A Sacrificial Leader

John 3:16 - "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."

I love Stargate.  I stay up each night watching it with my family for what is probably considered an unhealthy amount of time.  We own all ten seasons and have begun our second round of them.  However, because my father likes to sneak and watch episodes without my mom and I, there are some I have only seen part of.  A couple of nights ago, we started watching an episode I hadn’t seen before.  Daniel, one of the main characters, was trying to free an alien called an “Unas” which he had befriended on an earlier mission and called “Chaka.”  However, when Daniel attempted to free him, the mission went sour because the creature would not leave the other enslaved Unas behind in order to save his own skin.  This race had their own language and began to call the one Unas who had not left them behind, “Chak’ka” which was a greeting of respect.  Later on, Daniel, who had studied their language said the word referred to many things.  In this instance, the respect meant they saw Chaka as their leader and were willing to follow him because of the sacrifice he made in their favor.  Wouldn’t that be amazing if our world was just as simple?  Those Unas did not ask Chaka to make that sacrifice but he saw they needed the help and gladly sacrificed in order to ultimately save them.  Jesus saw that we needed a sacrifice in order to ultimately be saved.  We didn’t have to ask Him, He did it willingly because He loved us.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful, like the Unas, if we recognized fully what He did for us and immediately saw him as our leader and wanted to follow Him?  Not just for a short while but until we died.  The Unas saw their life belonging to the one who was willing to save it, we should be willing to dedicate our lives to Christ because He was willing to save us.  

Psalm 109:31 - "For He stands at the right hand of the needy one, to save his life from those who condemn him."

Alarms are Satan's Play Toy

Philippians 4:11 – “…for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.”

This morning I was able to sleep in.  Three cheers for me, right? I was soaking in the warmth and relaxation when my alarm went off and the world instantly turned sour.  The sound of an alarm has the wonderful talent of making life feel miserable.  I got up and was thinking about how I couldn’t wait to get home.  The alarm made me grumpy and I didn’t want to go out in to the civil part of the world and interact.  My impatience was being a bear and I wanted relief immediately.  In a world with so many things at our fingertips, impatience has grown.  If we can’t get it right away we are throwing a fit or making a stink in order to get our way.  Contentment is no longer an option for us because we don’t have to be content in a world where changes can be instantaneous.  We’re a spoiled people with selfish ways.  It wasn’t enough for me that I got to sleep in a couple of hours, I wanted even more after that—to not go in to work at all.  Of course, once satan got a toe hold, many more annoyances started pouring in. My morning wasn’t going to go smooth because I just couldn’t be content with what I had been blessed with.  Instead, my discontentment sent a cascade of rocks upon my head to make the day feel heavier and less than what it should have.  I essentially took away the blessing God gave me that morning and replaced it with an ugly human outlook which ruined it.  Praise God, He redeems us for our downfalls and doesn’t leave us to wallow in the pity parties we throw for ourselves.  Today, encourage yourself—force yourself to see the blessings for the day and don’t forget to cherish them as undeserved as they are.   

   

Psalm 63:5 –“I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you”.