Month: May 2018

Celebrating Lasts: The Promise of New Beginnings

/ Michelle Halloran / Leave a comment

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This is the time of year when many of us get reminiscent, especially parents as the school year comes to an end.

I have two boys, a fifteen year old and a nine year old. The oldest just completed his freshman year of high school. I have only three more years until he graduates and begins a new chapter at college. In just 8 short months, he’ll start driving. That’s crazy! Wasn’t it just a few days ago, I was picking up a scrawny boy, smile full of braces, waiting for me in the middle school pick up line?

And my youngest just had his last day at the elementary school both my boys attended. He’ll start 4th grade in a brand new elementary school. It’s exciting, but at the same time, as I walked those halls for the last time bringing cupcakes and ice cream to his classroom, I was sad. It wasn’t that long ago, we were reading Pete the Cat books together. Now, he doesn’t want me to read to him any.

All these lasts got me thinking about other lasts that came and went without warning. When was the last time I rocked my babies to sleep or gave them a bath? When was the last time we played cars on the floor or watched Little Bear as they rested in my lap? Had I known it was the last time I would’ve slowed down a little and cherished the moment a bit more.

I realize there are a lot of lasts that slipped past me, but I also have a lot of lasts ahead. The last time I’ll drive them to school. Their last cross country meet or last baseball tournament. The last time I get to tuck them into bed.

Celebrating lasts helps us live in the now and gives us hope for the future. Without the lasts, we wouldn’t have the promise of new beginnings. 

What lasts are you celebrating in your current season of life? Whatever they may be, I encourage you to make the most of every opportunity because our time is limited. In a twinkling of an eye, our last may come. We would be wise to keep proper perspective on things and focus on the things that truly matter.

“Therefore, we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying, yet our inner man is being renewed day by day. For momentary, light affliction is producing for us an eternal weight of glory far beyond all comparison, while we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” — 2 Corinthians 5:16-18

Think about it this way. We will spend a lot more time in eternity than we will spend here in this world. Don’t you think we should make investments towards our eternity rather than hop aboard the same rat race everyone else is running? I want to teach my boys to labor for the kingdom of heaven because building their own kingdom here in this world is futile.

“The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.” –1 John 2:17

One day we will take our last breath. What will all our accomplishments, accolades, and awards do for us then? We can’t use our hard earned money to buy us a mansion in glory and we can’t bribe our way into heaven. It doesn’t work that way.

God says in 2 Corinthians 6:2, “Now is the acceptable time, behold, now is the day of salvation.” The only way we can have our mansion in glory is to accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. And follow Him. We must make it our ambition to be pleasing to Him. For we will all appear before the judgment seat of Christ. Each one of us will be compensated for the lives we lived while inhabiting this decaying body. Be it good or bad we will reap what we have sown.

But this is our hope! For those of us who are in Christ, “He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for us.” (1 Peter 1:3-4) And “the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Romans 8:18)

Our hope is our anchor. It brings promise of new beginnings. Even if you feel like a failure or think you’ve ruined your life – THERE’S HOPE. Repent of your sins. Give Jesus all your mistakes and failures. He is quick to forgive and He is redeemer of all things lost and broken. He makes beauty from our ashes. In exchange all He’s after is your heart. Your whole heart.

“And He died for all, that they who live should no longer live for themselves, but for Him who died and rose again on their behalf.” –2 Corinthians 5:15

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone and the new is here! Dear children, this is the last hour. The clock is ticking. Now more than ever we need to live for Him!

Because Christ in us IS the hope of glory!

***

If you’ve never accepted Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, would you make the most of this opportunity right now? Heaven forbid, it may be your last.

If you want to commit your life to Him today, a simple prayer is all it takes to start your journey pursuing Him. It doesn’t come through eloquent words, but from a heart bent towards Jesus. You don’t have to straighten up your life first either. He takes you just as you are and, as you behold Him, He will transform you into His likeness.

You can start with this prayer if you like:

Lord Jesus, I believe You are the Christ, Son of the Living God. I believe You died and rose again on the third day. I believe that one day You are coming again for Your Church. I repent of all my sins and ask You to forgive me. I ask You to come into my heart right now. Wash me and make me clean. I dedicate my life to You and from this moment on I will follow You wherever You may go.

In Jesus name, Amen.

***

If you prayed this prayer for the first time, congratulations! This is the BEST decision you will ever make. To celebrate, I would like to bless you with ‘Next Steps: A Guide for New Christians‘. Please submit your information below and I will email it to you asap. In the meantime, find a Bible and dig in! (I recommend starting with the Gospel of John.)

Blessings!!!

The Missing Ingredient – Taste and See that the Lord is Good

/ Michelle Halloran / Leave a comment

We want to transform the world for Christ – to witness people flooding our altars, saved, delivered, and set free. We attend church every week, sing-along with our favorite Christian music blasting in the car, and assure desperately hurting people that we will be praying as we give them a quick hug and walk away to our own lives. At the same time, we bicker with one another, find fault in trivial matters, and tear down what we are called to build up. Reality is, our Christian lingo has become cliché and we have been inoculated with the gospel just enough to become immune to what it truly means.

I just finished two semesters of Bible Study Fellowship’s (BSF) Romans Study and was once again taken to the heart of God. The gospel message is LOVE. One our most quoted scriptures, John 3:16, is all that is needed to completely transform the world. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.” Our salvation was conceived from love and our purpose is to grow up in this love. “We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.” (1 John 3:16)

This message has been preached to us over and over. It has been pounded into us, but has it transformed us? Paul understood this message and he became the epitome of the love of Jesus. What really drove this message home for me was what he said in Romans 9:2-3. Paul is speaking of Israel and the “great sorrow and unceasing grief in (his) heart” he expressed on their behalf. He took it to the limit when he said, “For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren.” What kind of love is this that one would give up heaven so another would experience heaven?!? This is the embodiment of the love of Christ.

As I pondered this I was cut to the core. It is one thing that the Son of God loved me so much He would leave paradise for me, but it is entirely a different thing that a naturally born human being would exemplify this same sacrificial trait. Then God showed me Moses had said something similarly. In Exodus 32:32 Moses says, “But now, if Thou will, forgive their sin – and if not, please blot me out from Thy book.”

We know this isn’t how forgiveness works, but if we could get this love – this authentic love of Christ – inside of us, the world would be transformed! It is more than preaching a good word. It is more than gifts of prophecy or hospitality. It is more than the best apologetics have to offer. Love accomplishes more than any of these! It is time for us to sacrifice our comfort and desires and truly love people. Not for what we can gain, but from a heart of giving.

Listen! “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.” (1 Corinthians 13:1-2) People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care. Paul’s “message (was) not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” (1 Corinthians 2:4)

Our culture has tainted love so much we don’t even know what it looks like. For starters…

  • Love doesn’t give up on a hopeless situation, but it gives until the last drop is gone.
  • Love bolsters others up the mountain even if it means it’s left behind.
  • Love sees past the leprosy and embraces the soul God destined for greatness.
  • Love basks in the glory of God, never seeking its own spotlight.
  • Love forgives those who nail it to the cross.

Why? Because love never fails. It rises from the ashes and breathes new life again. LOVE IS CHRIST.

May this be our deepest desire. To imitate Christ by taking love to the limit. Moses could not be a deliverer without the love of Christ. Paul could not be apostle without the love of Christ. You and I cannot be obedient (even unto death) without the love of Christ. We cannot bring transformation without the love of Christ.

Lord, I ask You to reveal to each of us what Your love looks like. May Your love empower us to lay down all selfishness and truly love as You love. And may the love we have for others wet Your people’s appetite so they can taste and see You are good. For it is the goodness of God that leads men unto salvation.

May we never neglect so great a salvation.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.