Held Accountable

"If any of you should cause one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble and fall, it would be better for you to be thrown into the depths of the sea with a great millstone around your neck." - Matthew 18:6

In January I held a prayer group because I felt God telling me to organize it. I put it off for a bit but He kept insisting. It took a lot out of me to put together because I'm a shy person and didn't want to harass people into attending, although I knew God had a purpose for everyone there. Tonight, my mom told me she bumped into someone whose daughter had attended that night. I don't know the girl. Someone else had invited her. Her mother told my mom that she was transformed that night. She received such a special call from God that all she wants to do is pray, go to church, and read the bible now. Although this is really great news, it scared me. God kept insisting that I put this together and it took so much out of me to silence myself and let Him work. It took so much out of me to even stand before people to talk about my faith. What if I hadn't listened and this young girl, a stranger, would have never received the love of God that night? But more importantly, on the night, God was able to act because I prayed and let myself be guided by Him, but how about who I am 95% of the time? How about who I am when I'm not praying as much? How about the Audrey that gets cranky with my brothers and is quick to snap when things don't go my way? What kind of example do I set then? The girl is just one person who I won over for God because I was praying so much, and I wouldn't have even known about her if my mom hadn't seen her mom. But I wonder how many people I have led into sin when I'm far from God and don't listen to Him. One offense, one bad word, one bad example could have led so many to sin and I would never know, but God knows and I'm sure He's keeping count. Ninety-five percent of the time I'm not who God wants me to be and I'm ashamed of that. Ninety-five percent of the time I could be causing others to sin and that is not acceptable to me.

If there are any of you that are hurt or offended by anything I've done, I am deeply sorry. Sometimes our own ignorance and insecurities lead us to harm people and we never even know it. Please know that if I've ever done anything to any of you, it's been because of my own faults, and I apologize from the bottom of my heart. I'm ashamed of a lot of things I've said, done, and thought, and hope you pray for me as God continues to mold me.

My prayer for tonight is that each of you meditate on your own actions and see if you think you've led people towards God or away from God by the examples you've set. Sometimes it's not the people we live with who we influence the most, but those whose lives we affect when casually walking by. We never realize how the smallest action or gesture on our part can significantly affect the soul of another person. I've heard that in the final judgment, God will show each of us all the souls that were lost and all the souls that were won because of us. Please pray so that we can correct the mistakes and offenses we've made and can work to bring the love of God to those who need His mercy. I ask this in Jesus' Name, amen.

Faith Is Shown In Action

"Brothers, what good is it to profess faith without showing works? Such faith has no power to save you." - James 2:14

It's very easy to get into a rut when it comes to living in the Spirit. We go to church and we pray, and sometimes we think that's enough. However, we were created to be the hands and feet of Jesus in this world so unless you are doing something active with your faith and helping others in some way, your faith is dead. It means nothing. If you're not encouraging someone, lending a hand or being an example of faith to others, there is no way your faith can manifest itself. In the same way Jesus gave of Himself through the connection He had with God, so it is our responsibility to go out and be Jesus for those in need. If God were to ask you today what works your faith has produced for Him, what would you have to show for yourself? How are others seeing that God lives in you?

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, give me the courage to step up in Your Name and help those You have put in my path. Open my eyes to see those that need my assistance and guide me in doing Your will. In Your Name we pray, amen.

He Did It Too

"And the Word flesh was made; He had His tent pitched among us." - John 1:14

I have always found it so amazing that God would lower Himself sooo much to actually become a mortal, human being. How could someone eternal, immortal, and omnipotent become one of us? How could our bodies even contain Him? But He did…God chose to cloth Himself with our flesh because that's how much He loves us. He was willing to come down from Heaven and be born of a woman like the rest of us. He grew up, went through adolescence, experienced hurt, joy, pain, embarrassment, excitement, anxiety, worry and anger just like the rest of us. God loves us so much that He wouldn't give us a life that He Himself wouldn't be willing to carry or understand, so He came to experience life with us. There isn't a problem we face that Jesus wasn't willing to experience in the flesh along with us. Loss, poverty, betrayal, those very things that hurt us at our very core, Jesus chose to experience to be united with us and one day free us from the power of sin and death. He pitched His tent among us. He was one of us who bled, was beaten, and died. If our God loves us so much to put Himself through pain, to be united with us, what then could He not ask of us? Or better yet, what aren't we willing to do for our Lord? Pray to Him? Yes. Go to church? Yes? How about have faith in Him even when all things seem opposed? Jesus in human flesh showed us how to have faith, so we can as well. How about love our brother, even when they have wronged us? Jesus in human flesh showed us how to forgive those who beat us down, so we can as well. How about staying faithful in a world that doesn't understand devotion to God and only seeks its own pleasure and interests? Jesus in human flesh showed us how to love God, live upright and persevere in the faith, so we can as well.

Today's Prayer:
Lord Jesus, 2000 years ago, You pitched Your tent among us to show us how much You love us. For our sake, You chose to suffer and feel what we feel, and even go through death. When I think that what You ask is too hard for me to accomplish or unrealistic, remind me that You did it as well, so that I can always follow Your life and Your example. In Your Name we pray, amen.