Tag Archives: faith

November 15, 2012

Guarantee

By Ryan Miller

There are performance guarantees and money back guarantees.You can get them in durations of days, months, years and even a lifetime. Unfortunately most of those guarantees have loopholes. The fine print is so small you couldn’t see it with a microscope. You void the guarantee as soon as you get it.

And even if you find the perfect-no-loopholes-guarantee, it will only last until you die. Then you don’t need to care, right?

That type of thinking may work with products and services, but not our actual lives. There is a huge debate in regards to what happens after you die. That debate leads to many conversations and HUGE amounts of worry. People are freaked out by death.

But what if there was a guarantee for life (against death)?

I’ve got one for you. Clear as day, for you to read and receive even right now.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord”

Those beautiful words were penned by the apostle Paul in the Book of Romans (Rom 6:23). It is a signed, sealed, and delivered guarantee that if you accept Jesus Christ as Lord of your life you are given the gift of eternal life. This means that you do not have to fear death. NOT NOW, NOT EVER! You may experience a tragedy and leave this earth early or you may not wake up from a good night’s sleep at some point, but that isn’t death. That’s the beginning of the rest of your life loving, worshiping, and experiencing Jesus face to face.

So what are you waiting for? This isn’t a guarantee that will cost you a thing. It was bought and paid for over two thousand years ago.

All you need to do is accept it!

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October 28, 2012

Impossible Earnings

By Ryan Miller

After church this afternoon, we headed over to the quad at the Claremont Colleges to engage the community. While walking around we noticed a guy on his knees, burying his face in the grass every minute or so but we figured he was praying so we kept kept walking as not to interrupt what he was doing. After talking to a few other people, we made our way back over towards he and his family.

The man was extremely polite, eager to share with us about his upbringing, his profession, and his faith. There was no heated discussion, no debate over view points, not even push-back from me when he blatantly discounted my Jesus as a mere man. He went on to talk more about the dedication he has to his faith.

He memorizes his entire religious book. He prays at least five times a day, saying exactly what he is told to and in the same direction he is always supposed to point (yes, direction). He gives of his time and money to those that need it more. He respects others. He worships his god. Then I asked him.

“What happens after you die?” 

“Hopefully I have done enough to earn a good standing with God” he says.

Done enough? Good standing?

How about no chance!

I responded “The Bible says that none is righteous, not one. We all sin and fall short.”

“I serve a merciful and just God” he says.

No matter how hard we try, not matter how much we do (or don’t do), we will never earn one sliver of good standing with God. The same God that has mercy on all must also be just with all. Justice means we all pay for our sins. Thankfully mercy came in the way of Jesus.

Without spinning circles with this man, I shared one sentence.

“Through Jesus, you can be sure of your standing with God”

With that, I thanked him for his time, greeted his wife and kids and went on my way. You see, there was nothing I could say in that moment to get him to feel what I feel.

ONLY GOD SAVES

What breaks my heart is he will go about his life doing everything he can to earn the impossible.

I only pray God changes what my conversation never could.

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October 9, 2012

Thankful at the Bottom

By Ryan Miller

Today was a great day. 

Normally, I come home from a Christian conference trying to get my wife to feel all the excitement I felt from the day’s speakers, worship and more. It never really works the way I envision it. First, because you just can’t communicate the spirit of God moving unless you are present. Second, I get really into things (she may say overboard) and people just don’t feel it like I do.

But this day was different because I got to experience it with her.

In this most recent season of life we gave struggled and fought to keep our financial well being above water. It hasn’t been easy and we (particularly I as the husband) haven’t done a good job keeping us breathing. But today was an example of why I can thank God for being in this season. In my old job, I wouldn’t have had priceless days like today with my wife. The only reason I treasured time before was if it allowed me to put together another business deal.

BUT NOT THESE DAYS!

God has removed much of that from me so I could focus on the calling He has chosen for me.

HUSBAND – FATHER

I would lay down every last dollar and possession I had to spend all my days with my wife. She makes me feel like nobody else can. Her smile lights up my life like nothing else can. It’s not that I want to be in this season of struggle, but if this is what it takes to be the husband and father God called me to be then I am all in.

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September 23, 2012

Past, Present and Future

By Ryan Miller

Everybody sins and there is no getting around it. And if that’s not bad enough, we are told that because we sin, we have to pay the penalty of death. We are totally depraved and cannot help ourselves. Thankfully God sent Jesus down to pay the penalty for those that will be saved. In one of the most incomprehensible acts the world has ever seen, our sins our erased.

But it doesn’t stop there!!!!

The more I grow in my relationship with Jesus, the less I will sin (hopefully). But I will still sin and the wages of those sins is still death. Wonderfully, Jesus’ death on the cross paid for ALL my sins (not just the past).

PERFECT PAYMENT

Today in church my pastor shared a bit on the security of our salvation. We were studying 1 Corinthians and in chapter 1, verses 7-8 the apostle Paul says Jesus will sustain us to the end. It is an awesome promise and stems from the perfect payment Jesus gave on the cross.  There are plenty of other verses in the Bible which confirm our eternal security in Jesus. Check out Colossians 1:21-23, 2 Timothy 2:11-12 and Philippians 1:6 to name a few. 

There was nothing that I did to earn my salvation.

There is nothing I can do to ever lose my salvation.

I love knowing that I am eternally secure in Jesus because while I want to live in such a way that obeys Jesus’ commands and glorifies God, I am bound to have days that just aren’t so good.

You can be confident in that too!

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August 2, 2012

What Did You Say?

By Ryan Miller

“Now an angel of the Lord said to Phillip, Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza. This is a desert place. And he rose and went.” Acts 8:26-27

This is the beginning of the story of Phillip meeting the Ethiopian Eunuch on the road. I think about how often we don’t take the time necessary to hear from God when we seek to share the gospel with the lost (or do any of His work for that matter). And how often do we question God after we have been given direction? In this story from Acts, God commands and Phillip goes. It is that kind of obedience that causes God to produce fruits from our work.

Time and time again in the Bible this type of story reigns true. God calls on someone to go or do and the result of their obedience is fruit. Alternatively, we see evidences in the Bible where God calls and people disobey. Take Jonah for instance. He went in the complete opposite direction that God asked of him. The great thing is that God’s perfect grace is irresistible and in His timing, Jonah saw God’s ways as better than his own.

Our disobedience will always have consequences but better yet, our obedience will always produce fruit. In the case of Phillip in this story, the fruit produced was an an eternal one. The Eunuch heard the gospel, accepted Christ and was baptized!

So what is it that God has called you to do? Are you waiting to hear a better confirmation on something God has asked? Or are you all out disobeying the calling God has for you? 

Trust that God’s will for your life is perfect and go for it, because inside of that will there are no regrets!

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June 10, 2012

I Don’t Fit in the Box

By Ryan Miller

When it comes to my faith I do my best to study what I hear and not just follow something or someone because they say so. Especially because now a days there is a lot of variety out there. What drives me nuts is when I get put into a box because I share some beliefs with another denomination or movement.

Believing predestination and total depravity doesn’t make me a Calvinist. It makes me a Christian who believes in predestination and total depravity.
As well, aligning myself with much of the reformed movement doesn’t mean I see Martin Luther’s word as gold.

We have to be so careful as to not throw labels on people in the church because of things like this. We criticize each other on many small issues and miss the big one. We are called to make disciples (Matt 28:19), not enemies. We need to seek ways to better work together. If we believe in the Trinity of God, salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone and the inerrancy of scripture we are playing the same team.

So that box over there, put something else in it because I don’t fit!

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