To Submit or Not to Submit, That's the Real Question

 

I'll be honest, I haven't had much to write about lately. Topics haven't come as easy as before and I'm kind of struggling. Hence the lack of daily posts. However, my relationship with God has been great, not to boast. The other day I felt His presence all day and in some moments I felt like I was going to explode. It has been twenty nine years since I dated my wife but I can still remember the feelings I had when I'd drive home from her house on cloud nine, a grin from ear to ear as just being around her made me feel euphoric. That same feeling is what I get from the presence of God. It's like we are dating and in a way we are. The Bible often says return to your first love as the Israelites had strayed many times. My daily walk, my daily surrender, my daily love is like dating Him each day.

 Make sure you are reading this in the Spirit and not the flesh but I think I am feeling what women feel like to have a man in their lives that open a car door for them or pay the check on a date. Women used to let men be the man during dates and this was all to be in line with how things are to be between us and God. We are the church, the body of Christ and we as the church are also His bride. We must adopt the female's role of submission and let Jesus be the man in the relationship. If we are skewing the lines between the roles of men and women then the lines in heaven are also skewed as the church tries to assume the role of Christ and makes Christ assume the role of the woman. 

Women are designed as examples of what the church, men and women, are supposed to act like. Submissive to His love, instruction and care. As the bride we are to act like a woman but if the enemy comes in and blurs the lines between men and women, then no one knows how to the bride. The lines between what a man should be and what a woman should be in a relationship has been messed up for a long while and the current attack on identity is no different. If you don't know who you are in the natural then your identity in God will be wrong as well. 

Men should love women as Christ loves the church and gave His life up for her. Men should be there as the rock, the firm foundation, reliable, unmoving, unshaking, comforting, strong yet gentle and caring. Women should be ready to receive that from their husband. Let him be the man. Support him and love him, relinquish yourself over to him and submit. 

The correct roles of men and women on Earth is a direct reflection of our relationship with Christ. We cannot afford to screw up the roles between us, if we do, we lose everything. The enemy has always attacked the traditional family. The men have been portrayed as sexual monsters that prowl around only wanting one thing from women. They have been demonized and brought down to the level of a wandering dog. Men have been targeted by the enemy first to rattle the confidence and trust women had in them. This caused women to assert themselves into the role of a man which completely messed up the ability for the offspring to understand the roles assigned by God. 

So, here we are now erasing gender lines in the name of whatever the battle cry is today. Yet unknowingly, they are playing right into the hands of the enemy as he pushes one final time to destroy our relationship with God. We complain and argue, make rules and laws, scream and shout, are offended and hurt yet in all that is going on in the world today, we are mere pawns in a last battle for souls. We think that the battle of Armageddon takes place in the natural? What if we are already in the middle of it right now in our hearts and minds. If that's the case, then Christ will come and no one will even know because He will come back in us and not in the natural world. 

Well there's a bomb dropped for later maybe. Right now, lets get back to what I have experienced in the role of a submissive wife. Each day I wake up anticipating Him taking care of my needs and I know He will. Each day I prove to Him that I love Him by trusting in Him and having faith in Him. It's in Him I am sustained, fed, loved and cared for. All He wants in return is my faith in Him which I gladly do.

Women, for some of you, this sounds like foreign behavior as women have struggled to be so independent. For men, this is a true role reversal as we are supposed to be in that role. However, if men would submit to Christ they would be able to see how women need to be treated and cared for. If men would let Christ be the man in their lives then they in turn could be proper men for their wives. If men would be like Christ, women wouldn't feel the need to be men. It's all proper and ordered and we have so messed it up. 

I see why Eve was so easily deceived now. Her role was to be a woman, submissive and fully reliant on Adam. The enemy said that she would know and be like God which was Adam, as Adam was created to be like God. So Eve, wanting to know what it was like to have authority and control partook of what the devil was giving her. She then convinced Adam into wanting to thrown off his submissive role to God and here we are still wanting to be the ones in control instead of being submissive. The battle for control is being waged in our lives daily. Submit or not to submit is the question we all are posed with. I choose to be the humble submissive wife to my wonderful loving Husband Jesus. How about you?

To God my Father and to Christ my Husband be the Glory,

Love, your wife!        

One is Too Many

Three back to back parables in Luke 15, a whole chapter dedicated to describing how God pursues the lost and doesn't want a single person outside of Him.

I recently was listening to another one of Dan Mohler's sermons and he had come to a piece of scripture that said many will fall away from the faith in the end. As a new Christian when he read this, he realized that out of a crowd of people that he was preaching to, many will fall away and he became overwhelmed with that thought. He then asked God, what's the point if many will fall away or not come to you and God replied, one is too many.

When I heard that story I crumbled. I cried as I realized God truly thinks one lost soul is one too many. Human nature just gives up on people that don't come to Christ yet God pursues continually trying to rattle the cages of those in personal prisons built with guilt, condemnation, self imposed pain and much more. He wants the captives to be set free and to come to know Him where glorious joy and peace abound. 

In Luke 15 the three parables are: the lost sheep, where the shepherd goes out to find the one lost; then there's the woman with the lost coin, then there's the prodigal son.

Each story is telling the reader the same thing, that God will rejoice and extensively seek out those that are lost and He will rejoice when they are found.

They are stories of love and triumph. Stories of redemption. Just look at one of the most famous parables in the Bible, the prodigal son. You have to put the story in context with the times it was written about. Sons were a treasure to a father. They were the sole heirs to the family wealth and name. Family in Jewish culture is very important and sons were treated as princes to the fathers legacy. In the story, the first peculiar thing we should notice is that the father let the son take his inheritance and leave without argument. That in itself is an act of love. The father never for one moment thought about himself in this case. He never said you'll bring shame to my house or you will make me look like a bad father if you leave. Instead, not thinking of himself, he let the young son go not knowing if he'd see him again or not. 

I myself had to do this very thing for my son. He wanted to move away and pursue a young girl that we knew wasn't right for him but I also knew if we told him no or gave him an ultimatum, he would of never came home when things eventually went wrong. Same as the prodigal son. The door was open the whole time for him to return to the father. As soon as he ran out of money and into hard times he could have came back. Yet pride often stands in our way of returning. Assumptions of how we will be treated when we come back is also a factor.

One is too many, must be a battle cry for our hearts to submit to Him even more. If one soul is lost and that is too many for Him to bear then we ought to have the similar response. That doesn't mean get convicted and go out street preaching tomorrow, it means let God use you in a mighty way. We've all by now heard the term logistics. It's how Amazon can get a seller of goods coordinated with a buyer then overseeing the delivery of that product safely to the buyers door. It takes a massive amount of people to do it, from IT people, to computer programmers, to drivers, warehouse workers, deliverers to much much more. Yet it all flows together in harmony to produce one thing, the sale of goods. God in a way coordinates the world in a similar fashion. A seed, which is a word, is spoken by you in a casual conversation. Yet that word landed on someone's ear and at first it did nothing but coupled with a few sprinkles of water by the Holy Spirit through other interactions and the seed begins to grow. We can only play a small part of the grand puzzle called the kingdom of God. We throw out seeds in daily interactions, acts of random kindness, words of love, acts of love and in those small seeds, the potential for them to grow and flourish is there. We through the seeds out but someone else comes and waters. It's not a coincidence that someone gets multiple signs. 

A non-believer runs into the grocery store for one item and when he goes to the checkout, the line is huge. You have a large buggy full and you let him in front of you, he says thanks and you say its no problem at all. It looked like you were in a hurry so I thought I'd bless you today. Again He says thanks and goes on. You never see him again but the seed is planted. Holy Spirit starts to work on him as he drives home. The next day someone else drops another seed or the first seed is watered, so on and so forth until he finds himself in the arms of the Lord. God uses each and every one of us who let Him work through us to soften hearts all around the globe. 

Be careful to not act on your own. I also had to learn this the hard way. If you go out and seek people to heel or to talk to or to do anything without God doing it through you, then it wasn't Him and it won't work. Often times those that do are doing it for the wrong reasons. Have faith in Him to work through you and walk where He has you walk. Say what He has you to say. It doesn't take anything but faith in Him to have Him work through you. If He can make a donkey talk then I know He can use someone that is fully submitted.

Can we say that our hearts are also convicted that one is too many? I know mine is now.

To God be the Glory!

Remodel

If we inherited a house with a lot of issues, we have two options. We can have repairs done or we could sell it. To sell it in the current condition would mean a very low value but if we renovate it and make it new, then its value and usability go way up. Now, to renovate, it costs lots of money, time and effort. It takes a sacrifice but the outcome is worth it. 

You never count the tremendous effort it takes but you always look at the final product and let that bring you hope. It's the vision of what the final product looks like that motivates you through the tough times of the remodel. If it wasn't for that vision, hope would be lost. Yet through all the issues, cost and sacrifice, faith in the final product brings a smile when things look grim.

It's hope and faith that compels the renovator to move forward. 

Can we say that the world is that house. Not just us individually but the entirety of Earth. Can we say that it needs renovation in the spiritual realm. God has found the house He built long ago to be under disrepair. The once glorious house of God has been vandalized and occupied by squatters. By law, the squatters have been removed but their damage remains. The house must be repaired and brought back to its original glory. Once that is done, He can then move in and maintain the house forever.

Individually, we are a house as well with the same issues. We inherited this house and with it problems. With the help of Jesus, our lawyer, we have evicted the squatters and now have to clean it up and renovate it. The damage done by the squatters is too extensive and a full replacement of the entire inside will need to be done. Thank God that not only is Jesus a good lawyer but He has a friend the Holy Spirit that is an excellent contractor. 

We are all under construction until we come into completion in Him. We must allow this to take place because God Himself wants to be a permanent roommate. The amount of time it takes is directly our responsibility. We cannot get in the way or try to do the remodel ourselves. Instead we must have faith in Him to complete it. The more we stay out of His way, the faster it gets done. Letting go of control is hard but is necessary for completion. No contractor will let the home owner help. Most likely they will create more issues than help.

This is just another way of looking at the same story of how God comes in us to clean us up and change us from self to Him. It's short but maybe somebody might be blessed by it.

To God be the Glory.

The Imitation Game

 

I brought up an interesting thought in my last post. Imitating those around you to create a sense of Christianity. When children grow, they imitate everything around them. They watch those around them and imitate their body language, foul language, attitudes, sayings and patterns. They are very good imitators and repeaters especially when you don't want them to be. Most people follow the actions of others and rarely do they stray from the socially acceptable norms. This behavior is a part of our nature as it probably afforded good survival skills way back when we where hunter gatherers. Those that didn't repeat or imitate others were left to figure it out on their own, which could have led to death if not careful. Our ability to copy others has become an advantage as good outcomes are quickly rewarded by those following along.

Take social media for example, when one type of video or meme comes out, you see it everywhere as people try and capture part of the "look at me" craze. I've seen event venues that have ten doors into the place but everyone is clogged up at one entrance because no one wants to look stupid if the other doors are locked. If they aren't locked and you try it, then your a trend setter as everyone is now using the one you came in. It's that herd mentality and it stems from insecurities. No one wants to be left out or ignored so to fit in, people do what others are doing. If you don't flow their way your looked at as strange or odd and are not treated the same and even though people say they are inclusive, what they are really saying is that they include those that act like them. 

If you're a Democrat then you seek those with that kind of view. If your a Republican then you seek those that have those views. We advertise our views and our opinions all over too in order to attract like minded people. People love others that flow the way they are and the more the merrier because that reinforces their beliefs or ideas. No matter how wrong a group of people are, they will always seek out others with like mindedness so they can reinforce their ways. That's how cults form. Cults come from people gathering with the same mindset and reinforced by some sort of trendsetter/leader. 

It's our need for fitting in that gets us into flowing with people of sameness. We want to be wanted, needed and valued and we often can't find that amongst people with opposite ideals. With God living in us though, He can fulfill all those needs and then we will be able to walk to His drum beat instead of seeking others to walk with. 

Let's look at the Muslim faith, they are so strict with anyone that has one thought outside of Allah that they often keep people through threats. If a Muslim family learns of a family member coming to Jesus, they are either killed or ejected from that family and they treat that person as though they died. The church of Christ is less violent but are the same in thought and often deed. If a church member commits a terrible sin, they are often sent out of that church or shunned.

See, needing to be with the "in crowd" isn't all it is cracked up to be. I'm sure you are saying, what about Jesus wanting us to be like minded. Well, if our minds are fully under His control by our faith in Him then it is good. The fleshly need to be needed, seen and included by others is nothing but self in high gear. Again, social media has done a wonderful job at pointing out how we want validation through likes, comments and subscriptions. We need that in our flesh but in the Spirit He takes all that away and the need is gone. 

Imitation in the church can be deadly as we try to look like those around us. Dressing the same, saying the same Christian words and sayings, participating in the same activities and acting the same way. If someone draws a different conclusion than what the mainstream belief says, even though it's backed up by truth in scripture, that person is corrected by those with power so they can keep like mindedness alive and well. 

Imitation threatens relationship. Someone can act like they know what they are doing yet one inside it's a world of chaos and confusion as imitation can only show outwardly. As we lead people to Jesus, we encourage others to repeat after me and the "magic prayer" becomes lifeless and incapable of creating change in someone's heart. If they are thinking all I have to do is repeat a prayer to get into heaven, then they never get the fact that Christ lives in them. They never get full revelation of God's love and consequently never change. It happened to me when I was young. Repeat after me, your saved, have a nice life, yeah. That was about it and there's no wonder I grew up more lost than I was before I repeated a prayer. Prayer doesn't get you saved, coming to the realization and understanding your need for Christ does. When you quit trying to play follow the leader and start thinking, understanding and getting revelation independent of what others around you think, you open yourself up to relationship.

Independent research into God is often frowned upon because of one thing, lack of faith and fear. If we believed God could talk to each person individually and keep those who diligently seek Him on the correct path, then the problem is no  longer. However, church leaders who do not want to relinquish control will say it is to risky for everyone to come to Christ without guidance and doctrine.

Relationship is directly opposed to religion which is what most imitation is. Imitation is about following others who are set in their ways and are often immovable in those ways. Relationship is independent and personal. If we seek and knock, He will answer. Those who seek will find and those who find will be lead by His voice. My sheep know My voice and another they will not follow. The only one we are to imitate is Jesus. 

To God be the Glory!    

Being Too Familiar with the God We Barely Know

The title of this is taken from a quote. I was listening to Todd White's podcast and His guest said that we can be too familiar with the God we barely know which resonated with me so I thought I'd walk through that for me and you.

Can we think we know God because we read scripture and we listen to pastors and we read books about Him, absolutely. Do we know Him? Probably not as well as we should. We could talk all day long about God's attributes and His mannerisms towards His people. We could quote, surmise, extrapolate and explore all day long but when it comes right down to it, it's only going to skim the tiniest layers of who He is.

It's like someone trying to figure out someone else by only observing them from a distance through binoculars. You can see where they go, what they do and how they act and you could interview people that came in contact with them but without one on one time, you can only speculate what they are like.

For me, that's not enough. I want to know all three, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit intimately. I'm not satisfied by a "Cliffs Notes" or "God for Dummies" relationship. I've gone over this before but it bears repeating, my favorite book in the Bible has to be Esther. It's such a wonderfully laid out story of how God and Christ choose a bride. Like Esther, I'm not interested in being in the King's court amongst the many but I want to be invited into the King's chamber to stay and be placed with Christ at His right hand. I can't be satisfied with just a quick visit, I want to stay in His presence forever. 

What does it take? For me so far, it has taken nearly twenty years of seeking, humbling myself, sacrifice and perseverance through every tough part. It's not been easy thus far. I look at those who preach and have a particularly close relationship with Him and I wonder why my relationship doesn't look the same. I'm coming to slowly realize that every relationship with Him is different. That's the beauty of it. 

With people, each couple has a different experience than every other couple. They differ by personality, experiences and interactions. Because there are so many variables, two couples cannot have the exact same relationship. How then do we expect to have the same relationship with God as someone else has. It shouldn't be expected. 

Yet, don't we get a bit jealous of how someone else talks about God sometimes? Don't we immediately say to ourselves,  I wish I could hear Him like that person does or I wish I could feel His presence like they do. 

Have you ever seen the movie Roxanne with Steve Martin. If not, it's a movie about one guy who has all the looks and no social skills, wanting to get to know a beautiful girl. He uses another guy who is sophisticated and charming to write letters to her and coach him. However, the handsome man loses the girl to the other guy because she fell in love with who he was in the letters. In other words, we cannot pursue God by imitating someone else's words or actions. We cannot look the part of another and say well if it worked for them it should work for me.

Knowing Him intimately takes more than observing or copying others. Just because you see a person in church raise their hands up doesn't mean you have to. Just because I say I get up in the middle of the night for one on one time doesn't mean you have to. It takes time to know God as He reveals His true self to you. 

We cannot say we know Him until He reveals Himself to us. We cannot build our understanding of Him through long range observations. 

Being familiar with Him on the surface doesn't get us true knowledge and understanding of Him. We must pursue Him where He is instead of where we've seen Him work in others or through His book. We must be invited by the King into His chambers. 

To God be the Glory!

Life Happens

In one of my previous posts, I talked about nurturing the divine nature that lives in us. If we have life happening on a 24/7 basis where every waking minute is filled with kids, jobs, spouses, friends, family and basic household chores, what time is left for God.

Let's talk about that a little. So, life is very busy, to the point of complete distraction. It's no wonder most people are only able to go to church for two or three hours and do a quick recharge instead of a full every day walk. I get it, life gets in the way but God is in you and goes with you wherever you are. I too have gotten busy living life to where I didn’t put my full attention where it needs to be. 

What is it that God wants from us? If we let life consume us to the point of complete distraction and we no longer walk in Him but become frustrated, aggravated and always overwhelmed, then we have stepped out of Him and back into self. If however life comes at you and your walk in Him, through faith in Him, continues, well then your busy life becomes easier to handle. I can attest to that fact as today will be very busy for me at work. Some of this is being written before work and undoubtedly as I don't have time to write the whole thing, the rest will be written tonight. So, I will be the experiment. 

My faith should never waiver in Him at all because He never waivers. My faith in Him tells me that His life lives in me and He orders my steps each day. My faith says not to worry about how I act or handle things because He is there to do and bring forth His nature and not mine. I have to trust that. If I go to work worried how things will go then I've already taken control from Him. If I dread the day ahead then I don't have faith that He will be in me to show me love. If I say anything negative then I set myself up for failure and faith doesn't do what faith is supposed to do.

Being busy and living the life that is expected of you doesn't take you away from God, He goes with you everywhere you go if you let Him. 

Let's see how today goes for me in a high stress environment and I'll report the results. 

Well, here I am about 13 hours later, 9 hours of work and the other 4 getting ready, commuting (twice), and dinner. So what do I have to report, as I said before, it was a high stress situation but I didn't stress. A couple of things went wrong and I was able to not let them affect me like they would have before I started just handing everything over to God. I was able to keep cool, not lose composure and even have fun. I just hope that those around me saw God and not myself. 

So, what is it I learned or gleaned from today, that God doesn't need flashy long prayer sessions or three hours worth of studying to have a relationship with Him. It just takes the letting go of the controls and letting Him live through you to do His will, which is to show us love and those around us love.

To put in perspective on the time management, I started this post two days ago and am now just finishing it. I don't want anyone to think that personal quiet time alone with God isn't necessary. It is very necessary. I don't want anyone to think that time reading the Bible isn't necessary. It too is necessary. However, set time aside when you can and always know He is right there with you walking hand in hand. Make time yet don't stress if you cannot. Take advantage of small moments. Taking a shower? Use that time to talk to Him and thank Him for being our God. Folding laundry, same thing. Driving to work, take that time to ask Him questions, to seek understanding. Grocery shopping, tell yourself before you enter, I will step down from being in control of my emotions and feelings and I will let God move in me to be Him through me.

So many opportunities we don't even think can be used to put Him first in our lives. We can live our fast and furious lives with Him at the wheel or we can try to stear it ourselves. Once we taste and see His goodness, we'll want to spend more time with Him and that all important TV time you crave may be an opportunity to go to a quiet place and just seek Him.

Let's live with purpose. Walk daily, seek Him out in everything. Spend every small moment possible thinking of Him, talking to Him and thanking Him for His presence and goodness in us. Don't push Him away from mundane life but include Him. Take quiet time to talk with Him. Let His life abound in us and life may not turn out to be so overwhelming as we once thought.

To God be the Glory! 

Have a Little Talk

Let's stop and do one thing. Thank God for His presence. Right now, stop reading and do that. I'll wait.........Now did you do that with Faith or because I asked you to. Let's do it again but this time, understand that He is living in you. He is as close to you as the words you speak. Now, armed with that understanding and having faith in that truth, now say, God thank you for your presence and say it a few times.

I'm encouraging your relationship between you and Him. A cheerleader of sorts. So, let's do this. Let's ask Him for a revelation today for you. A revelation is an understanding about some aspect of God. Whether it's a law or a piece of scripture or any understanding that you didn't have before. It's often a piece of scripture like when Jesus told the parables. He said not all will understand them and their meanings because it takes the Holy Spirit to unlock the understanding behind them. 

So, now we are going to ask God for Him to give you some understanding or a revelation but a specific one I have picked out for you. So, let's do this again. All at once, thank Him for His presence then ask Him to reveal to you how much He loves you. Do it in faith, know He is good and He will provide. I'll wait.....

Yes, so I did it as well. Now God doesn't just pop a revelation on you right away but if He just did then great, you are blessed. If you've asked in faith, knowing He is a good Father and that He gives good gifts, then just wait for it with anticipation. If you did receive a revelation then awesome. 

Next, I just want you to talk to God about love. Talk to Him about what you're understanding about His love currently is. If you just got a revelation about His love, talk about that, thank Him for it. When I talk to God about a certain subject I often receive revelation on that subject. As I talk to Him about all I know and discuss it with Him, I ask questions and have faith as though He's in the room with me, which He is. I may be the only one talking but He is listening and will reply if you believe He will. 

So, now on top of thanking Him for His presence and for revelation. Just talk to Him about your understanding of His love. Go over it with Him, ask questions and really just talk with Him as if He was standing in the room with you. Go ahead, take as long as you want.

Welcome back. So how did your conversation go? I hope it was productive. If you've, in any way, received a revelation then it will be something that infiltrates your heart. The mind can process facts but the heart causes change. You can read something many times and you can hear something many times and the mind will store it as fact but for it to become real and to produce a change in your behaviour it takes those facts turning into heart knowledge. Head knowledge stores info, heart knowledge causes change. That's why God said I will turn their heart of stone into a heart of flesh. If a heart is not able and ready to receive revelation then it's like stone and it comes from an attitude of pride. However, a heart of flesh comes from humility and it can be taught and instructed. 

So while you talk to God about something like His love for you, you're just talking to Him about your head knowledge. You're stating facts or quoting scripture to Him. This is head knowledge. If you feel like reading and studying the subject in the Bible, read it out loud to Him and ask questions. By speaking things out loud we get to hear our words and it helps us stay focused. Now, during your talk with Him, your just dumping out your head knowledge. While your doing that, He will take some of that knowledge and download it into your heart. For me it's like my eyes have been opened up and I can see clearly for the first time. Often I'm so overwhelmed that I cry or laugh or both. You see it so clearly and it causes a change in you. Change that creates an action in you to act differently or think differently or to be different than before. 

If you receive a revelation about how much God loves you and it hits you right in the heart, you won't be the same. Doubt, fear, anxiety and self loathing will all disappear. That's why I've asked you to do this. It will change you!

So, today, right now, we've thanked Him for His presence, we've asked for a revelation into His love for us and then we've had a conversation with Him about your current understanding of His love for you. If you've not gotten anything out of this, don't fall into the devil's trap of doubt and self loathing. Just tell yourself, God will reveal to me His love for me when I'm ready to receive it. 

One last thing, we cannot come to God for anything for selfish reasons. This is all for His glory not ours. That's why I say that at the end of every blog. It's for His glory and not mine. I don't write to get accolades, I write so my audience can get closer to the Father. So, when you come to Him for revelation and a heart change, you come because you want His light to shine through you. A darkened heart looks and acts like everyone else's but a heart that has been transformed by His revelation shines and everyone will see Him in you. So, don't do it for selfish reasons, always have the motive of expanding His kingdom through you.

So, do everything we talked about today with every subject you want to be revealed in you. Do it in faith, do it in humility and do it for the kingdom. 

Love you!

To God be the Glory, always!

Nurturing Your Divine Nature

 

I heard this term through an online sermon from one of the only people I trust online to preach the truth. His name is Todd White and his mentor, who I love also is Dan Mohler, which I've shared before in my blogs. Anyway, Todd said at the very end of his sermon, we need to be nurturing our divine(Godly) nature. How do we nurture anything? With a plant we feed it, give it water, sunlight, warmth, fertilizer and a growing medium that is right for its root growth. If one of those variables are off, then the plant will suffer or even die. However, instead of a plant, the nature in us is more like a muscle. If a muscle isn't used it becomes atrophied, just ask the astronauts floating in space. If they don't use bands to pull them down and give their muscles resistance, they become so useless that they can't even walk when they get back to Earth. Our muscles function correctly because gravity is always pulling on us and our muscles resist that pull to keep us upright. 

With the divine nature in us, it needs exercise too. We are designed to shine and bring forth God's nature through us to the world. If we hide in pews and only stretch our divine muscle once a week then we become lazy. I knew of a person who had the gift of speaking in tongues. One day, they thought they weren't important enough to be doing that anymore so they quit. They continued down that path of doubt until a disease came and claimed their ability to cognitively function. Is the disease a direct result of the doubt, not sure but in cases where we don't exercise the divine muscle in us, it becomes ineffective. 

We must always move forward in our gifts, prayer, good works and our faith. We must never let doubt or fear or anything else stand between us and our relationship with God. 

Trials also stretch our divine muscle. Trials, whether mental or physical, always stress us and create a challenge against our ability to keep the divine nature in us going and nurtured. I've been feeling under the weather the last few days and I haven't been writing or praying or getting up in the night to talk to God. I've not let condemnation take over but I definitely miss those activities and I could tell my light wasn't shining as bright as it should. The posts I have been putting on here were written days ago. So, no matter, and I'm telling me this, what is going on, always try to connect, nurture and support the divine nature in you.

To God be the Glory! 

Hurt by Those Claiming to Know Jesus.

 

Who can say that they have been hurt by someone or a group of people and they claimed to be Christians. Whether it was a parent that was one way at church then abused you at home or you were touched inappropriately by a church staff person or any situation where you were mentally scarred by someone claiming Jesus was their savior. I'm not talking about arguing over the color of carpet or what VBS program to use this year, I'm talking about deep pain suffered at the hands of someone in the church. It happens more frequently than not unfortunately and as a result, bitterness sets in towards God. Questions come up like, why didn't God stop them or where was He when I was being abused? 

God is limited by His love. If that sounds a bit weird, it is to our ears because we always want to impose our will upon others. The argument is this, if a person is doing evil and you stand by and let them do evil, do you not inadvertently participate in that evil. No! Here's why. Love cannot impose it's will upon someone else. It can hope for that person, it can love that person regardless of their actions but it cannot force them to do anything. It can show them the difference between their actions and His actions but it cannot force action. Remember, love is patient, love is kind..... Those word are what God is. If He killed or punished or maimed a person for doing evil to another person, we would have no one on Earth. We would all be destroyed the moment we did something wrong as infants. God created grace for a reason, so that those forgiven could repent and come to Him. 

So, it's not Gods fault people do unspeakable things to others. When Adam fell, he embraced the character and nature of Satan. Because like begets like, when Adam had children, the nature Adam received from the serpent was passed down to his kids. Selfishness entered the world and it produced offspring. Offspring have no choice to how they are born. A new dolphin baby cannot request to be a sea lion and a monkey cannot request to be a tiger upon entering this world. The children of that animal or person will inherit the physical traits of their parents. When it comes to us, we have an eternal soul and it is dominated by the nature of our parents when we enter this world. It learns to be selfish through selfish behavior. Thus, those that hurt others, have not been dealt a fair hand. They were born into iniquity yet God has given us a way out of it. In all of human history, only in the last 2,000 years have we had a choice. We are born in one nature not of our choice, but God has opened the door and given us a choice to change what we were born into. 

Yet in all that God has done and offered us, we still blame Him for other peoples free will. Don't blame Him for what He didn't do. The father of lies, the devil, who deceived Adam and Eve in the garden created this mess we are in and continues to provoke us by turning us on each other then convincing us it's not his fault but Gods. What a master manipulator he is. He throws us to the dogs to be chewed to pieces then he gets us to blame someone else for it. Stop blaming others, stop blaming God and start creating a relationship with the only one who can rescue us from the lie. 

 

To God be the Glory! 

Take up Your Cross

Matthew 10:38

and anyone who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me.

Matthew 16:24

Then Jesus told His disciples, "If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.

Luke 9:23

Then Jesus said to all of them, "If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me.

Luke 14:27

And whoever does not carry his cross and follow Me cannot be My disciple.

We must firstly look at what the cross represents. 

Galatians 6:14 NLT As for me, may I never boast about anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Because of that cross, my interest in this world has been crucified, and the world’s interest in me has also died.

The cross represents death to one nature and life in another. The human nature that is in rebelliousness against God is placed on the cross to die and then a new nature, God's nature, takes its place. The entire scene of Christ's death, burial and resurrection must play out in our hearts and minds as we believe that we have been included in that same death, burial and resurrection. Daily we must believe our sin and fleshly desires are nailed to that cross to die and that we now live in Him that raised us. 

We carry a hope in us for those who believe. We carry the same burden that Christ did. Daily, we arise and make a choice, cross or no cross. Do we run in terror from the cross and let our nature live or do we let it die. Paul says, I die daily which means, he puts himself on the cross each day so that God can be in Him. 

This may sound confusing so let me try to break it down.

The flesh or human nature is everything that is not God. So if God is patient, kind, good, long-suffering, gentle, self-controlled and so on, then our flesh is impatient, mean, evil, rough, out of control and selfish. This flesh seeks only itself where God is selfless and seeks not His own. That's why He can love us even though we've lived apart from Him. The flesh is the attitude,  the mind set that we are number one. This attitude needs to be nailed to the cross every day. How?

Again it's a mind set, a belief, a faith. We must believe that our nature has died in the body of Jesus on the cross, we then believe that in the resurrection,  we are given a new nature, God's Holy Spirit. In His Spirit, we can walk in oneness with Him. It again is by faith we do this and it is possible, I'm living proof. I wake up each day saying thank you for loving me, living in me and being who I am today. I yield myself to the Spirit and let Him work in me to order my steps, my thoughts, my language and anything that needs to be clean in me. In faith I believe He will do His will to change the things that need to be changed and govern the things that need to be governed. 

Have you ever tried to tell yourself, I'm gonna have a good day today then one thing doesn't go how you planned and you fall apart. What if, you never plan for the day at all and say, God you are in control of my heart and my mind, no matter how things go, your Spirit will keep me calm, full of love and in you. Our minds are supposed to be renewed in Him

Romans 6:4

We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may walk in newness of life.

Romans 12:2

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.

Colossians 3:10

and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

Can these words not just be words but be life in us. The words point to the direction we should go, the action is believing in those words and that God will implement them in us if we have faith. Walking in them is the direct result of our faith in the words being accomplished by Him in us. If we just treat them as words on a page, then we cannot move forward in them. However, if we treat them as truth, unchangeable truth, that can be fulfilled in us, then they produce life. 

To God be the Glory!

Anxiety

Anxiety now days is at the forefront of societal discussions. I read some comments online from a video post, where the preacher was trying to do a physical challenge to demonstrate how during times of need, all we need to do is pray. The comments were unanimously targeted towards anxiety and how prayer never helped them and that it takes more than prayer to solve such a deep seated issue. Of course most people's solution is years of medical treatments and/or therapy. When I read those people's comments, their feelings were hopelessness. This is where the church has failed to step in and be a light and because of that, the world is slipping into darkness. I say it's the churches fault because as we bicker about denominational lines and differences in doctrine, we confuse and water down what is supposed to be powerful and transformational. 

How can we preach God is all powerful yet not believe He is able to change us? It's as if He's conditional instead of transformational. Can we not believe He's big enough for all our problems? We see our issues too big for us to handle and thus we pass on our inabilities to Him instead of believing He can handle them. 

One piece of scripture has always haunted me since I became a Christian. 

2 Timothy 3:1-5

1But understand this: In the last days terrible times will come. 2For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, without love of good, 4traitorous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5having a form of godliness but denying its power.

The first 4 versus are obvious as we see this taking place all around us but the 5th verse, having a form of Godliness but denying its power is something all together different. When I first read these, it hit me hard that the power of God was a thing to take so seriously. I mean, everyone believes that God has power and Jesus had power but for us to have that same power in us?

 It's preached that we are destined to be sinners all our lives, doomed to repeat our mistakes and to succumb to our fleshly desires continually. Is this not denying God's power to transform our lives from what we were to what we can be in Him. How is it God can raise Christ from the dead, include us in His death and resurrection so that we are no longer separated but justified, fill those who believe with His Spirit but when it comes to our flesh He's stopped cold. How is this reasonable in our minds. This is the same God who does the miraculous throughout the Bible but we think dealing with our issues is too big for Him. Huh?

It is an issue if there are so few examples of people walking out what the Bible describes as a normal Christian life. Jesus was our example, His life is what we should be walking in. Don't listen to those who don't believe in the power that comes with belief. Don't listen to those that take God and make Him incapable of dealing with something like anxiety. 

You want the truth? If we believe Jesus came to die to redeem us and justify us before God then you must also believe His Spirit comes to dwell in us upon that belief. If we are redeemed and filled then we must also believe He lives in us and His power keeps us from sin and fleshly desires. We must also believe that we are loved and are Sons of God and that we are co-heirs of the Kingdom alongside of Christ Jesus. We must believe that in us lives the same Spirit that brought forth all the miracles that Jesus did and that same Spirit can work through us to do the same and more. We must believe we have the gifts of the Spirit too. I say we must because scripture says all this and more.

How can we deny God's power? How can we pick and choose what God can and cannot do in our lives? We cannot believe in Him in part because if we only believe in part we still deny in part. To not believe and have doubt is just as terrible as all those things listed in verses 1-4 and most do not want to be included with those in that list. Yet if you deny, you are.

Solution: Drop all your preconceived ideas of what you think God is and just have faith in Him to work in and through you. You are the pottery, made from His hands. He has made you for His purpose and He loves you. Let Him fill you up and use you for the glory of His name. 

Let not one speck of doubt enter into you but let faith in Him rule your mind and heart. Don't look at your situation and think it's too hard or that your too far gone for Him to handle. Don't think that you've got to be clean in order for you to have faith. Faith comes first then He cleans you up from the inside out. Just believe and He will do the rest.

To God be the Glory! 

Heart of God

The Lord loves those who diligently seek Him. He sees their broken hearts and their troubled minds. They thirst and cry out for a drink and they know that God will quench it. They knock and know He will answer. The quest for truth is in their heart. They seek Him where He dwells and He fills them with His Spirit. He quiets their mind to make them understand. He forms truth in their hearts like a potter forms a vessel. Once formed and fired, the vessel can then carry water to others. 

God loves those who love Him. He will bless them with joy and gladness even in times of darkness. His light shines in them like a lighthouse guiding sailors home. For all that are not His are tossed at sea and are bashed upon the rocks. Yet those that see His light will find a safe harbor.

God loves those who weep, for He will wipe away their tears. He will bless them with His mercy and draw them to Him. In His love He will make them cry tears of happiness because their iniquities have been forgotten. 

God loves those who find shelter in Him. Though the storms come and claim many, those who shelter in God will not be touched by the winds of doubt.

God loves those who are full of faith. They see beyond what they can see and they place their trust in it. They cannot feel yet they know He is there. They cannot taste but His sweetness is upon their tongue. They cannot hear yet they can be guided by His voice. Those with unwavering faith are His and will never be moved.

Time is running out to seek and to have faith in Him. Time is coming to a close and the wedding feast will soon begin. The bride will be married to the groom and for those in Him, they will rejoice but for those who think they had an invitation but are denied access, there will be weeping. For many think because they walk around saying His name or use His popularity to make themselves look important, they will be sent away. They may say they know Him but He will say, I never knew you. 

To know Him is easy but for Him to know you takes sacrifice. We cannot live to ourselves and then say remember me. For living to yourself gives you rewards today. Living for Him however takes sacrifice and dedication. He lives in those that set aside themselves for His glory. Those that seek not their own will be let into the wedding because they wear His garments. 

Seek first His kingdom and deny all other things. Seek first His kingdom and He will give to you without measure. He will provide and feed you if you worry about nothing and seek Him. 

Can anything be as important? Can the gospel of Christ not be more important than our daily lives? Can the truth of God and His kingdom not take control of our mind? What will it take for God to rattle your cage of doubt? What will it take for Him to be your all in all? Will it be sickness, depravity, drugs, depression or any mind numbing activity we seek out instead of seeking Him? Will it take rock bottom, flat on your back at the bottom of a pit for you to see His glorious light? 

This post is not from me, it's mainly from Him. His heart weeps at the sight of His children abusing themselves and each other. He crys out to those that are not in His truth to come. He shouts to those in distress, seek me. He cannot force His way into our hearts, it must be us that turn and run to Him. He stands at the door calling for us to come. He loves us deeply, everyone of you. 

Right now, you the reader, drop everything you think you know and empty yourself to Him. Let Him fill every corner of your heart and mind. Just say, I'm yours Lord, come and live in me, make me your home. 

Lord, I feel your need to gather the lost sheep and to fill all the Earth with your Spirit. I pray you give all your faithful servants the confidence and faith,  to trust in You and to carry out Your will.

Home Repairs

 

    When someone buys a house from somebody else, they have it inspected. During our 2021-2022 housing market frenzy, those inspections were often waived by the buyer. People and companies were so desperate to grab a house that they paid more than what the house was listed for and they paid in cash with no need for repairs or an inspection. Before the pandemic, well lets just say deals fell through because the owner wouldn't fix a squeaky or loose board on the back deck. I was always puzzled by that mentality of buying a piece of property without a proper inspection. What if there was mold or termites in the house. It could cost the new owner tens of thousands of dollars to do the repair work. Without the inspection, the seller is not liable for the repairs. So, here we are talking about the housing market, what does that have to do with God. 

When God comes to us, He's like a home buyer. He sees us as a home for His Spirit to live in. Now, when He makes an offer to us, often times we tell Him all the issues our home has. Sticking with the metaphor, we say I've got tons of damage, you wouldn't want my house. God is a persistent buyer though. I've got a leaky roof Sir and the walls and ceiling have water damage. God says, that's OK. I still want the house. It's got bad plumbing and wiring. I've been meaning to repair it but I don't have the money. God says, I tell you what. You let me purchase your house and I'll fix it up for you. You don't need to leave, you can still live in it. I just need you to trust that I can make it livable by my standards and don't do anything. I won't need your help, I'll clean it all up and make it like new, just trust me and if I need you to do something I'll ask you. Sound like a deal. A head nod is all it takes and like a home repair show here He comes with His crew to repair the house. 

See, God doesn't need a full report on what is wrong with you. He doesn't need to hear how impossible it is to change you. All He needs is the OK to renovate His new home. Now often times, renovation comes with demolition. The old stuff and the damaged sections need to be removed. Since the house is now His and yours both, you both have to work on being roommates. His desire is to renovate and reconstruct your old beat up house back to it's original glory. The only way He can do that is if you let Him and stay out of His way.

Have you ever lived in a home that is being totally overhauled? If not, then I suggest the movie, "The Money Pit" 1986 with Tom Hanks and Shelley Long. Talk about invasive repairs. When God takes control, if we let Him, He will come inside your house and rip everything out, completely gut everything that is not worth keeping. 

However, we tend to be sentimental and we tend to place our identity in the wrong things. So say you grew up in this house and their is a lot of memories, some good and some bad but those memories are how you define yourself. The wall where you marked your height or the banister you slid down as a kid or the old tire swing. We have a ton of memories we'd like to hold onto and not all of them are good ones but when God moves in, our identity is supposed to change over to Him. If we are continually asking Him to not change this or not change that because of sentimental attachment or it's "who you are" then construction will be halted or slowed. It's not comfortable to live in a house that's under construction forever. 

Are we expert renovators, no we are not and that's why we called in the professionals. Another TV/Movie reference for you, Home Improvement with Tim Allen, now there's a great example of how we handle our home improvements.....get it. Sorry, dad joke. Anyway, if you look at Al and Jill and the neighbor Wilson as the Holy Spirit, they were constantly telling him how to do or asking him not to do things he thought he knew how to do. Sound familiar,  read Romans. So here we have Tim thinking he can do it all and in the end he usually has to eat crow and confess his inabilities. 

Isn't this how we go about it with God. Always thinking we can do it, we can handle it, we just need more power. (Insert Tim's grunt here). In fact, we call on God for more power but we don't let him do the work. Instead we ask for more Spirit, more gifts more this and more that but in actuality, in our hands, more power leads to bigger problems and in the end we concede and let the professionals take over.

It's a definite humbling experience when we fail miserably, falling flat on our faces, and thinking the whole time we knew what we were doing. Yet, power in the hands of those who are not yielded cannot wield it properly. It's like the guy with the house. If God, your new tenant, tries to come in and renovate for you but you always think you can do it for Him, the results are not going to be good. You can't tell your general contractor how to do His job, it doesn't go over well. You ever wonder why they send the families off on a nice vacation during one of those home makeover shows. Again with the TV references. Sorry it's winter, not much to do. Anyway, they send them away so they can do the work needed without the constant input from the family. 

If God doesn't have full range to remake you into His image then the image will be part Him and part you which is a mixture and nothing good comes of that. The way I see it, when God is invited into your home He immediately gets to work. Some areas, He will ask you to help with, some areas we need to trust Him to do all the heavy lifting. Our issues are letting Him work without trying to do something for Him or with Him without His permission. I say we grab a big glass of sweat tea, sit in our favorite chair and watch as He transforms our lives right before our eyes. If He needs us to do something like hand Him a box of nails or a hammer, then be ready to do that. 

I always love common stories set to a spiritual lesson or a parable of sorts. It gets me to understand tough lessons in a fun and easily digestible manner. I hope this doesn't confuse you but helps you as it does me to visualize something we can't see. The transformation happens slowly sometimes and then in others the reconstruction is immediate. It all depends on how much faith we have in Him. When we believe He will do what He says then we will have a newly renovated house faster than we can say, "Move That Bus." (another TV reference)

To God be the Glory!

Watch Your Step

When the Israelites came out of Egypt and were walking in the wilderness, God provided manna every morning. Eventually, that manna became unpalatable to them and they requested something different. 

Do we trend in that same attitude that they had? 

Now this post is mainly for me and for my understanding but if you get something from it then great. 

I've had a history of dissatisfaction while I was coming to know God. It was my want for more revelation, more understanding and more spiritual gifts that drove me to be dissatisfied. I would see someone else moving in a gift and I would want to as well. I would here knowledge coming from someone and I'd want knowledge or understanding as well. It was an unquenchable thirst for more that got me into trouble with Him.

Like the Israelites, I was not satisfied with what God provided me each day. I skipped over being happy with what He was providing me and went straight to wanting more like the Israelites. I was like a spoiled child that had everything yet wasn't happy with what I had. It got me in some deep trouble to say the least and I lost years of development to pouts and fits. 

It wasn't a pleasant time in my Christian childhood which began when I was thirty. So now that I'm going on my nineteenth year as a Christian, I've started to mature somewhat under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. 

All that to say, we must be happy with what God is doing currently in our lives. I don't mean be complacent in your relationship because we have to maintain our faith but don't side step God and pursue something more exciting or more rewarding. If this is happening, its usually an indication your being led by the flesh instead of by the Spirit. 

Walking in faith in God requires us to completely trust in Him and what He's doing in our lives. We cannot become restless in Him. Instead we must reassure ourselves by looking at what we have in Him instead of what we don't have. Turn our focus inward to our incredible relationship we do have. 

The enemy will use tons of luring tactics to show you things you don't have so you'll want them. It's the grass is greener scenario. Show them what they are missing or show them how boring the same stuff is everyday and they will rebel every time. 

Our desires to want more of what God has to offer us isn't bad if we filter it through Him and His timing. How can we say we walk by faith if we constantly run ahead of His leadership. 

Look at the prophet who was told by God to go one way and come back another and not to stop. This story is for this occasion. So God gives specific instructions on what to do. It's like me now, I have been led to only have faith in Him and to walk in that faith through everything. I cannot do anything else right now because He is teaching me to walk in faith. When the prophet got side tracked by another, a so called prophet, he disobeyed and was killed by a lion I think, don't quote me on that. Anyway, this prophet didn't listen to what God told him to do by listening to another person say, I have a word from God for you. 

Who has tried to get advice, solicited or unsolicited, from another. Each person will tell you their own opinion, quote the Bible and give you what sounds like excellent advice but is it really. If it is contradictive to what God wants you to do, then no, it's not good advice.

Establishing a good relationship with God is the key to everything. Listening to His direction, following that direction until He tells you otherwise is absolutely imperative. If we step out just one step then we are out of His will. Until we step back in, that roaring lion has full access to us. One of the only ways we stay in Him is to not want more than what we have been given and to walk in what He has given us to walk in. No matter how much I want to go and do something else, if it isn't ordered by God then it may very well be my flesh wanting it. 

We are back to that again but it is critical and I can't state it enough. If we walk by faith in Him, to order all our steps each day then we are walking in the Spirit but the moment I think I can reach out with my hand and touch it in my flesh, then here comes that lion. Do you remember the ark of the covenant that was being moved and the one guy that though he was doing good, reached out to keep it from falling dropped dead. We have to look at all those old testament stories that happened in the natural and see them in the spirit. That man that reached out wasn't set aside by God to do that. He was reaching out in his own will and in his flesh, and when we do the same thing whether in mind or in deeds, then there's the lion waiting. 

Have you seen these guys that wear the suits for police dog training. They get all that padding on so the dog won't be able to harm them. Of course they feel the dog moving and shaking them, they feel his weight but they don't get bitten. God is like that suit, and if we walk in that suit we don't get harmed. We get attacked and thrown down to the ground and get tossed a little but all in all we don't get bitten or injured by the dog. Now, step out of that suit and that dog has an arm or leg sandwich for dinner. 

It's the same with all the scenarios I have listed above, living in Him through faith=good, stepping out of Him to go do our own thing=bad. 

So, dissatisfaction is a definite stepping out of the suit and getting mauled by lions or dogs or anything that wants us away from Him. If you look at it in these terms and bring it into an understanding using real scenarios, then we can really feel the weight of how we walk each day. 

One more then I'm done, can you name anyone that has stepped out onto a battle field with bullets flying around all over and not gotten shot. If they stepped up, out of the fox hole or trench they were hiding in and they just casually started to walk towards the enemy, they would eventually or immediately get cut down by flying hot metal. It's not a pretty scene yet we do this in the Spirit every day when we step out from under our submission to God. One head up and over that berm and we may not have a head. One arm raised up and bye bye arm. It's that serious and it's more serious the further we go in Him because we have more to lose then.

I hope this hasn't scared you into being paranoid because that too is stepping out of faith. It's a delicate balance and I am in that realm where I'm getting shaken by this big dog and if even one finger slips out of the suit, it gets ripped off. If we get bitten though or if we fall, God is merciful and good and He will let us back into Him. It takes acknowledgment of our mistake, an apology and a genuine repentant heart to get back to Him but we can get back to Him. As time goes by, instead of falling being a norm, it will become an exception and then an impossibility as God under our submission, takes control and we walk without any issues. This is the whole point of our existence, to be like Him. 

Again, this is for me mostly but if you got more than a healthy dose of terror out of this then great. It was just a reminder for me to watch what I do, what I say and how I carry myself each day. Step out of faith in Him and I get bitten. It's definitely getting very real.

To God be the Glory 

Radical Love

Have you ever had someone so wrecked by continual disappointment that they can't receive anything good. They've been hurt so many times that they themselves often ruin any attempt at someone loving them. They'll push away before they can be hurt again. 

When we live in such a hostile environment, as this world can be, we often become so use to pain that goodness and love are foreign concepts and avoided. The gift God has provided us in forgiveness, redemption and justification is often rejected because of our inability to trust. 

So how do we build trust in someone that has no trust. Firstly, we must rid our ownselves of any possible way of harming them further. Our lives must be full of Christ and empty of self. Those that are hurt have accute senses when it comes to authenticity. They can read right through anyone that is not genuinely full of love. So, to help we must be helped first.

My frustration is this, I can see a world that walks in God's Spirit and Truth and I can see a world that is completely changed where no one is hurt by another. I can see this vision of love enveloping the Earth yet I cannot see how we get there. Billions of people use billions of other people daily to make themselves feel superior, more powerful or better than others so the challenge is grim. 

Only by God's Spirit can it be done and we who submit to Him through faith will have His Spirit to overcome the world with love. It seems like such a big task and when we try to imagine us doing it through our own understanding instead of His, well it is impossible. 

The world has tried to cooperate tentatively for decades now but it's tenuous at best. Constant saber rattling, threats, invasions and rumors of wars are always lingering. 

Then you have a lot of Christians begging for Jesus to come back to judge those that are evil yet they forget they will be judged as well. They're running into what they don't understand. It's because they think they are covered by His blood but the blood isn't a blanket of protection. The blood was for redemption and justification, to redeem us or to justify us before God. The blood never made us righteous, our faith in God to order our steps does that. Walking in the Spirit and not in the flesh makes us righteous. Even then, do we hide our righteousness from the world and keep it for ourselves, no. A light is made to shine and to give light to others instead of being kept for yourself. That's why in the parable of the talents the servant that got the one talent from his master was beaten for burying it and not investing it. The investment comes when we share the light in us with others.

The reason we sit in our quiet little corner of the world and pray for blessings is because we do not have a proper relationship with God. How can we prove to the world that God loves them if we hide Him and keep Him for ourselves.

The world needs us, those that don't trust love need us. They need to be shown just what love is and that it can be trusted, confided in and filled with. Comfort is self and if we live comfortably and never step out into the world to show them His love then we have failed. It doesn't take a loud speaker or megaphone on a street corner preaching to people to show them God. Often times people are turned off by that because words are empty without actions backing them up. Someone could sit and preach all day in the sun to crowds on the street but then go home and watch porn or do drugs or even smack his wife around. If we are going to reach people, we have to have a radical love for them. 

What is radical love? It's something beyond what you do already. It's something that creates discomfort to you in the beginning. It's buying someone's groceries at the store, it's giving an unusually large tip, it's buying a homeless person things they need, it's a ton of different things beyond the simple smile or holding a door open for someone. Radical love changes hearts and tears down walls. It can reach the most darkest of hearts. All we need to do is submit to God's radical love then He will make us that way too. 

Instead of people being a burden we will be burdened for them. Instead of avoiding them, we will be interacting with them. Walk over to someone at a gas station and tell them you'll buy their gas today. If they ask why your doing that for them, just say God loves you and He wanted to bless you. If you do anything though, make sure your doing it for God and not self. Don't do it to be seen or recognized or for the thanks. Just do it out of love.

If the churches emptied the pews each Sunday and went out to the neighborhoods to mow a widows yard or to rake an elderly mans yard or to build a ramp for a person in a wheelchair or to shuttle someone to work or to the grocery store, then we could make a huge impact in their lives. Instead of buying a million dollar building, meet at houses for the new people but have those mature Christians take to the streets to help. If our churches were full of selfless people then maybe this idealistic dream of mine would come true. Unfortunately, the church is full of self centered and self absorbed people who want to claim the name of Jesus but don't want to live like He did. 

Sorry for the harshness but truth is truth. We cannot sit idle on our hands and do nothing for this dying world. We're more worried about the presidential election and one mans policies than we are about our own policies with God. We're more worried about the government coming to take our guns than laying our life down for our neighbor. Why do Christians have guns anyway, Jesus told Peter if you live by the sword you'll die by the sword. We as Christians should be passivists but instead I hear statements like, if they come through that door, I'll blast them back out or if they mess with me, I'll send them to God and let Him worry about it. What!! Did we ever see Jesus using violence as a means to settle a problem. No and neither should we. 

I've heard it before too, if someone broke into your house what would you do. Well, personally I'd give them anything they wanted. If you stop trying to stop them and actually help them steal your stuff, think of the impact you'd have on their heart. Especially if you said God loves you while you were handing them your TV. Now that's radical love my friend. It takes that kind of thinking to change the world. 

What if an army, instead of being met by resistance, was met by hot food and shelter. What if  an army marched in to take over a city and a celebration met them instead of gun fire. What if they saw such a radical show of love that they refused their orders and marched back to their country, with gift baskets and plenty of water and food for the journey. Can radical thoughts like this and radical actions like this change the world, sure, but are we too self centered to do it, also true. See the issue. 

How can we reach the most hardest of hearts, with the most radical of love possible.

To God be the Glory!

Compromise

One of two definitions of compromise is  this, "to accept standards that are lower than is desirable."

When we look into the history between God and Man, you'll see a couple of running themes. One being, that after the "Fall" God quickly understood that we couldn't follow Him how He wanted us to follow Him. We were sail boats out at see with no wind, motor or oar to help propel us in a desired direction. We just drifted and did our own thing. Now there were a few men that followed God like Noah but even He wasn't a perfect follower. Instead, to point out their iniquities to them, the Law was etched in stone so that they would be able to have a standard of measurement. Without the Law, man didn’t realize that he was sinful in God's sight. They knew of God, heard about Him but really didn't know He had standards. The Law, introduced to them for the first time, said that they were sinful. They were clueless to their error until they were shown their error. It would be like 100 builders, building houses to their own specifications. Each builder would build it how they saw fit. Today, in a house we have codes and standards to follow but just imagine if their wasn't. One house could not have adequate electric wiring and burn down, one could have plumbing issues and flood, one could be poorly insulated and be too hot or cold all the time. Over the years, the codes and laws standardized home building so they would be liveable, functional and safe. God did that same thing through the Law. 

Before the Law, they lived however they thought was best for themselves instead of how God wanted them to live. You've got to understand, we came from perfection in Him in the Garden to being fully self centred. We went from being totally unaware of self to living in self and we walked however we felt like.

The Law was designed by God to highlight our selfish ways. It pointed out that we were separated from Him and that we needed Him to get back to Him. Those builders we referred to, they didn't know that there house was a piece of unliveable junk. It was how they were taught by their fathers and their grandfathers. All they knew is that it was right by them. 

So, God had to point their sin out and get their attention but the Law eventually was corrupted by man and was made as an instrument of control, fear and power. It became a business. Sound familiar. So, the very thing that was supposed to make man sin conscience was manipulated and compromised. Sounds like something we'd do.

So God came up with a final solution, justification, which is to render one innocent in the eyes of God. By Jesus’s sacrifice and our faith in Him we came out from under sin to get into a position where we could be cleaned of Adam's disobedience. With that clean slate made, we have choices now. We can either continue in our selfishness and satisfy the flesh or we can choose to follow Christ's example of self denial through faith in God. 

So here we are, now compromising God's sweet grace for fleshly satisfaction. When such a gift is given, how can we even think that our ways are the right ones. We build ministries in His name for money, we drag His love through the mud by hating those that disagree with us and we have created false ideas and doctrines to look like God but in reality it's just self. We feed our faces on selfish desires 6 days of the week then go that one day, shed a tear, then get right back to self the next day. 

Our history is full of compromises which has created the crazy world we live in today. We can get back to doing things right though. We can get back to a pure faith relationship with our God. He's still full of love and He wants us to fully rely on Him. Empty yourself of all you already think you know and come before Him so He can fill you full of Himself. 

To God be the Glory

From Fear to Faith

This is going to be good. God has given me a clear word on this. We are to walk in complete faith in God, correct? Yes. So, what does that look like.

Take a person that has had a problem with alcohol all their lives. At some point in their lives, their addiction claims their marriage, their kids and their freedom. At their lowest point, God shows up and that person believes in Jesus and is born again. Now, as this person grows in Christ, they begin to drop all their addictions and starts to walk in faith. Now, they've heard and believed that God will live in them and work through them, all they need to do is have faith. Let's call our subject Bill. Now Bill, he's doing great. His relationship with God is going in the right direction but one day Bill's new friends invite him out to dinner at a local restaurant. Bill knows that the local restaurant has a bar in it. As soon as He is invited, he hesitates and tells them he'll get back with them and let them know if he can go or not. 

What is the hesitation? Fear. For a brief moment, Bill thought about his past and what alcohol did to his life. His flashback dredged up all the hurt and pain he caused and he doesn't want to go through that again. He thinks if he goes to the bar, the temptations would be to overwhelming and he would fail. So, he tells his friends no and tries to explain it to them. They understand but now they are on edge around him all the time and they treat him differently. His fear of alcohol gets worse as he doesn't even go to social events or to family functions and he eventually falls into depression which leads him back to the thing he was afraid of. Now, obviously there are several different outcomes that could play out but you get the idea.

Instead of fear this time, let's try faith. Bill is asked to go out and he hesitates going through the same thought processes as before but as fear starts to grip, he instead turns to faith in God. By faith, Bill reassures himself, I can walk into that restaurant, see people drinking and smell it and not be tempted because I know God is living in me. He says, if I believe in Him to keep me and protect me from harm then no harm will come to me. He loves me and He wants good for me, not evil. He will curb my desires, He will part the sea, He will walk with me through the fire and though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for He is with me. In a five second thought process of turning from fear to faith, Bill accepts their invitation and he looks forward to time with friends. 

Let's see where faith takes Bill. That night he meets his friends and the place is busy. They mingle by the bar before a table is ready and some get drinks. Bill is focused on conversation. Out of nowhere, Bill sees an old friend sitting at the end of the bar. He excuses himself and goes over to see him. As soon as Bill says, hey buddy been a long time, He sees his friend is drunk. His old friend looks at him blankly then remembers. They talk for a while and then Bill goes back to his new friends, eats and goes home. The old friend at the bar calls Bill three days later. Hey bud, I just wanted to tell you, I'm sober for the first time in twenty years because of your story. I left the bar crying and so remorseful. I was just going to go drive myself into a tree but when I got in my car to leave, God showed up and told me he loved me. I was saved that night and I've been sober since. I just thought you'd want to know. Both men cried and loved on each other over the phone for a while. 

Obviously, the outcomes are vastly different and this is not just a made up story. This type of scenario with different situations and people play out everyday throughout the world. We, followers of Christ in the faith, can do one of two things. We can either succumb to fear or rise in faith. It's our choice. We cannot avoid temptations, we cannot shut ourselves up in a bubble and avoid the world. We are called to shine like a city on a hill and to be Sons of God. We cannot tip toe through life worrying about land mines going off. We must walk in faith that conquers all fear, all trials and tribulations. Dont avoid, overcome by the Spirit of God that lives in you. 

To God be the Glory