“God is a Creator, not a duplicator” -Francis Chan
Dwight Edwards once said, “Comparison is the thief of joy”
I have found myself comparing my life to other Christians around me. “Why can’t I have his gifts?”…”Why couldn’t things fall into place for me?”…”If I just had a little more money, my ministry would be a lot easier and more effective”.
I find myself saying these dumb things. I need to learn to be more appreciative and stewardly with the gifts Christ has given me today. I spend more time envying the gifts of others around me and forget to even use my own.
“There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit. There are different kinds of service, but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working, but the same God works all of them in all men. Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good”.
-1 Corinthians 12:4-7
We are the body and are each given a different task.
“One will say, ‘I belong to the LORD’; another will call himself by the name of Jacob; still another will write on his hand, ‘The LORD’s,’ and will take the name Israel.” -Isaiah 44:5
Is the Lord’s name written on our hands? Is it apparent to our roommates, spouses, girlfriends, friends, family, strangers in line…or in class? Maybe yes, maybe no. This is my prayer; that we will all have the Lord’s name written on our hand and that we live up to the name.
In highschool, my baseball coach said it was an honor to wear our jerseys outside of the school because once we left the parking lot, we were the only representation that others would see and hear of the school. It was an honor…and a responsibility. Are we living up to the honor and challenge of wearing the Lord’s name on our hand.
I used to wear a WWJD? bracelet…not to prevent me from swearing or cutting someone in line, but to be a reminder that I represent Christ and my actions are sometimes the only representation of Christ that people see.
This site called Mr. Squiggle is SO sweet. Basically there is a squiggle submitted to a couple artists and they have a competition to use the squiggle to create art. Above is an example of a squiggle and below is one of the final piece. Puts my creativity to shame.
This is a story of a friend I grew up with in Bradford. I am left rather speechless for numerous reasons. Justin Willoughby once weighed 800 pounds. He now weighs a mere 250. That alone is a miracle. Secondly, he gives all the credit to Christ, which is pretty legit. Check out his website and click on the second post that says, “Video- Justin on Channel 2 News”.
Justin’s story also challenges me as I wonder what spiritual weight we could lose. We take in so much junk that this world has to offer which is a problem to begin with, but we let it fester and build up in us. I challenge you all to take a minute sometime this weekend to reflect on the things in your life you could do without. Maybe its less Facebook, less t-shirts, fewer shoes, no more smoking. Or even more, the things in our heart we could do without. Lust, jealousy, pride, fear…Whatever it may be, may we truly understand what we have saved from and stop tying ourselves down with the weight of the things of this world.
I pray that Justin’s story moves you and challenges you as much as it has me and countless others that have heard his testimony. Here is the link to Justin’s blog, to read more of his ongoing journey.
This site called 
