By Steven Nguyen My father is a Buddhist and my mother is a Catholic. Odd combination, but here I am. Growing up in the South, especially here in Dallas, one would think that every individual would know who God is or who Jesus is. I ended up as one who did not know that there was a God, and had no knowledge of who this person of Jesus Christ was. My parents taught me that I was to be a good kid, get an education, and get a good job. I built my whole life on those principles. But without God, and as an only child whose parents were always working, I had no affirmation or wisdom as to how I was living or working. This led to some really poor decisions, and caused me to begin looking for affirmation in sports, band, and girls. My senior year of high school, I placed my hope in having a dating relationship with a particular young lady. I was very disappointed when that failed to work out, and confided in a mutual friend to try to find out what went wrong. All she told me was that I should believe in Jesus, and then she walked away from me. Completely dumbfounded by her answer, I began to wrestle with the idea that God might be real. Through a series of situations and conversations, God started drawing me towards the Bible. I found a Bible, started reading, and from day one had an insatiable thirst for the Scriptures. God started to reveal Himself to me through His Word. It was through the Gospel of John that I learned about the person of Jesus. Jesus answers Thomas in John 14:6-7, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” I then learned about the beginning of sin in Genesis 3, which is why the world is fallen and broken, and how in 2 Cor. 5:21, “God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” In Ephesians 2, I learned that we were dead in our trespasses and sins. But God, because of His great love for us, made us alive in Christ. He gave me the grace and faith to repent and confess Jesus as Lord and believe in my heart that God raised Him from the dead. Today I stand with David in Psalm 143:10, “Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.” I am a recent college graduate and have moved back home to Dallas. I am going to battle against sin, waging war with the flesh in community, and am absolutely ecstatic to serve Watermark with the gifts God has given me for His glory. Arm in arm with God, I am working to build up the church here at Watermark, to seek the welfare of Dallas, and to make Him famous. I'm Steven Nguyen and I am ChristFit Unashamed
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The Apostle Paul wrote in Romans 13:11, "And do this understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed." The Apostle Peter wrote in 1 Peter 4:7, "The end of all things is near. Therefore be alert and of sober mind so that you may pray." The Apostle John wrote in 1 John 2:18, "Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know this is the last hour." The theme of God’s Word from the 3 Apostles is that our salvation is coming near and every day brings us closer to the advent of Christ. The Apostles shared this to influence the believer’s attitude, actions and relationships. This was in anticipation of the end times and Christ’s return. What does this mean for us?? For my Unashamed brothers and sisters, God calls us not to sit on the sidelines and be sluggards (Proverbs 13:4), but to get in the game . There are 3 things God calls us to anchor for him, those are:
To my friends here today who may not know The Lord, who may be uncertain about their identity, who may call yourself agnostic, atheist, or profess another belief, we are so glad you came to wreck shop with us today at ChristFit Unashamed. It’s by no accident you are here and we hope we continue to build, serve, and connect with you based on our 3F slogan of Faith, Fellowship, and Fitness. My hope is that you would think about what was shared today and ask yourself after this life, do you know whether you’d wake up and rise on to the next? This devotional is not to condemn you but to share life with you by a Loving God who loves his people. John 3:16-18 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. " In conclusion at the end of our lives here on earth, we will all get to rise; however according to John 5:28-29, Jesus says, “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out – those who have done what is good will rise to live, those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.” My hope for everyone is summed up in the lyrics by Christian Artist Trip Lee in the song called “Rise Up” “You’ll listen to the words, believe them go and do
We do it for the Lord, but we still do it for you They aint never seen the Gospel at work, show them its true, and rise.” [Hook] If we all rise up That would be my dream We should all rise up And give a standing O for the King cause he’s good For years I have struggled with performance and people pleasing. If I am being honest, I still struggle with it. There is always this pressure to perform or act in a way that will get me approval and acceptance from others. It started in my early childhood. We moved a lot because of my dad’s job so I attended 7 schools in 12 years. I was always the new kid. I wanted to be in the cool crowd and so I quickly learned to read people and figure out who I needed to be in order for them to like me…what mask to wear. I desperately wanted acceptance and validation. I wore lots of “masks” depending on who I was hanging around with…from the cool kids to my teammates and to church youth group. I was constantly wondering am I good enough? What will people think of me? That continued through college and my adult life. I was afraid of letting someone see my shortcomings out of fear that they would not like me. At work I would wear the mask of authority and power in order to seem in control. At church I would wear the mask of self-righteousness and pride that I have everything under control so don’t ask questions, and around my friends I would wear the mask of humor and sarcasm ….on and on shuffling masks on and off from situation to situation. Everything I did was for validation and acceptance. I forgot that God--the one who matters most— has already given me the stamp of approval. A few years ago, I was reading through Colossians and read Colossians 3:23-24 which says, “Whatever you do, do your work heartily, as for the Lord rather than for men, knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance. It is the Lord Christ whom you serve.” I realized at that moment that I was working for everyone else. I was being whoever my boss, friends, the world told me to be. It was exhausting! Praise God that I can stop living under the tyranny of people pleasing and rest in who God created me to be! That’s sounds good and all…but putting into practice is a whole other ballgame! I found myself still looking for approval and the need to perform. It wasn’t until I went through re:Gen and dug deeper into why I need approval from others that I found true freedom. It’s still a daily struggle, but when I am in the Word and in prayer on a daily basis I don’t need my masks. I can trust who I am in Christ. I am a daughter of a King, a co-heir with Jesus. That is where I find my acceptance and validation. --by Page Austin
1 John 3:1 How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! Do you question who God has created you to be? Satan’s business is to make us question our identity. He tries to get us to doubt who we are at the very core. Just as when he tempted Jesus in the desert he began by saying, “IF you are the Son of God…” (Luke 4:3,9). If he can get us doubting whether we are actually children of God, then he has essentially stripped us of the power and authority we have over him as children of God, but we can defeat his lies like Jesus did when tempted in the desert, because God has given us all the same enemy-defeating weapon Jesus used to overcome Satan’s schemes – His word. And it is His word that tells us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made and that it is He who made us (Psalm 139:13-16). And just as He proclaimed to Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart…” (Jeremiah 1:5) so also is this true of us. Isaiah 64:8 says, “Yet, O Lord, you are our Father. We are the clay, you are the potter; we are all the work of your hand.” So who do you believe yourself to be? Through God’s Eyes God, What do you see when you look at me? I see a sinner unworthy of love You see your child whom you love unconditionally I see a failure marked by guilt and shame You see a success marked by grace and mercy I see flaws and countless imperfections You see beauty in fullness of Your creation I see a lost and wandering soul You see a beautiful journey towards home I see a broken, weary, empty vessel You see a strong, able bodied warrior I see struggles in weakness as defeat You see the beauty in all of my struggles I see a prodigal You see a daughter I see an outcast You see an insider I see sin You see forgiveness I see death You see life I see brokenness You see fullness of life I see only but a reflection But You see me!! When God looks at me, He sees me as He formed me and as Christ made me through the cross. I am perfect in His sight. I am flawless. --Julie Pierce
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