Come to Jesus Meeting

We are going to need to have a “come to Jesus meeting?”  Have you heard or used that phrase lately?  It is one that I hear from time to time and usually means that the one who says it is planning a serious talk with someone to discuss what they see as a need for change in the perspective and/or behavior of the one they are going to have the meeting with.  I heard this phrase used at a meeting this week at work about a conversation that someone needed to have with a patient’s family.  The thing that really struck me as odd, even funny, was that the person who made the comment has shared with me that she is an agnostic.   She said that she grew up atheist but has seen enough unexplainable things happen that she can no longer rule out the existence of God but feels that we can’t know God.  While I continue to pray that God will indeed reveal himself to her, I wondered do I need to have a “come to Jesus” meeting with her about coming to Jesus.   And then I thought, since Jesus lives in me, isn’t every encounter that I have with someone a “bring Jesus with me” meeting?   As I grow to be more like Christ, my interactions with others should reflect Christ and draw people to Him.  Are there opportunities that I have been missing out on sharing Christ with people because I thought I had to have a “come to Jesus” meeting with someone rather than being aware that I’m bringing Him along wherever I go?  So since noon on Tuesday, I’ve been thinking about bringing Jesus with me and being prepared and ready for sharing how someone else can come to know Him too.  And do you want to know what happened?  God opened the door and allowed me to be the one who showed someone how to come to Jesus.  May I be a better reflection of Him each day, may my life and example be salty and make people thirsty for Jesus the living water, may my life be light pointing people towards Christ.   If you don’t know Christ, may you seek Him and find Him for He loves you and wants to reveal Himself to you.  If you do know Christ, may you also take Jesus with you wherever you go so that others may come to know Him.

Better Every Day

Better Every Day—I picked this as the title for my blog because it is a motto that I’ve adopted for my life.   It is my desire that each day I improve in some way in my life.  I got to thinking about this because of a woman at my church.  For years she has always responded to the question “How are you?” with the answer “Better.”  There were times that I my internal response was, “Oh, I didn’t know you’d been worse.”    But in speaking with her through the years, I learned that her response was a result of her decision to find the good in every day rather than focusing on the negative.    So in one aspect, better every day, is as simple as choosing a right attitude each day.  However, there are so many areas in life that have room for improvement and growth.  As I look at the many areas in my life where I would love to see improvement, the thing that I see that I can do to make the biggest difference is to be intentional—one of the reasons for writing this blog is to be intentional in naming the areas and ways that I am striving to be better and hopefully making progress.  The biggest area of improvement for life is brought to light by Romans 12:1-3 ¹ Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.  ³ For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.  Romans 8:29-30 also lends light to the goal: For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. ³⁰ And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified.

So my ultimate goal is to be conformed to the image of Christ, that my life would be a living sacrifice to Him, that my mind would be set on the things that matter to God, that when my time here on earth is done that my heavenly father would say, “Well done my good and faithful servant.”  There are definitely some days that are much better than others for how well I reflect Christ.  I will strive to be able to truthfully say every day that I am better in some way. I invite you to join me on the journey.