Continuing On

As I wrote the last post I began to see more clearly the gospel of Christ and how simple it really is. Men have overcomplicated it as usual and placed burdens upon it that were never there in the first place. We've done like the Pharisees did and have added rules to make our side of things more important than they really are.

Church leaders place undue burden on believers when they come to Christ from the moment they tell them to recite the sinners prayer. No where in the Bible is there a specific outlined prayer for those to come to Jesus. Coming unto the Lord is as easy as saying, yep I believe. No fan fare, no applause, no standing up in front of the church so you can be counted in their bulletin, it's just a genuine heart that says to God thank you for Your Son and His sacrifice. I believe. It's that simple but men have complicated it so much. 

Simple childlike faith is all it takes. We stand in Him and His finished works. We can't do or be or try or have a plan, we can only receive in faith what He has already prepared for us. 

A radio antenna is built for one thing, to receive radio signals. It doesn't do it by any work of its own. The one who created it, made it to do what it does. So the antenna is just the vessel that picks up the signal and delivers it to a radio. Likewise we are the vessel that houses the Spirit. We can either block His signal by not believing or we can let Him operate through us by believing. 

Matthew 18:1-4 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who then is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”

2Jesus invited a little child to stand among them. 3“Truly I tell you,” He said, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

You see, a child cannot do anything but believe what it is told from its infancy. It has total faith in those that take care of it. We must humble ourselves and empty every notion, fear, doubt and piece of pride that resides in us and become fearless in faith. 

We cannot say to ourselves we are unable for He is able to do through us. I told my wife yesterday, we are like a medicine bottle. The world is sick and is dying. We can either do one of two things. We can let them read our label, which gives them information about the medicine or we can give them the medicine. To give them medicine though, we must be like an empty container ready to receive His medicine. We can't be full of cotton which makes us look full but can't help in any way. No, we must empty ourselves out, present ourselves to the source and then accept the medicine He puts in us. So when we come up to someone who is sick, we can give them medicine. 

Of course this is all metaphorical but you get my point. We can't walk around sick too. If we're sick then we can infect those we are trying to cure. We must be healthy, not just physically but spiritually, one who walks, talks and breathes God. Not because they can quote scripture and their head is full of notes but because they walk in childlike faith. 

We are so focused on rules and traditions that we often block the very thing we seek from happening. I can't emphasise enough, the importance of letting everything go to become a child full of faith in all things. It's so important that we get that. I'm even moving further into this as I type. It's something that God has opened my eyes to recently so I must pass on the medicine. 

Being a medicine bottle or an antenna, we first have to be empty, then we have to receive, then deliver. We are just conduits and containers for God’s love. 

One more metaphor, say you are a delivery truck. First of all, God is in the delivery business and instead of building new delivery trucks, He takes the old worn out trucks and gives them a complete overhaul; top to bottom, engine to bumper new. However, in the truck is all the old junk it was carrying. God will remove the old stuff if we back up to the loading dock to be emptied. Once emptied, He can then fill us up so we can go out to make His deliveries. 

I don't know if that makes sense but it just popped in my head. We must be like that empty truck, willing and ready to be filled, knowing we will be filled, knowing that is our purpose. 

If I told you it was our faith in Him to work through us that saves the world, would you believe me. In Romans it says the world has been waiting and groaning for the manifestation of the Sons of God. Why? Because it's our call to set the world free of sin and doubt. Christ came to multiply His one single piece of fruit. With one piece of fruit you can feed only one person. The fruit instead dies and delivers the seed into the ground then it can bring forth new life. It can then produce many pieces of fruit and can feed many  generations. If we  are like fertile ground for God to plant His seed in, will we not bring forth new life to feed the hungry? 

I've gone on long enough for today.

Know this, God loves you.

To God be the Glory! 

Never Turn Back

Like Lot's wife, we are to never look back at where we came from after we have been born again. The unregenerate world however loves too wallow in the past, dredging up the muck of past errors and throwing them in you face. Their whole goal is to drag you back down into the mire of self doubt and keep you from looking towards your present and future relationship with God. Heck, some of our fellow Christians tend to do the same. They've never stopped looking back into their past thereby their past is everyone's past. If they cannot live in Him, no one can and they deny that it's possible for anyone to be released from the shame of the past or current sins. So much focus on where we have been places us back before we were born again and we feel guilt, despair and condemnation all over again. 

We are to be set apart from the time we come into the truth of the Gospel of Christ. If you were drowning in a pool of mud, slowly sinking further and further, knowing that you'll die eventually, then someone comes along and says believe in me and I'll save you. If we understood our situation and the ultimate outcome, obviously we wouldn't deny the help. Once He helps us out, He then proceeds to wash us off and give us brand new clothes. Now we look just like Him, clean and wearing white. If we are then completely clean, why do we go and play in the mud again. Why would we sling mud at each other and play around the edge of the pit getting filthy all over again. Then every Sunday we look at our dirtiness and ask to be washed again. Christ's purpose is not to continually wash us clean. Once out of the pit and cleaned, our task is to stay clean and washed. Our focus is to be on Him not the pit. When others start to throw mud at you, walk further away. The further from the pit you get, the less likely you are to get mud on you. 

Of course this process is to happen in your mind and heart. You can't receive the love of God in your heart if your mind is always looking into what it perceives as failure. We must get our minds in line with the truth of the Gospel. When we read Romans 8:1-4 1Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death. 3For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin. He thus condemned sin in the flesh, 4so that the righteous standard of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit.

Do we believe, have faith, understand that we are no longer under the power of sin and flesh but are now under the power of the Spirit. We must grasp that in our minds so it can be established in our hearts. Until we get this basic concept of why Christ came and died, we will not be able to move forward in Him. We will forever be playing in the mud and slinging it onto others because we don't believe we are completely done with all that. 

We read the Old Testament and see all the judgement upon their lives. We identify with that because we started life out that way, being judged for everything we do. When Christ came, He erased the Old Testament with His death and wrote a new law, Love. We cannot read the old and proclaim it ours if we've accepted Christ. Rather we should walk in the newness of Christ's love.

When the transformation from our old muddied life takes place, it happens inside, it's not something that is observable. It's not like we change physically. Wouldn't that be weird if when we came to Christ  our faces changed to where not even we recognised it. Instead, it's a spiritual change. Our hearts change like Ebenezer Scrooge's did. Of course his transformation was overexaggerated to prove a point but it's accurate. If we find ourselves changed and beautiful, then why would we want to ruin it by trudging through our old ways and habits. We should run in fear of being dragged back under. We should sprint in the opposite direction and never look back. 

We have everything going for us now. Those in the Old Testament were under the law which only proved they were full of sin. They were in continual condemnation and judgement. That has been lifted for us. We aren’t condemned or guilty of anything as long as we have faith in Christ. With the burden of guilt taken away we can move forward in our pursuit of Him through good works. Don't confuse the works. Trying to be saved through works like they did in the Old Testament doesn't work but after receiving redemption through Christ, we can now pursue good works because our foundation is in Christ and not ourselves. 

Those that think they can pursue God by their own works stand on their own foundation which is under condemnation. It's like Christ says, you cannot build on sand that shifts and moves so easily. However, when we enter into Christ by His gift of redemption, we are placed on solid ground. This is when we can start to build and only then can we build. 

Hopefully we can see this by now. We were once castaways, lost in a sea of despair but now we have been given a home, a place to live and grow, to build and prosper. We've been rescued from certain death and placed in a fertile land. The question is, will we build the house and sow the field like we should be doing; or, will we continue to see ourselves as castaways treading water with a life-preserver? Never look back, always look ahead to who you are and where your going in Him. Use His gift to the fullest! 

To God be the Glory!

Adversity

When everything is going well in our lives, we sit back in our proverbial rocking chair sipping on tea watching the sun set. We sit in comfort and go about life normally. When we hit a wall of adversity though, we tend to fall into a "woe is me" attitude. We are great when things are great and we are bad when things are bad. We either blame God for our adversity or we blame the devil for it but we never except it for what it is. The system set in place is an equal opportunity offender. Rain falls on the just and the unjust the same. A magical umbrella doesn't appear keeping the Christian shielded from the rain when it comes. Instead, we are to go through the rain with a different perspective and attitude about it. 

My wife and I have gotten a head cold on Christmas Day. We were sneezing on Christmas then had sore throats and stuffed up noses by the end of the day. The day after Christmas, we both were down for the count. We didn't leave the house or do anything but be couch potatoes the whole day. Now, I could wonder, why me God or I could say thank you for being with me during this. Thank you for being my cloud by day and fire by night while I go through this. Did I ask for relief? No! Why? Because I need this adversity to do one thing in me. To prove my faith. If our faith isn't proven then it's not faith. 

People think that being a Christian qualifies then for an easy life. They think that if they pray a prayer and do church that their life should be good. In that head space, they cannot process adversity as being a good thing. They will always believe that Satan is attacking them and that they need to get on some prayer list at church. They believe they are victims of a crime. With that kind of thinking, it is impossible for them to grow up in Christ. If this way of thinking is correct, then Paul wouldn't have been singing and proclaiming Christ in jail. He'd be sitting in the corner praying, Oh God why has this happened. I thought it was going to be easy and that you'd clear my path of all problems. Why am I here? If you heard that coming out of Paul's mouth, you'd seriously wonder about his relationship with God.

Why do we put these Bible figures up on a pedestal and say, well they were called, anointed and placed there by God to do those things. They were put there as examples of how we should be. They were the forerunners. They aren't the exception but the rule. We have the same Spirit in us that they had. We are capable of being just like them. Christ Himself said in John 14:12 "Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father." He didn't say, those who I choose but He said those that believe, which involves faith. 

We cannot be thrown about like a ship in a storm each time adversity comes our way. We cannot be thrown into a well of doubt or a pit of despair every time something comes our way that we don't find comfortable. Look at our society today. We have drugs galore to mask pain and symptoms, either legal or the illegal type. We have people telling us that we need to change who we are so they will not be offended. Our society is now all about removing the pain and suffering from their lives. It's a "ME" culture that has spawned from internet social media platforms. Everyone has an opinion and everyone thinks they are right. 

Christians cannot be taken in by this attitude of self. We cannot be bed buddies with thoughts of no pain and all gain. The miraculous is to walk through the pain, the discomforts, the hurt and the problems without so much as a care and a smile on our faces. If someone goes through cancer and smiles the whole way through it without one word of anger or grief then the world will stand in awe and wonder who that person is. They are a child of the living God is who and they will be an example of who God is to them. God did not promise that our life here on Earth would be a bed of roses. He did say that He would be with us and never forsake us. How then, if we have the Spirit of the living God dwelling in us, do we have the right to complain about anything. 

Most hear the promise of Heaven and how when we get there, we won't feel pain and everything will be so awesome. That's true. However, we have adopted the hurry up and wait mind set. Let's bide our time here, complain about everything and look forward to better days when we die. That is a disgusting thought process. Why would God send His son to die for us so we can be miserable unto death. It doesn't add up. Jesus said, "The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is within you.” and Paul said this about the kingdom, "For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit."

That being said, we have the kingdom in us as long as we have righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. Which also means we can overcome the world and our circumstances through those means.

Never does it say the kingdom is avoiding situations that make us feel uncomfortable. Instead we overcome circumstances with what dwells in our hearts. That's why Jesus said the kingdom has come and will come. He was the image of God's kingdom and that image was to be passed on to those that believed in Him. 

 Adversity is always going to be there pounding away at our selfish side, the flesh. If we let our flesh have its way, it will complain and throw a fit every time. If we overcome the flesh with the understanding that we are of God, He lives in us, we are His children and He has given us all the tools  to conquer the situations we go through with joy, peace, love and happiness, then we will prevail. Can we not stand on the promises of God day in and day out. The promises Jesus came and preached and died for. If we look to Christ as our conqueror then we never become conquerors ourselves. Christ tried to show them back then that He was there to change their hearts and not overthrow Rome. Do we still want Christ to overthrow our situations or can we not instead let Him change our hearts? 

To God be the Glory! 

What child is this?

It's hard to put yourself into the story of Christ's birth because of its foreignness. We don't know what it feels like to be ruled by another nation or to be taxed heavily from that nation. We don't journey to our home town every time a census comes around. We don't do child birth without a sterile hospital. We don't see Angels telling us the good news. We don't have a lot in common with any of the traditions from that time. We are total opposites from that time period. 

Technology has made us spoiled, soft and out of touch with those living like they did. We cannot understand the full scope and weight of how Jesus came into this world. Even so, we still celebrate His birth today. Out of touch or not, we celebrate the most joyful moment in mankind's history, the birth of a savior. 

However, nowhere in the Bible does it say to do this. Nowhere does it say we should celebrate His historical birth let alone on a day we probably have incorrect. Yet we still do it. Should we do it? 

In my opinion, we should not. Here's why. It detracts from what Christ is doing now. It takes away from His birth in you, which should be celebrated everyday. Of course we shouldn't forget the past deeds done by Jesus, the Apostles or any Biblical figure but we must live now and for the future. Christ was born to do what He does everyday today and that's bring us closer to the Father. We spend two months in a frenzy over His birth but do we spend time with Him today saying thank you for saving me and living in me. 

The point of His birth was to bring you back to the Father and a gift as great as that shouldn't be squandered or traded for traditions. I'm sure there are millions out there sitting in a pew worshipping today, as Christmas is on Sunday this year, but how close are their hearts to Him. Worshipping an historical event, no matter how miraculous, cannot supersede what He wants to do in us today. We've lost focus. 

I understand that I don't speak for everyone but for the vast majority of Christians, Christmas is a Holy Day to be celebrated. I'll cut this short to let you and God decide what needs to be celebrated today, Him as a child or Him in you today?

The Enemy

It begins with a thought. It enters our mind and we have two paths to choose. One is to ignore it and keep trusting in Jesus’s love or we can entertain it. To entertain it, gives it strength and it grows. It feeds on you now, the thought has grown into a desire. It becomes a craving as your body anticipates the fulfillment of that desire. Another thought enters, what about God, he'll be upset with us. Condemnation starts to take hold as well and even as the desire has yet to be fulfilled, you stand condemned by your own mind. You try and reason with yourself as the desire's intensity increases. Thoughts like, "Go ahead and do it, it'll make you feel better. You can ask for forgiveness later. You can't say no, you don't have the strength to say no. Your weak and God has abandoned you." All of these thoughts and more flood your mind and the battle between wanting to do good and the body's desires takes a heavy toll until it breaks you. 

Thought, desire, fulfillment. You sit there weakened as the fulfillment brings you temporary pleasure yet you loathe yourself. You say, not again Lord. I'll not do it again. You ask for forgiveness and move on. Pretty soon it all plays out again, this time you have been praying for those desires to be taken away but the more you pray, it seems the more you think about it and the more times you fall prey to it. It's now become a habit. You need it now to get any kind of happiness or numbness in your life. You drown those words, "What about God?"and replace them with, "God doesn't love me. I'm too broken for Him to love me." Now your heart is full of self inflicted pain as a cage of hate is built up around your heart. Life becomes unbearable and one habit replaces another as all you want to do is drown out the world along with God and those that say they love you. It's now come to the point where love is a foreign concept and the mention of the word, let alone someone loving you, brings about a violent reaction.

 The enemy has now won. From a single thought compounded with another then another then succumbing to them and so on, the enemy has pulled you so far away that love makes you feel pain. The very thing that brings our soul happiness is now the enemy. Extremely sad. 

We blame God for all of this, yet we never blame the enemy for the whispered thoughts. Instead we blame God for sending the temptation,  we blame Him for not helping, we blame Him for our weakness and then we hate Him in the end. 

Let's look at the other scenario. The thought comes as the enemy whispers it into my mind. Immediately I realise it is not holy or from God. I then say this, "Lord I know this isn't a good thought and I know if I follow that thought to fruition, it would cause a division between us. Lord, you love me so much that you sacrificed yourself for me. Lord I know you love me and your will for me is to be close to you. So, I can't follow this thought Lord because our relationship means more to me than a desire. Lord I now lay my life down for you so our relationship will endure forever. I love you too much to leave you." Then say this, "Not today Satan. I love God way too much to be drug through your house of terror. Now leave me alone." Then go and praise God, "Lord I thank you for your Son, I thank you for your unconditional love. Lord I thank you that you want to get to know me. You are awesome and I love being your son." 

The outcome is dependent on where we go with that thought. This applies to all thoughts and all desires. Filter your thoughts through the Holy Spirit. He will give you an instant conviction if it's not good. As soon as something pops in and it isn't good, His conviction is right behind it. That's why the relationship needs to be healthy between God and us. If we stray too far, the Spirit's conviction cannot be heard as our hearts can become too hardened. 

Do not, and I mean never, ever condemn yourself for any thoughts that may be unholy. If you condemn yourself for them, it opens up a path for the enemy to walk right in and take over. The enemy will try and condemn you for them. They put those thoughts in there then condemn you for having them. Instead, the thought comes, you rebuke it, praise God for His love, then never count those thoughts against yourself. You walk away and move forward and never look back. 

We often think it's God's job to keep us away from temptation, then if we are tempted it's up to Him to give us the strength to turn from it. Nothing is further from the truth. Temptations will always come. They are there to refine you and to prove your dedication and love. Christ's dedication and love for the Father took Him all the way to the cross. It was temptations that proved He loved the Father more than Himself.  Now if Jesus says, pick up your cross and follow me, then we cannot say, "God keep us from temptation." Rather we must know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God's love is more important than the fulfillment of that temptation. Hence, we walk through the fire of temptation and come out the other side unscathed. 

We cannot ask for something God has already supplied. If we ask for strength or for the ability to make it through the temptation, it's like asking someone to give you what you already have. God has supplied us with the Holy Spirit, He has seated us in Christ Jesus in heavenly places and we are His sons and daughters. He has given us all things to do battle with the enemy. When we ask for God to give us strength, we are saying what He's already given us is not enough. We are doubting His provisions. Instead of asking say, "God you've given me the strength to endure and I thank you for that. Thank you for giving me the power and might to walk through this trial or temptation Lord. Thank you for loving me and calling me a Son." Those words need to be backed up by faith. 

Faith is the key. You can't be in a battle without faith. It takes faith to say I am the son of God. It takes faith to say I am loved by God and I have the ability to say no to temptation. We do not need to walk in fear of failure anymore. We instead walk in confidence with God as our Friend and Father, with Jesus as our Brother and Holy Spirit as our mentor, guide and teacher. As long as we say, They love me and we have faith in that, we can walk through the hottest fire without being burned. We are loved, we are loved, we are loved. Let those words become your battle cry. Because I am loved, I can love them. Because They loved me first, redeemed me, called me by my name and set me in Christ, I can walk in love now without condemnation. 

God, I pray that anyone reading this post realizes how loved they are by You. I pray that they can feel Your love in their hearts and in turn love You to the point that they never want to go astray again. Lord, I pray that they never look back or condemn themselves, for they have been forgiven by You. Lord I pray they desire You, sacrifice for You and walk with You daily. Let them seek You, find You and stay in You.

To God be the Glory!

Waking up in Him

 

My pattern lately and I hate calling it a pattern because patterns become habits and habits breed dependency and dependency creates religion, is to wake up in the middle of the night and spend time with Abba Father and Jesus, then go back to bed till morning. When I wake in the morning, a smile is on my face. Why? Because I believe in what He says about me. I'm greatly loved unconditionally and I wake up in praise of Him because of His love. 

Most people wake up worried about failing Him. They ask for a day without sin and without temptation or they ask Him to keep them from failing their standards. If you wake up condemning yourself before you even crawl out of your bed then you have already lost the battle. Focus on sin gives sin power over you. If I always worried about something then that something has power over me because it has caused worry. If we give sin power it will rise up and defeat you. Alternately, if you never give sin a thought, if you wake up excited to be one with the Father, excited to be in His presence and thankful for what Jesus did then the power of sin is taken away. An enemy only has power over you if you let the enemy have power. 

It's all driven by faith. It can only be done by faith. Faith in what God says, faith in what Christ did. I'm not going to do a long post because I have a video for you to watch. Now, it's a long one but it is definitely a video worth the time. It can change the way you think about your relationship with God in a revelatory way. It can change how you see yourself. 

Pray before you watch, that God will reveal the truth in your heart, whether this video helps in that or not. We always want truth and no lies. God can use any source for His truth but it takes a heart ready to except the truth for it to take effect. So, right now open your heart up for God to place truth in it without other ideas or traditions or doctrine interfering. Be like a child that knows nothing and let Him speak to you.

https://youtu.be/aiRGdrAY37c

To God be the Glory!

It's a trap!

If you are a fan of Star Wars, then you'll get my reference in the title. If you haven't seen Return of the Jedi then that will be lost on you. Now, I'm sure some of you are wondering what on Earth does Star Wars and Jesus have in common. Both have spiritual themes to them, redemption and unseen forces but the whole reason I have titled this entry this way is to push the point home with the title. It's a trap! For those that haven't seen the movie and probably never will, here's a brief rundown. In the picture above is the Death Star, a moon sized space station capable of blowing up an entire planet. Now in the movie, the ones trying to destroy this galactic terror think they have gotten the upper hand on the evil emperor but the evil one is more cunning and has led them straight into a trap. Hence the title of the post. Now that we've gotten backstory, let's begin.

Last night I had a very special dream. I say special because usually I don't remember vivid details of my dreams unless they are from the Lord and they have meaning to them, a message. In this dream I walked into this huge mega church. The whole front of the church had glass at the entry area three stories tall. The lobby had escalators taking you up to the second and third balcony areas for the sanctuary. The lobby area was huge with multiple points of entry into the ground floor sanctuary area. People were coming from all over and filling up this massive church. I didn't know anyone so I just walked around and listened to other conversations. Proud words, confident words and an air of arrogance filled these conversations as I walked through. The sanctuary didn't have pews like a normal church has, instead it was a flat floor that spanned the entire ground floor from the stage to the entry doors. So standing in the crowd, you couldn't see the other side for the mass of people in there. The noise level was loud as everyone had huddled up into groups of five or ten or more and they all were engaged in some sort of conversation. I couldn't hear specifics but I could hear words here and there. Those words got lost after I woke up so I'm certain they weren't important. After what seemed like an hour of walking through the crowd, I heard a loud noise come from the lobby. Everyone stopped and turned to the doors as men dressed in black burst through them. They carried assault rifles and wore masks and spoke with authority. They came in and the first people they encountered, they hit with the butt of their guns to show they meant business. Their displays of violence ran shock waves of screams throughout the room as people pressed backwards away from them. As the initial shock wore off and minutes became hours, then days, then weeks, the hostage situation became different. The men in black walked amongst the crowd, taunting them and telling them things like, your no good, you don't mean anything to anyone, you can't think that way, you don't belong here. They were spreading lies throughout the crowd as they walked in and out of the people. The crowd had gathered back into groups like before the attack and they carried on their conversations like nothing happened. The men in black would go to the groups and listen to what they were saying, if they approved, they'd move on. If they disapproved, they'd talk to them, feeding more lies until their conversations changed. If anyone talked about walking in Jesus or the Spirit, they would get beat or they would get the others in the group to yell at them and call them names. They would manipulate and coax and keep people from learning truth. As I watched this unfold, I would go to the groups and do the opposite. I would start telling them the truth. Some would listen but fear of the men with the guns would overtake them and they would say they didn't want to die. They said they would kill us if we disobeyed them. I would have some yell at me to leave them alone, others to just ignore me like I wasn't even talking to them. 

The fear was very thick in the room. I could feel everyone's fear and to be honest, I felt it a little myself. However, I couldn't stay there in that place anymore. I had scripture resonating in my mind telling me one thing then I'd hear everyone there contradict it. I'd feel the truth in me, then see men cowered in corners frightened to death. I'd feel the pull of God, yet the men seamed to have the entire room filled with fear. The doors of the sanctuary were off limits and the men with guns would keep people away from them. It got to the point where no one even looked at them anymore. I did however, and I started to plan a way out. Suddenly, one of the doors opened and a man walked in. He was smiling and happy. Everyone recognized him and celebrated his return. They had known him before the men with guns showed up and they were waiting for his return. He stood by the doors motioning for people to follow him but as he did, every man with a gun began to yell loudly at the people. The people didn't move in fear of being killed. I however, decided this was my chance to get out, I walked to the open door behind the man and went out into the lobby. It was quiet and calm out there. The men with the guns yelled from inside to convince me I was doing the wrong thing but I moved to the exit. When I got to the exit doors and stepped outside the quiet was strange. It was dark outside with no lights in any direction. The building behind me was lit up and it cast a glow on the parking lot I was in. I turned around to see the building and those men were standing in the lobby cursing me and trying to get my attention. My thoughts changed instantly, instead of thinking about what was going on in the building my mind went straight to God. I remember saying, "Fill me" and a rush of wind came through and hit me like a bolt of lightning. This experience in my dream was so vivid that it woke me up somewhat to where I was conscience of my body in my bed. My body in my dream and my real body both at the same time felt this electric pulse from the top of my head all the way down to my feet. It was like I was being electrocuted. I felt different. I went back to my dream and as the pulse moved through me, my clothes changed to a white robe and then I ascended towards the sky. I woke up fully then. 

To those wondering about the meaning of the dream, it is this. The building is a huge church, as a matter of fact it looked like a church I had visited for a men's conference before. It symbolizes religion and all those in a religious relationship with Jesus. Shortly after the church was formed, the enemy infiltrated it and continues to reek havoc in it till now. The enemy, the men with guns, threaten us from within our own minds and hearts telling us lies and causing us to fear. They whisper lies and cause discord among everyone calling themselves Christians. They have caused every religious person out their to be in fear of losing something. Whether it's losing self or losing traditions or losing relationships with people, the enemy creates fear and doubt within the church. I represented someone who didn't want to comply or listen to the lies. Once the man showed up, which was Christ in His return, I was ready to go, where as those in fear, doubt and unbelief were too afraid to move. I represented those wanting a relationship instead of religion. As I left the building, my body and raiment were changed. It says those in Christ will be given a new body. Notice how only I was able to see through the lies, draw courage from God and walk away from the lies. It doesn't mean I personally am better than all those people but it says there will be few who come to Christ in the end. 

Matthew 24:9-14 

9Then they will deliver you over to be persecuted and killed, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. 10At that time many will fall away and will betray and hate one another, 11and many false prophets will arise and mislead many.

12Because of the multiplication of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold. 13But the one who perseveres to the end will be saved.

14And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

perseveres
ὑπομείνας (hypomeinas)
Verb - Aorist Participle Active - Nominative Masculine Singular
Strong's 5278: From hupo and meno; to stay under, i.e. Remain; figuratively, to undergo, i.e. Bear, have fortitude, persevere.

Strong's 5281: Endurance, steadfastness, patient waiting for. From hupomeno; cheerful endurance, constancy.

Persevere in the truth of God, in Faith and in good deeds. Do not be caught up in religion but be guilty of pursuing Christ and Him in you, which is your hope of glory. Be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Do not listen to fear but pursue His Love that conquers fear. 

To God be the Glory Always!

 

Christmas?

Should we even celebrate Christmas? In my opinion, no. I'll give you my reasons why. Nothing like jumping right into the blog with no warm up or hey, how ya doin,  is there? It's a shock and awe campaign kind of like what Christmas was to the Roman world of paganism. As the Roman empire slowly moved from Paganism to Christianity, traditions seemed to stick with people. Celebrations and seasonal observances that centered around one Roman god or another was concerning to the Christian culture as they spread the good news. In true human fashion, people tended to cling to their traditions more than anything else. They would except Christ but still continue on with current traditions which overlapped the teachings of Jesus's followers. To remedy that, a big mistake on their part in my opinion, they replaced the Pagan traditions with Christian ones, and Christmas was born. Instead of worshiping one of the Roman Gods at winter solstice, they got them to worship the birth of Christ instead. The stories overlap well. Roman gods were celebrated as the solstice marked the time when the sun would reverse its track in the sky and the days would begin to grow longer and warmer. It was a time of birthing from death to life. Like that story, the story of Jesus being born in a time of darkness to bring light and to redeem the world was very similar. So, one tradition was swapped for another. It was all about control and keeping people lined up with the gospil of Christ.

Fast forward to today and Christmas has been morphed into a tradition of shopping and Santa Claus. Christ has been replaced by a fat man in a red suit and giving out gifts is more important than receiving the gift God gave us in Jesus. Now we have an elf terrorising children to keep them in line. Will it never end. 

My wife and I, shortly after coming to Christ, told our son the truth about Christmas. It was a conviction we had right away. We felt lying to our child wasn't a good thing. His reaction was priceless. His only issue with it was, "Who bought my presents?" When we told him it was us, he was just amazed and shocked. Do I think we did the right thing, yes.

If we tell children that there's a Santa, are we not lying to them? When they finally find out the truth , does that not set up questions in their hearts? Doesn't that hurt their trust in their parents? Our world is full of disappointments and let downs and parents are supposed to be the rock on which our kids stand. If we lie to them, what does it do to them when we try to teach them about God? The most disgusting thing I think being done is that elf on the shelf. Now parents are trapped in two lies compounding the anxieties and disappointments of their children. The only benefactor of all this nonsense is the family psychologist as they try and repair the damage. 

There are branches of Christianity out there that don't celebrate Christmas at all. Are they correct in doing so? Like anything we do, extremes seem to be our domain. We either go all in or do nothing. It seems to me that walking the narrow path between those two extremes is the best solution. Christ is meant to be celebrated daily. He's a daily discovery, a daily walk and we should be dying to self daily for Him. Shouldn't we pass on the truth about Him instead of spreading lies about fictional characters. I know Santa is pervasive in our culture today and a child will wonder who he is. Tell them that a real man name St. Nicholas, full of God's love, brought present to the children in his town. He loved them so much that he gave them gifts and as time went on his name changed from country to country then ended up being Santa Claus. 

Another words, tell them the truth. Don't get rid of Christmas, just create a healthy dialogue with your children. Tell the story of Christ and Mary and Joseph. Tell them His influence on the world made people do good things for others. Tell them He still does and the best gift we could ever receive is His gift of redemption and His life. You don't need to go into the whole death on the cross until they are older though. Tell them God sent His Son from heaven to be an helper and guide for all people. Tell them we are lost without His help, tell them the truth. They know as children they rely on you for guidance and help. It's a concept they are very familiar with. 

I'm sure some of you are fuming mad right now. So, who is in the wrong. Me for taking away Santa and greed and commercialism or you for lying to your children. I'll let you decide. 

My harsh words come in a time when the enemy has split the church into argumentative factions that are split over scripture interpretations and carpet color. My passion for truth comes in a time when pastors stand in a pulpit and preach watered down half truths about Jesus. My intensity comes from the fact that we have precious little time to correct our behaviour and follow the truth in Christ before He returns. We can't afford to be celebrating the traditions of men or fictional characters as our world tries to turn our eyes away from God. My zeal for God has consumed me as I fall deeper into His love day after day and I cannot stand idly by and not expose the idol worship going on in Christians households. 

Love the Lord thy God and seek His kingdom. Don't seek anything other than Him. To God be the Glory!

Value 2.0

In yesterday's post, "Value", I wrote on getting our minds in line with the value God has for us and I wanted to expand on it as the Spirit has opened my eyes further on the matter this morning. I hope I'm not to repetitive as the two posts are being written just hours apart from each other.

I want to talk about us finding our value in works. When we become Christians, I'm referencing myself here, we often times have this sense of needing to pay God back for the kindness He has shown us. Again, we are using human understanding to figure out our relationship with God. We usually dive head long into service as we feel that is the thing to do. My wife and I never said no to anyone that asked us to help when we joined our first church. We were all in on being Christians and we thought service was the thing to do. Come to find out, only 5-10% of the church members will actually serve in some capacity which felt very wrong to me. That's why me and my wife were literally doing everything, from choir, to Sunday School teaching, to bus driving, to acting in plays, to Wednesday night Awanas, to VBS, to puppet ministries, to almost being a deacon and in every capacity we served we thought this was a normal Christian life. Pouring out our time to the church was our way of paying God back. Of course, this was before we really understood the scripture 

Matthew 7:21-23

21Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’

23Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’

Lawlessness: iniquity, disobedience, sin

So when I read into this for the first time, I thought. Could I be working for God but never being obedient. Was I being sinful and not being know by Him even though I do all this stuff for Him. 

We have discussed before, the way we reckon ourselves dead to sin and to alive and obedient to the Spirit yet this concept didn't really hit me till later on in my life. At that time it was a developing concept that the church wanted to hear nothing about. Fast forward to today and I literally came to understand that anything we pursue outside of the will of God is sinful. We read all the time in the Bible how we know we are His if we obey His voice and follow Him. So it shouldn't be a shock to come to that understanding but it kind of does. We want what God wants, yet we sometimes go about it all wrong. It's like putting together IKEA furniture without the instructions, although that may be a bad example. Any furniture reference is a bad example but you know what I'm getting at. To be motivated by our own ideas of what God wants instead of getting directions from Him is two different things. We can have faith to move mountains but if we don't have love, we are nothing. Again, Love is the selfless nature of God. 

Even trying to serve Him, we serve ourselves. Comfort is the main reason we do what we think is right. We seek that which is comfortable for our flesh. If we truly listened to God and did His will then we would not be as comfortable as we would like. His leading always leads you through tasks that are unfamiliar and uncomfortable; to one, test your willingness to follow and two, to kill your flesh. We cannot stand in the familiar and say we follow what God wants. It's not possible. Now, we can be so in Him and so one with Him that those moments of discomfort melt away and only God is seen but it is discomforting to our flesh. If we left His presence, the discomfort will prevail. 

So, my issue has been the desire to heal the sick and lame. I have wanted to do this for years but at first I was scared. Then I became confused whether or not it was God's call or my own. Then I stopped pursuing. Now I'm pursuing Him with a desire to still heal. The difference is this, I'm pursuing Him and not the gift of healing. I'm seeking His face and not what He can give me. The gift of healing can be used to glorify God but it can be used to glorify me as well. 

If we find our value in what we do for Him instead of  God's love for us then we are ship wrecked. The things we do for Him or in His name can become our value. Preaching, ministries, church volunteering, singing, gifts of the Spirit and everything we could do for God can create a sense of value for us. If we think that God loves us because we do things for Him then we are sadly mistaken. It does say that He loved us from the foundation of the world, which means He loved us before the fall, during the fall and now. 

Can we move without Him. No we cannot. He must provide us with our daily movements. Now, we aren't robots but if I say something a bit too harsh to someone or say something off color, and I am in the Spirit, then I will hear a rebuke, a sadness in my heart for my actions. To rectify that, I would apologize and correct the behavior. That is following God. We cannot come up with our own way of serving Him, instead we trust in Him to guide us and walk with us, to keep us on the narrow path. Trust and faith in Him to do that, will create the relationship we need. So instead of depart from me, He'll say good and faithful servant. 

Mark 7:6-8

6Jesus answered them, “Isaiah prophesied correctly about you hypocrites, as it is written:

‘These people honor Me with their lips,

but their hearts are far from Me.

7They worship Me in vain;

they teach as doctrine the precepts of men.’

8You have disregarded the commandment of God to keep the tradition of men.”

Traditions, laws, rules, gifts and works of men all stand in the way of having a relationship. Seek Him first and then all things will be given. Not do all things and expect Him to follow you. Don't find your value in works but find value in Him.

To God be the Glory!

 

Value

Matthew 6:26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?

The perception of our value is what motivates us to do just about anything. If we do not feel valued by our bosses at work then our performance, attitude and attendance suffers. In a marriage, if a spouse feels as though they have no value, they may stray to another that can. Our identity is wrapped up in our value to others. We perform for others as long as we feel valued. Of course we cannot feel fully valued from sources that are themselves unable to feel valued. It's a terrible way to live life drawing from wells and drinking from cups that are dry. 

However we have a greater source. Christ Jesus should be our only source of value we have. The quote above, "Are you not much more valuable than they?", gives the reader or hearer the option to seek out that answer. 

When most come to God, they come with a guilty conscience as the enemy has stripped them of who they are in Christ. They believe the enemy and what he says about them, that they're not worthy and that they are just sinners barely hanging on. However, the truth is that Christ washed us of our sins and has given us righteousness in the eyes of God. When we see us through the eyes of God, our whole perception changes.

At one time I loathed myself for all the mistakes I made in my marriage and how I treated my son in my younger years. It was a burden I carried into my Christian walk. The burden was not necessary as I should haved clothed myself in the reality of forgiveness from the time I came to Christ. I should have reckoned myself dead to that old man that died on the cross with Jesus  and then excepted the new life he gave me but the enemy is always there to persecute. Anyway, I drug my past around like a prisoner drags around a ball and chain and it stayed that way until I forgave myself and then excepted the reality of how much God loves me.

My wife and son had both forgiven me yet until I forgave myself I could not move forward in His love. 

Has anyone been drunk before? In the past before Christ, I have. Now, you choose to drink that beverage knowing full well the outcome. For me, I knew and went through with it anyway. Most people do. It's the sin nature that entices us to sin, the flesh loves to satisfy itself. So, most drunks have a very different personality from their sober selves. Their loud, obnoxious, belligerent and rude. When they are drunk, their actions are not controllable. They have no idea what they say or do. Most can't remember what has happened, even when you show them a video. What they did while drunk is held against them even when they sober up. Friends will pull that video out at every get together to humiliate them all over again. Conversations will pop up randomly about it and everyone that say your behaviour rubs it in your face for all long time after the fact. That's what it's like to be in sin, then coming to Christ. Your friends, spouse, kids and the enemy are always there to bring up what you did before you came to Christ and sobered up. 

Those voices are designed to keep you from obtaining your true purpose in Christ. It's the past that haunts us, creates doubt in us and says we aren’t worthy of Him. 

I told a story in my Dec 7th blog "Changed" that talks of a slave who was bought by a new master. The new master freed the slave and made him an heir to everything He had. However, the slave, even though he was freed, had the mentality of a slave still and didn't get he was an heir to all he saw.

It's our job to just have faith in what God says about us. If He says we are forgiven then faith says we are forgiven. If God says we are Sons then by faith we believe we are Sons and no longer slaves to our past. 

We must believe that God values us with the highest value we can have. We cannot afford to be contradictory of the truth. He pursued us, He courted us, He took a gutter trash piece of garbage and saw value in us. He saved us from that wretchedness of selfishness and clothed us with garments of beauty and extravagance. He washed us from the filth we had on us and gave us perfume of tremendous value. Instead of being beat by the hands of condemnation He caressed our face with love and caring. He scooped us up in His arms and held us tightly to His chest because He saw value in us and as we are being held we have one of two thoughts to entertain. 

We can be held but never think we are worthy of that love or we can agree with how He sees us and embrace Him just as strongly and never let Him go.

Our value is real and is dictated by God. We cannot afford to see ourselves in any way other than that. 

May the Lord bless you with eyes that can clearly see how much you mean to Him. May you come to an understanding of just how precious and valuable you are. One last thing, the story of the man finding a treasure in the field, then he sells all he has to buy that field so he can have the treasure; that treasure is you. God sold all He had to purchase you. Think about that.

To God be the Glory!

Promises

As we grow up, those around us break all sorts of promises. Parents often break them as work or other obligations come before a ball game or recital. Marriage promises tend to be broken quite frequently unfortunately. Friends promising all sorts of things sometimes don't really work out either. So, why am I pointing out all this depressing news, because we are conditioned to be let down. From a young age, we learn quickly and disappointingly that those around us are not very trustworthy. This break in trust, whether on purpose or inadvertently, conditions us to be jaded and to not trust. 

True story, I had a distrust of people because all the people I loved either left me or died when I was younger. So the circle of people I let in as friends was limited. Death and neglect can be a powerful character changer if we let it. 

That said, It's a wonder how anyone comes to Christ these days as trust in mankind is gone. Obviously, the distrust in man should not be transferred over to God/Jesus but people carry hurts throughout their entire lives and if they've been seriously injured due to a breach in trust, then it's hard for them to trust anyone again including God/Jesus. Even the person telling them the good news is suspect and internal suspicions slow their progress in coming to Jesus. 

We are a distrustful lot when it comes to anything including God. Look at the Israelites coming out of  Egypt. They knew how to distrust, they were given over to slavery by the breach in trust between the descendants of Jacob and the new Pharaoh. They carried that distrust with them out into the wilderness with Moses and then projected it onto God. Even the hand of rescue was distrusted because of the pain inflicted by the Egyptians over the centuries. 

When we look towards Jesus as our savior, it tends to be when all options in this world are exhausted and we feel that Jesus is the only way. Things have gone wrong in our lives, we've been battered and abused, and we are tired. Our trust in Jesus comes at an extremely low points in our lives usually. We tend to trust in the promise of better times, in good, in plenty, in care and rescue but with distrust so heavily ingrained into our hearts, we only give so much. Back to the wanderings of the Israelites, they were promised a land flowing with milk and honey. However, their journey there wasn't divulged to them and they increasingly distrusted Moses and God as they came upon multiple hardships. They walked out of Egypt with one thing in mind, good times and plenty of food for all. When trials of their faith came, their tune changed.

God is a God that wants our whole heart but we find it very hard to give it all over to Him. Coming to Christ as a spiritual Band-Aid only creates a tentative relationship and doesn't give our full trust in Him. Results of this kind of relationship can create more problems in the future. Giving ourselves over to Him, to fully trust in Him is sometimes a hard thing for some because of the pattern of distrust in their lives. 

Further distrust in God comes when we have specific requirements of Him as we come into the relationship. A person may think that God is there for their every need or that He's a wish fulfiller. As sometimes damaged people come to God, they bring their neediness with them. They believe God will solve all their problems in one easy step. When He doesn't do what they want, the trust issue arises and a void is set between them. They don't realize the problems are within them. We come to Jesus for forgiveness yet we don't even realize the amount of wretchedness we have within us. Our idea of who He is, what He does for us and when He does it is often misguided and wrong. 

When we come to Jesus, we come for forgiveness. Most do not come to be cleaned from the inside out or to seek a personal relationship with Him. They find though, as they taste of His goodness in their hearts, there's something they like. 

When I was just a babe in Christ, the amount of revelations, the amount of joy and happiness was there all the time. I call this the honeymoon phase of our relationship. Not long after, once I had tasted and seen what Jesus could provide me, I was introduced to working out my salvation. Which, if you've been reading all my posts, is us denying self and following the leading of the Spirit. Again, trust in His promises come into play here. 

When you're asked to strip yourself clean of any internal issues like unforgiveness, anger, distrust, attitude, control issues and more, you put yourself at risk of being let down. I look at it this way, coming to Christ is like a homeless person coming to live in someone's house. Over time, that homeless person has collected items in their shopping cart that they bring with them. Even though the cart is full of junk, they still cherish it because it carried them through some tough times. The cart is our heart and the stuff is all the nasty baggage we accumulate over the years. The homeless person is not willing to give up their garbage right away yet the home owner ensures them that they don't need it anymore. There lies the trust, one side promises a new life the other clings to the old. Very rarely have I heard of anyone coming to Christ and from the start, they fully believe and trust in what God says about them. 

The Bible is full of God's promises for us. It's full of what God thinks of us and what God wants for us. The promises of God are real yet when we read them, we look into our buggy and cherish that old tattered piece of distrust because it's kept us alive for so long in a harsh world. We need to fully surrender our hearts to God and trust in all His promises.

I attempted to list all the things we are in Christ but my search led to too many things to put down in this post, so I challenge you to this. Read the New Testament and every time you see Jesus or an Apostle say we are to act or be or trust or know or should do or anything that we as Christians should be, believe in it and do it. Trust the Lord with all your heart. Read the words as truth not just words written for someone else, by someone else but believe they are talking directly to you and that they are about you. Read the words as though Jesus is talking directly to you. Put yourself in the stories and be in them. Ask God to open up your eyes to who you are in Him. Trust in Him fully and He will reward you with His presence.  

To God be the Glory!

Pursuit

 

To pursue something and to obtain it, first we have to believe we can obtain it. Some call it passion when a pursuit gets to a point when all they do is pursue their goal. Other responsibilities fall to the side when someone is bound and determined to reach that end goal or to maintain that goal. Some might even call it an obsession. 

There's an older movie with Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon in it called "Fever Pitch". If you've not seen it, it's highly recommended. The story is focused around two people, Drew and Jimmy who both have pursuits. She wants a job promotion at her fancy office job and he loves baseball. Of course in romcom fashion everything turns out great at the beginning until baseball season starts. He has home game tickets that his dad left him and he refuses to miss a game. She is cramming for the promotion and in the end both feel neglected. It works out in the end of course but the pursuit of their passions almost lost them love.

Is this another boring lecture about how we shouldn't have any hobbies or passions, nope. I do want to talk about the pursuit of salvation. In the last blog, we talked about the big picture and how we have the opportunity to say goodbye to all our issues and pursue our salvation which is the final goal of being a Christian. The whole point is to follow in the footsteps of Christ, lay down your life/flesh and follow Him. 

What does it look like to pursue Christ?

I can only speak on behalf of my experiences. My pursuit has looked more like an out of shape runner. You know the one who wants to run, has the desire to run yet his body says no. I've been hot, cold, luke warm then hot again but I've always moved forward. Like an out of shape runner, I have fallen over from exhaustion and just laid there refusing to move. I've also pulled a muscle or two along the way as well. Yet, through all of my mistakes and misguided adventures I am still pursuing. I've never pursued anything as long, other than my marriage which really they both go hand in hand. My whole motivation is truth. I refuse to be fed a bunch of lies no matter what source it comes from including myself. 

I question everything and therefore have a lot of trust issues when it comes to religion. I don't pursue something simply because everyone else says that's the way to go. I have to get confirmation from the Spirit in order to move in that direction. This process can often take more time than I want it to but again I'm after truth. I cannot afford to spend years in pursuit of the wrong direction. Blindly pursuing someone is not a good way to go. Pursuit of Christ takes effort.

My passion for truth in following Christ takes me away from mainstream. I don't follow someone else's formula. If someone tells me they spend one hour each morning reading the Bible then they pray each night for an hour before bed to get their desired results, I cannot use their formula for me. I actually despise formulas and avoid them at all costs. Formulas lead to religion and I'm after relationship. Relationships are organic, they flow like a river. Religion flows like a man made canal, in a straight line, no deviation and same flow. Rivers meander following the curvature of the land. Rivers can flow fast or slow. They can be wide, narrow,  shallow or deep. Relationship is never the same way from day to day. For those who try and follow Christ by imitation or repetition, they will be led astray. 

We have an obligation to question what we see and hear others do and say. If I read in the Bible love your neighbour as yourself then hear a preacher say you can only love those that love you, then who's right. Obviously if there's a conflict, study scripture intently until you are completely satisfied that your interpretation of scripture is correct. This takes study of word meanings, context understanding and more. Just because we interpret a verse one way doesn't mean we are correct. While studying, ask the Spirit to give you wisdom in what you are studying. He is the author and He alone can unlock the meaning. After an undetermined time in your studies and once a conclusion is reached, if there's still conflict between what you've come to understand and what someone has said, always follow what God has given you. 

Be prepared to be wrong. The one thing that people in religion are, is stubborn. They think that they are correct in their thinking and everyone else is wrong. Do not be so set in your understanding that you cannot change. Even if God tells them their wrong they don't listen. They'll blame the devil for trying to confuse them or make them change before they listen to God. Rigidity doesn't go well in a relationship. You can often be the one who is wrong so always be prepared to be wrong, it's called humility. 

Pursuit is about failure. We fail way too often in the beginning but failure is always a good thing. Failure tests resolve and resolve measures your ability to get you to the desired goal. If we fail a hundred times, do we have the fortitude to continue in our pursuit? There are a million different ways to fail but only one way to succeed. 

Don't be afraid. Fear is the number one reason why people do not pursue Christ. Fear of the unknown path and what lies ahead can keep you from even leaving the starting gate. The Bible has "Do not fear" 365 times, which is one for each day. It's a constant reminder of how we should always trust in the path God has for us.

What does your pursuit of Him look like? Examine your ways, let Him correct you if needed. Walk, run, jog, lay down, rest, sleep then run again but never turn back. Love your journey, love yourself and most importantly love God. Put Him first in all things and your race will be won.

To God be the Glory!

The Big Picture

 

When you are working a puzzle, most people search for the edges and get the edge of the puzzle put together first. The edges with their flat sides are easy targets in a pile of curved shapes. Then, as I flip all the pieces over to expose the picture, I'll pick out several pieces of the same color or graphic on them. After a while, I'll have clumps of like pieces put together. My puzzle then has all these groups floating around inside of the edge not connected to anything. The hardest part, is getting those clumps attached to the edges or together to make the picture come together.

As we can study bits and pieces of a puzzle so too can we study just one aspect of being a Christian. Some are into the history of it, some are into the future and prophecies, some are into the gifts and some are into the behavior of a Christian. However, you cannot see the entire puzzle until you connect all of those pieces together to make the big picture come to life. One of those ahh ha moments happened while I was writing a post. I can see clearly now the path that lay before all of us.

Christ died to pull us out of a separated state. When Adam disobeyed, his children were then born into disobedience and as time progressed, the entire world. We as descendants of Adam, spiritually and in the flesh, were born into disobedience and self. When we are born we are born separated from God spiritually and bodily. His goal for us, is to bring us back to Him. The whole point of Jesus dying on the cross was to satisfy that error made by Adam. By one selfish act, man was drawn away from God and by one selfless act we are reconnected to Him.

The whole point of Israel and their temple, was for it to represent what was taking place in the spirit between man and God. God hid Himself from man, behind a curtain or veil. We as humans all over the world could not see God spiritually within our hearts. It didn't matter what we did, our hearts were dark. When Jesus came to satisfy or erase the errors of Adam, that veil was torn physically inside the temple and spiritually between us and heaven. 

We as physical beings are always limiting our reach to the physical realm but on the other side in the spirit realm where God lives, the importance of what Jesus did for us was immeasurable. It was as if there was a huge door that was locked with us on one side and God on the other. Jesus was the key to opening that door and letting us in. Now, this is where our part comes in. Even thought the door is unlocked, we in faith must walk through. We must take that first step in believing the door has been unlocked. Once we step through the door, our lives change.

The battle ground is in the spiritual places, inside, in our hearts and in our flesh. As our spirit has been saved from death, so now we must have that spirit take control over our physical desires, our flesh. Paul states, that we must sow to the spirit so we can reap a spiritual harvest. If we sow to the flesh, we reap fleshly things.  

I can only put things in a way that I understand, so obviously, I am limited to that understanding. When I first came to Christ, I read the works of Watchman Nee. He was a Chinese Christian who was persecuted for his beliefs over and over again. His sermons and talks have been copied down, translated and offered in books. The link below is an excerpt from one of his books and does a much better job at explaining our situation than I can, so please read it, then come back.

 https://www.ministrysamples.org/excerpts/THE-EXISTENCE-OF-THE-FLESH-1.HTML

So, God has left it up to us to work out our salvation. He has given us an even playing field. Judgement is always about being fair, about giving everyone an equal chance at being good or not. Jesus gave us the chance at attaining righteousness in God's eyes. 

All we have to do is believe, one that we are sinless and two we can overcome the flesh through the power of the Spirit. However, the choice is ours. God cannot be blamed for our failures or temptations or situations. We have been given equal opportunity to find our path to salvation.

What is waiting for us at the end though. As Mr. Nee so eloquently put it, the last thing to be taken care of is our fleshly bodies. Because of our obedience to Him and walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh, new bodies await us. We will get a body that isn't subject to death. It will be an immortal body that never sees pain or suffering or death. It will be His gift to us, our stamp of approval. When Christ rose unto the Father, He received the same body. He could move through walls and be wherever He wanted when He wanted. 

So, I've worked on this post for a couple of days because I didn't really know what to talk about yet I was getting bits and pieces here and there. I'm glad it all came together, kind of like a puzzle.

To God be the Glory!

   

Believing is Doing

In all things we as Christians do, it must be done through faith. We must believe words that are read or preached or just spoken to us. Yet, hearing or seeing the words are not enough in themselves. Like a good recipe, if the message is not recieved along with the conviction of the Holy Spirit then the message will fall on a hard heart and not take root. God's Spirit is the key ingredient to everything we receive. If He doesn't give the hearer conviction then nothing happens. 

It's the shock of having their hearts pricked in such a way that they cannot deny the presence of God working in them. The receiver knows their heart and how it had appossed God, then suddenly it's changed. It's that sudden change, that revelation of need, that glimpse into their destitute life that often wakes them up. Sin cannot be preached or shoved in people's faces and then the desired outcome be reached. For sin condemns people and piles on guilt which in turn cannot deliver hope. Love on the other hand has the power to heal and redeem and restore. It's the Spirit that introduces the heart to love and how Christ loved them enough to die for them.

People's first encounter with God is that change the Spirit does in their heart. After the heart is opened to Christ and is brought into the resurrection life, the mind must be renewed also. This is where faith comes in. After we are introduced to Christ, faith in Him should create a walk in Him. Faith without works after all is incomplete because faith should be followed by actions. 

If I say I have faith in Christ and the gospel says Christ set us free from sin and condemnation, then my actions should be to walk without guilt. It's the walking out our faith that becomes the issue for many. Faith isn't the issue. We can believe we have been saved from sin but until our hearts and minds no longer walk in guilt and condemnation then faith hasn't produced fruit. Read James 1:19-27 with emphasis on 22-25. 

Be doers of the word. Our mistake with most preached messages is that once we come to Christ then we do not have to do anything. This is a lie, one in which I fell for before. The lie being this, God will take care of my change. He will do His molding and making how He sees fit and all I have to do is the minimum effort of going to church once a week at best. 

The beautiful thing about Christ is His sacrificial love which created a way for us to come back to the Father. Before Him, we had no way to do that. Now though, the veil between us and God is gone. This freedom from sin and guilt should create in us a grateful enough heart that we in turn want to pursue righteousness. 

If a man has been freed from a life sentence in jail by another, wouldn't the freed man owe his life to the one who freed him. Consequently, our lives in Christ are not our own and we should be diligently seeking Him and His righteousness. 

Pursuit is faith in action like James pointed out. We must actively pursue our appointed purpose, which is the fullness of Christ in us. How can this be done if some only believe parts of the message. We cannot pick apart the gospel of Christ and then only have faith in the parts that make us feel good and require nothing from us in return. In order for us to fullfill the call God has placed on all believers, we must first have faith in the call then walk it out. 

Further into the book of James, in chapter 2, he says, draw near to God and He will draw near to you. 

Galatians 6:7-10

7Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return. 8The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

9Let us not grow weary in well-doing, for in due time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. 10Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to the family of faith.

Now that we have been set free in Christ, we have a choice. As the Galatians quote so poignantly put it, our choice to do good is ours. The Holy Spirit will guide us in what is good and what is evil in the sight of God. We cannot judge that for ourselves but must rely on His gentle guidance for that. We cannot create laws for our behaviour as the law brings death. We fulfill the law of righteousness by pursuing well-doing which is dictated by the Spirit in us.

If we pursue right living without knowing what is right then we pursue blindly. The faith we have is in Christ to save and Christ to lead. 

Our lives, by faith, must walk in constant contact with the Spirit in order for us to pursue good works. Most people follow the written laws in the Bible to model their lives by. However, one law may require to not be around people of bad character yet one of those people may be ready to hear about how God loves them. If your set rule prohibits you from entering a bar, and the man that needs God is in there, then the law you follow stands in the way of God wanting to move through you. We walk in pursuit of righteousness but God sets the rules of righteousness. We cannot walk with set laws as they did before Christ. We must walk in step with our hearts set on good works and being led by the Spirit. 

Faith my friend is how we come to Christ and how we walk in Christ. As our walk is entirely dependent on Him, let the faith we have become actions by His leading. 

May the Lord give you faith to find Him and faith to move in Him, faith to hear Him and faith to obey Him.

May God get all the Glory from salvation to our fullness in Him.