A New Year. A New Allegiance.

It’s a new year, and a time when many reflect on what the past year has taught them, good times that were found in the midst of a most peculiar and controversial year filled with talk of COVID-19, politics, space discovery, and more information than we can even begin to process. It’s a time when most look ahead, focusing on goals to achieve over the next 365 days.

These goals, referred to as “resolutions,” could include breaking bad habits and beginning healthier ones like eating a certain way, refraining from various foods, exercising more, and losing a specific amount of weight. Others will make promises to save a certain amount of money, plan a trip they have dreamed of, or set aside funds for that bucket list item that didn’t get checked off in 2020.  

Are those things important? Sure. Are those things to consider each day? Sure. 

BUT 

Are those things the most important and where our focus should lie if we are a true follower of Christ?  Absolutely Not.  

God has made it clear His people shall serve NO other gods before Him. Yet some have built golden calves and statues in every aspect of our life to avoid prioritizing and restructuring our lives to meet with the One who requires all of us and nothing less.  He tells us more than once, in case we forgot between the Old Testament and cruising through the New Testament, that we are to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and foremost commandment.” (Matthew 22:37-38, Mark 12:30, Luke 10:27, Deuteronomy 6:5, 10:12)

With this standard, He has commanded how everything in our lives should align and be measured. Yet somehow the world so easily creeps back in, and quickly sets up residence in the temple where He alone wishes to dwell and make His home.

While there may not have been room in the inn for Mary to give birth to our Savior, we have certainly continued the sentiment and created a waiting room for Him to reside while we tend to our lists, ambitions, degrees, careers, children, spouses, homes, interior design goals, home business goals, entertainment, travel, savings, work, projects, hobbies, and other multitudes of excuses and idols. Oh, how He longs to be Adonai, Lord of every detail of your life. Yet He stands at the door and knocks while competing for our attention and affection.

This scripture in Revelation 3:20 refers to unbelievers who claim to be a part of His body, the church, but had NOT actually claimed true allegiance to Him. In other words, this church building is filled with people who think they are saved, but they are false converts who have no clue the true meaning of what it means to be a follower of Christ.  This verse, Revelation 3:20, is very frequently taken out of context, my friend, and in context, refers to the church where our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, could not find one true believer. 

Let it not be of us.  May it never be.  

We steer away from the study of His Word to read our favorite author because we lack interest, time, understanding, or discipline. If we enjoy reading as a hobby, setting aside interest, time and discipline to do so, shouldn’t we ask ourselves why we are not setting aside equal or more time to meet with the Author of our faith and read the very words He pinned to us, for us? We skip a quiet time to go for a run, make another appointment, or refuse to give up 30 more minutes of sleep. We rush out the door to run the errands, take the kids to one more event or activity, and check off the items on the to-do list without checking in with the One who has determined every step and breath we will take.

I probably should stop there before mentioning the screen time tracker on the smart phone where absorbent time is spent relishing social media feeds, harping on the latest news article, gasping through the next political thrill, getting caught up on our favorite celebrity sagas, or playing one more round of our favorite game. What about the time spent binging on the next best Netflix series or season of our favorite show?   Which of these is a struggle for you? 

Sweet friend, can I tell you I have struggled with each and every one of these things that are listed above? I, too, have allowed the world to entice me with its pleasures, and interestingly, it’s similar to addiction. When one thing is brought back into proper alignment and situated in proper order, another temptation rises up to fill the spot. We always have to be alert, constantly watching for stumbling blocks in this area.  

At the end of it all, we find ourselves living in a culture that is driven by busyness, anxiety, worry, and stress. We are running from one thing to the next, searching for peace while making sure our children have every opportunity to stay just as busy as we are in their sports, dances, and various artistic endeavours.

We are teaching them what we do so well, to put aside the one thing that should be the only priority in our lives: finding rest in the Lord. True rest – profound peace regardless of life’s circumstances – is only found when we abide in Christ, communing with Him constantly.  

For those who love and obey the Lord, this rest is attainable and not a daunting task. When we recognize in our own flesh and worldly desires how bankrupt spiritually we really are, we discover in desperation our need to rest in the One who gives it freely.  

We are a society coping with the effects that our priorities have presented to us. We have the highest prescription drug usage and staggering numbers of women living day to day surviving with antidepressant and anxiety medication. In the United States, according to the CDC, more women than men, in every age group studied, use antidepressants. More than one-quarter of women who are 60 and older took antidepressants between 2015-2018. That’s 24.3% of women in our country. According to Scientific American, 1 in 6 Americans take a psychiatric drug, antidepressants being the most common.    

Dear friend, this is NOT God’s will for your life.  We were not created to depend on a pill to bring us peace, joy, and the calm to make it through each day.

Though I understand there are some who experience extreme imbalances and long seasons of darkness and/or depression, both of which I have experienced myself, my concern is that many run to a pill instead of getting in a right relationship with their Creator. That’s not to say that there’s not a time and place for medicine. But for the believer, who has complete access to the throne of God, why wouldn’t she also pour out her heart to Him and lean into the all-sufficient One? 

“Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”

Hebrews 4:16

God’s Word tells us, “Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep sober in spirit, fix your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ. As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ignorance, but like the Holy One who called you, be holy yourselves also in all your behavior, because it is written, ‘YOU SHALL BE HOLY AS I AM HOLY.’” (1Peter 1:13-16 NASB)

Can I ask… is your mind prepared for action, dear one?  The time has never been more urgent for you to be able to answer this question, without hesitation, in a resounding YES! 

As we start the new year, counter-culturally, we will echo the theme of examining our hearts through the lenses of scripture, looking inward at our identity and salvation that is found in Christ alone. By asking tough questions and exploring scripture, we hope you will be able to clearly define areas in your own life that need to be reprioritized and realigned according to God’s prescription for living out our confession with virtue.  

Humanity is living in a world that is lost in an ever growing identity crisis.  People quickly define and identify themselves by a race or ethnicity, political party, agenda, ideas, having a title or position at work, membership in a social club, playing a specific sport, etc.  

This month we will look at where our true identity can be found and where we lie in the balance of the world as a child of God. First, we must define the meaning of a Child of God. Then, we will explore the cost of Christianity, along with what the Author and Perfecter of our Faith has to say about our mind and how we are to think.

We will learn how to have unexplainable joy and lasting peace regardless of circumstances. Lastly, reaching deep into the Word of God, we will discuss how our physical health is directly linked to our spiritual health, again pointing to the power of our mind in maintaining physical health in a world more concerned with body image and appearance.  

Additionally, each week we will post a new devotion derived from the book of Philippians where the mission and vision of To Die Is Gain was conceived.  This will be an intro to our Philippians study starting March 1st. We pray you will consider joining us for this study!

Make 2021 the year God’s Grace saves your life, and the year you make the decision to give your allegiance to Christ and Him alone, powered by unmoveable, unshakeable faith that is a gift from God! Make this year be the year you determine to take new steps and make new choices to live by Scripture alone in a world filled with hundreds of self-help, life coaching books!!  

Determine in your heart that 2021 will be the year you begin to live your life to bring glory to God alone!