Thoughts from a Random Mind

            Christianity isn’t about being perfect; it’s about being transformed. It’s a progressive thing; like sanctification. Some things are instantaneous, like salvation ... forgiveness is yours once you confess Jesus as your Lord & Savior. 

To make progress with our faith we need to do some things. We should read the scriptures frequently; daily if at all possible. It is your guidebook regarding how to live this life in Christ. This is the nature of sanctification. By definition sanctification means: "to set apart for special use or purpose". We are being prepared to be used by God with any and all gifts that He bestows upon us.

Once redeemed, the transformation begins. We must lean of the Triune God for all things eternal and worship Him for who He is; the Creator of His own Master Plan for mankind ... Almighty God. 

To not allow the sanctification process to take place is like going day after day without drinking a drop of water as a means of hydrating yourself. You will dehydrate, become weak, and eventually, over time, cease to exist. No rational mind to purposely do that to themselves, so why to that to yourself spiritually? Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Thoughts from a Random Mind

Fragile: easily broken, damaged, or destroyed. Lacking physical or emotional strength; delicate. ^[1]

 

            The first thing I think of when I see the word FRAGILE is something made out of glass. I don’t think most people think of themselves as being fragile but based on our society and how emotionally charged everything currently seems to be, mankind has in many cases become emotionally fragile. Our world thinks putting on a tough façade will get you thru life better than being passionate and caring. Those are two traits that are generally viewed as weak by some sectors of society. 

            There definitely is a fragility to life. The circle of life involves being born, living a certain number of years, and then dying. We are physically fragile when we are little children and physically, mentally, and emotionally fragile the older we get.  It’s part of life. We cannot escape this never-ending cycle. 

As we become older we begin to ponder those things that we consider to be most important to us. We become increasingly more aware than ever that life is fragile. Tomorrow is never guaranteed. Everything we have in this world could be taken away in an instant. Still, we often believe we have some amount of control over our lives. A sense of overwhelming fear invades when reality confronts us, leaving us frantically grasping for control we do not have. The harder we work to hold it together; the more fear threatens to enslave us. Life Is Fragile: Make time for what matters and let go of what doesn’t.

            Until next time, walk with the King & be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

[1] The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition 

Thoughts from a Random Mind

                  I have always found it curious how many unsaved people think they know more how a Christian should live then the Christian themselves. They point out when we cuss, when we have an alcoholic beverage, whenever we slip up somehow, all when compared to their skewed system of morality. I guess to them we’re supposed to be perfect. A “little goodie two shoes” ... someone who is excessively or even annoyingly well-behaved. Hey, guess what, we’re not all that different then the unsaved. We’re very human. We sin, albeit not continuously, and when we do we seek forgiveness from our Heavenly Father. We follow that with our desire not to repeat said offense. That’s very much different than the actions of an unregenerate soul. 

                  We’re different in the respect that we seek to imitate our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ each day. Yeah, we fail and do so often; even daily. But if a true believer in Christ, we have a dogged determination to please God with our life. The unregenerate soul simply doesn’t think like that. The unregenerate soul, in some (hopefully) isolated instances, wish Christians would just disappear, so they won’t have to hear what is being said to them. Their thirst for autonomy will condemn them in the end, for they only live for the moment and have a massive tendency to never look too far ahead, unless it’s to the next party, vacation, or planned misadventure. 

                  This post doesn’t apply to everyone, you know who you are. You identify with what I’m saying here. We are human beings who have chosen to place our faith and trust in someone different than you do. That doesn’t make us any type of threat. We aren’t dangerous, domestic terrorists who wish to take over the world by force. We are people who love God and are trying to love and be kind and merciful to those millions of people who don’t understand us. You don’t HAVE to agree with us, and because of that you certainly don’t have to try, come hell or high water, to shut us up but trying to eliminate us one at a time. Spread love, not hate and ignore those who are judgmental and in your face. That is not the Jesus Way of doing this thing called Christianity. I wish non-believing people would just look into what we believe just like you would with any other belief system. It costs nothing but could just change your life. Until next time, walk with the King & be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Thoughts from a Random Mind

Life is filled with many frustrations that are the result of unreasonable & unrealistic expectations by either others or ourselves. People don’t want to hear why it is impractical & unrealistic, they just want it done. As believers in Christ we must strive to keep calm and think clearly. We can’t be like a duck, for they appear to be calm on the surface, while under the water their feet are frantically kicking away to remain balanced and afloat. Our calmness must come from within, where the Holy Spirit resides. It’s very easy to allow circumstances with their manufactured stress factors get us down.

            Stress can literally kill you if it is ramped up and consistent. Seeking ways to break the stress cycle can be stressful in itself, but it doesn’t need to be. Breaking the cycle can come from amping up your reliance on the Lord. God only wants good for His children. The proof is in the scriptures.

            Jeremiah 29:11 (Amp) tells us: “For I know the plans and thoughts that I have for you,’ says the Lord, ‘plans for peace and well-being and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. Trust is the key to a healthy relationship with God. Trust is an outcropping of faith; they go hand-in-hand. Understanding is optional and most times irrelevant. We aren’t asked to understand all that God has at hand. We are only asked to both have faith and trust Him. 

            God’s timing has absolutely nothing to do with our timetable. 2 Peter 3:8 tells us: “But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.” In other words, saying Christ’s return is imminent could actually mean a thousand years. No one this side of heaven will ever know. 

Though His timetable is vastly different than ours, He is never late. His timing is always perfect. While you may not realize that at the time, if you reflect back on your walk with Him down thru the years, in retrospect, you may come to the realization that He was indeed right on time. Until next time, walk with the King & be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Thoughts from a Random Mind

With few exceptions the vast majority of people feel they are good. This thought raises a couple very important questions. First of all, who decides what the definition of ‘good’ is? It’s a relative term used far too loosely. Like the word ‘normal’ I would venture to say that everyone has their own personal definition of both ‘good’ and ‘normal’. I believe most would admit they weren’t choir boys, but they haven’t robbed a bank or committed murder so they feel they are good people. They hope they have been good enough to go to heaven when they die.  

The opposite of ‘normal’ is ‘abnormal’. We all have our own personal definition of ‘normal’ and anyone who fall outside the parameters of their definition are ‘abnormal’ or just plain ‘weird’. Just because I’m different than most people just makes me different than those who declare themselves ‘normal’. 

The shocking truth of the matter is what Jesus said in the gospels about being ‘good’. In Mark 10:18 ... “Jesus said to him, ‘Why do you call Me good? No one is [essentially] good [by nature] except God alone.’” Here is one verse that describes what is or at least should be: “He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the Lord require of you except to be just, and to love [and to diligently practice] kindness (compassion), and to walk humbly with your God [setting aside any overblown sense of importance or self-righteousness]?”

It isn’t easy to be Christ-like in this life of decadence and evil, but that is what we’ve been commissioned to do. Know what God expects of us as His children and then do your level best. We don’t know what good is, but the author of all creation and man’s first breath does. Let’s read His Word and follow His lead. Until next time, walk with the King & be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Thoughts from a Random Mind

According to a post on www.gotquestions.org, the Pharisees of Jesus day were “self-righteousness and smug in their delusion that they were pleasing to God because they kept the Law—or parts of it, at least.” Are there Pharisees that exist today? To me, some Christians could be classified as modern day Pharisees in that they treat those who don’t agree with their beliefs and teachings as deceived. Some believers feel that they have it right and that others should believe just as they do. THAT is NOT pleasing to God. 

We are all different. Unique. Molded in our mother’s womb by the hand of God. God makes no mistakes. According to Psalm 139:14, we are “fearfully and wonderfully made”. We accept Christ in a variety of ways, as orchestrated by the Lord. You do NOT have to receive Christ at a church altar, but you can. You can receive Christ sitting on a park bench, or driving in traffic (please keep your eyes open if and when you pray.)

As a personal example, a number of years ago a believer invited me to go to a Nascar race while I was living in Texas. He discussed my salvation on the way to the race and said that a person isn’t saved until they are water baptized by emersion. Well, I had gotten saved some time ago (1979) and got water baptized a few years later. I knew I was saved because everything was different. But he insisted that I may have prayed a sinner’s prayer, but I wasn’t truly saved until I was water baptized. We didn’t speak another word to each other for the rest of the day. I was very uncomfortable. He was being a Pharisee at that particular moment in time. In his mind I HAD to agree with him, or I wasn’t a Christian at all. How incredibly narrow minded. 

There are certain tenets that I whole heartedly agree must be followed. Yes, you must be born again. Jesus made that very clear in the Gospel of John. You DO need to be baptized in water, but I see nowhere in scripture that says what that man had said to me. There are too many Christians who do not ‘walk the talk’, but rather should have a neon sign flashing above them saying, “do what I say, not what I do”. 

I ascribe to the evangelistic method of living out my faith by asking the Lord to help me be a little more like Jesus each day. St. Francis of Assisi said this, “Preach the gospel at all times, and if necessary, use words.” Friendship evangelism is what I try to do. Not befriend someone with the sole purpose of getting them saved, but treating everyone you meet as if they were a friend and live your life before them while not judging or being critical of their lifestyle. I ask God to use me in this way. We aren’t asked to save everyone. We can’t save anyone. God does the saving, we either plant seeds or water already planted seeds, with the seeds representing the good news of the gospel. What say you?

Until next time, walk with the King & be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

Thoughts from a Random Mind

Christianity goes against the basic secular nature of the unsaved. Autonomy is the art of self-governing, which is exactly what man wants. Man’s basic “I got this” mentality is flawed on so many levels. Man would rather go thru his mistake-riddled life doing it his own way, than submit to a “higher being” THAT CANNOT BE SEEN. I realize to the carnal mind that sounds completely ridiculous, but what if it were absolutely true? 

Many folks simply don’t want to know. They don’t understand it and frankly, in many cases, do not WANT to understand it. It takes faith in the unseen. It takes trusting someone you cannot experience with any of your senses. That’s wild. The phrase “Let Go & Let God” is quite literally true. You have to take your hands OFF the wheel and move over to the passenger seat. God, thru His Holy Spirit, will steer your life in the way that He knows will benefit you the most. 

Life can tend to be difficult for everyone, not just a select few, and not as many as you would think are willing to invest in what sounds like a myth or fairy tale. Frankly, it sounds too good to be true, but if you engage your faith and extend your trust to touch the unseen / unknown, then you just might be surprised at what transpires going forward. You honestly have nothing to lose but time. If you invest in God with your whole being and it was a fallacy, you’ve lost nothing, but if it turns out to be real, you have set yourself up for an eternity free from sin and filled with blessings. 

Don’t misunderstand, you don’t turn your life over to God to get blessed. You do it to receive forgiveness for all the misdeeds you’ve done, perhaps even unknowingly, against God and your fellow man. You do it to change the trajectory of your life. You do it because there is NO OTHER way to have your sins removed once for all time. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

RL Keller

Bread of Life Ministries