Peace family, if someone you love needs to hear how to have a friendship with God, or you’d like to know for yourself, a good way to remember is A, B, C:

A- Accept that we are all sinners. This is easy to see when we think about all of the bad things in the world. There’s nothing we can do to make up for the ways that we have sinned against God, against others, and broken his rules. We often know deep in our hearts that we are missing something, and we try to fill that hole. We are missing a friendship with God, but none of us is good enough to restore a relationship with God, who is perfect, on our own. The Bible says, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) However, God loves us so much, that he wanted to be in a friendship with us, even though we are sinful.

B- Believe that God provided Jesus as a sacrifice, as a payment, for your sins. Jesus was God in human form, and he lived a perfect life in which he was tempted in all the same ways that we are, but he never sinned. He never lied, cheated, or stole, or hated anyone. He was killed on the cross, which is what we deserved, but God raised him from the dead, proving that everything that he said was true. The Bible says “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” (John 3:16-17) No matter your age, your race, your gender, the country you live in, or your past, God wants a friendship with you! 

C- Choose to invite Jesus in as the ruler of your life. Talk to him (that’s what prayer is) and tell him that you give your life over to him. From now on, you want to live the way that God asks you to live, and trust that He loves you, that he has paid for all your wrong doing, and that he has a place for you in Heaven with him. It’s as simple as that, but it makes an eternal difference! The Bible says, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.” (Romans 10:9-10)

No one is ever too far gone. Even if you feel like you’ve done too many bad things, the fact is, we’ve all sinned too much. We all have the same need to have Jesus as our substitute. God’s gift of forgiveness to us through Jesus is truly amazing! This includes if you have given your life to Jesus before, but gotten tied up in sin. Come to him as you are and let him sort you out. Don’t feel like you need to be perfect before you can give your life to God. Understand that even as a Christian, you will not suddenly be perfect, and you will keep on sinning, even though we wish we wouldn’t.

Continue to grow with God. Tell other believers of Jesus about the choice that you’ve made. Choose a church to spend time with (if you aren’t sure where to start, look at the Peace 107 community calendar and see the churches that have community events and special services where you can make some friends.) Read the Bible so that you know what God wants. Talk to him (pray), and be baptized as a public declaration of your commitment to Christ! Be encouraged that God puts his Holy Spirit inside of you and that he will never abandon you. In the Bible, God says, “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:13.) Jesus also says that we, his “sheep” know his voice, so you can have reassurance that he will guide you. Welcome to the family!

Peace Family, do you need freedom from jealousy and envy?  I was recently inspired by my friend LaShunda Mitchell of Grind4God Ministries. She wasn’t speaking to me when she said, “jealousy ends where love begins,” but it was absolutely what I needed to hear.

We all have people whom we envy, or life situations that others seem to be enjoying that we aren’t. We all see a friend or family member on Facebook, or at a family gathering, and wish that we were as well-loved as him, as attractive as her, as successful as him, as happily married with children as her, on the vacation where he is… and the list goes on.

What are some ways that we can specifically love those people, until we are not feeling those ugly pangs of  envy anymore? Perhaps we need to start praying for them. Perhaps there is a way that we can start serving them. Maybe we need to look at their lives with compassion, and instead of believing the devil’s lie that they have everything unfairly given to them, we need to actively bless them and lift them up.

No one’s life is perfect, and we will never know the ways that those whom we envy are hurting or struggling. However, when we despise people in our hearts because of the relationships, material possessions, appearances, and successes that they have, we not only are being hateful and conceited by lifting ourselves above that person (it boils down to us believing that we deserve that thing more than they do), but we are also being ungrateful for the blessings that God has given us.

My challenge to you today is to ask 1) what are some of the amazing blessings that God has given me?, and 2) what can I do today to start regarding that person (or those people) I envy with love instead of contempt? Don’t just think about it. Take steps to do it, and you will find that there is so much more freedom when we try to have God’s perspective, and stop looking down on others who have things that we want.

Peace Family, does God deserve the best of us?

The immediate answer is, “Yes, of course,” but we often don’t live that way. The temptation is to think to ourselves, “Haven’t I given enough of my time, talents, and resources to God? Hasn’t he asked enough of us? Don’t I have the right to keep this little thing to myself?” That’s dangerous thinking.

Peace Family, God has given us everything. The Bible says that every good and perfect gift comes from Him. Let’s offer our best to God. Let’s offer to him the things that we hold most dear to our hearts- our careers, our marriages, our finances, our futures, our free time, and everything else that we deeply value. He is deserving of it. We can never give too much to God.

If we’ve been living with selfish ambition, let’s relinquish it over to Him. It might be scary, but something important to remember is that he is already in control, and just because we offer something to God does not mean that he wants us to be miserable or wear ourselves out. He is a good father, not a wicked father, and he will not give us a snake or a stone when we ask for bread. Sometimes he will ask us to give something up that we treasure. Sometimes though, he will give that thing back to us.

What do you cherish in your life? What can you give and dedicate to Him today? Let’s you and me both make a fresh decision to give God our best. He is absolutely worthy of it.

Peace family, grieving can be especially painful during the holidays. Gary Roe, chaplain with Hospice Brazos Valley, is going to be checking in with us for the next several weeks, and he has some tips for healing and making it through the holidays.

Gary says Christmas can be a great time of year, but it can also be a tough time of year, especially for those who have lost a loved one in the last couple of years, or if they’ve lost a loved one over the holidays, it doesn’t seem to matter how many years go by; the holidays are tough!

We’ve talked a little bit about important things like, if you’ve lost a loved one, please, give yourself permission to grieve over the holidays. It’s okay to be sad. We’ve talked about lowering our expectations a little bit, knowing that we’re very conscious of who’s missing, and that this holiday will be different from any other. Being kind to ourselves and patient with ourselves is really important. We talked about getting around people who are helpful to you right now, and limiting your exposure to those who aren’t or maybe are judging or critical, because that certainly doesn’t help us when we’re grieving.

Today, we’re going to make a simple plan of how to remember and honor your loved one over the holidays, to actually, intentionally include them in your Christmas celebration. You won’t be able to keep them out; you’re thinking about who’s absent, and you might even be thinking about them ALL of the time. Here are two quick ways that you can include them in your holiday. First of all, speak their name. Speak it out loud, and speak it often. Let yourself hear their name, because there’s something very powerful about a person’s name. Speak their name

Second, tell their stories. Talk about them to anyone who will listen. Share, share, and share some more. Yes, this will be emotional, and yes, you will probably cry, but it will also be good, because you are expressing your grief, which is also expressing your love. Speak their name, and tell their story.

If you aren’t grieving this Christmas, please, be aware that the person next to you might be. Someone might look fine on the outside, but inside, they are heartbroken or crushed. Be ready to be merciful, kind and compassionate. Be ready to listen, and if you’re willing, simply ask them, “What do you miss? Would you tell me about them?” and then, listen.

If you’re grieving, remember that Jesus walks with you in your grief and pain. He knows all about it, and he “gets” it.

God bless you. He loves you so much. Merry Christmas.

You can find more details to help get through the holidays and get through them well by going to Gary Roe’s website, HERE, or copy and paste this link into your browser: https://www.garyroe.com/

Click below to listen to Gary chat with Peace 107’s Brian and Kat: