Now Walk It Out!

Have you ever thought that when you walk for the Lord it’s hard at times? I have been hearing and feeling at times what this question entails. Sometimes I feel it’s hard to walk this walk. I asked God, “Why does it feel this way?” He said softly to me that there are a few reasons. First, he said it is because we have an Enemy that wants us to feel it’s too hard to walk this path. Second, we focus on the hardships. The second one kind of caught me off guard. Do I really focus on the hardships? I’ve came across a few verses that have helped me out of this rut!

James 1:2-3
2Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance.

1 Corinthians 10:3
13No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.

2 Corinthians 3:18
18And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

I bet if we prayed these verses to the Lord when we went through trial, the Enemy couldn’t touch us! James 1:2-3 doesn’t ask us to focus on the trial does it? No it tells us to focus on the end result. 1 Corinthians 10:3 reminds us that not only will God not let us walk into temptation that is too hard, but he gives us something in return! He gives us an escape! God you are soo loving. Lastly, 2 Corinthians 3:18 has been on my heart a lot the past few days.

This verse is reflecting on the story of Moses when he was in the presence of God. His face would glow and he would cover his face with a veil. His face was a reflection of God’s Glory. But what God is showing me through this verse in the middle of the verse. “…being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory...” This verse literally means that we are being transformed into his image from Glory to Glory! That’s right. Not from Glory to struggle, then to glory. No, we are being transformed from Glory to Glory.

Let that sit with you this week! Next time you think it’s a tough road, Remind yourself, and your Enemy that you are being transformed Glory to Glory. Put your foot down and rely on God!

The Time Is Now!

So I know it’s been a bit since my last post, but God is faithful! Have you ever had a hard time praying? How about lately? To be honest, I’ve been struggling with praying and spending time with the Lord. I mean I go to things, and pray with friends, but I have been lacking in my personal prayer time with Jesus. On top of that, I almost don’t even feel convicted on the subject. I feel I’m not the only one who gets to this place. How does this happen? In my life this happens when I get “busy”. Yes I said it! I believe the lie that there isn’t enough time for me to pray. Moreover, I also believe a second lie that is even worse. I believe that prayer is boring when it’s just me and God, and I can only be in the mood to pray when others are around. Yikes! That is bad ground to be standing on!

God has shown me that the Enemy is swift and good at what he does. He knows that God uses the prayers of his people to ruin His plot. It’s all over the Word about prayer and its power. For example, James 5:13-16 reads:

13Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. 14Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. 15And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. 16Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. 17Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. 18Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.

Did you catch that? The word prayer and its other forms were said over eight times in just this verse. That means it’s important! Let look deeper at this. The power of prayer is shown in this verse to be able to help those in trouble, heal the sick, forgive sins, cause a drought, and cause it to rain. Those are some HUGE things that are listed above! You see what I’m getting at here? Satan knows prayer and its power. So if He accuses God of not caring about our prayers as much, or accuses God of being boring and we believe Him, we become ineffective! We become weak! We become desensitized by the lies!

I decided yesterday to pray alone like a do when I’m with friends. I turned up some music, and let loose. I don’t tell you this to receive some spiritual reward or to boost my ego. I tell you this because I want you to know that God showed me how awesome he truly is! I want to challenge you to try and deepen your prayer with the Lord this week! Jeremiah 29:13 reads:

You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

Seek Him with everything! I dare ya! But don’t just do it cause I said to, I ask you do it cause He is waiting for you to open the door in your heart to Him!

They Love Me (Pluck) They Love Me Not?

I heard a pastor tell a story the other week about what loving someone really looks like. When he was in college his freshman year, he had all basic classes and one class he remembered particularly. This class had attendance as part of the grade, but one girl in his class took this lightly. He said she came in everyday of class and slept, but when the attendance sheet came around, she would wake up long enough to sign it. She sat right behind him, and every day of class he would shout, “HEY!” right before he’d slide her the sheet. Started by his yelling, she’d wake up and sig the sheet. This went on for five weeks. In week six of the class this pastor’s classmate didn’t show up. He turned to wake her and noticed she wasn’t there. He turned to the professor and said in a sarcastic tone of voice, “I guess she realized that she could just sleep at her place, and that right Teach?” The professor stood there astonished at what he said and asked, “You don’t know do you?” Now at this point the pastor was more confused than ever and asked, “Know what?”

The professor went on to tell remind this pastor of a story in the school newspaper about a girl who got in a car accident on the campus and had tragically died. The professor said, “That was her.” Silence flowed throughout the classroom. The pastor reflected on this incident when God spoke to him and said, “Now do you see the importance of telling people about me?” Conviction hit the pastor like a ton of bricks. He had spent five weeks with this girl and never loved her enough to share the Gospel with her. He, to this day, doesn’t know if she was saved or not.

Let this be a challenge to us all. I heard a statistic that said that 90% of Americans think 100% have heard the Gospel. I don’t believe that to be truthful. I think 90% of America has heard SOME TYPE OF GOSPEL but not THE GOSPEL.

34"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. 35By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." John 13:34-35

One last challenging thought:
How much do you have to hate someone to know what you know, and to not tell them?

If you had the cure for cancer, you’d tell everyone who needed it. We have the cure for sin and death, and we sometimes don’t love other enough to share the cure with them. I love you brothers and sisters, let us rise to the occasion and share the Love of Christ!

Save Us!

At our church we have our youth group, 6th – 12th grade, on Sunday nights at 6pm. We have been doing a series on the Ten Commandments with our students and last Sunday God asked my small group some big questions and I felt even moved to be a part of what he did!

When you read the Ten Commandments you find there are five that tells us a little about God’s character, and five that tell us things that we shouldn’t do. When we first started this series I was worried that my guys would just kinda blow the whole thing off. I mean any Christian has heard the Ten Commandments before right? I came to find real quickly some didn’t know what they even were. If this didn’t burden me enough, God showed me a new point of view on these Commandments.

I went out to eat with a pastor the other week, and he took a minute to tell me a small story. I don’t think he knew the impact God was going make in my life through it, however, he told it. When he was in Bible College he had this one really old professor. He was scrawny, and has long white hair, and he was….. well old. Well as students they really looked up to the guy because they thought that he did everything he could to honor God. He was humble, slow to anger, and very merciful. One day he finally asked him, what is it that you do, or what has God shown you that has allowed you to walk your faith journey the way you do? The pastor looked at me and said, “Bryan, I was shocked at the truth that he gave me that day!” He said his professor got real teary eyed, looked at him and said, “Every day I walk this earth, God has shown me how much more I am in need of a savior.” Wow I thought. how truthful is that? I couldn’t shake this question all week!

God used that story to give me this new outlook on the Ten Commandments. They ARE NOT a simple “to do” list! They ARE NOT what save you! They ARE NOT rules given by a God who has no idea what we’re going through! They are a proof that I, Bryan Allard, am constantly in need of a savior. You know how many times I have other things before God? You know how many times I’ve lived my life in a way that takes the Lord’s name in vain? You know how many times I could have possibly killed someone’s soul by encouraging them to sin? God shown me that it’s true when I think I can never attain these commandments if I’m walking in my own strength, my own way, my own will. However, through Jesus’ death and resurrection I can accomplish all of the Commandments. He did it for me, so that I can come to the Father

For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 6:23

15Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life. 1 Timothy 1:15-16

Remember, we deserve to die, but God loves us soo much that he sent Christ to die in our place!