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Answer C....c. was with Jesus from birth to death.
• Mary TRUSTED God

Is it Tough to be a Christian? Part II

Most people want to hear about the benefits of Christianity-what'll they gain-but don't want to hear about what they may need to give up to follow Christ. The rich young ruler who approached Jesus fell into this category. He was a good person doing good things, and he was interested in following Jesus. But when Jesus told him it would cost him 100 percent, the young man walked away sadly. Jesus drew the line. It was as if He were saying, “This is it. You asked the question; I'm giving you absolute Truth. Will you accept it and follow Me?”

But the man didn't want Truth, did he? He wanted a “feel good” answer. He wanted Jesus to say, “I understand that your money is really important to you. You own a lot of things. You're a good person. Tell you what. Go ahead and keep living the way you want to, keep your emphasis on material things, continue to let your wealth consume you, and I'll still let you call Me Lord.”

Jesus doesn't always tell us what we want to hear. But He is faithful to tell us what we need to hear. The truth made the young man uncomfortable. He couldn't remain in the presence of Christ any longer.

Christianity isn't really about what we want to hear. It's not even about what we want. It is about total surrender and accepting God's Word as absolute Truth.

Is it tough to be a Christian? Yes, if you give it your all. Was it tough for Jesus to obey His heavenly Father? Yes. It cost Him His life. Was it worth it? Absolutely. Will it be worth it for you to give God your all in total obedience? Absolutely.

Wait a second. This sounds pretty radical. That's not how I interpret the Bible. Then let's quit trying to interpret it . . . and simply accept it! Let's take God at His Word. Let's simply start believing what He says is true . . . and live like it!

But that's going to be tough! I mean . . . I might have to walk away from some friends. Stay away from some parties. Yes, total obedience to the Lordship of Jesus Christ is radical. It means saying no to some things, so you can say a huge yes to Jesus.

Many people find it difficult to believe if they don't say yes to Christ, they'll actually be separated from Him forever in hell. This isn't anything new. It all started in the Garden of Eden. Satan planted doubt in Eve's mind. Do you really think eating a simple piece of fruit could be that bad? Oh come on! One piece of fruit could separate you from your Father?

Know It!
Satan is the father of lies. He's the master of deceit, and he'll work overtime to convince you that being a Christian really isn't difficult at all; that you can continue to do your own thing and call your own shots. Don't fall for his lies! If you listen to him, you're listening to the wrong voice.

Read It!
Genesis 3; Matthew 19:16-30; 1 Peter 5:8.

Pray It!
Ask God to help you live in radical obedience to His Lordship.

Letter From Satan Part I

Hey, Christian!

I saw you yesterday as you climbed out of bed and started your daily routine. You began the day without praying. I kept watching you-expecting you at least to pray for your meals-but you didn't. You didn't even make time to pray before you climbed back into bed at the end of the day! I like the fact that you're so ungrateful. I can't tell you how proud I am of you for not changing your way of living since you started going to church.

You stupid idiot! You're mine . . . and you don't even know it! You think you're a Christian, but I have you fooled. You and I go way back. We've been going steady for years . . . and I still don't love you. As a matter of fact, I never will. Ha! I hate you! Do you realize that? I hate you, because I hate God. I'm only using you to get even with Him. He kicked me out of heaven, and I'm going to use you as long as possible to pay Him back.

You're so stupid! You don't even realize how much God loves you; that He has great plans in store for you. Ha! You've yielded your life to me, and I'm going to make your life a living hell.

And the best part about this relationship is that you don't even realize you've yielded to me. I love it! You're such a moron. You don't get it, do you? That by not giving your all to Jesus Christ, you end up following me by default. And you know what's really funny? Most of the time I have you convinced that I don't even exist!

Thanks to you, I'm showing God who's really boss in your life. We've been having some great times, haven't we? I love watching those dirty movies with you, cussing people out when they cut in front of you on the road, lying, being hypocritical, messing around sexually, gossiping, telling off-color jokes, stabbing people in the back, disrespecting stupid adults and moronic leaders.

I'm relieved that you don't want to give this up. We're having a great time, aren't we? And what's really funny, is the fact that you don't have a clue I'm doing all this to destroy you! Ha! You think we're just having fun. But I have eternal plans for you!

Know It!
Satan will do anything to get your attention off of Christ. Remember . . . you can't be spiritually neutral. You're either living for God, or you're following Satan by default.

Read It!
Luke 10:18; 2 Corinthians 11:14; Ephesians 6:10-18; 1 Peter 5:8.

Pray It!
In the name of Jesus Christ, pray that Satan will get behind you, and use your authority in Christ to overcome temptation.

A Letter From God

My dear, dear Child.

Oh, how I love you! I long for you to spend eternity with Me. I've been diligently preparing a place for you in My perfect Kingdom. You'll love it. You don't have the capacity to even imagine what it's like, but someday you'll be living here with Me in person. That is . . . if you let Me have total control of your life.

I know you can't comprehend how very much I love you, but I'm hoping you'll know that My death was specifically for you. That's right. Even though you've heard that I died for the world at large, I want you to understand it was really for you! You see . . . if you had been the only person in all the world, I still would have chosen to leave the glory and splendor of heaven to come to earth and experience the torture I endured . . . just for you. I love you that much.

You are my pride and joy! I dream such big dreams for you! I want to do extraordinary things with your life. But, my child, I need all of you. I won't force you to give Me your life. I love you too much to control your decisions, but I yearn for you to trust Me with your all.

My child, I am perfect, and My Kingdom is perfect. Therefore I cannot allow sin into My Kingdom. Knowing, however, that you were born with sin, I gave Myself-in the form of My Son-to pay the price for you, so you could spend eternity with Me. It's My ultimate gift to you. You can't earn it, and you can't buy it. I simply want to give it to You. But again . . . I won't force you to accept it. You have to make that decision on your own.

Please choose to follow Me, My child. I love you more than life itself. And I'm working diligently on our eternal home.

Your heavenly Father,

God

Know It!
God is crazy about you and has gone to great lengths to let you know it. How will you respond?

Read It!
Psalm 19:1; Jeremiah 31:37; Jeremiah 32:17; John 3:16.

Pray It!
Give God your all and ask Him to help you begin living in radical obedience to His Lordship.

Ignoring the Details

His name was Jehu. (Jay-who?) And his story is found in 2 Kings 9-10. Two chapters wrap up this guy's life. His bio starts out great - He loved God and wanted to wipe out idol worship. He was particularly focused on eliminating a specific idol - Baal. Thousands of people in Israel worshipped Baal, and Jehu wanted them to worship the one true God - Jehovah. So he decided to force them.

You can already see the bad beginning to develop with the good, can't you? You'd love to see all your friends come to know Jesus, but common sense tells you we can't force anyone to follow Christ, right? Jehu starts out with a wonderful desire - we applaud him for wanting to bring his entire country to God - but his plan quickly sours when he takes matters into his own hands.

God doesn't want to share control with you. “For I the Lord your God, am a jealous God” (Exodus 20:5 NIV). He is God; you are not. He wants total control. Jehu overlooked that detail, didn't he? But hey, he's doing good things!

The world is filled with people doing good things in their own power. Guess what - a million good things accomplished in human power are only temporary at best. Jehu devised a scheme to wipe out Baal worship from the entire country of Israel. That would be like you creating a plan to wipe out all evil from your school! Mind-boggling, huh? With a task of this magnitude, wouldn't common sense tell you, God's help and intervention (and control) would be a necessity? Yet how often do you try to accomplish something - even the “good somethings” - in your own strength?

Jehu's plan went down fast and furious. I'll save the gory details for your own personal reading, but it's safe to say if his life were a move, it would be rated R for violence. Eventually, with a lot of blood-shed and zeal, Jehu eliminated Baal worship from Israel. A good thing! But he did it with deceit and gross violence - a bad thing!

We often try to rationalize, don't we? But this is really a good thing I'm doing, we think. Yet if we're going about it the wrong way, in our own power, unannointed and unappointed, we've forgotten some details that could eventually mean spiritual death.

Know It!
God wants to be in charge of your life. This is a detail you can't afford to overlook.

Read It!
2 Kings 9.

Pray It!
Dear Jesus, I confess I often try to do things in my own power. Please help me to wait on Your guidance. I really do want to be all You dream for me to become.

Seems Weird

Did you know . . .

o A 21-year-old woman living in Salt Lake City, couldn't afford a tonsillectomy, so she operated on herself! Using toothache gel as an anesthetic, she stood in front of a mirror with nail scissors and a small knife and cut out her tonsils.

o A 70-year-old man named Armando Pinelli of Italy, got in a heated argument with another man over who should sit in the only chair in the shade of a palm tree. Armando won the argument. But when he sat down, the tree fell over on him and killed him.

Seems weird, huh? Unfortunately, lots of people also think Christianity seems weird. When you ultimately decide to live a life that's committed 100 percent to Jesus Christ, others will notice. This commitment will effect every single area of your life - after all, that's what 100 percent is all about. People around you won't be able to ignore the difference.

Those who don't share your faith, may interpret your actions and your commitment to God as something really weird. That's okay. The Bible is very clear on the fact that it won't be easy to live a holy lifestyle. Check this out: “It is quite true that the way to live a godly life is not an easy matter. But the answer lies in Christ” (1 Timothy 3:16 The Living Bible).

What behavior of a 100 percent-committed Christian would appear weird to non believers? (Check all that apply.)

a. Refusing to attend a party where alcohol will be served.

b. Walking out of the theater in the middle of a PG-13 movie that's filled with four-letter words.

c. Abstaining from sexual intimacy outside of marriage.

d. Reaching out to the campus dweeb.

The truth is, if you really are committed 100 percent to Christ, your entire lifestyle may seem weird to friends who don't share your faith. Sixteen-year-old Britni was determined to serve God with a 100-percent commitment, but she was so tired of the put-downs from “friends” at school.

Each day she had lunch with the same group of girls. And each day they bragged about their sexual escapades with their boyfriends. They knew about Britni's sexual purity and relentlessly hassled her and laughed at her “prudeness.”

One day, she'd had it. Britni grabbed her tray and started to leave. But before she walked away, she looked them in the eye and said, “On any given day I can easily give up what I've chosen to save until marriage. Anytime I want to, I can become just like you. But you . . . you'll never be able to regain what you've lost. You can never go back and reclaim what I still have.”

Guess what! They never made fun of her again.

Your friends won't understand your godly convictions. They won't relate to your high standards and your morality. But . . . what did the Scripture say? Oh, yeah. “The answer lies in Christ.”

If you'll maintain a strong, intimate, growing relationship with Jesus, they'll eventually respect the peace that's shining through your life. They'll notice your calm spirit, your confidence, your deep satisfaction in something (and Someone) much more powerful than a weekend party. And who knows? Eventually . . . they may even ask you how they can get what you have!

On-fire Christians may seem weird to the world. That's okay. Expect it. Know they won't understand. That's not the issue. The issue is remaining focused on a very important detail. And that detail is . . . you guessed it! We're going to repeat it right now:

Know It!
Being committed to God requires 100 percent.

Read It!
1 Timothy 3:1; Ephesians 3:20; John 3:19-21.

Pray It!
Father, help me not to get bent out of shape when others make fun of me. Help me to keep focused on You and You alone. Jesus, I want others to see the positive difference You're making in my life. Keep me close to You, Father.

Excuses

Jason was always late, and his friends were fed up with him. Whenever they made plans to do something or go somewhere, they automatically told Jason to arrive 15 minutes earlier than anyone else - thinking he'd be late and actually arrive at the designated time they were leaving.

But it didn't work. Jason was still late.

He always had an excuse. And that was part of the frustration. Jason rationalized everything. “My alarm didn't go off.”

“Traffic was unbelievable!”

“I couldn't find a clean shirt.”

He was a master at justifying his actions.

Deana was convinced her teachers were out to get her - every single one of them! “Mrs. Woodard gives me detention at least twice a week,” Deana complained.

“And Mr. Hoskins gave me a zero on that history project. Can you believe it?

“Miss Foltz never stops yelling at me in class, and Mrs. Simpson is always on my case about something.”

It didn't matter that Mrs. Woodard gave her detention because Deana was continually late for class, or that Mr. Hoskins had given her an extra week to complete her history project and still never received anything. Sure, Deana constantly talked during class, but she never thought of that when Miss Foltz called her down. And Mrs. Simpson knew Deana was failing biology. She was simply trying to give her a chance for extra- credit work.

Deana never recognized the reality of what was happening around her, because she was so busy justifying her questionable actions.

It's easy to rationalize our actions, isn't it? We can justify why we did this or didn't do that. But God doesn't listen to excuses. He's interested in something much deeper . . . our hearts. He focuses on our motives. Our intentions.

Where do you stand? Has it become easy for you to justify something in your life that's not right? Do you find yourself making excuses?

You've known about your science report for three weeks. It's due tomorrow. You

a. ask your teacher for an extension naming the many reasons it's been impossible for you to complete it on time.

b. complain that Mr. Nelson never gives anyone enough time to do a decent job.

c. quickly pull something together and hand it in - even though you know it won't be worth much.

d. admit you procrastinated and learn from your mistake.

God can do a lot with an honest heart! He knows we make mistakes, and He's willing to help us learn and grow from them. But if we continue to justify wrong actions and refuse to admit we need help, we'll never become all He dreams for us.

Know It!
Jesus doesn't expect you to be perfect. He does expect you to be honest and admit you need help.

Read It!
Proverbs 20:27; Proverbs 21:2; 2 Corinthians 8:10.

Pray It!
Dear Jesus, will You forgive me for falling into the habit of justifying my shortcomings? I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. I realize You want to strengthen me in my weak areas. I give You permission to “knock me in the head” the next time I start making excuses as to why I'm not doing something I should. I really do want to be all You desire for me.