Connecting

I love connecting with friends I haven't talked to in a while. Its so nice to chat and catch up. I got to have lunch with Jamie today. It was great. I hadn't seen him since our wedding. That is a friendship I will cherish the rest of my life.

I heard a great radio broadcast the other day. I believe it was Chip Ingram. He was talking about how we as Christians put our salvation on ourselves. We wouldn't actually come out and say it, but with our actions and how we think, that is what we believe. We get caught up in having to read our Bible, or having to pray, or having to go to church; that we forget that our salvation is in Christ's grace & mercy. You don't have to read the Bible, you don't have to pray, and you don't have to go to church. Those are things we ought to do, but we don't have to do them. Doing those things does not make you a better Christian. Doing those things doesn't mean that God owes you anything. Its funny, sometimes we'll (sorry for switching tenses so much) feel like God HAS to bless us, or give us this promotion, or sell our house, or etc... because we pray and read our Bible and go to church. But truth is, He doesn't. God owes us nothing and we owe Him everything. We ought to read our Bibles because that is one of the ways God has chosen to reveal Himself to us. And as a created being who loves his Creator, it makes sense to want to get to know Him better. We ought to pray because God loves to listen to us. Whether we are happy, sad, depressed, joyful, or anything else, He loves listening to us and talking to us. We ought to go to church because its beneficial for our spiritual walk to be around like minded individuals and to to listen to Godly sermons. The Bible also tells us in Hebrews "not to forsake the gathering of the saints". But none of those things will save us and get us to heaven. That can only be done through Jesus Christ.