What Are We Filling Up On?

A young boy around the age of eight asked his mom if he could take the water hose in the front yard and wash her car. They lived in a gated community and she felt it was safe so she said yes. After about 10 minutes or so she went and checked on him and to her surprise, the car looked amazingly clean.  Her young son had even washed the bugs off the front headlights with a rag. She was so proud of him and gave him the biggest hug. The boy’s face was beaming with pride of the hard work he had accomplished and said: “I even took the hose and filled up your gas tank!”

When we accepted Christ, our spirit became brand new. Our mind still remembers the past and can feel the weight of our present trials at work or at home. Our thoughts need to be renewed through a relationship with God. If you are anxious, heavy and burdened, Jesus invites you to come and drink and fill up on His rest.  So filling up with the world to combat anxiety or heaviness is like putting water in our gas tank. Filling up on Jesus is what we are designed for, to partake in His divine nature.

 

Luke 10:38 As Jesus and the disciples continued on their way to Jerusalem, they came to a certain village where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. 39 Her sister, Mary, sat at the Lord’s feet, listening to what he taught. 40 But Martha was distracted by the big dinner she was preparing. She came to Jesus and said, “Lord, doesn’t it seem unfair to you that my sister just sits here while I do all the work? Tell her to come and help me.”

41 But the Lord said to her, “My dear Martha, you are worried and upset over all these details! 42 There is only one thing worth being concerned about. Mary has discovered it, and it will not be taken away from her.”

I want to encourage you to take some time to sit at the Lord’s feet today and listen to the wisdom and teaching of Jesus. Exchange your worries for His rest.

 

Brandon Pollard

http://www.graceforeternity.com

 

Focus is the Direction We are Headed.

Recently a friend and I finished a season of coaching recreational girls volleyball. The first few weeks parents sat in the stands watching many of their daughters play volleyball for the first time and we noticed a trend with the young team. If the girls began their serve looking at the parents, the ball would sail directly to the stands where the parents were sitting. If we reminded the girls to look and aim middle of the court, then the ball headed that direction. It’s imperative we understand where our attention and focus is facing is the direction we are headed.

Matthew 6:33 

33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.

In other words, set your attention on your loving savior who became sin and credited you with His righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). Trust and submit to the authority of Christ Jesus as He is a friend that sticks closer than a brother. Are you struggling with the chaos and drama around you? The world will often say “abandon drama” or in other words run from trials and tribulations but Jesus had different advice to his disciples. He desired for them to carry His peace and was upfront that just by them being in this world they would have tribulation. He didn’t say just focus on me and you will have zero tribulation. He said to take heart, I have overcome the world. So Jesus understood His performance on the earth was greater than any tribulation the enemy could muster against you.  

John 16:33 

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world, you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

Maybe you find it difficult to “take heart” during difficult times.  What does focusing your attention on Jesus look like? Maybe you want to be hungry for the things of God but don’t know where to start. For many Christians they perceive spending time with Jesus, as a rule, they must follow to avoid trials. It’s true that the wisdom of Christ can help you navigate around consequences of decisions, temptation, and sin. What is more important is developing trust and a relationship with God that supersedes our hunger for the things on earth. Taste and see that the Lord is good. We were created to have fellowship and share in His divine nature. When a Christian lives content spending their days filling up on the priorities of the world and not including Jesus as their focus relationally they are missing opportunities to share their burdens and receive rest. Christians can get full of the things of this world and the hunger for the kingdom of God can dissipate. Jesus is amazing at giving life and life more abundantly and we have access to the throne of grace by faith. 

Proverbs 27:7

A person who is full refuses honey,

    but even bitter food tastes sweet to the hungry.

Taste and see that the Lord is good. Don’t fill up on the patterns and thinking of this world but be transformed by renewing your thoughts and focus on Jesus. His love for you is constant. His forgiveness for you is finished. His thoughts toward you are more than all the sand on all the beaches in the world. He gives us choices to pursue Him throughout the day because love doesn’t control and still His love and faithfulness cover a multitude of sins based on His love for you, not your performance. Take time to face the direction of Jesus today and focus on His goodness towards you and others. 

 

Brandon Pollard

http://www.graceforeternity.com

How to win the battle you are now facing!

When my children were little, they often wanted to help mom by pushing the grocery cart. Several times I remember them pushing the cart right into the back heel of my wife. A terrible pain shot through her ankle and foot so much that she needed more than a moment not to respond in anger. This is the opportunity, that “dad” stepped in like an MMA referee. I knew my wife loved our kids in that grocery store but I wasn’t sure the kids knew that she liked them at that moment.

 Romans 5:1

Therefore, since we have been made right in God’s sight by faith, we have peace with God because of what Jesus Christ our Lord has done for us.

When you became born again by putting your faith in Jesus, you were made right with God. This means at all times you have a right standing with Him.  God both loves you and likes you based on the performance of Jesus, not based on your performance. Renewing your mind to this peace with God brings a peace that is the most destructive weapon to the enemy who opposes you. You read that correctly, “peace”, is the most powerful weapon Christians have been given. That is why scripture says,

Romans 16:20

²⁰ The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet. May the grace of our Lord Jesus be with you.

Notice it’s your feet doing the crushing and it takes His supply of grace and peace to receive this win in life. Where will you follow the Holy Spirit to take your feet with this gospel of peace?

 

Brandon Pollard

http://www.graceforeternity.com