Be Transfigured Ministries

Is Your Heart Prepared to Receive Christ?

In the Parable of the Sower found in Luke 8.5-15, Jesus tells us of four different types of people. One hears the Gospel and loses it to the Devil because he is too distracted to pay attention. One hears the Gospel and it fades in times of temptation because it had no depth. One hears the Gospel and it dies without bearing fruit because of the riches and cares of the world choke it out. Only ONE hears the Gospel and brings fruit with patience. Only ONE has a heart pure and fertile enough for the Gospel of Jesus to germinate and grow. God sows His Seed, the Only Begotten Son and Word of God, in all hearts, but only the hearts of those who are prepared to receive Him can bear fruit. Is your heart prepared to receive Christ?

Are You Afraid to Step Out of Your Comfort Zone?

Following Christ is not easy, but you probably didn’t need me to tell you that. If you’re the average Christian, you already know it isn’t easy to step out of your comfort zone and follow the commandments of God, especially when those commandments go against your own logic. But those are the moments when great things can happen, in your life and in the life of the Church. If you want to spend get to heaven, you have to be willing to step out of your comfort zone and follow the guidance of the Church. God you His Church, not as a system of rules, but to guide you and help you find Him, and listening to the advice of the Church these days can seem as uncomfortable as can be. Let today be the day you cast out into the deep water of the unknown and trust God’s advice for your journey. Your soul depends upon it.

The Golden Rule Isn’t About You

We can all quote it, but we never really follow it. “Just as you want men to do to you, you also do to them likewise.” (Luke 6.31) The preciousness of the Golden Rule isn’t in how we can negotiate better treatment toward us, but rather, how we can treat others better without care of how they will treat us. “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you?” (Luke 6.32) The call of Christ is to love others, whether or not they will love us in return and to be like God. If God only loved us based on how we could love Him in return, He would have stayed in Heaven. We are called to do the same for others. “Just as God has done to you, you also do to others likewise.”

Having a Pure Soul

The message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is simple. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3.16) Jesus went further to say, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3.17) Then where is condemnation? We bring it on ourselves by loving darkness and the ways of the world rather than the ways of God. Again Jesus said, “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” (John 3.19) The way of the Cross is the way of life. The life of the Church is the way of the Cross. We must remain focused upon and believe in the Cross of Christ in order that our eternity will be salvation rather than condemnation.

We Condemn Ourselves

The message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is simple. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believe in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3.16) Jesus went further to say, “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (John 3.17) Then where is condemnation? We bring it on ourselves by loving darkness and the ways of the world rather than the ways of God. Again Jesus said, “And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.” (John 3.19) The way of the Cross is the way of life. The life of the Church is the way of the Cross. We must remain focused upon and believe in the Cross of Christ in order that our eternity will be salvation rather than condemnation.

Weathering the Storms of Life

Trusting in God doesn’t mean we don’t encounter struggle. In the darkest moments of life, the Lord is present to weather the storm with us, but He will not always calm the storm. There will be times when the storms of life will crash down upon us even when we are focused intently upon Christ. It requires endurance to keep our focus on Christ in the midst of the storm. God doesn’t guarantee us a struggle-free life; He guarantees us the necessities of life. When times are really tough, we are tempted to dwell upon how difficult the storm is, rather than how God is guiding us through the storm. That’s when we tend to sink, and when we need endurance to weather out the storm with God holding our hand.

Don’t Let Your Weakness Get in God’s Way

We all have them and we know it. We rarely admit it, but we all know there are days when we are just too weak to trust in God’s promise. And what is His promise? So long as we trust in Him and bring to Him our resources for His ministry, we will always have enough for our needs. And what are our needs? God promises we will have enough BASIC food, BASIC clothing, and BASIC shelter. When it comes to the rest of our resources, we have to trust God ENOUGH and allow Him to use our resources for His ministry. If we allow our weakness to get in the way, people go hungry and Churches are unable to continue to mission Christ began just two thousand years ago.

What Happens When We Don’t Like Our Neighbors?

It happens to all of us. Someone moves in next door and we don’t approve of their behavior. A business opens next door and we believe their behavior doesn’t belong in our neighborhood. In our free pluralistic society, it happens more often than in past homogenous societies, but our response must always be the same. We must never allow our blindness to keep us from expressing love for our neighbors. We must never forget that our lives are no less sinful than our neighbors’. God calls us to open our eyes to our sinfulness and repent from our sinful way of life, rather than to waste time focusing on the sins of others.

The Best Words are VERBS!

The Bible is filled with words; small ones and big ones, but the best words are verbs. A sentence is not complete without a verb, and neither is the Christian life. God is a God of ACTION and He calls us to put our gifts to use and become Christians of ACTION. Saint Paul said, “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, let us use them.” (Romans 12.6) Jesus didn’t just sit in heaven and watch us, and we cannot just sit in Church watching Him.

What Happens When the Truth Torments Us?

Fast every Wednesday and Friday. Tithe to the Church. Come for Holy Confession. Attend Church regularly. Receive Holy Communion. You can’t marry that person. You can’t live like this, and you can’t do that. What happens when the truth of the Church torments us? We either ignore the Church to ease the pain or we beg the Church to stop tormenting us. “What have we to do with You, Jesus, You Son of God? Have You come here to torment us before the time?” (Matthew 8.23) These were the words of demons but they can easily become our own words when our life doesn’t match with how God wants us to live. Rather than begging God to leave you alone, why not run to Him and tell the demons to leave you alone? Let the demons bother the pigs; you have a restored life in Christ waiting for you.