things you watch: what you put through your eyes into
your body which is God’s temple (1 Corinthians 6:19 “Your bodies are the
temples of the Holy Spirit).
This of course includes
what we watch. Matthew 18:9 says, “And if your eye causes you to sin, gouge it
out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to
have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.”
9/1/2013
This Side of Heaven
"Thou
therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ."
-2
Timothy 2:3 KJV
After a week long debate on what to write for
my first blog, I decided that this is it! If you were expecting something mind-blowing
or highly theological, I thank you for your thought but my intent is to be plain, simple, and to just ‘keep it real’.
First
off, let me introduce myself. My name is Jodel Wright and I am not a
Theologian. I studied Criminal Justice and Sociology at Nyack College and
besides my Old and New Testament courses, I am no scholar when it comes to
biblical studies. I am just an ordinary
young man living an extraordinary life in and through the grace of Almighty
God.
This
week was very long and I learned a lot of remarkable things as well as I grew a
bit more in my faith. Yes, I actually grew a bit more. (About two to three
inches, if faith was measured that way.)
For some of us, God speaks to us differently. It may be in those quiet
moments, or while driving, running, working out, studying the Word, or just
listening to music. This week, God spoke to me by reminding me of an incident
that occurred during this summer. I was
reminded that on this side of Heaven, pain and suffering are real, but we are
to endure hardships.
Being a believer in the Faith can be difficult
because for many of us we accept Jesus as Lord and Savior, but while our Spiritual lives may have been
altered, our environments remain the same. We question God about our
situation and seek for Him to change everything around us. We desire that new
promotion or want that new car. We call ourselves ‘blessed’ and truly believe
that we deserve the best. For some of us,
being a Christian means having mobility in every aspect of our lives. We
become so focused on this side of Heaven that the slightest discomfort leads us
to questioning God about who He is or why He allows things to happen to us.
Funny how quick we are to doubt our omniscient God the moment something feels “off”
to us, huh?
The incident I mentioned earlier took place after
exiting the church doors at Hillsong NYC during the summer this year. As soon
as I literally just left, I saw a man sitting at the side of the street and
wondered to myself, "what would
Jesus do?" I didn't have anything to give except the little portion of the
Gospel I received that night during service (Please do not ask what the
message was that night because honestly, I forgot). While talking to the man I
found out that He was homeless. This man had been evicted from his home because
he couldn't afford to pay the monthly rent. This man had gone through quite a
lot it seemed. Yet, while I continued talking to him he told me that he was in
the church service. How could a homeless
man, a man who has nothing but his bags on his back, enter a church to know
about a God who sees his homelessness yet his life continues to be the same?
Being a
child was not the easiest thing for me. Living just below the poverty line was
difficult and challenging and I too asked God to change my situation. I look
back now and it’s hard to believe that I sought after God through all my pain
and sufferings; long nights of hunger and worrying.
In 2 Timothy, it is laid out in the simplest
form that we are to endure hardship. This side of Heaven may
not be filled with streets of gold and even though struggles are visible, we
are soldiers of Christ and our command
is not to live life comfortable but to spread the word of God. Like that
man I talked to at the side of the streets, homelessness is present in this
side of heaven but we must always be
conscious of what lies in eternity. This week may have been difficult for
us but we are to endure hardship. There is a great reward that awaits us in
Heaven. Let us be assured that throughout the week, as we face obstacles at
work or school that we endure through it because we are soldiers of the Most
High God and this side of Heaven will
pass away!
(Romans 5:3-5 NIV) "Not only so, but we
also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces
perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not
put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through
the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us."
Remember
who you are! You are a "soldier
of Jesus Christ." On this side of Heaven pain and suffering are
temporary. Do not seek after God for a new promotion or better grade, yet seek after Him because you desire to
worship Him for all of eternity. Seek after God because you want to know His
heart.
Stay real my Christian brothers & sisters as we walk through
this side of Heaven.
Jodel Wright. '98.6 Too Cold' Blogger
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