#changed life

Death will give way to life.

But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” How foolish! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as he has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body.  Not all flesh is the same: People have…

Can you smell it? Can you sense it?

Changing who you are right now to who you want to be requires work (see yesterday's post) and willingness to want to change.

But Jesus said, "Stop complaining to each other." - John 6:43

When the gospel of Jesus Christ is presented to you, how do you respond? Do you respond to it with joy, or do you respond to it in some other way?

The Jews of Jesus' day responded by complaining. Jesus came to them proclaiming "I am the bread that gives life. No one who comes to me will ever be hungry. No one who believes in me will ever be thirsty" (John 6:35). The Jews complained because they did not believe he was the heavenly bread that gives life. They did not believe the gospel message he proclaimed. Jesus said the only reason they followed him was that he fed them earthly bread (John 6:1-15).

To complain about the gospel of Jesus Christ is a sin. It arises from unbelief. It arises from the realization that the gospel requires a radical reorientation of life. It arises when a recalcitrant soul refuses to accept the reorientation that is required. When one is confronted by the gospel things cannot stay the same. Instead of following the dictates of the sinful self, one must accept Jesus and begin to follow him. Instead of living life on one's own terms, one must live life for Jesus. For some, this is too much to ask. For some, complaining is the only appropriate response.

It's not just unbelievers who may complain. Believers may do it as well. Although we have received the gospel with joy, when confronted with some of its implications we may hesitate and complain. After all, to follow Jesus is to surrender to his will and ways. It means that we cannot have our own way. If Jesus asks us to go here or there, or do this or that, it may not be what we want. It may not jibe with our personal agenda. As a result, we may resist him, we may complain to him.

The main problem with complaining is that it keeps us from moving forward in life. Instead of moving forward into the new thing Jesus has for us, we remain stuck where we are. Instead of following the fresh calling, we stagnate in the old calling. The ten spies complained about moving into the Promised Land and they ended up dying in the Wilderness.

If you find yourself complaining about something, it might be profitable to ask yourself: am I refusing to follow Jesus? Am I resisting his direction for my life?

I haven't cried in a while to songs but

Kid Cudi - Wounds. In a sense (to me) is a song about how a person is alone and has to heal somehow with no help from anybody. The line that gets me, "did everything right, didn't I? So why aren't I whole?!" is essentially saying that he has done everything right to be completely healed yet he still feels empty.

Kid Cudi - Handle with Care. A song about how a person that has emotional issues wants to be with someone but must warn them of the dangers of dating and emotionally charged person.

Mastodon - Oblivion. I had my heart broken in 2012 and when this song came on my shuffle playlist, it had me in tears because I felt lost and forgotten about.

Future - In Abundance. In a sense it's about how someone was heartbroken by someone they truly loved and now the only way true way they can get back at them is to glow up and get better.

Local Natives - Cubism Dream. A song about a couple different country long distance dating and how much he missed her and envisioning the moment they get together.