Pictures with a Purpose

~His Word~

When you first enter into a room, you see that it is filled with many different items. Looking into a room can almost be overwhelming. We own so many possessions that it can be hard to find the things we are looking for.

In most homes, you can find a bible in some part of the room. It can be crammed in the corner of the book case, or stuffed somewhere under the bed. It is quite rare to actually see the bible right on the nightstand, or open on the bed. In a way, the bible seems a lot more like a decoration then something to be read.

The bible needs to once again become an item of importance. It is more than just a book, but these are the very words of God himself. This book is not meant to be pretty, but to be overused and written in. A bible on the bookcase does no one any good. This is a book that is meant to be read and studied. Within this book, we find the words of life and the path to Christ. It is a story of Jesus Christ from start to finish. It is time to get the bible from the book shelf to the hands and heart of the people in the house.

Hebrews 4:12
"For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires."

What does it mean for the bible to be alive?

Do you and the people around you see the work of the Word being active in your life?

What does the bible tell you about your innermost thoughts and desires?

                                                                                                                                   

                                           The Pirate

Because of Hollywood, we seem to have a skewed view of pirates. We see them as fun loving people who are really "the good guys." However if you were sailing in the 1700’s and you saw a pirate ship, you would not be thinking about the fun adventure you were about to have. You instead would be scared for your life. The pirates would most likely steal all of you possessions and leave you for broke. Being attacked by pirates was anything but fun.

The Christian life can be a lot like sailing. We have some days where the waters are smooth and gentle. On other days, it seems like we are facing the craziest storms of our lives. Then there are the days when things get really bad. This is when you see a pirate coming over the horizon. This pirate doesn’t care about your money, but he wants to steal the joy of your salvation.

Christ gives us a joy that is undeniable. This joy is nothing special in the easy times, but it is made clear in the hardest of times. It shows the people around us the God that we serve. Anyone can have joy when life is going smooth and gentle, but it takes Christ to have joy in the trials. Don’t let Satan take away your joy. Remember that the God within you is bigger than anything within the world. Satan may be the best of the pirates, but God has more power then Satan will ever have. When He tries to attack us, God will give us the strength to blow him out of the water.

Psalm 4:6-8
"Many peope say, 'Who will show us better times?'
       Let you face smile on us, Lord.
You have given me geater joy
     than those whho have abundant harvests of grain and new wine.
In peace I will lie down and sleep,
       for you alone, O Lord, will keep me safe."

James 1:2-4

"Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy. For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chnace to grow. So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing."

Do you take hold of Christ's joy in hard times?

Are you able to trust in God's protection in both the good and bad times?

Are people surprised by the joy of the Lord that is constantly visible in your life?

                                                                                                                                 

~Sunrise~

Darkness covers the earth. It is hard to see, and the air is bitter cold. All of a sudden things change. Slowly but surely the sky starts to fill with color. Not just one color, but all sorts of colors and shades flash through the crisp air. Then you see it. The sun slowly peeks from behind the horizon, and yet more colors come forth. What was dark is now full of light and activity. This is the start of every day on this earth. Though it would be spectacular to see it even once, we get the chance to see this day after day.

With each rising of the sun, it should make us think. This is a brand new a day. It is a new day to make new and better choices. The things that happened yesterday are over. It is a chance to make different decisions. Each morning we have to decide whether we will live our lives to their fullest or not. Living our lives to their fullest is only possible through Jesus Christ. On our own, we just don’t have much of a chance. It is only through Christ that we can find true fulfillment.

Living life for Christ isn’t just about saying that we are living life for Christ, but it is about action. A life lived for Christ looks dramatically different then people who are living life for themselves. Today you must make the decision to live differently. You have to decide to stand up for Christ and make difference. Each day you get a chance to do this. Today make the right choice.

Lamentations 3:22-24

"The faithful love the Lord never ends!

        His mercies never cease.

Great is his faithfulness;

      his mercies begin afresh each morning.

I say to myself, 'The Lord is my inheritance;

     therefore, I will hope in him!"

Joshua 24:14-15

"So fear the Lord and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates river and in Egypt. Serve the Lord alone. But if you refuse to serve the Lord, then chose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord."

Do you want to live life to its fullest?

How will you show your devotion to Christ today?

What will you "do" today that you didn't do yesterday?

                                                                                                     



~Covenant~

A man stands at the front of a church. His hands are sweating, and his mind is flying at a 100 miles an hour. He tries not to look nervous, but he isn’t fooling anyone. Then the music starts. He looks down the aisle, and he sees her. She is his perfect women, the bride to be. The service continues on. They say vows and listen to words that the pastor speaks. After this the groom takes out a ring and he places it on her slender finger. A few more vows are spoken, and then the pastor pronounces the couple man and wife.

The service ends and things change. The bride doesn’t where her dress everywhere she goes, and the groom isn’t constantly walking around in his tux. However, the ring stays on the finger. This ring shows the covenant between the man and the women. The ring doesn’t make the man and women love each other, but it just shows the world that they love each other and are married. The ring is the sign of their covenant.

When we become Christians, we enter into a covenant relationship with Jesus. One sign of this covenant is the name that we are given. We become “Christians.” We are his disciples, the ones who bear his name. Simple being called Christian doesn’t make us love Christ, but it should show the world the relationship that we have with God.

We should have a love relationship with God. A relationship takes time. One day a week with your spouse isn’t enough. That is not a relationship. Loving Christ will take commitment on our part. We need to be spending time in his words. We need to know the man that we are in a relationship with. Christ is the one who will marry the church. We need our love relationship with Christ to be more than just a casual fling. This is a serious relationship.

Hosea 2:16

“When that day comes, says the Lord,

     You will call me ‘my husband’

instead of ‘my master.’”

Ephesians 3:18-19

“And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how long, how wide, how high, how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all of the fullness of life and power that comes from God.”

Do the people around us know that we are in a covenant relationship with God?

Do we long to spend time with Jesus in the same way we desire to spend time with a spouse or girlfriend/boyfriend?

Have we even considered the extent of Christ love for us?

                                                                                                        

~The Sound Man~

The band walks on stage, and they get behind their instruments and microphones. The drummer starts the beat, and the music begins. The band gets through about 45 seconds of the song and then they stop. As soon as the music stops, people start talking. The drummer yells to the sound man that he needs more guitar in his monitor. The bass player wants more bass. The singers are all saying that one of the other singers voice is overpowering theirs in the monitor. Though no one says it out loud, everyone is thinking it. “I could do a so much better job than the sound man. If I had the control that he had, I could make everything sound real nice.”  

As humans, we like control. We want to have control of everything. When someone else has the control it can make us feel uncomfortable. The truth of the matter is that we aren’t the best at controlling our lives. There is one person who will do a much better job. Jesus knows us better than anyone else. He knows every hair on our head, and every dream and desire we have.

We need to hand control of our lives over to him. He knows what to do to help us live our best. Like a good sound man, he can make us sound better. He knows the little things he needs to adjust to make us more and more like him. He is not making us look good to the people of this world, but he is helping us look and sound more like him.

When we have control of our own lives, we are able to make ourselves look good to the world, but it leads to our death. When God has control, he helps us live righteously and honorably. He is the best sound man to give control to. All you have to do is surrender all control over to him.

Luke 12:6-7

“What is the price of five sparrows- two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. And the very hairs of your head are numbered. So don’t be afraid, you more valuable than a whole flock of sparrows.”

Jeremiah 10:23

“I know, Lord, that our lives are not our own.

   We are not able to plan our own course.”

Proverbs 14:12

“There is a path before each person that seems right,

       but it ends in death.”

Have we surrendered our control completely over to Christ?

Do we trust that God knows what is best for our lives?

What areas can you think of that you need Christ to help adjust?


                                                                                                  

~The Musician~

A guy sits on the corner of a downtown street. A newspaper blows past his feet. There is nothing special or important about this man. He is just your typical street corner musician. He plugs his guitar into his amplifier, and starts plucking to some classical tunes. As time passes by he slips into some smooth jazz. He plays like he is inside one of the top jazz clubs of New York. The more he plays, the more people stand to listen. Though this man is on the street corner, he is a talented musician. No one can deny that fact.

A few blocks away sits another musician. He is also playing a guitar, but the music coming from his amplifier doesn’t sound the same. He tries to play the same selection of music, but no one would be able to tell that he was playing the same songs. People aren’t standing and listening to this man. They pass by as quickly as possible. This is not a sound that is pleasant to the ears.

Living a Christian life is a lot like playing an instrument. Anyone can say that they are a musician, but by the sound of their music, you can tell whether this is true or not. In the same way, anyone can say that they are a Christian, but people will see the fruit of the one who is really living for Christ.

When we say that we are a Christian, we are representing Christ. People can’t see Christ physically, so they look to you to see what Christ looks likes. You need to live in a way that gives Christ glory. The music of your life should be a beautiful noise to Christ. The people around you should not be confused on whether you are a Christian or not. By the life you live, everyone should know who you represent.

Romans 6:13

“Do not let any part of your body become an instrument of evil to serve sin. Instead, give yourselves completely to God, for you were dead, but now you have new life. So use your whole body as an instrument to do what is right for the glory of God.”

1 Peter 2:12

“Be careful to live properly among your unbelieving neighbors. Then even if they accuse you of doing wrong, they will see your honorable behavior, and they will give honor to God when he judges the world.”

Is your life a sweet sounding song to the Lord?

Do you practice your spiritual gifts to become a better musician for Jesus?

Are you better at playing an instrument of evil or an instrument of good?

                                                                                                       

~Melting Away~

 It is cold and blustery outside. The weather has been bad for weeks. It seems as if there will be no stop to this crazy weather. It is snowing worse than it has in years. In the day it will warm up a little, but then it freezes hard at night. All along the house ice sickles hang in there frozen state. The household goes to sleep with warmer days on their mind.

As they wake up, they are surprised.  The sun is shining. It seems as if this winter is coming to a close. The things that were frozen solid are now melting away in the sun’s warm rays. Though it is just a change of weather, it brings hope to the whole household.

As Christians, we all go through hard times. Tough times are just a part of life. When these times come, it is really easy to get numb. All of our emotions get completely frozen. We don’t want to feel. We want to just stay in this emotional winter. We think that our numbness will help us to not feel any more pain.

The truth of the matter is that it is absolutely no fun to live in a numb frozen sate. Though it helps with the pain, it is a miserable way to live life. In a frozen state, everything dies. We need to escape this winter in our hearts. We need the “Son” to melt away the hardness of our hearts. When he has melted this away, God is able to come in and bring healing.

We must let God come and bring healing into our numb lives. We were created to feel. When we shut down our natural emotions, we are saying that God created us wrong. We must trust God, to do what is best in his eyes. His wisdom is much greater than ours.

Psalm 147:17-19

“He hurls the hail like stones.

    Who can stand against his freezing cold?

Then, at his command, it all melts.

    He sends his wind and melts the ice.

He has revealed his words to Jacob,

   And his decrees and regulations to Israel.”

Psalm 34:17-18

“The Lord hears his people when they call to him for help.

    He rescues them from all of their troubles.

The Lord is close to the Brokenhearted;

    He rescues those whose spirit is crushed.”

Do you strive to have a state of emotional numbness, so you don’t have to feel the pain of life?

Are you willing to have God come in to heal some of your past pains?

Do you trust that God is capable of healing even the most suppressed hurts in your life?

                                                                                                                          

~Value~

A woman walks into a shop. She has a slight look of nervousness visible on her face. As she looks around, she is confronted with the aura of antiques. The woman has visited this shop on many occasions. She loves to look around and find beautiful treasures. It was in her searching at this shop that she had an idea. She wondered if some of the antiques she owned were worth any money. As she walks further into the shop, the clerk greets her and asks,

“Can I help you with anything miss?”

“Yes, you can.” Replied the woman, “I have some antique figurines here, and I was wondering if I could get them appraised?”

“Of Course! Please let me see what you have.” Says the Clerk.

 The clerk closely looks over each figurine. He looks for any chips or cracks on the old ceramic figurines. He pulls out a book he keeps under his desk, to get a better idea of the era that the figurines were from. The man asks the woman about where she had got the figurines and how long they had been in her possession.

With all this information in mind, the clerk tells the woman that they are valued at about $35 a piece. He then tells the woman that he would be willing to purchase the set for $70. The woman is happy with the price and sells the clerk her figurines. Though they were worth $70 to the antique shop, she had never found much value for them in her home.

When we think of a word like value, so often our minds will think about money. However, some things have a much greater value than money. We need to realize that God values us quite a lot. We were so valued that money alone could not redeem us, but he put the price of a perfect man on us. That perfect man Jesus had to die for us. We were quite expensive.

We need to live like we care about what Christ did for us. He saw value in us that we never saw. Not many people would be willing to die for a decent person, but Christ even died for the worst of people. God deserves our worship. He paid everything, so we might have new life in him. We need to show people that we appreciate Christ’s sacrifice.

Romans 5:6-8

“For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.  For one will scarcely die for a righteous person- though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die. But God showed his love to us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Do you see the value of the sinners that are all around you every day?

Should you and do you live differently since you realize that you were bought with a hefty price?

Do you daily share you gratefulness to God for the price he paid for your life?

                                                                                       

~The Mountain~

The group gathers close together. They stand in a silent still. They aren’t looking straight ahead, but their eyes are shifted upwards. Looming in front of them is a monstrous mountain. They are not disturbed by the mountain, but it is much bigger then it seemed to be. Turning back is not an option however. The reason they came on this trip was to climb this mountain.

Without a word spoken, they start the climb. It is slow going, but they steadily make progress. A few hours pass by and the group continues to climb. Step by step, they get closer to the top of the mountain. Though they are closer then when they started, the top still seems to be far away. Hopeless thoughts start to pass through their minds. They wish that they could be on the top of the mountain. The top seems to be so far off. They wonder if they will ever see the top.

Mountains are all throughout scriptures. On the mountains is where many followers of God had great experiences. Because of these examples, we say that we are on the mountain top with God in his presence. This is true. It is great to be where God dwells. However, things seem to change when we fall into sin. We no longer feel like we are on the mountain top, instead we feel like we are in a deep valley. When we realize our sin and turn back to God, we have this idea that we have to start to climb back up this huge mountain. This is not the case however.

God wants us in his presence. He desires us to be in his presence more than we desire to be in his. When we fall, we do leave his presence, but that doesn’t mean it will take forever to get back into his presence. As soon as we repent, God is willing to place us right back in his presence. This is not an excuse to live in sin, but it shows the desire of God to be with us. Stop thinking you can earn your way into Gods presence. You will never deserve it. His presence will always be an undeserved gift.

Exodus 19:16-20

“On the morning of the third day, thunder roared and lightening flashed, and a dense cloud came down on the mountain. There was a long, loud blast from a ram’s horn, and all the people trembled. Moses led them out from the camp to meet with God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain. All of Mount Sinai was covered with smoke because the Lord had descended on it in the form of fire. The smoke billowed into the sky like smoke from a brick kiln, and the whole mountain shook violently. As the blast of the ram’s horn grew louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God thundered his reply. The Lord came down on the top of Mount Sinai and called Moses to the top of the mountain.”

1 Corinthians 1:28-29

“God chose things despised by the world, thing counted as noting at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God.”

Do you think you need to earn your way back into God’s presence after you fall into sin?

Do you think your ability to be in God’s presence has anything to do with what you have done?

Are you afraid to stay at the top of the mountain in God’s presence?

                                                                                                                

~The Trail~

When he started the trip, everything was great. The man thought about how nice all the scenery was and how clearly the trail was marked. Traveling the trail was very enjoyable. However in one evening everything changed. The man went to bed content and happy, but he woke up in utter horror. As he looked out his tent, he found the once clear ground covered with a fresh coat snow. It wasn’t just slightly covered either, it was covered with at least half a foot of snow. Though he was surprised, the man tried to not let the snow get the best of him. He packed up his gear and started to head home. After some time, he realized that this was no easy task. The path that was once so clearly visible was now covered in snow. After hours of wandering around, the man was more lost than ever.

Eventually the man saw something that gave him hope. There was a path made of foot prints though the snow. Maybe this would finally be his break. This could eventually get him home. He followed the path for a bit, but then he was hit by an ever bigger frustration. The path suddenly started getting very rough. It was not smooth and straight like before, but it was winding and rocky. At some points, the man even found himself going uphill. Though it was hard, the man had to trust the foot prints that were placed in front of him.

Life is one crazy journey. This is true for both Christians and non-Christians. As we wander through this life, there ends up being lots of paths that we can follow. There are many places that we can go. Though there are many choices, there is only one way that is right. This is the path that Jesus has placed out before us. He wants to show us the way that we should walk. He has not hidden his path from us, but he is faithful to reveal it to all.

This path is not always easy however. At times, the path can become quite challenging. As we walk after Jesus, it is easy to lose heart. We say to ourselves, “God is leading us in the wrong direction.” This is not true. God knows the best way for us to go. This doesn’t mean it will be the smoothest path though. Sometimes following Jesus can be quite hard. It is the narrow path that leads us to Jesus. It is important that we trust him fully. It is only his path that leads to salvation.

Exodus 13:21-22

“The Lord went ahead of them. He guided them during the day with a pillar of cloud, and he provided light at night with a pillar of fire. This allowed them to travel by day and by night. And the Lord did not remove the pillar of cloud or pillar of fire from its place in front of the people.”

Psalm 32:8

“The Lord says, “I will guide you along the best pathway for your life.

          I will advise you and watch over you.”

Proverbs 3:6

“seek his will in all you do,

          And he will show you which path to take”

Do you find it easy to follow the path that God has laid out before you?

What do you do when you are following Gods leading, but the path gets rough?

When you find yourself off the path that Jesus has set before you, how do you get back on track?