by Brandy Webb
Do you ever find yourself asking God to tell you what He wants you to do with your life? Well, I do a lot. Especially during those times when I thought I was going in the right direction, but nothing was going well for me. I started getting confused and started doubting my decisions. During these times I wish God had a cell phone that He would answer. I know that we have prayer, but wouldn’t it be nice if He told us exactly what He wants us to do in every situation we face in life? Wouldn’t it be awesome if we weren’t looking through a dark glass (1 Corinthians 13:12) and instead we had complete clarity? Continue reading
This coming Sunday evening at sunset, many of us will memorialize the death of our Savior by taking the symbols of the New Testament Passover. We will meet, quietly and reflectively, to review the meaning of these symbols, and participate, by washing one another’s feet (John 13:3-17), eating unleavened bread, and drinking what amounts to a sip of wine (1 Corinthians 11:23-26), to commemorate the killing of Jesus Christ as the perfect, sinless sacrificial Lamb of God (1 Peter 1:19; 1 John 3:5), slain for the sins of mankind (John 1:29; Revelation 5:9). It is the celebration of a very sobering, yet triumphant event. Jesus died so that the rest of us might have life – real life – eternal life (1 John 2:2; John 6:40)! 
The other day I was thinking about what am I doing with my faith? It all started from a scripture in Isaiah. God is speaking to Isaiah in regards to Jerusalem because of all their sins, and He makes a statement in verses 13 that kind of hit home to me (emphasis mine):
Life can be discouraging sometimes. Do you ever feel that way?
Are we showing the world the benefits of being a Christian or are we giving them reasons to dislike us? I have been wondering for a while why it seems that to the outside, Christians aren’t very loving. Isn’t that one of the major requirements of being a Christian? Are we actually our worst enemies when it comes to spreading God’s Word and light to others? What if we are stumbling blocks by our actions, reactions, and condemnations of others? We are told in Leviticus 19:14 not to “curse a deaf man, nor place a stumbling block before the blind.” I know this probably meant literally, but it definitely can be applied spiritually. We are not to curse those who do not know the truth nor cause them to stumble. I am not saying we need to compromise our beliefs. I also do not intend to compromise my beliefs either. What I am saying is we need to pay attention so that our actions reveal Christ to others and not self-righteousness. 
This is a very special time of year. We are only six weeks away from remembering the work of us being reconciled to our Father, and the salvational work, produced by the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. For those keeping the Holy Days as outlined in Leviticus 23, this time of year focuses our attention on the Passover, a ceremony that was a “shadow of things to come” (Colossians 2:16-17; Hebrews 10:1). Passover represents many things, but, one of the main things it points to is Jesus Christ as our perfect Passover Lamb being sacrificed for us (1 Corinthians 5:7). 
The Church of God International Springfield, Missouri 