God gave us time on this earth to do His will. Check out this infographic showing how the average working adult spends his time.

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Faith is precious. The Bible says so in 1 Peter. In the scripture, Peter writes that our faith is of greater worth than gold.

Like all precious things, our faith is sometimes vulnerable and needs protecting. The Bible also says that our enemy, the Devil, prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Satan eats up faith for breakfast. His purpose is to make us faithless and fill our hearts with doubt and despair. Here are three ways that Satan uses to try to destroy our faith and how we can overcome these attacks.

1. Worry

In Philippians 4, Paul reminds the church to “not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present [our] requests to God.”

Anxiety and worry eats up our faith by distracting us. It distracts us from prayer and connecting with an all-powerful God. It also causes us to be ungrateful (notice how Paul encourages disciples to pray with thanksgiving).

When we are ungrateful, we will focus on what we lack, the things that are inadequate, rather than focus on how God has already provided through his promises. We can fight worry by following what Paul says: by praying through our anxieties.

2. Doubt

Some doubt is good. It’s good to question things and to be skeptical. Being skeptical of untrustworthy people is healthy. But doubts are only good for us if we are willing to resolve them.

God is gracious towards our doubts. He understands that most of the time we are slow to obey and slow to understand His ways, but God doesn’t want us to be tossed and turned in our doubts. Ultimately this is because doubt is another word for a lack of trust.

In Matthew 14, Jesus reached out and asked Peter “why did you doubt?”. Peter doubted because he saw the winds and was afraid. What Jesus wanted of Peter and what he wants of us is his trust.

If we have mistrust towards God, we almost certainly have trust in something else. Our trust could be in our own abilities, our circumstances, other people or even in our own ability to doubt. A good way to fight our doubts is sometimes to be like Peter: to step out of a boat and make a radical decision.

3. Contempt

When Nathan rebukes David for sinning with Bathsheba he asks: “Why did you despise the word of the Lord by doing what is evil in his eyes?” When someone despises something it means that he holds it in contempt or regards it with disdain.

Though as disciples we are saved into a loving relationship with God, if we are not careful our hearts can begin to harden over time. Bitterness and sin’s deceitfulness can begin to morph our tastes and affections to despise God and his word. Our hearts can harden to a point where we no longer believe the word of God, not because we are filled with doubts or uncertainty, but because we do not respect it.

We can fight our contempt against God by praying that God continually soften our hearts towards him.

Let’s fight against these three enemies of faith, step out and make radical choices for God.

This Week’s Monday Music comes from Hungary. We have a great OYC site in Budapest!

English Lyrics:

Like a beggar on the road, I was without you.
Like a warrior who lost a battle, I was without you.
Where would I be if you did not call me?
This is the good news of my hope.
This good news is my refuge.
This is the good news: that Jesus died for me,
And I became a child of God.
That’s my hope.
As an orphan without parents, so I was without you.
Like an instrument without a musician, I was without you.
Where would I be if you did not call me?
Because he took all the sins on himself,
When he suffered for us.
He died for us and life.
He saved us because of his blood
The price is for our redemption.
While the lock broke down from his grave,
He has brought us into new life.

From Richard J. Foster’s Celebration of Discipline:

Prayer catapults us onto the frontier of the spiritual life…’Prayer is to religion what original research is to science.’

While Daniel writes from a perspective of tithing while in debt, the same principle can be applied to the mission. Don’t let debt stop you from considering going on a One Year Challenge! God can do amazing things on your OYC even if you are in debt.

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Part of learning how to plant a church is learning how to have people in your home.

In many ways, church planting is about learning to practice hospitality well. It’s about meeting, welcoming, listening to, and loving people…Good hospitality is an outworking of the gospel.

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“Jesus’ identity is revealed not just in what he says, but in what he does.” Check out this infographic summarizing the book of Mark.

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This week’s Monday Music comes in celebration of the Chinese New Year! We have a great One Year Challenge site in China.

From Philip Yancey’s What’s So Amazing About Grace:

But God’s forgiveness is unconditional; it comes from a heart that does not demand anything for itself, a heart that is completely empty of self-seeking.

It’s true that only a relationship with God can fulfil the deepest part of our souls. But following Christ is more than about your own fulfilment — it’s about making disciples and bringing glory to Him.

There is truth behind this saying, yet Christ does far more than make our lives completely fulfilling. Repentance and redemption are more than transactional requirements for a good life. God is far greater than a quick fix, and his ultimate plan for re-creation and redemption is not a mere afterthought to a happy life. In some ways, a relationship with Christ intensifies our longings as God shapes them into visions of what he wants us to desire.

Read the whole thing.