Beyond Mediocrity Blog

(Image courtesy of https://media.licdn.com.) I grew up in a Christian home.  My parents took my siblings and I to Sunday school, church, and lots of church events.  My dad led family devotions with us at the table after supper and on Saturday morning after breakfast.  As I grew older, the responsibility and discipline of spending time with God shifted from my parents to me, and I began to read and study on my own, drive myself to youth group, and get involved in church events more independently.  I didn't smoke, drink, or "hook up" with girls because I knew those things were not what a Christian should do.  From the outside, I'll bet the majority of people thought I was a good, happy Christian. But I could not fool myself and I could not fool God.

(Image courtesy of http://www.focusonthefamily.com.) A few months ago, I entered into a new season of life: I became a dad .  Along with becoming a dad came the responsibility to train and teach my family in the way of righteousness.  It is important for dad's to take their role as spiritual leader of the home seriously and be intentional about fulfilling the duty. Discipleship is an important duty for the father to lead intentionally.  Discipleship is the term used to define Jesus' command to "make disciples" (Matthew 28:18-20).  Making disciples means "baptizing others in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them all that God commands" (Matthew 28:18-20).

(Image courtesy of http://www.shadesofgrace.org.) At different times throughout my life, God has given me a prayer to pray.  Each one of these prayers has led me to a deeper and fuller knowledge of the one true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent (John 17:3). Here are the prayers the faithful Lord gave me to pray, listed chronologically as I went from justification to further sanctification (and, indeed, am still being sanctified until the day my Savior appears in all His glory!):

(Image courtesy of http://www.ocarm.org.) Introduction The Lord God blesses His children with unspeakable and irrevocable joy through Jesus Christ. There are times when the Christian does not see the joy of Christ, but it does not mean that the joy of Christ has disappeared or been removed from the believer. Around the dinner table, when the lights are on, you see your family clearly. When the lights are turned off, they do not disappear suddenly. They are still there, but you are unable to see them. Yet even in times of darkness and trial, the Christian has every cause for rejoicing because of the truth of Jesus Christ: “I will never leave those whom I have chosen, nor will I ever forsake you” (Deuteronomy 31:6 paraphrase). The Lord Jesus is our joy in all things.

(Image courtesy of http://img.cinemablend.com.) God exists for eternity.  He has no beginning and he has no end.  He was not created, for every created thing has a beginning.  Time, space, people, animals, your house, your clothes - all of these things have a beginning.  It is not so with God. God did not create Himself, for that is a law of contradiction.  No one can self-create.  In order to do so, one would have to be before one is .  It is impossible, even for God.

(Image courtesy of http://www.estatevaults.com.) The times are wicked and full of great evil.  My heart has been burdened like it has not been burdened before in my twenty-eight years on this earth.  This burden has created in me anger, sorrow, and depression.  Fear has clouded my hope; the darkness of evil has shrouded my confidence.

(Image courtesy of http://rs674.pbsrc.com.) Hebrews 4:13 "And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do (to whom we must give account)."  Romans 5:6 "For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly." If I were to take your secret thoughts and the things hidden deep in your heart and burn every single one of them onto a DVD, and then I were to take that DVD and put it into your living room DVD player, and after your family and friends had all taken their seats, I was to push play - you would run out of that room as fast as you could, for how great your shame would be.  (Either that or you would smash your TV until the images were gone.)