Monthly Archives: May 2014

2 Timothy, Faith, Knowledge, Love, Trust

Keep the Faith, Baby

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Know Like Trust - Have Faith In God

They call it “The KLT Factor.”

When you Know, Like and Trust a person or a company, you’re likely to have faith in them and continue to build the relationship with them.

Faith can be a hard leap for many. Some have been jaded by misplaced trust and therefore have a hard time believing anyone, even God. While this may be a problem, the more challenging issue is misplaced faith. We all have faith in something. Our faith may be placed in ourselves, whether because of our wealth or authority, or it could be placed in someone or something completely different. Either way, faith that is not placed in Jesus Christ alone will only lead to ruin.

In Second Timothy, the Apostle Paul warns his young disciple of a time that would come where men would trust in their own self. Their misplaced faith would lead to a world filled with pride, anger, hatred and irreverence for the things of God. Paul concludes with the warning, “Stay away from them.” As Christians, we must be guided by our faith and trust in Christ. He is our Savior and King, and His Word alone is our guide into eternal life. When we trust in His Word, we will find a life that is filled with love, grace and forgiveness. This love has the power to change the world, but this love is only available to us when we trust in the One who is ultimate love, Jesus Christ.

Life Lesson: What we choose to put our faith in will ultimately guide our decision making, our perspective and the course of action for our lives.

Given enough time and situations, any one human has the potential to let you down. God is the only one that has earned and deserves your complete attention, love and trust.

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David McGee is the founder of Cross The Bridge Ministries as well as a pastor, teacher and author.  He may be contacted using the form here.

1 Corinthians, Control, Faith, Strength, Weakness

Strength In Weakness

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Talk about picking on someone with a weakness – as a baby, Mo was left in a river after an attempt to kill him was foiled. Later, as a handicapped adult, he had to flee the country, accused of murder after defending one of his compatriots.

Strength in WeaknessDid you know that God uses the plans of the enemy for our good? God uses bad things, plans of the enemy, for our good and for our blessings. You may ask, “How can this be?” After all, in the midst of pain, hardship and weakness, nothing seems right. That may be the case, but if we trust in God, we can experience exactly what Paul said, “For when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Paul is saying, “In me, I am weak, yet in the Lord, I am strong.” Not just strong but, we are God strong. We think the most blessed person has it made. No one has it made, friend. Sometimes the most blessed person is the one who has been smacked the most by the enemy, but came out better because he learned to lean on God. When we lean on God, we have unlimited power and authority to help us. In ourselves, we will never overcome anything. But in the power of Christ, we can overcome everything!

Life Lesson: When we think we can handle a situation, sometimes we are wrong. When we think the Lord can handle a situation or help us handle it, we are never wrong.

Moses ended up returning to the country he fled, had multiple audiences with the head of state, freed an entire nation of slaves, and is regarded as a major prophet.

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David McGee is the founder of Cross The Bridge Ministries as well as a pastor, teacher and author.  He may be contacted using the form here.

1 Corinthians, Conflict, Fellowship, Love, Unity

Just Religious Noise

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Religious Noise - An Autoimmune Disorder - Unity NeededIt could start with fatigue, fever, weakness, distraction, depression. You don’t really know what exactly the problem is, but you just know that something’s not working right inside. Chaos occurs when your body decides to attack itself in an autoimmune disorder. Your body parts aren’t acting in unity.

What if you could actually see it happening? Let’s say your arm was mad at your foot for not saying, “Hi” in the hallway, or your liver decided to quit simply because it was jealous of the mouth? While it may seem ridiculous to imagine, this sad scenario occurs every week in churches all over the world. The Church – the body of Christ, formed to demonstrate the love and forgiveness of Jesus, turns on itself out of selfishness and pride. It shouldn’t be this way. In one of the most beloved passages in the Bible, Paul writes…

“Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.” (from First Corinthians, chapter 13)

The whole chapter is dedicated to promoting love as the ultimate spiritual fruit. Do you understand great mysteries? Great, but do you love? Are you able to speak with tongues of angels? Awesome, but do you love? You see, no matter what gift we are given, if we are not acting in love towards one another, we are nothing more than religious noise. Instead of useless noise, let’s sing out a sweet song of forgiveness and love. That is a tune sure to change the world.

 Life Lesson: No matter how gifted we are or what our giftings are, if we don’t have love, we are just religious noise.

Autoimmune disorders in our physical bodies are temporary. Real love for one another is forever.

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David McGee is the founder of Cross The Bridge Ministries as well as a pastor, teacher and author.  He may be contacted using the form here.

2 Chronicles, Boldness, Faith, Fellowship, Trials

Courage is Contagious!

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Boston Strong - Courage is ContagiousJust over a year ago, terrorism struck at the 117th Boston Marathon. Before it was over, 4 innocent people were dead and over 250 others were wounded.

In life, we are all faced with difficulties and trials. Whether it is a struggle within us or a struggle with another person, we often can find ourselves beat up and deflated. This is why it is vital to surround ourselves with people who are courageous at heart. Find men and women who know the obstacles but are not stopped by them. These people may be challenged by life but their faith in God overpowers their fear.

All too often, we can find ourselves surrounded by those who seem more apt to throw a pity party than a pep rally. In these times, we need to seek out those who will be an encouragement and strength during our times of weakness. As we fellowship with Christians who are empowered by their faith and inspired by the Spirit of God, we will find ourselves catching fire with hope and courage. A steady diet of courageous fellowship leads to a life that is blessed and growing. This is the life Christ came to give us – an abundant life.

Life Lesson: Courage and faith are contagious.

This year, in his “Boston Strong Tribute” speech, Mayor Marty Walsh got it right when he tied family, faith, and fellowship together to overcoming struggles and tragedy.

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David McGee is the founder of Cross The Bridge Ministries as well as a pastor, teacher and author.  He may be contacted using the form here.