An Enemy Worth Saving

"This includes you who were once far away from God. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has bought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault." Colossians 1:21-22

Reconciled... what in the world does reconciled mean? Reconciled means that your relationship has been restored. So when I look at  Colossians 1:21-22 it is telling me that I once was an enemy of God. I was separated from him because of my evil thoughts and actions (which aka means sin), but because of Jesus Christ's perfect sacrifice on the cross my relationship with God has been restored to what it was meant to be before sin entered the world. I now am considered holy, blameless and without fault before God, because when he sees me he sees Jesus.

Now that's something to get excited about! God, the creator of the universe calls me friend. I'm no longer an enemy because I've been saved by the blood of Jesus. I was an enemy worth saving. Why? I have no clue, because it was nothing in and of myself that made God decide to save me.   

Ephesians 2:8-9 states "God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it." I'm so thankful for God's grace, without it I would still be lost and living in darkness. Yet because he loved me the way he does he decided to save me... an enemy, and now I'm considered a friend! Are you a friend of God? If so, rejoice in His goodness and grace for without it you would still be an enemy. 

~ Heather

Phil Robertson, nor any Christian in the United States have experienced true persecution.

Unless you have no form of social media, you’ve heard the news about Phil Robertson being suspended indefinitely from the reality hit television show called Duck Dynasty after the remarks he made in a GQ magazine interview. My news-feed has been flooded with post stating, “We stand with Phil”, and “A&E has made a terrible mistake.” and while I wasn’t going to join in on this hoopla, I’ve noticed a remarkable trend in my fellow Christians, and one that I feel needs to be addressed. 

It completely baffles me on how upset people have gotten over this whole ordeal, as if it is something that we as Christian’s shouldn’t have to deal with. Nowhere in the Bible does it state that we won’t be persecuted for what we believe in, if you pick up your Bible and actually read it (Which is something that 80% of proclaimed Christians do not do) then you will notice the exact opposite. Look up  “John 15:19-21”, “Acts 14:22”, ”2 Timothy 3:12”, and “Matthew 5:10-12” if you don’t believe me.  Christians will be persecuted for what they believe; it comes with the job description, but being kicked off a reality TV show because of something you said is not true Biblical persecution. Christians are quick to post how unfairly Phil Robertson is being treated but hardly ever post about the Christians that are going through real persecution in country’s like Syria, Pakistan, and India. Where just saying the name of Jesus could get you killed. No my fellow Christian Americans, Phil Robertson, nor any of us here in the States have experienced true persecution.

We wake-up everyday and are allowed to openly proclaim what we believe without having to fear for our lives in order to do so. We can tell our fellow coworker, friend, or classmate the joy that we have inside without having to worry of the possibility that we might be thrown in jell. We can pray over our meals in public, have churches that aren’t underground, and celebrate the reason of Jesus’ coming every December. The United States of America, and its citizens have no clue of what it truly means to suffer to be a Christian. You see the Christian life is a life of death, and hardship. It isn’t about going to Church twice a week and being done. No, it’s about realizing that a true intimate relationship with Jesus Christ is not a life of complacency.  Matthew 16:24-25 states “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. ²⁵ If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it.” Being a Christ follower, aka “Christian” will cost you something. There will come a time in America when true persecution will happen. Jesus states in Matthew 10:17-18 “But beware! For you will be handed over to the courts and will be flogged with whips in the synagogues. ¹⁸ You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers. But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about me.” When that time comes, and our country doesn’t allow us to proclaim our beliefs in public or on social media my prayer is that Christians all across these 50 states will be able to endure the pain, humiliation, and hardships like so many other Christians have done and are doing.  Until then, thank God you’re still allowed to profess your beliefs freely, declare them like Phil Robertson has, and pray for those who do not have that right. 

In Christ,

Heather Bryant

Unworthy Of Being Worthy

Before I begin this new wonderful adventure on blogger, I want to inform you all of my Tumbler account (hbryant0722.tumblr.com) I started 'Blogging" on the 4th of February, and needles to say it's been a bumpy ride. I started out with every intention of blogging regularly, but life took over, I got busy, and my blogging kinda went to a standstill. However, it's a new day and a new blogging website so let's get started shall we?

First off, let's clear the air about what the title of this blog actually means. Unworthy Of Being Worthy has everything to do with being a Christ follower. It's about living out your faith, not just merely speaking it. No one, Let me repeat NO ONE has any right to call themselves worthy of anything. We are all nasty, filthy people in need of forgiveness of a great sovereign Savior. A Savior who has been passionately pursuing us since Adam and Eve messed things up in the Garden of Eden many many years ago. A Savior who knew no sin, but became sin so that we may become the righteousness of God. We are ALL unworthy, but to Jesus Christ we're considered worthy.... Wow! What a Savior.

This is the first of many more post. The post will probably range in different topics, but they will all have a common underlying truth; that we all are unworthy, but because Jesus Christ paid the ransom for our sins we all can be considered worthy through his eyes.

~ Heather