Who are You and Why are You Here?

Have you ever heard the stories of someone pushing a person to safety from an oncoming car, or a dog that alerts his whole family to a raging fire in the home, both of which saved lives?  

The news stories (at least the good ones!) are riddled weekly with these “good news” stories of someone (even an animal in some cases) risking their safety or life to save someone else.  The reason these stories are so common is whenever they occur people cannot stop telling the stories of the amazing feat and the incredible compassion and love that someone showed for another person.  So why is that the same story, someone giving their life for the sake of yours and mine, is so hard to tell just because of the name of Jesus?

I have often heard the questions, “How do you know if someone is really growing in their faith?” or “How can you tell if someone is saved?”  The bottom line is this…growing people are changing.  People who are growing in their faith and in their relationship with Jesus Christ can no longer be the same as they have always been.  They don’t only grow in their knowledge of Jesus (head knowledge), they also are growing in their compassion (heart) for the things that God loves (lost and broken people).  Growing people cannot sit on the sidelines hoping someone else will step in and save the day.  Growing people are seeking God’s heart and are looking for opportunities to join Him in His mission to save the world!  Growing people are changing into the image of Christ!

There are really only three kinds of people:

1. People who are far from God.  These are the people we come in contact every day and have an opportunity to build a relationship that will allow opportunities to share how Jesus saved us!  Romans 8:23 says this: “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
2. People who have accepted Jesus’ incredible gift of Salvation and in their selfishness keep it for themselves as some sort of fire insurance, never growing or even seeking to grow.  These are people who are not changing and many would say they do not truly know Jesus at all!   They may attend their local church often, but are simply not interested in change.  Revelation 3:16 puts it this way; “So, because you are lukewarm--neither hot nor cold--I am about to spit you out of my mouth.”  It’s probably not a good thing to have God want to spit you out!
3. People who are purposefully growing in their faith and seeking to make Jesus not only their Savior, but also Lord of every area of their life – 24/7/365!  Romans 10:9 says, ‘That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.’ 

So the obvious question is this:  Who are you?  Or maybe more importantly, Whose are you?  Spend some time in prayer this week and earnestly seek to understand who you are on this list. 

• If you are person number 1, I am praying for you!  I am here when you are ready to talk or ask questions!  God loves you and so do I! 
• If you are person number 3, be encouraged!  You are changing the world and as you join Jesus in His mission to save the world, the world will be a better place and the Kingdom will be bursting at the seams!
• If you are person number 2, my heart breaks for you, and so does God’s.  In one sense you may feel like heaven is in your grasp, but is it really?  That’s only between you and God.  I believe there will be many people missing in heaven who thought they were good enough or thought that salvation is a personal thing only.  My prayer for you is that you would accept Jesus as your Savior but not stop there…I pray you will make him Lord of every area of your life.  You cannot compartmentalize your life AND be a follower of Christ – God and sin do not mix!  He doesn’t want your Sunday devotion, He wants your every day, walking around devotion as you grow in your relationship with Him and are bold enough to share your life with others who need His saving grace and His Lordship over their lives!  Romans 12:1-2 from The Message Paraphrase says it like this: “So here's what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.”  That type of devotion leads to an amazing life of joining Him in His mission to save and change the world!

Wherever you are in your journey of faith in Jesus Christ, always remember there is another step to take.  God is never done with us!  Whether we are very young, very old, or somewhere in between, God wants to work through each of us to save this lost and broken world!  His plan is never for us to coast into the Kingdom…and reading His word and knowing Him personally, I cannot see how anyone could live a life claiming Him as Savior but not giving Him their life in return.  Don’t waste your life on this world, give your life and service to God to not only change this world, but to build His Kingdom for eternity!  He is that good and He is so worth it!!