Tag: Action

Why God Excites Me 

​People ask me, “Why do I get so excited about God”, I can only smile at what flows through my mind.

I get excited about God for saving me from a life of addiction. From a life of self loathing, hatred and constant pain. I get excited about God because He loves me, every part if me and always will. He has saved me from an eternity of suffering and punishment, from hell on earth and He has saved me from myself….

We read of who He is in the scriptures and we believe. We believe the stories, the prophecies and the promises, but sometimes we can have the tendency to view God as a God of the past, or a God of the future. But the truth is,”God is the same yesterday, today and forever.” (Heb 13:8) Which means He is alive and active today, just like in the days of the Apostles and that is an awesome exciting thing!  I am excited because I have experienced His “impossible” works, first hand and I have witnessed things that cannot be denied. 

I get excited because God is real! His power and His presence is real and He not only wants to work in our lives, but He wants to use us to bless others and to change the world through love, one person at a time.

God is hope, God is love, God is good. 

He is alive and active and I love it! 

Written by: Justin Ludwig

God’s Timing

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“Acts 16:6-10 “Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.”

God’s timing is everything. That is what is so incredible about Him, He has woven this incredibly intricate tapestry that we call everything. This is why it is so important to be sensitive to the Spirit’s voice.

Just because you do not shout the name of Jesus to every single person you meet, or that you are not willing to sell your house to live in a hut does not mean that you are not madly in love with God. When you are supposed to share with someone you will feel the Spirit telling you to. If your boss is asking you to do shady stuff and the Spirit is telling you to quit your job, you’ll know. We cannot beat ourselves up because we are not capable of doing some of the intense things that God may ask of us. But when that time comes and God has a big use for you, the Spirit will come upon you and you will be capable of doing things not possible before.

Be sensitive to His voice, and be courageous enough to follow it.

He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Acts 1:7-8

Written by: Justin Ludwig

Photo from: http://christianmarketingprogram.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/Gods_Timing.jpg

The Gospel is Love

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The gospel is……

There are many ways to finish this sentence; it is hope, it is truth, it is life, etc. But what the gospel is….is love.

The hope in our secured eternity because He loves us so much that He set us free from our fate, our shackles, ourselves. The truth is that God is love, His truth is that He loves the active satan worshipper as much as He does you. The truth is, we cannot fathom His love for us, because it is more powerful, deep and scandalous than anything we can imagine. We did everything wrong, we blatantly turn our backs on God to do what we want because we want to do it. And He always responds in love.. always, because God is love.

Why do I share this?

From the child molester, to the devil worshipper, to the person who just doesn’t care, we have but one response that we must do if we truly desire to please God, and that is to love them.

Somehow the church has become somewhat of an ostrich with its head in the sand. So concerned about separating itself from evil, from the world. All the while evil, pain and suffering is raging all around us.

This is NOT what God desires from the church. To avoid evil so we can protect ourselves. That is the opposite of the gospel. We are called to go… to go to the darkest corners of the world and love.  Love without judgment….. love without an agenda …. To love without question.

Matt 28:19-20
“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Mark 12:31
“The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment greater than these.”

Romans 13:10
“Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

Written by: Justin Ludwig

Photo from: https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/a7/7a/23/a77a239f2a545a88d1e5cf188f4ec4f8.jpg

Love is what God Desires

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Everything that God desires from us can be summed up in a single verse.

“He answered, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbor as yourself.” -Luke 10:27.

This verse encapsulates everything that God wants from us. If you look at the 10 commandments if  you are loving God with all of your heart you will be doing the first 4 of the commandments. And when you love your neighbor as yourself you are following the other 7 commandments. We must know that our faith does not call us to be confined by rules.  Simply telling us what we cannot do. Our faith calls us to be active in and with our love and then, us following God’s law will just be a byproduct of doing what we are truly called to do, and that is love.

Justin Ludwig

Prayer and Action

I say it constantly, that prayer is power, and it is, but too often that is where it stops.

People lift up their troubles and fears with the hopes that God will just suddenly make everything better. What we as Christians need to realize is that a lot of times we must take action in order for our prayers to be answered

If you look through scriptures, this fact is played out time and time again.

In Exodus 17 when the Israelites are battling the Amalekites, Moses must keep the staff of God raised over his head in order for the Israelites to triumph, and when his hands fall, the enemies of God begin to win. In Joshua 6, they are required to march around the city of Jericho seven times and let out a cry of victory before the walls would come crumbling down so God’s promise would be fulfilled. And my personal favorite on this topic is the parting of the Red

“Moses answered the people, “Do not be afraid. Stand firm and you will see the deliverance the Lord will bring you today. The Egyptians you see today you will never see again. The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.” Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the Israelites to move on. Raise your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea to divide the water so that the Israelites can go through the sea on dry ground. -Exodus 14:13-17

I could go on and on with examples but I think y’all get where I am going with this. Prayer is indeed power. The fellowship and council of Jesus Christ is the most powerful weapon that we can wield. But He is not a magic genie that will just magically whisk our problems.

Look, the bottom line is that we serve an all powerful God who wants to bless us beyond measure, but He expects us to take action, and sometimes yes, the action is to wait or do nothing.
If you feel like your prayers aren’t being answered, ask Him what He wants you to do. The hard part is, when He gives you the answer, and He will, you actually have to do it.

He will not solve all of our problems for us. He wants to use us, to bless us

When we put this fact into practice, we are able to be blessed beyond anything we dared dream.

Written by: Justin Ludwig