I've noticed something about church and baptism. The longer I have been involved with this whole church setting and watched people get baptized the more I have noticed a definite struggle afterwards. It seems to always come. People will be doing so good with God. They will be on fire. Reading what they should read, watching what they should watch, having a true life changing life, then they get baptized and "fall away". I've always thought it was because they were attacked by Satan more afterwards. I'm not so sure I was right.
Welcome to a recent revelation/understanding, a thought process that I am still processing. This past Sunday, I was reading in Acts and came across something that held me pause for a moment. "8:15-16...They were especially eager to see if the new believers would receive the Holy Spirit because until this point they had been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus but had not experienced the Holy Spirit." (Pause)
What is it about the Holy Spirit? When people get baptized, do they have to keep searching? Was their confession of God not enough? What more do we have to do? I thought that God did everything? Do we have to know the mysteries of the Holy Spirit, speak in tongues, cast out demons, heal the sick? What more do I need to do? Are these acts separate acts? Can they be linked? What is it that I need to understand better?
Then I moved on. A short pause very early in the morning that got my heart and mind ready for my answer later that day. I didn't know that my questions on baptism and the Holy Spirit would come, but they did. At church Pastor Steve was in Acts, no coincidence since that is what we are studying together as a whole. While he was teaching he took us to several other places in John... 14:16-17, "I will ask the Father to send you another Helper, the Spirit of truth, who will remain constantly with you. The world does not recognize the Spirit of truth, because it does not know the Spirit and is unable to receive Him. But you do know the Spirit because He lives with you, and He will dwell in you." 15:26-27, "I will send a great Helper to you from the Father, one known as the Spirit of truth. He comes from the Father and will point to the truth as it concerns Me. But you will also point others to the truth about My identity, because you have journeyed with Me since this all began." 16:12-14, "I have so much more to say, but you cannot absorb it right now. The Spirit of truth will come and guide you in all truth. He will not speak His own words to you; He will speak what He hears, revealing to you the things to come and bringing glory to Me. The Spirit has unlimited access to Me, to all that I possess and know, just as everything the Father has is Mine. That is the reason I am confident He will care for My own and reveal the path to you."
Why does it appear that newly baptized individuals struggle? Why do they have such a hard time? Is it because Satan is attacking them? I used to think so, but this answer is different than any I had ever received. I don't think it is only because Satan turns up the heat. I think it could also be because the Holy Spirit is revealing truth to us and there is nothing harder than looking at the truth within our own hearts. How do we handle that truth? I think we often believe it. This is when it appears we have "fallen away." We know this truth about our own hearts and instead of accepting that truth and allowing God to do a mighty work with us, we give up and accept our ugly truth in the name of failure, and step away from the body of Christ. "Work out your own salvation"... Work....Work is the key. It does not come easily. Yes, being saved is easy, but the rest is hard work and this is where most of us give up and think we cannot continue.
I have been baptized (fully immersed with water) twice in my life. The first time was when I was 12. I really did not understand or have the right heart. I was doing it because I was told that if I didn't, I would go to hell. Not true... Not ok... Anyways, the next time I was 33. I had already been going through the whole Truth thing. I had spent years looking at who I had been, discovering God and His true love for me, looking at the truth within my own heart, looking at who I was without Him, looking at Him... on and on it went, but all of it looking at Truth and accepting Him. Truth, "He comes from the Father and will point to the truth as it concerns Me. But you will also point others to the truth about My identity, because you have journeyed with Me since this all began." Before we are ready to start on the journey of pointing others to the Truth about God, we must first be willing to accept the truth He is revealing to us, about us. My truth did not come just when I was baptized, but it came in between my baptisms. It was not some miraculous slaying of the Holy Spirit, but The Spirit of Truth that I had to accept so that I could be of more use to God and His Kingdom.
After we have accepted The Spirit of Truth there should be evidence of that acceptance. I believe the first part of that evidence lays within this Spontaneous Love for others. It is having Mercy for them, the way God has had for you. It is in accepting them, not as they are, but as they could be with God. It is in the ability to set your own thoughts and desires aside and allow His Love to be felt through you, passed on to them. But it all starts with The Spirit of Truth. Are you willing to accept the truth God is showing you today about your own heart? Are we ready to move on to the rest God has for us and through us?
Side note.... I am in no way a Theologian on the Holy Spirit! This is just a fraction of the mysteries of the Holy Spirit as was revealed to me. Always, the question we should be asking ourselves....
Are we willing to look at Truth within ourselves, with God. Can we look closely enough so that He can do a mighty work within us?
Showing posts with label Truth. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Truth. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 30, 2014
Saturday, May 18, 2013
Mercy and Grace, Judgement and Love
I had a conversation yesterday with one of my friends that took me back in time, back to another life.
A life time ago....
A warm summers day, the sand is warm beneath her feet. The water coming and going, one wave after another is rushing, then retreating. The air is thick with humidity. The sea gulls are above in the sky, they are below running toward the water as it leaves. A young woman dressed... hardly dressed at all, she is alone by the water. Her only companion is her beloved dog who seems to protect her from her stupidity as guys are driving by, then turning around to take another look. She seems brazen as she buys the lie of her young illusionary power. She seems indifferent. She thinks she likes this. She has forgotten. She has buried her emotions, her dreams with the constant flow of beta blockers that she keeps flowing through her veins. She is dying, but she believes she is living.
Another story, someone else's life....
A young mom, she is one of the viewed leaders of the church. She teaches and she preaches, but on Saturday night the bar is calling. The house is loud. Children are fighting. The announcers on the TV are reaching highs and lows as they anticipate the next play. There he is, just sitting there, lost in some game while her world is reeling. The keys, the car, the bar, this is her chance to have a pretend moment. A get away into another life that she dreams about, maybe this time she can turn her dreams into reality. The escape that is constantly right at her fingertips, but that is always just far enough that keeps her straining.
Two different women. Two different situations. How do you see them? Are they the same? Are they different? How do you treat them? Do you treat them the same or do you treat them differently? The one similarity, they are both lost.
Some people say that you treat everyone the same. They say, you give this person this, and that person the same thing because you must keep it fair. I say that is a lie. That is an excuse some use so that they will not be held accountable for what they are doing. Others use this excuse because in order to deal with people as individuals, you must get to know them. You have to get personal and personal is the part that is easiest to avoid. And lets face it, no on wants to be that person calling anyone out. For those of us who really know ourselves, we know we all mess up, we have all sinned.
"It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, 'You must remove the evil person from among you,'” 1 Corinthians 5:12.
But then you say, "Jesus said, If you judge other people, then you too will be judged. See the log in your eye. You have enough of your own stuff. Do not judge... period."
That too is false. Take a good look at the scripture, Matthew 7:1-5. He is not saying, not to judge, but how. Yes, we must first take a good look at ourselves. I used two very different, but similar women. The first was not someone seen as a leader, but as someone lost. The second woman put herself in a position of leadership at a church, but was also lost. "Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly. Indeed, we all make many mistakes." James 3:1
A warm summers day, the sand is warm beneath her feet. The water coming and going, one wave after another is rushing, then retreating. The air is thick with humidity. The sea gulls are above in the sky, they are below running toward the water as it leaves. A young woman dressed... hardly dressed at all, she is alone by the water. Her only companion is her beloved dog who seems to protect her from her stupidity as guys are driving by, then turning around to take another look. She seems brazen as she buys the lie of her young illusionary power. She seems indifferent. She thinks she likes this. She has forgotten. She has buried her emotions, her dreams with the constant flow of beta blockers that she keeps flowing through her veins. She is dying, but she believes she is living.
Another story, someone else's life....
A young mom, she is one of the viewed leaders of the church. She teaches and she preaches, but on Saturday night the bar is calling. The house is loud. Children are fighting. The announcers on the TV are reaching highs and lows as they anticipate the next play. There he is, just sitting there, lost in some game while her world is reeling. The keys, the car, the bar, this is her chance to have a pretend moment. A get away into another life that she dreams about, maybe this time she can turn her dreams into reality. The escape that is constantly right at her fingertips, but that is always just far enough that keeps her straining.
Two different women. Two different situations. How do you see them? Are they the same? Are they different? How do you treat them? Do you treat them the same or do you treat them differently? The one similarity, they are both lost.
Some people say that you treat everyone the same. They say, you give this person this, and that person the same thing because you must keep it fair. I say that is a lie. That is an excuse some use so that they will not be held accountable for what they are doing. Others use this excuse because in order to deal with people as individuals, you must get to know them. You have to get personal and personal is the part that is easiest to avoid. And lets face it, no on wants to be that person calling anyone out. For those of us who really know ourselves, we know we all mess up, we have all sinned.
"It isn’t my responsibility to judge outsiders, but it certainly is your responsibility to judge those inside the church who are sinning. God will judge those on the outside; but as the Scriptures say, 'You must remove the evil person from among you,'” 1 Corinthians 5:12.
But then you say, "Jesus said, If you judge other people, then you too will be judged. See the log in your eye. You have enough of your own stuff. Do not judge... period."
That too is false. Take a good look at the scripture, Matthew 7:1-5. He is not saying, not to judge, but how. Yes, we must first take a good look at ourselves. I used two very different, but similar women. The first was not someone seen as a leader, but as someone lost. The second woman put herself in a position of leadership at a church, but was also lost. "Dear brothers and sisters, not many of you should become teachers in the church, for we who teach will be judged more strictly. Indeed, we all make many mistakes." James 3:1
The difference was their message. What they were themselves proclaiming to live. This is so touchy. This is the hard part about being in a family, learning to love. Sometimes love is all about grace and mercy. Sometimes if you treat another person the same way, you become an enabler and are the cause of their destruction.
Someone recently made a comment on one of my blogs, "The challenge for me now is to know how to love others as they are, but not to enable them to continue on as they want to be." This is the hard part of growing. As I have traveled through this life, from the beach, to the teacher. I have had to handle situations differently, but gently. I have not gotten them all right, but I must deal with them anyway. Learning and stumbling along the way, but my heart is trying. As young men and women come into my home I must handle them with mercy and gentleness, but the same? Now that would be a shame. Each person is beautifully unique. I would not be showing them their value if they were treated equally. What value is a diamond if it is looked upon as just another piece of cut glass? Would I be showing the seasoned Christ follower, the one who knows the scriptures by heart, any sort of love if I treated them and expected the same from them as I would the drug addicted person on the street? Is that love? What is love? You know the person individually. We are to see others as Christ sees us and He knows us personally.
The problem is that we get our love and mercy confused. We judge the world. I see Christians on my college campus pointing their fingers and shouting at my kids about sin. That is no sort of love and not a part of my God. And at the same time, I see other Christians saying do not judge as one of their leaders is leading in a most despicable way toward the grave. There is balance in love. Sometimes we take the most unclothed, cover them with mercy and grace, till they are warmed with love. And other times we must step up to the hard plate and call someone out. But both are act of His love. This is why we are to get to know our Lord. Daily reading His words so that we are not confused about our roles in His world.
"The people who influence us the most are not those who detain us with their continual talk, but those who live their lives like the stars in the sky and “the lilies of the field”— simply and unaffectedly. Those are the lives that mold and shape us." Oswald Chambers
Someone recently made a comment on one of my blogs, "The challenge for me now is to know how to love others as they are, but not to enable them to continue on as they want to be." This is the hard part of growing. As I have traveled through this life, from the beach, to the teacher. I have had to handle situations differently, but gently. I have not gotten them all right, but I must deal with them anyway. Learning and stumbling along the way, but my heart is trying. As young men and women come into my home I must handle them with mercy and gentleness, but the same? Now that would be a shame. Each person is beautifully unique. I would not be showing them their value if they were treated equally. What value is a diamond if it is looked upon as just another piece of cut glass? Would I be showing the seasoned Christ follower, the one who knows the scriptures by heart, any sort of love if I treated them and expected the same from them as I would the drug addicted person on the street? Is that love? What is love? You know the person individually. We are to see others as Christ sees us and He knows us personally.
The problem is that we get our love and mercy confused. We judge the world. I see Christians on my college campus pointing their fingers and shouting at my kids about sin. That is no sort of love and not a part of my God. And at the same time, I see other Christians saying do not judge as one of their leaders is leading in a most despicable way toward the grave. There is balance in love. Sometimes we take the most unclothed, cover them with mercy and grace, till they are warmed with love. And other times we must step up to the hard plate and call someone out. But both are act of His love. This is why we are to get to know our Lord. Daily reading His words so that we are not confused about our roles in His world.
"The people who influence us the most are not those who detain us with their continual talk, but those who live their lives like the stars in the sky and “the lilies of the field”— simply and unaffectedly. Those are the lives that mold and shape us." Oswald Chambers
Monday, May 13, 2013
New Birth or Rebirth?
The house is still. What do I hear? The tic of the clock. A bird is beginning to wake. The house stretches and quakes as the earth is warming. The coffee maker just sighed. A dove is calling. My breath seems loud against the stillness. What do I see? My chair stuffed full of pillows around me. An afghan blanket that was woven for me when my first son was born, covers my legs. My coffee is snug between two of my pillows. My always blooming plants are stretching toward the sun. The window that protects me from the cold outside is big right next to my sitting area. The shadows are no longer shadows, but trees and houses coming into view as the light is peaking over the horizon. A small rabbitt moves steadily along the curb, going toward his hiding place. The day is approaching. Am I in a play? Is this my stage? Is the dawn the opening of the curtain? Who is behind the curtain, backstage?
In New Birth or Rebirth, by Ravi Zacharias, this is one of the main topics, along with many others. Have you ever been in a play? Opening night is a really big night. Your heart is pounding, your mind is racing. "What if I forget?" "Who is here?" So you peak around one of the curtains trying to get a glimpse of the audience. There are many things that should be asked as we enter the play; For the actors: What is my message? What are others going to do with their lives after they are impacted with my role? For the director/writer: What am I really trying to say? How has this changed the mind of my crew as they have learned my words? For the audience: What are we seeking as we seek our entertainment? How is this play going to affect me when I leave? Is it going to become my reality? So many more questions.... In this great conversation Krishna and Jesus talk about their similarities and their differences. Just a glimpse...
Krishna: Because I believe all of life is a leela-a play, a drama. The universe is simply a cosmic puppet theater for the gods. We are simply actors on a stage. Roles and duties are all divinely assigned and beyond human control. Backstage there is always a different script. And I know there's an audience. There's always an audience at a play.
Jesus: We may disagree on the idea of a puppet show, Krishna- there is always a choice, a will, a decision. Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.
But the subject of a man listening, I would agree-when man seeks, he finds, and when he knocks, the door is opened to him. So lets continue our discussion, for I too want to talk about he nature of who you and I are and what we teach. That is why we are talking today, you and me, for the sake of the man whose ear is pinned to the curtain. His soul is struggling. He is desperate for the truth, Krishna.. Let's speak of these things for his sake, not for the sake of argument between you and me.
Krishna: Agreed. There is no need for you and me to argue. You and I are complete in ourselves...
As the great conversion between Krishna and Jesus continues throughout the book, my mind and heart continually returns to the play. No we are not puppets in a drama for the gods to be entertained. But we are being watched and the world is our audience. As I try and sift through the different things that I am continually hearing, things that are good and right, I cannot get lost in the closeness of them. "Truth is powerful and truths that are almost truths are deadly and seductive.... Just because two things have one thing in common doesn't mean they have everything in common. The heart of humanity and the provision of God are the two central points we must understand."
Are we willing to ask the hard questions? Do we really want the answers? Is this life reality, or are we just part of a cosmic play? Are others watching you and learning from you on how they are going to live out their life? What path are you directing them toward?
Jesus: Truth will always divide, Krishna.... A single minute difference in the ecology of the world and you will end up with death. If you believe one lie, you are often led down the path of many lies... That's the difference between a drama and reality. Reality cannot be wiped out by a whim. Look at that truck.... and at its shadow on the sidewalk. Now tell me this; would you rather be run over by the truck or by its shadow?... Is the shadow real or imaginary?... because the truck momentarily blocks out the sun, which creates the shadow. You don't judge by the shadow; you judge by the light.
That's the story of the gospel. When I died on the cross for you and for every person born onto this earth, the truck of the judgement and penalty of the law went over me so that only the shadow of death would pass over you. You still have to face the pain of death, but I have paid the price. It was I who was crucified, but my disciples are still troubled and heartbroken by the shadow of death.
And the story continues..... What is your understanding? What part are you playing? Who is your audience?.....
In New Birth or Rebirth, by Ravi Zacharias, this is one of the main topics, along with many others. Have you ever been in a play? Opening night is a really big night. Your heart is pounding, your mind is racing. "What if I forget?" "Who is here?" So you peak around one of the curtains trying to get a glimpse of the audience. There are many things that should be asked as we enter the play; For the actors: What is my message? What are others going to do with their lives after they are impacted with my role? For the director/writer: What am I really trying to say? How has this changed the mind of my crew as they have learned my words? For the audience: What are we seeking as we seek our entertainment? How is this play going to affect me when I leave? Is it going to become my reality? So many more questions.... In this great conversation Krishna and Jesus talk about their similarities and their differences. Just a glimpse...
Krishna: Because I believe all of life is a leela-a play, a drama. The universe is simply a cosmic puppet theater for the gods. We are simply actors on a stage. Roles and duties are all divinely assigned and beyond human control. Backstage there is always a different script. And I know there's an audience. There's always an audience at a play.
Jesus: We may disagree on the idea of a puppet show, Krishna- there is always a choice, a will, a decision. Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.
But the subject of a man listening, I would agree-when man seeks, he finds, and when he knocks, the door is opened to him. So lets continue our discussion, for I too want to talk about he nature of who you and I are and what we teach. That is why we are talking today, you and me, for the sake of the man whose ear is pinned to the curtain. His soul is struggling. He is desperate for the truth, Krishna.. Let's speak of these things for his sake, not for the sake of argument between you and me.
Krishna: Agreed. There is no need for you and me to argue. You and I are complete in ourselves...
As the great conversion between Krishna and Jesus continues throughout the book, my mind and heart continually returns to the play. No we are not puppets in a drama for the gods to be entertained. But we are being watched and the world is our audience. As I try and sift through the different things that I am continually hearing, things that are good and right, I cannot get lost in the closeness of them. "Truth is powerful and truths that are almost truths are deadly and seductive.... Just because two things have one thing in common doesn't mean they have everything in common. The heart of humanity and the provision of God are the two central points we must understand."
Are we willing to ask the hard questions? Do we really want the answers? Is this life reality, or are we just part of a cosmic play? Are others watching you and learning from you on how they are going to live out their life? What path are you directing them toward?
Jesus: Truth will always divide, Krishna.... A single minute difference in the ecology of the world and you will end up with death. If you believe one lie, you are often led down the path of many lies... That's the difference between a drama and reality. Reality cannot be wiped out by a whim. Look at that truck.... and at its shadow on the sidewalk. Now tell me this; would you rather be run over by the truck or by its shadow?... Is the shadow real or imaginary?... because the truck momentarily blocks out the sun, which creates the shadow. You don't judge by the shadow; you judge by the light.
That's the story of the gospel. When I died on the cross for you and for every person born onto this earth, the truck of the judgement and penalty of the law went over me so that only the shadow of death would pass over you. You still have to face the pain of death, but I have paid the price. It was I who was crucified, but my disciples are still troubled and heartbroken by the shadow of death.
And the story continues..... What is your understanding? What part are you playing? Who is your audience?.....
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Hearts True Agenda
The other day I read a post that a friend of mine posted on FB. "Do we need to be part of the 4-walled church? Explain." With that my week of thinking, searching, listening started. My travels did not take me where I was expecting to go. My first turn was what directed my search. My first turn ended up bringing me full circle in the end.
Ravi Zacharias, "Lotus and the Cross" a conversation between Jesus and Buddha. In this book there are several characters and as you read, the conversation takes you on a trip through life questions. A very good read I must say... Anyway, toward the end of this book Jesus is answering a heart question and this is where I paused. Their was a Samaritan woman who came to draw water in a well where Jesus was resting. He started to dialog with her, which was her first red flag, Jews never talked to Samaritans. “Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her. “I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied. Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband— for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!”
Another turn. I opened my bible to John 4 and camped there for a while. What was the heart question? What was the answer?
“Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?”
The question was positioned in a specific place, but was this her real question or was it something different that I had never noticed before? So many questions, yet what was the real question that only Jesus could see? What was it that made her run and tell everyone that she had found the King? What was it that she was trying to divert His attention away from, yet couldn't?
"But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.”
I have always missed this answer, for I was looking at it for an answer. This is where I landed and this is what opened my own heart to my own questions and when I ask them. In the mix of His answer, He called her heart out..."true worshipers", "spirit and in truth".... her question wasn't sincere, but a diversion. He had shown a spotlight on who she had become and it hurt. With that pain, she tried to take the focus off of herself and redirect Jesus' mind to concentrate on what others concentrated on, how to worship. But this wasn't sincere at all! Her heart, her pain had been exposed and anything that she could grab to take focus off of her was her goal. She was talking to no fool. There was a deeper issue. What was this issue, we will never know for the conversation was interrupted, but she had had enough to know that this One was different.
With courage from her heart being exposed, she went and shared His story, through her story, with the rest of the village and all of her surroundings were transformed. "Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, 'He told me everything I ever did!' When they came out to see Him, they begged Him to stay in their village. So He stayed for two days, long enough for many more to hear His message and believe. Then they said to the woman, “Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard Him ourselves. Now we know that He is indeed the Savior of the world.”
So many times throughout this life we come upon questions that are not really questions at all, but diversions to get the focus off of us and on a topic instead. I am the master of this. If I start to get pressured into telling others how my health is holding up (or failing) I divert the conversation away from me and change topics! I don't want to talk about this, it is work, I struggle with doing what I need to do in order to live and I divert the topic away from health... Every time! I am not saying this is what my friend did on FB, but it did bring me to a very important conclusion. What is it that we often are trying to hide from others? What is it that we do not want to see ourselves? What is it that God is trying to get us to look at within our own hearts that we keep trying to look away from? Are we asking questions in truth, or is there an underlying agenda we are seeking? Are we brave enough to allow Him to expose our hearts, so that we can heal?
Thursday, February 7, 2013
Cannabis Bliss, Truth and Lies
Romans 12:2, "Do not allow this world to mold you in its own image. Instead, be transformed from the inside out by renewing your mind." (The Voice Translation)
The other day I went into my favorite gas/burger joint. It is popular with many, mainly the college crowed. I walked in and ordered my families meal. While waiting for our take out, I decided to do a little reading. There is a magazine rack that blocks most other people from your view. This was perfect since I was in my polka dot fluffy sweat pants, an old t-shirt and the place was packed. As all of you know Marijuana is legal in Colorado. The magazine rack was 2/3rds full of magazines like High Times, Skunk, Cannabis Culture, but I landed on Treat Yourself. They were featuring an article on MS and Cannabis. I took the magazine, grabbed a chair, hid behind the rack and began reading. The article was very informative as it discussed how MS affects you neurologically and I was agreeing with everything, especially how vitamin D helps heal you. Then as the patient began talking about Cannabis, I began going "there". I love weed! I love to get high and allow myself to zone out. Throughout my drug years, I found nothing I liked more than marijuana. X, ACID, popping whatever pills anyone gave me, the one I enjoyed most was this green herb.
I was lost for a moment in the "I have what it takes to really get me some again. And really who is going to challenge me on this one. I have all the material sitting right in front of me to help me with my case!" Then I rounded the corner to the last paragraph of the article and quickly I snapped back to reality. The "patient" began talking about how Cannabis helps him with his moods. How without it he is naturally cranky because of his condition, and this helps him better cope so that he can be a more productive family member and cannabis helps him enjoy all of them more. With that the lie was revealed! I have walked this pathway before and I know what marijuana does to you emotionally. That is the side effect that he did not understand why people don't talk about more often, because in his fog, he does not see that it is actually the weed that makes you a miserable wreck when you don't have it. If you are ever around a pot smoker, you will see that they are extremely touchy unless they are high. It does not help them get their natural emotions under control. It actually causes them to become more sensitive and the withdraws from not being high causes them to be, well, impossible.
Mixed with some truth, there was a lie. Being able to decipher truth from the lie that was told takes knowledge. With me it happens to be personal experience, in this case, I am not saying to try! Now I do not want to take all the time in the world to tell you all about the side effects and all that happens with marijuana. This topic really isn't about weed and I am not trying to pick a fight with a bunch of pot heads. I am saying that we all need to be aware when we are letting ourselves go "there". We can so easily be swept away with the truth of a subject, then when the truth gets mixed with lies, we just may believe them too. "Do not allow this world to mold you in its own image. Instead, be transformed from the inside out by renewing your mind."
We all have something that lures us into wanting to justify what we want. We have those moments of justification, all because we wanted to act that way or do that thing, whatever it is. There s something that entices us to treat others poorly, because "we were hurt." We need to disappear in front of the TV and ignore our families (every day/all night) because "we have had a long day and we need a break." The hard part is deciphering the truth. What is it that I am giving up in order to this thing? Who is not getting my full love? Who am I really?
Mixed with some truth, there was a lie. Being able to decipher truth from the lie that was told takes knowledge. With me it happens to be personal experience, in this case, I am not saying to try! Now I do not want to take all the time in the world to tell you all about the side effects and all that happens with marijuana. This topic really isn't about weed and I am not trying to pick a fight with a bunch of pot heads. I am saying that we all need to be aware when we are letting ourselves go "there". We can so easily be swept away with the truth of a subject, then when the truth gets mixed with lies, we just may believe them too. "Do not allow this world to mold you in its own image. Instead, be transformed from the inside out by renewing your mind."
We all have something that lures us into wanting to justify what we want. We have those moments of justification, all because we wanted to act that way or do that thing, whatever it is. There s something that entices us to treat others poorly, because "we were hurt." We need to disappear in front of the TV and ignore our families (every day/all night) because "we have had a long day and we need a break." The hard part is deciphering the truth. What is it that I am giving up in order to this thing? Who is not getting my full love? Who am I really?
"Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically. Rejoice in our confident hope. Be patient in trouble, and keep on praying. When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality," (12:9-13).
As we walk through the day there are going to be many things that seem right to us in the moment. If we will keep a clear mind and truly look at what we hear, we will be able to see the truth. Not all lies are easily seen, because they are mixed with truth. If there wasn't some form of truth mixed in, no one would believe the lie. God calls us to use our minds. He does not want us walking around like zombies just going with the flow of the moment. He calls us to be intellectual, using well what He has gifted us with. The hard part is taking a really close look within our own hearts and seeing the truth about what we want and are giving up in order to get it. I do not want to give up true intimacy with my family in order to have what I desire. If I will keep a clear mind, I will be able to do what my heart truly seeks. I will be able to have relationships that last and I will be a positive influence on others around me.... And if I will take a truthful look into my true hearts desire, that is what I truly want. I do not want to settle for something that will leave my heart impotent, but full!
As we walk through the day there are going to be many things that seem right to us in the moment. If we will keep a clear mind and truly look at what we hear, we will be able to see the truth. Not all lies are easily seen, because they are mixed with truth. If there wasn't some form of truth mixed in, no one would believe the lie. God calls us to use our minds. He does not want us walking around like zombies just going with the flow of the moment. He calls us to be intellectual, using well what He has gifted us with. The hard part is taking a really close look within our own hearts and seeing the truth about what we want and are giving up in order to get it. I do not want to give up true intimacy with my family in order to have what I desire. If I will keep a clear mind, I will be able to do what my heart truly seeks. I will be able to have relationships that last and I will be a positive influence on others around me.... And if I will take a truthful look into my true hearts desire, that is what I truly want. I do not want to settle for something that will leave my heart impotent, but full!
Saturday, August 25, 2012
Lion's Voice
1 Peter 5:6ff, " So humble yourselves under the mighty power of God, and at the right time he will lift you up in honor. Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you. Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. Stand firm against him, and be strong in your faith... In
his kindness God called you to share in his eternal glory by means of
Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, he will
restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm
foundation. All power to him forever! Amen."
I am so proud of my team. Most all of you are young, (early 20's at best ;). Look at how you are focused. Look at the gigantic event you are putting together. Look at how God brought all of you together at just the right time for this particular part He has designed just for you! I want to encourage you to keep it up. Don't give up right here at the end. If Satan can keep this Kick Off from happening, then he has won by default, before the fight even began.
Lions. Your enemy roams around like a roaring lion, but this enemy is like Scar in "The Lion King". Scar, he had a group of very crocked followers. Remember, how he used Simba's wants and his uncontrolled imagination to trick him into going to the elephants grave yard. Then right after Simba was caught in his disobedience to his father, how did Scar trick him? Guilt! Look at what you did, look at how you failed.... run, run far away. Everyone knows you, you have no business being up there now do you. But the focus was never about Scar, he was a lion who tried to get everyone sidetracked. He tried to come in and by using smoke and mirrors, he had them fooled. "Look over here. Focus on this and you can't see that you are starving...."
Aslan, another lion. When you see and think of Narnia, what do you remember? "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," the question is raised about whether Aslan is `safe.' The reply is "No, he is not safe, but he is good." I loved this line. He is Not safe. He is good. There is a certain fear that comes with trusting God. What if, all of the what if's come into place. There is a great amount of the unknown, but aren't you a generation that says they want the challenge! You do not want to just sit around in front of the computer and watch someone else live. You want to step out and experience this life for yourself. Aslan is not safe, but he is good. Look at the adventure in front of you. Can you see that it is not safe? I know you can. Can you see that it is good... So Good!!!
There are references all over the bible about lions. It is our choice on which one we listen to. Scar, he has a mighty roar, but it is one that is trying to trick you and make you weak. He comes in sly and under the cover of darkness, when he can get you all alone and make you see all of your faults. Then the focus is changed from the father to yourself. All that you can hear is your voice and the doubt that travels through your heart. Aslan, a true lion. He never comes in to trick or hurt, but he is not safe. We will all have times of fear and times when we feel alone on this journey, but if you keep your eyes upon the target, at just the right time you will know He is walking with you through the forest.
We follow the Lion of Judah. Judah and Benjamin were the smallest and seemingly weakest tribes in all of Israel. But from these seemingly small tribes came a power that changed the world. Genesis 49:9, "Judah, my son, is a young lion that has finished eating its prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?" We are from this pride of lions. We are followers of the true King. We are small, but our voice will be heard!
I want to encourage you to keep in the fight and to Not give up. You may do things that make you feel you shouldn't be up there. You may feel like your role is not valued enough. You may have other offers that seem better and entice you to go join their group. You may feel like this is not for you, but I want to encourage you to continue. Philippians 3:14, " I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us." Press on through the challenges. Press on and keep the end in sight. Press on and lets do this thing!
"But as soon as we do totally surrender, abandoning ourselves to Jesus, the Holy Spirit gives us a taste of His joy. The ultimate goal of self-sacrifice is to lay down our lives for our Friend (see John 15:13-14). When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, our greatest desire is to lay down our lives for Jesus. Yet the thought of self-sacrifice never even crosses our minds, because sacrifice is the Holy Spirit’s ultimate expression of love." (Oswald Chambers) Sacrifice and Friendship
Look around you. Who is in your pride? Who is counting on you, in your seemingly small part? This is your place. Are you going to keep your focus on God and listen to His voice? We can all be led astray by listening to "Scar's" whispers. This is the time to shake off the temptations to give up and press on. The last few miles are the hardest, but once you press through God will give you a second burst of energy. You can do this. I know you can!! For I did not choose you for this job. Think about it.... You were chosen by God Himself!
I am so proud of my team. Most all of you are young, (early 20's at best ;). Look at how you are focused. Look at the gigantic event you are putting together. Look at how God brought all of you together at just the right time for this particular part He has designed just for you! I want to encourage you to keep it up. Don't give up right here at the end. If Satan can keep this Kick Off from happening, then he has won by default, before the fight even began.
Lions. Your enemy roams around like a roaring lion, but this enemy is like Scar in "The Lion King". Scar, he had a group of very crocked followers. Remember, how he used Simba's wants and his uncontrolled imagination to trick him into going to the elephants grave yard. Then right after Simba was caught in his disobedience to his father, how did Scar trick him? Guilt! Look at what you did, look at how you failed.... run, run far away. Everyone knows you, you have no business being up there now do you. But the focus was never about Scar, he was a lion who tried to get everyone sidetracked. He tried to come in and by using smoke and mirrors, he had them fooled. "Look over here. Focus on this and you can't see that you are starving...."
Aslan, another lion. When you see and think of Narnia, what do you remember? "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe," the question is raised about whether Aslan is `safe.' The reply is "No, he is not safe, but he is good." I loved this line. He is Not safe. He is good. There is a certain fear that comes with trusting God. What if, all of the what if's come into place. There is a great amount of the unknown, but aren't you a generation that says they want the challenge! You do not want to just sit around in front of the computer and watch someone else live. You want to step out and experience this life for yourself. Aslan is not safe, but he is good. Look at the adventure in front of you. Can you see that it is not safe? I know you can. Can you see that it is good... So Good!!!
There are references all over the bible about lions. It is our choice on which one we listen to. Scar, he has a mighty roar, but it is one that is trying to trick you and make you weak. He comes in sly and under the cover of darkness, when he can get you all alone and make you see all of your faults. Then the focus is changed from the father to yourself. All that you can hear is your voice and the doubt that travels through your heart. Aslan, a true lion. He never comes in to trick or hurt, but he is not safe. We will all have times of fear and times when we feel alone on this journey, but if you keep your eyes upon the target, at just the right time you will know He is walking with you through the forest.
We follow the Lion of Judah. Judah and Benjamin were the smallest and seemingly weakest tribes in all of Israel. But from these seemingly small tribes came a power that changed the world. Genesis 49:9, "Judah, my son, is a young lion that has finished eating its prey. Like a lion he crouches and lies down; like a lioness—who dares to rouse him?" We are from this pride of lions. We are followers of the true King. We are small, but our voice will be heard!
I want to encourage you to keep in the fight and to Not give up. You may do things that make you feel you shouldn't be up there. You may feel like your role is not valued enough. You may have other offers that seem better and entice you to go join their group. You may feel like this is not for you, but I want to encourage you to continue. Philippians 3:14, " I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us." Press on through the challenges. Press on and keep the end in sight. Press on and lets do this thing!
"But as soon as we do totally surrender, abandoning ourselves to Jesus, the Holy Spirit gives us a taste of His joy. The ultimate goal of self-sacrifice is to lay down our lives for our Friend (see John 15:13-14). When the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, our greatest desire is to lay down our lives for Jesus. Yet the thought of self-sacrifice never even crosses our minds, because sacrifice is the Holy Spirit’s ultimate expression of love." (Oswald Chambers) Sacrifice and Friendship
Look around you. Who is in your pride? Who is counting on you, in your seemingly small part? This is your place. Are you going to keep your focus on God and listen to His voice? We can all be led astray by listening to "Scar's" whispers. This is the time to shake off the temptations to give up and press on. The last few miles are the hardest, but once you press through God will give you a second burst of energy. You can do this. I know you can!! For I did not choose you for this job. Think about it.... You were chosen by God Himself!
Saturday, October 22, 2011
Can Man Live Without God
The other day I was walking out of Barnes and Noble book store with excitement in my heart while my hands were holding my new book. My sweet friend, whom I admire very much and I look to her for guidance often, asked me, "What did you get?" I took my precious new book out of the little white bag they had just placed my new treasure in and she read the title out loud, "Can Man Live Without God". With love in her eyes she proceeded to tell me a story and it goes something like this:
There were these two friends that were on the US diving team competing against one another, but practicing together. During their training time, they become very close friends with very different beliefs. One was an atheist and the other a Christian. Their time of training was drawing to a close for the trials were going to start soon. The Christian was not feeling very well one day and decided that it was time to take a break from practice, just this once. As his friend was headed out of the door he stopped him and said, "You know you should just give praying a chance. You never know how this can change your life." As the atheist was entering the training facility, he noticed that the lights were off. Very unusual, but he thought it may be nice for the facility had sky lights that would show nicely on the pool. As he began his climb to the top of the highest diving board, his friend's words were resounding in his mind, "pray". He stopped at the end of the board and decided that instead of immediately turning around, he would for once bend over and try out this praying thing. As he did, he noticed that the pool did not look right. It was empty!
She drew her story to a close with these words, "Had he not stopped to pray he would have dived into an empty pool." With that my friend nodded her head, turned and started to walk toward her car. The conversation was over, but my questions remained unanswered. And with that, I held on tighter to my new book, for I knew I would find some answers here.
In the very first chapter Ravi Zacharias addresses this kind of answer we as Christians give to very deep and complex questions. Have you ever been asked a very deep question like, "Can man live with out God?" I have. What do I say? Do I give them a swimming pool answer that is, in Ravi's words, "quite frankly, superficial and simple." I need real answers to real questions, and this is where my new found book has given me more strength.
There are three levels of philosophy- logic, the arts, and table talk. We need to be able to "Argue at level one, illustrate at level two, and apply at level three. The reasoning process provides the foundation, the arts the infrastructure and illustration, and the kitchen table the superstructure and application."
Learning how to communicate within our culture is a must. There is no way I can give you the information that you need within this very short blog, but if you want to be able to give real answers instead of swimming pool solutions, please get it. I will end with one paragraph within the book. Within this one statement are many deep questions, but within the book you find the answers:
"The issue, then, is not whether the belief system you espouse-- monotheistic, atheistic, pantheistic, or otherwise-- is exclusive. The issue is whether the answers to the four basic questions of life pertaining to origin, meaning, morality, and destiny within the context of each of these worldviews meet the tests of truth. Are they logically consistent, are they empirically adequate, and are they experientially relevant? Do they meet the test of unaffirmability and undeniability? The answers to life's four questions must in each instance correspond to reality, and the sum of the answers must cohere as a system."
I want to have meaningful conversations with others around me. 1 Peter 3:15-17, "And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong!" I do not want to suffer because I was not able to give a defense for the hope I have in Christ. I highly recommend this book!
Can Man Live Without God by Ravi Zacharias
There were these two friends that were on the US diving team competing against one another, but practicing together. During their training time, they become very close friends with very different beliefs. One was an atheist and the other a Christian. Their time of training was drawing to a close for the trials were going to start soon. The Christian was not feeling very well one day and decided that it was time to take a break from practice, just this once. As his friend was headed out of the door he stopped him and said, "You know you should just give praying a chance. You never know how this can change your life." As the atheist was entering the training facility, he noticed that the lights were off. Very unusual, but he thought it may be nice for the facility had sky lights that would show nicely on the pool. As he began his climb to the top of the highest diving board, his friend's words were resounding in his mind, "pray". He stopped at the end of the board and decided that instead of immediately turning around, he would for once bend over and try out this praying thing. As he did, he noticed that the pool did not look right. It was empty!
She drew her story to a close with these words, "Had he not stopped to pray he would have dived into an empty pool." With that my friend nodded her head, turned and started to walk toward her car. The conversation was over, but my questions remained unanswered. And with that, I held on tighter to my new book, for I knew I would find some answers here.
In the very first chapter Ravi Zacharias addresses this kind of answer we as Christians give to very deep and complex questions. Have you ever been asked a very deep question like, "Can man live with out God?" I have. What do I say? Do I give them a swimming pool answer that is, in Ravi's words, "quite frankly, superficial and simple." I need real answers to real questions, and this is where my new found book has given me more strength.
There are three levels of philosophy- logic, the arts, and table talk. We need to be able to "Argue at level one, illustrate at level two, and apply at level three. The reasoning process provides the foundation, the arts the infrastructure and illustration, and the kitchen table the superstructure and application."
Learning how to communicate within our culture is a must. There is no way I can give you the information that you need within this very short blog, but if you want to be able to give real answers instead of swimming pool solutions, please get it. I will end with one paragraph within the book. Within this one statement are many deep questions, but within the book you find the answers:
"The issue, then, is not whether the belief system you espouse-- monotheistic, atheistic, pantheistic, or otherwise-- is exclusive. The issue is whether the answers to the four basic questions of life pertaining to origin, meaning, morality, and destiny within the context of each of these worldviews meet the tests of truth. Are they logically consistent, are they empirically adequate, and are they experientially relevant? Do they meet the test of unaffirmability and undeniability? The answers to life's four questions must in each instance correspond to reality, and the sum of the answers must cohere as a system."
I want to have meaningful conversations with others around me. 1 Peter 3:15-17, "And if someone asks about your Christian hope, always be ready to explain it. But do this in a gentle and respectful way. Keep your conscience clear. Then if people speak against you, they will be ashamed when they see what a good life you live because you belong to Christ. Remember, it is better to suffer for doing good, if that is what God wants, than to suffer for doing wrong!" I do not want to suffer because I was not able to give a defense for the hope I have in Christ. I highly recommend this book!
Can Man Live Without God by Ravi Zacharias
Saturday, December 11, 2010
What is your True Desire?
Something was brought to my attention the other day that I feel needs to be addressed. This is the question, "Is it okay for Christians to smoke marijuana?" This is a legitimate question. There are three local dispensaries right around us for medical marijuana. This is a question that many have for it seems that the government is now for marijuana, because they are selling it! So, I started searching. One of my favorite places for research is the blog, Evidence for God from Science. So much of my research on this topic comes from Richard Deem who is a brilliant scientist and professor. I am not going to go into the scientific research that he does. You can go to his blog and read all you want on the science of marijuana. In fact, I encourage you to do so. I am going to talk from my personal experience. So here we go...
When I think of smoking marijuana, or getting drunk, or taking other drugs that get in the way of my mind working as it should, I immediately think of my relationship with God and other people. Oh, yes those physical feelings that I experience in the moment of that high are alluring, but the consequences that come afterwards are what keeps coming to my mind. It is not really the detrimental consequences that I think of. It is the consequences of being able to have that relationship that I so desperately need from my God and others around me. "Jesus replied:‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your MIND.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.'" (Matthew 22:37). How are we loving our Lord, our God with all of our mind if we are blocking hearing Him with the things we place in us?
For me, in this time of my life, I no longer worry about the sexual consequences of sleeping with the wrong guy because I get drunk, or about any of the physical consequences that many war against when they are young. The consequences that keep my attention are the consequences that I see with my relationship with my God. My God is not just an opinion that I have. He is the center of my life and we have a very real relationship together. Why would I do something that would get in the way of this relationship? The only answer that I can come up with are these: I either do not really believe that I can have a true relationship with Him, or I do not really love Him as He has instructed me to love Him, or I am just too concerned about myself and what I want in that moment to really care about Him or about how I am affecting others around me. Basically, am I being selfish and just concerned about what I want in that moment. Not about the whole picture that God sees in every decision that I make in every moment.
“An opinion is a position you hold with a varied degree of intensity that merely voices your preference. A conviction is that which is rooted in your conscience. So that if you were to toy with your opinions you are going to be jossiling with your preferences. If you are going to toy with a conviction you are going to have to deal with your conscience before you altered it," (RZ, Convictions that conquered the world).
My God and what He expects from me is not just an opinion that I hold, but a conviction that has change my life forever. 2 Timothy 3:1-5, "People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, LOVERS OF PLEASURE RATHER THAN LOVERS OF GOD, having a form of godliness but denying its power." I cannot seek myself first, but Him and I know that when I allow myself to indulge in the physical pleasures of something that will alter my mind, then I know that my relationship with Him will be altered. I am not willing to give Him up. This is a conviction for me, not just an opinion. I have done my research. I have experienced this life with Him as my center. I know what I have and what I could loose.
I have found my freedom in Christ and through Him I choose to never be a slave to something that will control my life. I am a bond servant to my Lord. I am no longer a slave to drugs that call you every waking moment. I can now have fun without them. I know what gives me true life. I am not blind to what the world offers as life, but what it will destroy in the process. That moment of getting high may not affect you physically while you are doing it. You may not suffer one bit for that pleasure that you seek, but you will be affected and so will those that you do it with. It will get in the way of your relationship with Christ, and your ability to hear God clearly. Those that you do it with, will not be able to see God through you like you wish they could. You will not be able to love the Lord your God as He has called you to and you will not be able to love those around you like you think you can, if you are getting high. Are you really a Christian, a Christ follower?
"Then He [Jesus] said to them all: 'If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?' (Luke 9:23-25)" Who are you really following if you are a slave to your physical desires? Do you hold to an opinion or to a conviction? Do the research and find the truth.
Click on the title above "What is your True Desire" and it will take you to your first form of research on this matter. Then search more and learn the truth. At the bottom of this link there are two other "Related Pages, 'The Medical Benefits of smoking Marijuana', and 'Does the bible talk about Drugs.'" Find out what you stand on, Opinion or Conviction.
When I think of smoking marijuana, or getting drunk, or taking other drugs that get in the way of my mind working as it should, I immediately think of my relationship with God and other people. Oh, yes those physical feelings that I experience in the moment of that high are alluring, but the consequences that come afterwards are what keeps coming to my mind. It is not really the detrimental consequences that I think of. It is the consequences of being able to have that relationship that I so desperately need from my God and others around me. "Jesus replied:‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your MIND.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.'" (Matthew 22:37). How are we loving our Lord, our God with all of our mind if we are blocking hearing Him with the things we place in us?
For me, in this time of my life, I no longer worry about the sexual consequences of sleeping with the wrong guy because I get drunk, or about any of the physical consequences that many war against when they are young. The consequences that keep my attention are the consequences that I see with my relationship with my God. My God is not just an opinion that I have. He is the center of my life and we have a very real relationship together. Why would I do something that would get in the way of this relationship? The only answer that I can come up with are these: I either do not really believe that I can have a true relationship with Him, or I do not really love Him as He has instructed me to love Him, or I am just too concerned about myself and what I want in that moment to really care about Him or about how I am affecting others around me. Basically, am I being selfish and just concerned about what I want in that moment. Not about the whole picture that God sees in every decision that I make in every moment.
“An opinion is a position you hold with a varied degree of intensity that merely voices your preference. A conviction is that which is rooted in your conscience. So that if you were to toy with your opinions you are going to be jossiling with your preferences. If you are going to toy with a conviction you are going to have to deal with your conscience before you altered it," (RZ, Convictions that conquered the world).
My God and what He expects from me is not just an opinion that I hold, but a conviction that has change my life forever. 2 Timothy 3:1-5, "People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, LOVERS OF PLEASURE RATHER THAN LOVERS OF GOD, having a form of godliness but denying its power." I cannot seek myself first, but Him and I know that when I allow myself to indulge in the physical pleasures of something that will alter my mind, then I know that my relationship with Him will be altered. I am not willing to give Him up. This is a conviction for me, not just an opinion. I have done my research. I have experienced this life with Him as my center. I know what I have and what I could loose.
I have found my freedom in Christ and through Him I choose to never be a slave to something that will control my life. I am a bond servant to my Lord. I am no longer a slave to drugs that call you every waking moment. I can now have fun without them. I know what gives me true life. I am not blind to what the world offers as life, but what it will destroy in the process. That moment of getting high may not affect you physically while you are doing it. You may not suffer one bit for that pleasure that you seek, but you will be affected and so will those that you do it with. It will get in the way of your relationship with Christ, and your ability to hear God clearly. Those that you do it with, will not be able to see God through you like you wish they could. You will not be able to love the Lord your God as He has called you to and you will not be able to love those around you like you think you can, if you are getting high. Are you really a Christian, a Christ follower?
"Then He [Jesus] said to them all: 'If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit his very self?' (Luke 9:23-25)" Who are you really following if you are a slave to your physical desires? Do you hold to an opinion or to a conviction? Do the research and find the truth.
Click on the title above "What is your True Desire" and it will take you to your first form of research on this matter. Then search more and learn the truth. At the bottom of this link there are two other "Related Pages, 'The Medical Benefits of smoking Marijuana', and 'Does the bible talk about Drugs.'" Find out what you stand on, Opinion or Conviction.
Monday, September 27, 2010
True Light
John 8:12, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."
The difference between real light and artificial light. I am going to start with the use of a flashlight at night. When it is dark outside we like to have a flashlight to help us find our way in the dark. If we are lost, we are very grateful for that flashlight in our hand, but what we are really longing for is the comfort of the sun. The sun takes away all of the dark, scary corners where the light of the flashlight will not reach. The sun is warm and brings new light and new hope to a dark and scary world. The truth is we are very thankful for our flashlight while it is dark, but there is a catch. Our flashlight is not very reliable. When we are getting very desperate, our flashlight may be getting worn too and its batteries will start to fail. It is only reliable for a short time, to help start us on our journey. We find comfort in using this light, for we have some control with this light. We can direct it where we want it to shine, and we can turn it on and off as we please. But, like I said, this light is not reliable, for one day it will fail.
In contrast to artificial light the light of God is not controllable. We do not have power over this light and at times this can be very scary and frustrating, especially when we see the sun going down and the darkness of night coming. But unlike our artificial light the light of Christ is very dependable and will never fail us. This light will give us strength and encouragement when we do not think there is any hope left for He is consistent. Ps 112:4, "Even in darkness light dawns for the upright..."
As believers in Christ we are called to be a light to the world. We are the artificial light of Christ. We can give hope and encouragement for a short time, but eventually our light will fail and our comfort will disappear for those who are just dependent on us. This is also true of false gods. These false gods can never give to you what you are looking for. Yes, you can direct them and have some sense of control over them, but this is a false sense of security. It is the light of the One true God that will never fail you nor forsake you. He is consistent. He is reliable. You have no control over Him. It is in this lack of control over Him, where you find that He has given you strength.
Psalm 139, "...If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, 'Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,' even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!"
Because we see things with our human eyes, we do not see them correctly. Especially, when it seems there is darkness surrounding them. We do not understand that He see everything perfectly, and if we will learn to follow the one who is the maker of true light, that is where our joy will be found. He is the light of the world and in Him there is no darkness. It is only in learning to follow the true light that we find real comfort in this world. It is in His true light that we can finally see the truth. We cannot direct this light and we have no control over this light, but in this lack of control, we can finally learn to let go of our bondage and live free. He has found you. You just have to learn to seek Him. For a time you may need to learn from those He has called to be a light to the world, but then you will need to learn to follow the true light on your own. It is in this following Him, that you will truly be able to see.
The difference between real light and artificial light. I am going to start with the use of a flashlight at night. When it is dark outside we like to have a flashlight to help us find our way in the dark. If we are lost, we are very grateful for that flashlight in our hand, but what we are really longing for is the comfort of the sun. The sun takes away all of the dark, scary corners where the light of the flashlight will not reach. The sun is warm and brings new light and new hope to a dark and scary world. The truth is we are very thankful for our flashlight while it is dark, but there is a catch. Our flashlight is not very reliable. When we are getting very desperate, our flashlight may be getting worn too and its batteries will start to fail. It is only reliable for a short time, to help start us on our journey. We find comfort in using this light, for we have some control with this light. We can direct it where we want it to shine, and we can turn it on and off as we please. But, like I said, this light is not reliable, for one day it will fail.
In contrast to artificial light the light of God is not controllable. We do not have power over this light and at times this can be very scary and frustrating, especially when we see the sun going down and the darkness of night coming. But unlike our artificial light the light of Christ is very dependable and will never fail us. This light will give us strength and encouragement when we do not think there is any hope left for He is consistent. Ps 112:4, "Even in darkness light dawns for the upright..."
As believers in Christ we are called to be a light to the world. We are the artificial light of Christ. We can give hope and encouragement for a short time, but eventually our light will fail and our comfort will disappear for those who are just dependent on us. This is also true of false gods. These false gods can never give to you what you are looking for. Yes, you can direct them and have some sense of control over them, but this is a false sense of security. It is the light of the One true God that will never fail you nor forsake you. He is consistent. He is reliable. You have no control over Him. It is in this lack of control over Him, where you find that He has given you strength.
Psalm 139, "...If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, 'Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,' even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you. For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place. When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are your thoughts, O God! How vast is the sum of them!"
Because we see things with our human eyes, we do not see them correctly. Especially, when it seems there is darkness surrounding them. We do not understand that He see everything perfectly, and if we will learn to follow the one who is the maker of true light, that is where our joy will be found. He is the light of the world and in Him there is no darkness. It is only in learning to follow the true light that we find real comfort in this world. It is in His true light that we can finally see the truth. We cannot direct this light and we have no control over this light, but in this lack of control, we can finally learn to let go of our bondage and live free. He has found you. You just have to learn to seek Him. For a time you may need to learn from those He has called to be a light to the world, but then you will need to learn to follow the true light on your own. It is in this following Him, that you will truly be able to see.
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Light is beautiful
John 12:44-46, "Then Jesus cried out, 'When a man believes in Me, he does not believe in Me only, but in the One who sent Me. When he looks at Me, he sees the One who sent Me. I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in Me should stay in darkness.'"
If Jesus is the light of the world, then what are we loving when we are loving the darkness? There are constantly new movies coming out that have a theme of darkness. There are books that we let our young girls read that encourage them to give themselves over to darkness. Our culture is obsessed with the darkness. Our physical desires change when the darkness comes, for that is when we believe that our desire is hidden. We go out after dark and party, then we sleep all day. We have a tendency to think that there is beauty in darkness and we believe there is comfort in pain. If you think that you have never loved darkness, don't deceive yourself. Look back across the path of your life and see where the truth lays. Look back and see where you have loved the darkness and where you are still drawn to it today. If there is always drama in your life, then there may be a reason. If you are constantly fighting and there is constant strife in your life, then there is a good chance you are hanging on to the darkness, instead of the light. I am going to use insects here to demonstrate a point on how we are with light and life.
Have you ever wondered why some insects are drawn to the light on your front porch? There are some insects that use light as there guide at night. So, when they see your front porch light they become confused and start trying to follow that light in order to find their way in the darkness. Some insects are still attracted to the artificial light even after the natural light source is given. Some scientists believe that this attraction may not be for the light at all, but for the darker areas that surround that light. Other insects are instantly repelled by any light and will run as soon as a light is turned on.
The example of the insects can be a good illustration on the light that we are seeking, or that we are running away from. Are we allowing the natural light of Christ to guide us? Can we distinguish between true light and the imitation given by others. Are we like the cockroach and really repelled by the light? Do we fool ourselves into still believing a certain thing even after the truth has been revealed to us?
Proverbs 4:18-19, "The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble." Can you see the path with which you are following? Do you know how to love the light? Have you been fooled into believing that the darkness is beautiful?
Oswald Chambers, "To have a master and teacher is not the same thing as being mastered and taught. Having a master and teacher means that there is someone who knows me better than I know myself, who is closer than a friend, and who understands the remotest depths of my heart and is able to satisfy them fully. It means having someone who has made me secure in the knowledge that he has met and solved all the doubts, uncertainties, and problems in my mind... Our Lord never takes measures to make me do what He wants. Sometimes I wish God would master and control me to make me do what He wants, but He will not. And at other times I wish He would leave me alone, and He does not. 'You call Me Teacher and Lord...'— but is He? Teacher, Master, and Lord have little place in our vocabulary. We prefer the words Savior, Sanctifier, and Healer. The only word that truly describes the experience of being mastered is love, and we know little about love as God reveals it in His Word. The way we use the word obey is proof of this. In the Bible, obedience is based on a relationship between equals; for example, that of a son with his father. Our Lord was not simply God’s servant— He was His Son. '...though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience...' (Hebrews 5:8)."
Do we walk in the light as He is in the light? Do we love Him and serve Him because He is our Master, our Lord? Can we find Him when there are so many other distractions in this life lying to us, confusing us on what is really attractive?
If Jesus is the light of the world, then what are we loving when we are loving the darkness? There are constantly new movies coming out that have a theme of darkness. There are books that we let our young girls read that encourage them to give themselves over to darkness. Our culture is obsessed with the darkness. Our physical desires change when the darkness comes, for that is when we believe that our desire is hidden. We go out after dark and party, then we sleep all day. We have a tendency to think that there is beauty in darkness and we believe there is comfort in pain. If you think that you have never loved darkness, don't deceive yourself. Look back across the path of your life and see where the truth lays. Look back and see where you have loved the darkness and where you are still drawn to it today. If there is always drama in your life, then there may be a reason. If you are constantly fighting and there is constant strife in your life, then there is a good chance you are hanging on to the darkness, instead of the light. I am going to use insects here to demonstrate a point on how we are with light and life.
Have you ever wondered why some insects are drawn to the light on your front porch? There are some insects that use light as there guide at night. So, when they see your front porch light they become confused and start trying to follow that light in order to find their way in the darkness. Some insects are still attracted to the artificial light even after the natural light source is given. Some scientists believe that this attraction may not be for the light at all, but for the darker areas that surround that light. Other insects are instantly repelled by any light and will run as soon as a light is turned on.
The example of the insects can be a good illustration on the light that we are seeking, or that we are running away from. Are we allowing the natural light of Christ to guide us? Can we distinguish between true light and the imitation given by others. Are we like the cockroach and really repelled by the light? Do we fool ourselves into still believing a certain thing even after the truth has been revealed to us?
Proverbs 4:18-19, "The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day. But the way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know what makes them stumble." Can you see the path with which you are following? Do you know how to love the light? Have you been fooled into believing that the darkness is beautiful?
Oswald Chambers, "To have a master and teacher is not the same thing as being mastered and taught. Having a master and teacher means that there is someone who knows me better than I know myself, who is closer than a friend, and who understands the remotest depths of my heart and is able to satisfy them fully. It means having someone who has made me secure in the knowledge that he has met and solved all the doubts, uncertainties, and problems in my mind... Our Lord never takes measures to make me do what He wants. Sometimes I wish God would master and control me to make me do what He wants, but He will not. And at other times I wish He would leave me alone, and He does not. 'You call Me Teacher and Lord...'— but is He? Teacher, Master, and Lord have little place in our vocabulary. We prefer the words Savior, Sanctifier, and Healer. The only word that truly describes the experience of being mastered is love, and we know little about love as God reveals it in His Word. The way we use the word obey is proof of this. In the Bible, obedience is based on a relationship between equals; for example, that of a son with his father. Our Lord was not simply God’s servant— He was His Son. '...though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience...' (Hebrews 5:8)."
Do we walk in the light as He is in the light? Do we love Him and serve Him because He is our Master, our Lord? Can we find Him when there are so many other distractions in this life lying to us, confusing us on what is really attractive?
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Hear the Applause?
What do we applaud in the sake of acceptance? What do we accept in the sake of being a people of grace and forgiveness? What do we not say to someone, in the sake of not judging others? Have we lost sight of what God has called us to? Have we lost our ability to stand alone, all because we are afraid of what others may say about us?
Ezra 9:1-2, "After these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said, 'The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples... They have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, and have mingled the holy race with the peoples around them. And the leaders and officials have led the way in this unfaithfulness.'"
From the beginning of God's word, He has called us to be separate from others around us. He never established a rule that said to rejoice in the things that others are doing, but to stand as a light against it. A light of love and truth, but in this light, celebration with them was never encouraged. We have taken the grace that we see in Christ and turned it against the word and law of God. We now say that we accept everyone no matter what they are seeking. We now say that everything is okay and that no matter how anyone is living or what they are worshiping, it is fine and they do not have to change.
Oswald Chambers, "Deliverance from sin is not the same as deliverance from human nature. There are things in human nature, such as prejudices, that the saint can only destroy through sheer neglect. But there are other things that have to be destroyed through violence, that is, through God’s divine strength imparted by His Spirit. There are some things over which we are not to fight, but only to 'stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord...' (see Exodus 14:13). But every theory or thought that raises itself up as a fortified barrier 'against the knowledge of God' is to be determinedly demolished by drawing on God’s power, not through human effort or by compromise (see 2 Corinthians 10:4).
It is only when God has transformed our nature and we have entered into the experience of sanctification that the fight begins. The warfare is not against sin; we can never fight against sin— Jesus Christ conquered that in His redemption of us. The conflict is waged over turning our natural life into a spiritual life. This is never done easily, nor does God intend that it be so. It is accomplished only through a series of moral choices. God does not make us holy in the sense that He makes our character holy. He makes us holy in the sense that He has made us innocent before Him. And then we have to turn that innocence into holy character through the moral choices we make. These choices are continually opposed and hostile to the things of our natural life which have become so deeply entrenched— the very things that raise themselves up as fortified barriers 'against the knowledge of God.' We can either turn back, making ourselves of no value to the kingdom of God, or we can determinedly demolish these things, allowing Jesus to bring another son to glory (see Hebrews 2:10)."
We must be careful what we are embracing today. We must always take what we are encouraging in our society and compare it with what God's law is saying. What religions are we embracing, so that we can say we walk in love? What are we allowing others to do, all so we will not be judged, by them saying we are judging them? What truth are we not seeing in others, so that we do not have to look at the truth in ourselves?
Luke 6:41, "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."
In this passage Jesus never said to turn a blind eye, for look at what you are doing yourself. What He was doing was showing us how to help others. First, look at the sin in your own life. Look at the truth in that sin and remove it from your own heart. Then, you are to go and help the others around you, for now you can see clearly, and help them in removing their own sin. We are to stand against sin. We are not called to live rejoicing with others in our own sin and in theirs. What are you applauding today? What are we embracing?
Ezra 9:1-2, "After these things had been done, the leaders came to me and said, 'The people of Israel, including the priests and the Levites, have not kept themselves separate from the neighboring peoples... They have taken some of their daughters as wives for themselves and their sons, and have mingled the holy race with the peoples around them. And the leaders and officials have led the way in this unfaithfulness.'"
From the beginning of God's word, He has called us to be separate from others around us. He never established a rule that said to rejoice in the things that others are doing, but to stand as a light against it. A light of love and truth, but in this light, celebration with them was never encouraged. We have taken the grace that we see in Christ and turned it against the word and law of God. We now say that we accept everyone no matter what they are seeking. We now say that everything is okay and that no matter how anyone is living or what they are worshiping, it is fine and they do not have to change.
Oswald Chambers, "Deliverance from sin is not the same as deliverance from human nature. There are things in human nature, such as prejudices, that the saint can only destroy through sheer neglect. But there are other things that have to be destroyed through violence, that is, through God’s divine strength imparted by His Spirit. There are some things over which we are not to fight, but only to 'stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord...' (see Exodus 14:13). But every theory or thought that raises itself up as a fortified barrier 'against the knowledge of God' is to be determinedly demolished by drawing on God’s power, not through human effort or by compromise (see 2 Corinthians 10:4).
It is only when God has transformed our nature and we have entered into the experience of sanctification that the fight begins. The warfare is not against sin; we can never fight against sin— Jesus Christ conquered that in His redemption of us. The conflict is waged over turning our natural life into a spiritual life. This is never done easily, nor does God intend that it be so. It is accomplished only through a series of moral choices. God does not make us holy in the sense that He makes our character holy. He makes us holy in the sense that He has made us innocent before Him. And then we have to turn that innocence into holy character through the moral choices we make. These choices are continually opposed and hostile to the things of our natural life which have become so deeply entrenched— the very things that raise themselves up as fortified barriers 'against the knowledge of God.' We can either turn back, making ourselves of no value to the kingdom of God, or we can determinedly demolish these things, allowing Jesus to bring another son to glory (see Hebrews 2:10)."
We must be careful what we are embracing today. We must always take what we are encouraging in our society and compare it with what God's law is saying. What religions are we embracing, so that we can say we walk in love? What are we allowing others to do, all so we will not be judged, by them saying we are judging them? What truth are we not seeing in others, so that we do not have to look at the truth in ourselves?
Luke 6:41, "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Brother, let me take the speck out of your eye,' when you yourself fail to see the plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."
In this passage Jesus never said to turn a blind eye, for look at what you are doing yourself. What He was doing was showing us how to help others. First, look at the sin in your own life. Look at the truth in that sin and remove it from your own heart. Then, you are to go and help the others around you, for now you can see clearly, and help them in removing their own sin. We are to stand against sin. We are not called to live rejoicing with others in our own sin and in theirs. What are you applauding today? What are we embracing?
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Open My Eyes
2 Kings 6:15-17, "'Oh, my lord, what shall we do?' the servant asked. 'Don't be afraid,' the prophet answered. 'Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.' And Elisha prayed, 'O LORD, open his eyes so he may see.' Then the LORD opened the servant's eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha."
How limited is our view when we look at this life. We cannot see what is really going on. We only see what we think is going on. We see what is right in front of us. When someone says something to us, how often do we take offense, when no offense is needed. We cannot venture out of our own self, and what we feel, to stop and take a real look at the others around us and see life from their point of view. If we cannot stop and see this life from others people's perspective, how are we going to see through the eyes of God and the real truth of this life? How I pray that my eyes would be opened so that I can see through His eyes, even though many of the truths in my own life are hard to look at. But, how can I expect to see others and what they need, if I cannot even look at my own life, all of my life.
Oswald Chambers, "The rich young ruler went away from Jesus speechless with sorrow, having nothing to say in response to Jesus’ words. He had no doubt about what Jesus had said or what it meant, and it produced in him a sorrow with no words with which to respond. Have you ever been there? Has God’s Word ever come to you, pointing out an area of your life, requiring you to yield it to Him? Maybe He has pointed out certain personal qualities, desires, and interests, or possibly relationships of your heart and mind. If so, then you have often been speechless with sorrow. Luke 18:22, 'Sell all that you have...' In other words, rid yourself before God of everything that might be considered a possession until you are a mere conscious human being standing before Him, and then give God that. That is where the battle is truly fought— in the realm of your will before God. Are you more devoted to your idea of what Jesus wants than to Jesus Himself? If so, you are likely to hear one of His harsh and unyielding statements that will produce sorrow in you. What Jesus says is difficult— it is only easy when it is heard by those who have His nature in them. Beware of allowing anything to soften the hard words of Jesus Christ."
When we look back upon our life, there are choices that we have made that we want Christ to change. Many times when we see the hurt in others, we as believers, want Christ to change that hurt and take away the consequences for the one hurting. We pray that God come in and change what has happened and restore what was lost, but we cannot see through the eyes of God. Jesus' words were often hard for the recipient, but He did not soften the blow of His words to make that person feel better in the moment. Jesus was very firm, for in that moment of sorrow, that person has a chance to see the truth of where his hearts desires really are. We can see if our hearts are totally focused on ourself. We can see the pain that we have caused others. It is in the hard truth of Christ's words that we can see, and sometimes that truth brings sorrow. How often do we not see the whole truth in life all because we cannot see past the pain?
There have been things that happen to us and things that we have done that bring us great pain in life. We do not need to war against the pain, for in that pain there may be a mighty army of God fighting for us. We cannot take away the consequences of life choices, but we can learn to follow Christ through the hurt of those choices. His army is bigger than the war we see in front of us. His army is surrounding us and fighting for us in this battle we call life. Be careful to not get in the way of what God is really trying to accomplish in someone's life, just because you want to relieve them of the pain right now. If you block their vision, how are they supposed to see God's work in their life. If someone comes in and tries to sooth you from your own pain, be careful. That temporary relief you feel right now, may block your true restoration.
How limited is our view when we look at this life. We cannot see what is really going on. We only see what we think is going on. We see what is right in front of us. When someone says something to us, how often do we take offense, when no offense is needed. We cannot venture out of our own self, and what we feel, to stop and take a real look at the others around us and see life from their point of view. If we cannot stop and see this life from others people's perspective, how are we going to see through the eyes of God and the real truth of this life? How I pray that my eyes would be opened so that I can see through His eyes, even though many of the truths in my own life are hard to look at. But, how can I expect to see others and what they need, if I cannot even look at my own life, all of my life.
Oswald Chambers, "The rich young ruler went away from Jesus speechless with sorrow, having nothing to say in response to Jesus’ words. He had no doubt about what Jesus had said or what it meant, and it produced in him a sorrow with no words with which to respond. Have you ever been there? Has God’s Word ever come to you, pointing out an area of your life, requiring you to yield it to Him? Maybe He has pointed out certain personal qualities, desires, and interests, or possibly relationships of your heart and mind. If so, then you have often been speechless with sorrow. Luke 18:22, 'Sell all that you have...' In other words, rid yourself before God of everything that might be considered a possession until you are a mere conscious human being standing before Him, and then give God that. That is where the battle is truly fought— in the realm of your will before God. Are you more devoted to your idea of what Jesus wants than to Jesus Himself? If so, you are likely to hear one of His harsh and unyielding statements that will produce sorrow in you. What Jesus says is difficult— it is only easy when it is heard by those who have His nature in them. Beware of allowing anything to soften the hard words of Jesus Christ."
When we look back upon our life, there are choices that we have made that we want Christ to change. Many times when we see the hurt in others, we as believers, want Christ to change that hurt and take away the consequences for the one hurting. We pray that God come in and change what has happened and restore what was lost, but we cannot see through the eyes of God. Jesus' words were often hard for the recipient, but He did not soften the blow of His words to make that person feel better in the moment. Jesus was very firm, for in that moment of sorrow, that person has a chance to see the truth of where his hearts desires really are. We can see if our hearts are totally focused on ourself. We can see the pain that we have caused others. It is in the hard truth of Christ's words that we can see, and sometimes that truth brings sorrow. How often do we not see the whole truth in life all because we cannot see past the pain?
There have been things that happen to us and things that we have done that bring us great pain in life. We do not need to war against the pain, for in that pain there may be a mighty army of God fighting for us. We cannot take away the consequences of life choices, but we can learn to follow Christ through the hurt of those choices. His army is bigger than the war we see in front of us. His army is surrounding us and fighting for us in this battle we call life. Be careful to not get in the way of what God is really trying to accomplish in someone's life, just because you want to relieve them of the pain right now. If you block their vision, how are they supposed to see God's work in their life. If someone comes in and tries to sooth you from your own pain, be careful. That temporary relief you feel right now, may block your true restoration.
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Mentors
The mighty men of old, how they can teach us. If we will only open our eyes and our ears for what they have to say to us, we can learn from them in ways that we could never imagine. David, the man after God's own heart. Have you ever noticed that he had Nathan? Nathan was the one who told David the truth about what he saw in David's life. David the king of kings, had a counselor. Everyone needs someone who will tell them the truth, even if that truth hurts. Solomon was the wisest man who ever lived. Have you noticed that he had no one who would give him counsel? No one ever told him his faults, nor pointed out his sin. He was the wisest man, yet his heart turned from God. He surrounded himself with unbelievers, and the wisest man became a fool with his own life. Elijah, he was God's personal messenger, and yet right after he had one of his biggest triumphs with God, he prayed he would die. He felt like he was the only one left who stood with the Lord. He had no one to walk with him on his journey, and this aloneness became one of his greatest struggles. Counselors, friends, we all need someone who will walk with us in truth and love.
2 John 4-6, "How happy I was to meet some of your children and find them living according to the truth, just as the Father commanded. I am writing to remind you, dear friends, that we should love one another. This is not a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning. Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning." Through this journey of life, we all have people surrounding us. In one situation we find that we are the mentor for others. In another place, we find that we are the ones needing the mentoring. No one is immune to this. We all need others with us on this journey. If you think that you do not need to listen to others and that you are fine without their counsel, beware, this is how Solomon felt. David was king and yet he humbled himself enough to listen to Nathan's counsel. Elijah had a most wonderful relationship with God, but his greatest defeat came right after one of his greatest victories; for he was all alone. We need others to walk with us in truth and love, and we need to walk with others with truth and love ourselves.
As I look at my life and the people that influenced me the most, I have to look at the truth in myself and how I have influenced others. I have been been the fool, but I did not have wise counsel and when I was given warnings, I did not listen. I thought that I could do it myself. It was in this, that I found out how far from God I could stray. I spent several years alone with God. This time was good, for I learned how much He loved me, but I needed a friend to walk with me. God has given me friends to walk with me on this journey. They are all different ages. Some are my mentors. They have raised their families and learned to love their husbands. Others are my peers. They are my mighty women. These women walk beside me, going through life at the same stage, learning with me. Yet, others are the sweet young women who are just starting out on their journey of finding who they are. I may be one of their mentors, sharing my joys, pain, and love with them as they learn who God is.
Have you stepped back from your busy life to see the others around you? Do you know who is influencing you the most? Do you know who and how you are influencing others? Oh, don't be deceived. You are influencing others. The question is.... is it for good or is it for bad? Everyone needs someone who can counsel them. Everyone, no matter how strong their relationship with Christ is, needs someone to walk with them and experience and learn life with them. Everyone has someone watching and learning from them. If you have someone willing to love you in truth, you may be blessed as David was blessed. His heart stayed for God, all because his counselor was willing to tell him the hard truth. If you think you need no one's advise, you may be in danger of turning your heart from God like Solomon did. If you are walking high with God, yet you are alone and have no one walking beside you, you are in danger of becoming defeated right after your greatest victory as Elijah did. Do we know that we are someones mentor? Do we know that we need a mentor?
Oswald Chambers, "There are times when there is no storm or crisis in our lives, and we do all that is humanly possible. But it is when a crisis arises that we instantly reveal upon whom we rely. If we have been learning to worship God and to place our trust in Him, the crisis will reveal that we can go to the point of breaking, yet without breaking our confidence in Him." The time will come in our life when we need someone to remind us of our victory through the storm. Another time will come when we will need to walk with them through theirs. It is all about love in truth. We must have relationships to build us in love. We must be that for others.
2 John 4-6, "How happy I was to meet some of your children and find them living according to the truth, just as the Father commanded. I am writing to remind you, dear friends, that we should love one another. This is not a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning. Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning." Through this journey of life, we all have people surrounding us. In one situation we find that we are the mentor for others. In another place, we find that we are the ones needing the mentoring. No one is immune to this. We all need others with us on this journey. If you think that you do not need to listen to others and that you are fine without their counsel, beware, this is how Solomon felt. David was king and yet he humbled himself enough to listen to Nathan's counsel. Elijah had a most wonderful relationship with God, but his greatest defeat came right after one of his greatest victories; for he was all alone. We need others to walk with us in truth and love, and we need to walk with others with truth and love ourselves.
As I look at my life and the people that influenced me the most, I have to look at the truth in myself and how I have influenced others. I have been been the fool, but I did not have wise counsel and when I was given warnings, I did not listen. I thought that I could do it myself. It was in this, that I found out how far from God I could stray. I spent several years alone with God. This time was good, for I learned how much He loved me, but I needed a friend to walk with me. God has given me friends to walk with me on this journey. They are all different ages. Some are my mentors. They have raised their families and learned to love their husbands. Others are my peers. They are my mighty women. These women walk beside me, going through life at the same stage, learning with me. Yet, others are the sweet young women who are just starting out on their journey of finding who they are. I may be one of their mentors, sharing my joys, pain, and love with them as they learn who God is.
Have you stepped back from your busy life to see the others around you? Do you know who is influencing you the most? Do you know who and how you are influencing others? Oh, don't be deceived. You are influencing others. The question is.... is it for good or is it for bad? Everyone needs someone who can counsel them. Everyone, no matter how strong their relationship with Christ is, needs someone to walk with them and experience and learn life with them. Everyone has someone watching and learning from them. If you have someone willing to love you in truth, you may be blessed as David was blessed. His heart stayed for God, all because his counselor was willing to tell him the hard truth. If you think you need no one's advise, you may be in danger of turning your heart from God like Solomon did. If you are walking high with God, yet you are alone and have no one walking beside you, you are in danger of becoming defeated right after your greatest victory as Elijah did. Do we know that we are someones mentor? Do we know that we need a mentor?
Oswald Chambers, "There are times when there is no storm or crisis in our lives, and we do all that is humanly possible. But it is when a crisis arises that we instantly reveal upon whom we rely. If we have been learning to worship God and to place our trust in Him, the crisis will reveal that we can go to the point of breaking, yet without breaking our confidence in Him." The time will come in our life when we need someone to remind us of our victory through the storm. Another time will come when we will need to walk with them through theirs. It is all about love in truth. We must have relationships to build us in love. We must be that for others.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Smallest Price
“When you fall into sin, the smallest price you pay is only the wounding you bring to yourself-- You grieve the heart of God and embarrass the community of Christ,” (RZ).
2 Samuel 12, "The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, 'There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.' David burned with anger against the man... Then Nathan said to David, 'You are the man!...' Then David said to Nathan, 'I have sinned against the LORD.' Nathan replied, 'The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the LORD show utter contempt...'"
There are so many lessons in the life of David. It is when his sin gets called to his attention that we can see his true heart, and this is when we can learn our own lessons with our own sin. Just like us, David was blind to his sin when he was doing it. Oh yes, he knew it was wrong, but in his effort to get what he wanted, God's ways became blind to him and all he could do was focus on his own desires. It is in the revealing of his sin that we see his heart. His heart is not necessarily revealed because he sinned, but what he did with the realization of his sin after his eyes were opened. He hit his knees, begged for forgiveness, and did not go down that road again. This is why in Acts 13:22, God said that David was a "man after my own heart." It was not that David would never sin, but that when he did sin, he truly repented. He didn't just say, "Well I am sorry I got caught," but his heart was broken. However, the true effect of his sin was upon God, and His reputation.
When we as Christians sin, we are not just affecting ourselves, but we are affecting how others view God. This is what should grieve us the most! Because of Christ, our sin is forgiven, but the damage we have done in others eyes is enormous. The question that we must constantly be asking our own heart is, "Do we grieve because we are caught in sin, or because we have damaged the view of Christ others see in us?" This is actually an easier test than one may imagine. When you are caught doing something, do you still find ways to get a portion of what you were caught doing, no matter how small that portion is? If you are still trying to steal little portions, your heart is tattling on you. “The seat of sin is in the heart and will, not only in the action,” (RZ).
Definition of sin-- “Whatever weakens your reasoning, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes away your relish for spiritual things. In short, if anything increases the authority and power of the flesh over the spirit, then that to you becomes sin, however good it is in itself.” (Susana Wesley, RZ)
We all sin. No one is perfect. But, our hearts desire is revealed in what we do after that sin is revealed to us, either by the Holy Spirit (our conscience), or by someone else. David still had to suffer the consequences of his sin, and so must we. The true test of our heat is what we do with our sin after we have discovered it. Are we still trying to live the lie and steal little pieces of our desire wherever we can get it, or has our heart been turned away from that desire and toward God. Christ's blood has forgiven and washed us clean, but what are we really showing to others when we live a life in hypocrisy?
2 Samuel 12, "The LORD sent Nathan to David. When he came to him, he said, 'There were two men in a certain town, one rich and the other poor. The rich man had a very large number of sheep and cattle, but the poor man had nothing except one little ewe lamb he had bought. He raised it, and it grew up with him and his children. It shared his food, drank from his cup and even slept in his arms. It was like a daughter to him. Now a traveler came to the rich man, but the rich man refrained from taking one of his own sheep or cattle to prepare a meal for the traveler who had come to him. Instead, he took the ewe lamb that belonged to the poor man and prepared it for the one who had come to him.' David burned with anger against the man... Then Nathan said to David, 'You are the man!...' Then David said to Nathan, 'I have sinned against the LORD.' Nathan replied, 'The LORD has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. But because by doing this you have made the enemies of the LORD show utter contempt...'"
There are so many lessons in the life of David. It is when his sin gets called to his attention that we can see his true heart, and this is when we can learn our own lessons with our own sin. Just like us, David was blind to his sin when he was doing it. Oh yes, he knew it was wrong, but in his effort to get what he wanted, God's ways became blind to him and all he could do was focus on his own desires. It is in the revealing of his sin that we see his heart. His heart is not necessarily revealed because he sinned, but what he did with the realization of his sin after his eyes were opened. He hit his knees, begged for forgiveness, and did not go down that road again. This is why in Acts 13:22, God said that David was a "man after my own heart." It was not that David would never sin, but that when he did sin, he truly repented. He didn't just say, "Well I am sorry I got caught," but his heart was broken. However, the true effect of his sin was upon God, and His reputation.
When we as Christians sin, we are not just affecting ourselves, but we are affecting how others view God. This is what should grieve us the most! Because of Christ, our sin is forgiven, but the damage we have done in others eyes is enormous. The question that we must constantly be asking our own heart is, "Do we grieve because we are caught in sin, or because we have damaged the view of Christ others see in us?" This is actually an easier test than one may imagine. When you are caught doing something, do you still find ways to get a portion of what you were caught doing, no matter how small that portion is? If you are still trying to steal little portions, your heart is tattling on you. “The seat of sin is in the heart and will, not only in the action,” (RZ).
Definition of sin-- “Whatever weakens your reasoning, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes away your relish for spiritual things. In short, if anything increases the authority and power of the flesh over the spirit, then that to you becomes sin, however good it is in itself.” (Susana Wesley, RZ)
We all sin. No one is perfect. But, our hearts desire is revealed in what we do after that sin is revealed to us, either by the Holy Spirit (our conscience), or by someone else. David still had to suffer the consequences of his sin, and so must we. The true test of our heat is what we do with our sin after we have discovered it. Are we still trying to live the lie and steal little pieces of our desire wherever we can get it, or has our heart been turned away from that desire and toward God. Christ's blood has forgiven and washed us clean, but what are we really showing to others when we live a life in hypocrisy?
Monday, July 26, 2010
What do you Believe, Why?
I think that I have asked this question before, but I also think that it is worth asking again. If you are a Christian, why are you one? If you do not believe in Christ, why not? It is not a simple little issue, but rather a very big one that needs deeper thinking than you may realize. Have you really put much thought into why you believe what you believe, or are you just going with the flow of what is right in front of you in the moment? Basically are you shallow, or do you have a deeper meaning in your life?
Everyone has their own personal testimony about why they believe what they do. Everyone has their own personal world view. This is a very critical part of everyones life. The questions that we must deal with are questions of; "Can our world view be backed up with science, history, and personal experience. Is what we believe true, or do we make excuses for everything saying its all relative?" We are not called to live in blind faith, but to be able to give an answer for our faith.
This journey of mine has been one of trial and error, living life blindly, stumbling through as a fool. I have made the biggest blunders in my personal journey, any normal person would be more than embarrassed to admit.... I am embarrassed to admit! It wasn't until I looked at my life in the truth of my failures that I was able to see how God had touched my life and given me a personal story. It was in looking at my personal story that I started seeking the truth about what and who God really was. I started listening to and watching for truth in the people that taught about Christ. I had to first weed out the imitators, there are a lot of quacks out there! I couldn't give up just because there are a lot of quacks. There are doctors who are quacks, does that mean that I give up seeking the right doctors for my health? No. I had to start seeking Him, then I discovered Him. I needed my belief to be backed up with science. As a child I was taught one thing about God and how the universe came into being, but then science through me for a loop. Why would God try and trick us? Why wouldn't science back up who He is? I discovered that science, history, relics found; they all can be backed-up with who the bibles says that God is, and they all back-up the bible. It can all be backed up! This gave me something more than just my personal testimony to stand on. This gave me the proof that I needed, so that when my own doubts came creeping in, I could defend Him, against myself.
Frank Tureks book, "I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist" gave me the science that I needed. I started listening/watching him on TV, then my brother got me the book. I devoured it in just a few short days. Most was over my head, for I was never a good student, but it gave me the science that I was so desperately needing. Ravi Zacharias is one that I turn to often, on how to walk in this knowledge of who God is. His is an apologist and his teaching gives me the knowledge on how to give a defense for what I believe. I have another blog that I turn to called "Evidence for God from Science." This man is a brilliant chemist/professor who has taken his science and knowledge and used it to study the bible. I have other resources/teachers who I listen to so that I can better live out my faith in my everyday life. My passion is study. This is a passion that is new to me, for I always hated school, but this I love and cannot get enough of. I may not be able to give you an answer in full detail to every question, but I can lead the questioner to someone who can.
Everyone has a personal testimony for what they believe. The true test comes in on how you can back that testimony up with the resources that we have at our hands. Does your faith in whatever you believe, does it stand the test of science, history, discovery? Can you back up your belief? Why are you a Christian? Why aren't you one?
Everyone has their own personal testimony about why they believe what they do. Everyone has their own personal world view. This is a very critical part of everyones life. The questions that we must deal with are questions of; "Can our world view be backed up with science, history, and personal experience. Is what we believe true, or do we make excuses for everything saying its all relative?" We are not called to live in blind faith, but to be able to give an answer for our faith.
This journey of mine has been one of trial and error, living life blindly, stumbling through as a fool. I have made the biggest blunders in my personal journey, any normal person would be more than embarrassed to admit.... I am embarrassed to admit! It wasn't until I looked at my life in the truth of my failures that I was able to see how God had touched my life and given me a personal story. It was in looking at my personal story that I started seeking the truth about what and who God really was. I started listening to and watching for truth in the people that taught about Christ. I had to first weed out the imitators, there are a lot of quacks out there! I couldn't give up just because there are a lot of quacks. There are doctors who are quacks, does that mean that I give up seeking the right doctors for my health? No. I had to start seeking Him, then I discovered Him. I needed my belief to be backed up with science. As a child I was taught one thing about God and how the universe came into being, but then science through me for a loop. Why would God try and trick us? Why wouldn't science back up who He is? I discovered that science, history, relics found; they all can be backed-up with who the bibles says that God is, and they all back-up the bible. It can all be backed up! This gave me something more than just my personal testimony to stand on. This gave me the proof that I needed, so that when my own doubts came creeping in, I could defend Him, against myself.
Frank Tureks book, "I Don't Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist" gave me the science that I needed. I started listening/watching him on TV, then my brother got me the book. I devoured it in just a few short days. Most was over my head, for I was never a good student, but it gave me the science that I was so desperately needing. Ravi Zacharias is one that I turn to often, on how to walk in this knowledge of who God is. His is an apologist and his teaching gives me the knowledge on how to give a defense for what I believe. I have another blog that I turn to called "Evidence for God from Science." This man is a brilliant chemist/professor who has taken his science and knowledge and used it to study the bible. I have other resources/teachers who I listen to so that I can better live out my faith in my everyday life. My passion is study. This is a passion that is new to me, for I always hated school, but this I love and cannot get enough of. I may not be able to give you an answer in full detail to every question, but I can lead the questioner to someone who can.
Everyone has a personal testimony for what they believe. The true test comes in on how you can back that testimony up with the resources that we have at our hands. Does your faith in whatever you believe, does it stand the test of science, history, discovery? Can you back up your belief? Why are you a Christian? Why aren't you one?
Friday, July 23, 2010
A Jealous Eye
1 Samuel 24:9-15, "He said to Saul, "Why do you listen when men say, 'David is bent on harming you'? This day you have seen with your own eyes how the LORD delivered you into my hands in the cave. Some urged me to kill you, but I spared you; I said, 'I will not lift my hand against my master, because he is the LORD's anointed.' See, my father, look at this piece of your robe in my hand! I cut off the corner of your robe but did not kill you. Now understand and recognize that I am not guilty of wrongdoing or rebellion. I have not wronged you, but you are hunting me down to take my life. May the LORD judge between you and me. And may the LORD avenge the wrongs you have done to me, but my hand will not touch you. As the old saying goes, 'From evildoers come evil deeds,' so my hand will not touch you."
It is so hard to understand or get a grip when someone is speaking falsely about you. What you want to do is first defend yourself. Then you want to understand why they would want to harm you. It can be so hard, because what you do is you take it personally. Instead of looking at them and keeping the focus on them and what they are going through, we instead start looking at ourselves and try to defend ourself. In that fear our insecurity comes forth and we begin to think that others will believe the lie instead of the truth. That insecurity often leads us to reaction. We may want to tell our side and defend our integrity. But all too often when we are speaking our defense, we show our insecurity and panic leads us to reaction and that reaction is all that others can see.
1 Samuel 18:8-15, "Saul was very angry; this refrain galled him. 'They have credited David with tens of thousands,' he thought, 'but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?' And from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David...When Saul saw how successful he was, he was afraid of him."
Often times when we look back at what started the battle we are in, it is the other persons insecurity. Many times when we start trying to defend ourself, it is our own insecurity. We must stand against the one trying to harm us, but what we must remember is that is the Lord who will judge between us and He will not allow the onslaught to continue forever. All too often however, because of what we have done in the past, or because of what someone else that is close to us has done, we are afraid that our reputation may already be tainted and we cannot endure another blow. That is when our own insecurity takes hold and we battle against against the world, instead of allowing God to be the judge in our defense.
Oswald Chambers, "Sanctification means the impartation of the holy qualities of Jesus Christ to me. It is the gift of His patience, love, holiness, faith, purity, and godliness that is exhibited in and through every sanctified soul. Sanctification is not drawing from Jesus the power to be holy— it is drawing from Jesus the very holiness that was exhibited in Him, and that He now exhibits in me. Sanctification is an impartation, not an imitation. Imitation is something altogether different. The perfection of everything is in Jesus Christ, and the mystery of sanctification is that all the perfect qualities of Jesus are at my disposal. Consequently, I slowly but surely begin to live a life of inexpressible order, soundness, and holiness— “...kept by the power of God...'(1 Peter 1:5)."
After we have given ourselves over to Christ we no longer have to defend ourselves against the onslaught of others and defend our reputation. He has given us a gift and that is "the gift of His patience, love, holiness, faith, purity, and godliness." When we are attacked we must remember God is the judge and we will be cleared, because we now walk with Him in integrity. This walk is very important for the believer, for it is a walk of calm assurance. It is not a walk we do on our own, but a walk we do with Christ as our shield against the world. It is the walk that will help us to keep our eye on the focus and truth of someone who is trying to harm us. That truth is that, that person is hurting. Anytime someone is hurting they will try and throw the spear at the one, who it seems to them, as the cause of their pain. Can you keep your focus on God and keep looking at others through His eyes, even when you are the innocent one in the attack?
It is so hard to understand or get a grip when someone is speaking falsely about you. What you want to do is first defend yourself. Then you want to understand why they would want to harm you. It can be so hard, because what you do is you take it personally. Instead of looking at them and keeping the focus on them and what they are going through, we instead start looking at ourselves and try to defend ourself. In that fear our insecurity comes forth and we begin to think that others will believe the lie instead of the truth. That insecurity often leads us to reaction. We may want to tell our side and defend our integrity. But all too often when we are speaking our defense, we show our insecurity and panic leads us to reaction and that reaction is all that others can see.
1 Samuel 18:8-15, "Saul was very angry; this refrain galled him. 'They have credited David with tens of thousands,' he thought, 'but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?' And from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David...When Saul saw how successful he was, he was afraid of him."
Often times when we look back at what started the battle we are in, it is the other persons insecurity. Many times when we start trying to defend ourself, it is our own insecurity. We must stand against the one trying to harm us, but what we must remember is that is the Lord who will judge between us and He will not allow the onslaught to continue forever. All too often however, because of what we have done in the past, or because of what someone else that is close to us has done, we are afraid that our reputation may already be tainted and we cannot endure another blow. That is when our own insecurity takes hold and we battle against against the world, instead of allowing God to be the judge in our defense.
Oswald Chambers, "Sanctification means the impartation of the holy qualities of Jesus Christ to me. It is the gift of His patience, love, holiness, faith, purity, and godliness that is exhibited in and through every sanctified soul. Sanctification is not drawing from Jesus the power to be holy— it is drawing from Jesus the very holiness that was exhibited in Him, and that He now exhibits in me. Sanctification is an impartation, not an imitation. Imitation is something altogether different. The perfection of everything is in Jesus Christ, and the mystery of sanctification is that all the perfect qualities of Jesus are at my disposal. Consequently, I slowly but surely begin to live a life of inexpressible order, soundness, and holiness— “...kept by the power of God...'(1 Peter 1:5)."
After we have given ourselves over to Christ we no longer have to defend ourselves against the onslaught of others and defend our reputation. He has given us a gift and that is "the gift of His patience, love, holiness, faith, purity, and godliness." When we are attacked we must remember God is the judge and we will be cleared, because we now walk with Him in integrity. This walk is very important for the believer, for it is a walk of calm assurance. It is not a walk we do on our own, but a walk we do with Christ as our shield against the world. It is the walk that will help us to keep our eye on the focus and truth of someone who is trying to harm us. That truth is that, that person is hurting. Anytime someone is hurting they will try and throw the spear at the one, who it seems to them, as the cause of their pain. Can you keep your focus on God and keep looking at others through His eyes, even when you are the innocent one in the attack?
Friday, July 9, 2010
Lying Tongue
Proverbs 12:19-20, "Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment. There is deceit in the hearts of those who plot evil, but joy for those who promote peace."
I went to bed last night thinking of the people I know, those who I thought I could trust, but because of their lying, I no longer trust anything about them. If there is anything that can ruin your relationships more, it is the lying we do to ourselves and to others. I have been this person. I have lied to those that I said that I loved. That road was the hardest to repave than any other. It was the lying to myself that I had to face first. We have a tendency to believe what we ourselves say. Our heart always knows the truth, but we can convince our minds to believe it. In Proverbs 6, seven things that the Lord hates are listed. Lying is the second. For when you lie about one thing, chances are you will lie about anything. Then no one can trust you.
Here are a few examples that most anyone can relate to. You (I) have either been this person, or you know them. First, if you have maxed out your credit card, then instead of paying it off, you go out and get another to do the same with; you are not only a lier, but a thief. When we do this we really have no intention of paying for that item, or that trip, or that.... you can fill in the blank. When we do this we are not only lying to the credit card people, but we are lying to those who see us spend money that way. We are pretending to be someone we are not. We become prideful and arrogant. Another example is someone that has gotten a divorce and blamed everything that went wrong on their spouse. The tendency is to blame everything on the other person, instead of recognizing your own sins in the relationship. I think this could be one reason why the bible says not to get a divorce. It is because we have a tendency to go on believing our own lies. For example: If when you are married and you have a messy house and you blame your spouse for that mess, who is to blame if you are still living in a mess when you no longer live with that person? When I was married to my ex I blamed him for my drug use. When he was no longer around, whose fault was it when I was still sneaking around getting high!
We are constantly lying to ourselves and in doing this we remain in bondage. In order to get out of that bondage we must learn to see ourselves for what we really are instead of blaming others and trying to not only deceive them, but deceive ourselves as well. We have been called to walk in truth and light. In order to do this we must first be truthful to ourselves about everything. We cannot blame our spouse for our bad decisions, or our bad attitude. He has called us to be a good example for them no matter what they are doing. Our society has made it very easy for us to walk around as liers. We have Internet and televisions in our homes, so no one can really see what we are looking at. We have credit cards and loans from banks, so it looks like we have more money than we really do. We can easily get a divorce and move on to our next spouse. We as a society have placed the blame on everyone else so much that no one is responsible any longer for their own sins. We no longer even call it a sin, but a mistake. If we do not come out and start looking at ourselves for what we really are, we will no longer need Christ and the cross. It is in seeing ourselves and our sins for what they really are that we can turn to Him and ask for forgiveness. It is in seeing and admitting truth that His truth and freedom reigns.
Eventually no one will believe a word you say, so you must first stop believing your own lies. Look to the truth and the truth will set you free. Anyone who walks in the darkness will stumble, but all who walk in the light of truth will be able to run freely. Can you see where you are walking, or are you walking blind thinking that others cannot see you either? There is only one who is blind in a relationship and that is the lier themselves.
I went to bed last night thinking of the people I know, those who I thought I could trust, but because of their lying, I no longer trust anything about them. If there is anything that can ruin your relationships more, it is the lying we do to ourselves and to others. I have been this person. I have lied to those that I said that I loved. That road was the hardest to repave than any other. It was the lying to myself that I had to face first. We have a tendency to believe what we ourselves say. Our heart always knows the truth, but we can convince our minds to believe it. In Proverbs 6, seven things that the Lord hates are listed. Lying is the second. For when you lie about one thing, chances are you will lie about anything. Then no one can trust you.
Here are a few examples that most anyone can relate to. You (I) have either been this person, or you know them. First, if you have maxed out your credit card, then instead of paying it off, you go out and get another to do the same with; you are not only a lier, but a thief. When we do this we really have no intention of paying for that item, or that trip, or that.... you can fill in the blank. When we do this we are not only lying to the credit card people, but we are lying to those who see us spend money that way. We are pretending to be someone we are not. We become prideful and arrogant. Another example is someone that has gotten a divorce and blamed everything that went wrong on their spouse. The tendency is to blame everything on the other person, instead of recognizing your own sins in the relationship. I think this could be one reason why the bible says not to get a divorce. It is because we have a tendency to go on believing our own lies. For example: If when you are married and you have a messy house and you blame your spouse for that mess, who is to blame if you are still living in a mess when you no longer live with that person? When I was married to my ex I blamed him for my drug use. When he was no longer around, whose fault was it when I was still sneaking around getting high!
We are constantly lying to ourselves and in doing this we remain in bondage. In order to get out of that bondage we must learn to see ourselves for what we really are instead of blaming others and trying to not only deceive them, but deceive ourselves as well. We have been called to walk in truth and light. In order to do this we must first be truthful to ourselves about everything. We cannot blame our spouse for our bad decisions, or our bad attitude. He has called us to be a good example for them no matter what they are doing. Our society has made it very easy for us to walk around as liers. We have Internet and televisions in our homes, so no one can really see what we are looking at. We have credit cards and loans from banks, so it looks like we have more money than we really do. We can easily get a divorce and move on to our next spouse. We as a society have placed the blame on everyone else so much that no one is responsible any longer for their own sins. We no longer even call it a sin, but a mistake. If we do not come out and start looking at ourselves for what we really are, we will no longer need Christ and the cross. It is in seeing ourselves and our sins for what they really are that we can turn to Him and ask for forgiveness. It is in seeing and admitting truth that His truth and freedom reigns.
Eventually no one will believe a word you say, so you must first stop believing your own lies. Look to the truth and the truth will set you free. Anyone who walks in the darkness will stumble, but all who walk in the light of truth will be able to run freely. Can you see where you are walking, or are you walking blind thinking that others cannot see you either? There is only one who is blind in a relationship and that is the lier themselves.
Friday, April 2, 2010
Exposed
Today is good Friday. All this week I have been reading Matthew 21-27, looking at what happened after Jesus' triumphal entry into Jerusalem. He entered the city with shouts of joy from the crowd. They were praising Him, "'Hosanna to the Son of David!' 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord!' 'Hosanna in the highest!'" I have been concentrating on what lead to the dramatic change of events. They went from praising Him, to shouting, "Crucify Him!" So what happened what changed them so dramatically. Most of the time we concentrate our study on the second coming, or on Mary anointing Jesus' feet, or Peter's denial, or even Judas' betrayal, but I have wanted to know what really set things in motion. The truth is what set peoples hearts on fire against Him. It really was not truth about Him, but truth about them.
(23:1-36), "Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 'The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. Everything they do is for show... Hypocrites!... Hypocrites!... Hypocrites! Blind guides!... Hypocrites!'"
It was Jesus pointing out the truth in people that turned the crowds. No one likes to be exposed for what they really are. We try to cover and hide our sinful nature. We don't want others to tell us that we are wrong. We can all be put into the category of hypocrite. We want people to think that we are mostly good at heart, but when someone comes and exposes what we are doing as the truth, we want to fight against them and turn others against them as well. It isn't just the "teachers" that do this, but everyone. We all want everyone to agree with our life choices. We all want to say that what we do is not really all that bad. It is hard when someone calls us out and exposes us. Our tendency is to fight against the truth others see in us, until the bottom falls out and there is no other way to run from it. The problem with this approach, is the destruction we cause along the way.
Oswald Chambers, "When Paul received his sight, he also received spiritual insight into the Person of Jesus Christ. His entire life and preaching from that point on were totally consumed with nothing but Jesus Christ— 'For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified' ( 1 Corinthians 2:2 ). Paul never again allowed anything to attract and hold the attention of his mind and soul except the face of Jesus Christ... Never allow anything to divert you from your insight into Jesus Christ. It is the true test of whether you are spiritual or not. To be unspiritual means that other things have a growing fascination for you. Since mine eyes have looked on Jesus, I’ve lost sight of all beside, So enchained my spirit’s vision, Gazing on the Crucified." Allow Jesus to expose the truth in your life. Allow Him to take away what you thought was pleasing, gratifying, and ultimately your destruction, so that you can finally walk free. Once your eyes are opened to the truth, the truth shall set you free. Take a look at the cross. How has your life lead to the Crucifixion of Christ?
http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/my-utmost-for-his-highest/04/02/devotion.aspx?year=2010
(23:1-36), "Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, 'The teachers of religious law and the Pharisees are the official interpreters of the law of Moses. So practice and obey whatever they tell you, but don’t follow their example. For they don’t practice what they teach. They crush people with unbearable religious demands and never lift a finger to ease the burden. Everything they do is for show... Hypocrites!... Hypocrites!... Hypocrites! Blind guides!... Hypocrites!'"
It was Jesus pointing out the truth in people that turned the crowds. No one likes to be exposed for what they really are. We try to cover and hide our sinful nature. We don't want others to tell us that we are wrong. We can all be put into the category of hypocrite. We want people to think that we are mostly good at heart, but when someone comes and exposes what we are doing as the truth, we want to fight against them and turn others against them as well. It isn't just the "teachers" that do this, but everyone. We all want everyone to agree with our life choices. We all want to say that what we do is not really all that bad. It is hard when someone calls us out and exposes us. Our tendency is to fight against the truth others see in us, until the bottom falls out and there is no other way to run from it. The problem with this approach, is the destruction we cause along the way.
Oswald Chambers, "When Paul received his sight, he also received spiritual insight into the Person of Jesus Christ. His entire life and preaching from that point on were totally consumed with nothing but Jesus Christ— 'For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified' ( 1 Corinthians 2:2 ). Paul never again allowed anything to attract and hold the attention of his mind and soul except the face of Jesus Christ... Never allow anything to divert you from your insight into Jesus Christ. It is the true test of whether you are spiritual or not. To be unspiritual means that other things have a growing fascination for you. Since mine eyes have looked on Jesus, I’ve lost sight of all beside, So enchained my spirit’s vision, Gazing on the Crucified." Allow Jesus to expose the truth in your life. Allow Him to take away what you thought was pleasing, gratifying, and ultimately your destruction, so that you can finally walk free. Once your eyes are opened to the truth, the truth shall set you free. Take a look at the cross. How has your life lead to the Crucifixion of Christ?
http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/my-utmost-for-his-highest/04/02/devotion.aspx?year=2010
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
God's Sifting Season
Luke 22:31-34, "Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." But he replied, "Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death." Jesus answered, "I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me."
The sifting season, that one can be hard. There were so many times in my young life that I was "ready". I wanted to go out and help others. But, I was not ready. It is during the sifting season that all the impurities and the dead stalks are removed. It is during this time that we discover our true faith. It is during this time that we begin learning to lay aside our thoughts and start turning to Jesus for what we are really supposed to do.
Peter thought he was ready. He was ready for a fight, but he was still unaware of what Jesus was really wanting. He was still blind to the full realities of what was happening. In his impulsiveness, he was ready to fight. He had not been thoroughly sifted yet. It was in seeing his weakness and discovering how much he did not know, that he became ready for the battle ahead. Only, it was a battle he never dreamed would come, in the way that it did. He was expecting a physical battle, Christ has prepared us for a spiritual battle. A battle we must fight every day. A battle not with others, but with Satan. James 1:14, "Temptation comes from the lure of our own evil desires." The sifting that He has asked us to partake in, is a sifting that happens every day. If we are continually looking at other's sins, we are missing our own. If we are continually looking at our past sin, we are missing the present. The first thing we must do everyday, is to allow God to sift us. In opening ourselves up first, then we are ready for the fight. In opening ourselves up, we can see how much we need Him.
Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be ready for the daily battle; Belt of Truth, Shoes of Peace, Shield of Faith, Helmet of Salvation, Sword of the Spirit. (Eph 6) Every day we must walk through the threshing floor, so that our own impurities may be removed. After we have been sifted, we put on our armor, and go out to help others during their sifting. We are to continually wave our hands toward heaven and allow the winds of God to blow away our death, so that He can be a light of life to others through us.
Oswald Chambers, "It is only when God has transformed our nature and we have entered into the experience of sanctification that the fight begins. The warfare is not against sin; we can never fight against sin— Jesus Christ conquered that in His redemption of us. The conflict is waged over turning our natural life into a spiritual life. This is never done easily, nor does God intend that it be so. It is accomplished only through a series of moral choices. God does not make us holy in the sense that He makes our character holy. He makes us holy in the sense that He has made us innocent before Him. And then we have to turn that innocence into holy character through the moral choices we make. These choices are continually opposed and hostile to the things of our natural life which have become so deeply entrenched— the very things that raise themselves up as fortified barriers "against the knowledge of God." We can either turn back, making ourselves of no value to the kingdom of God, or we can determinedly demolish these things, allowing Jesus to bring another son to glory (see Hebrews 2:10).
Are you ready for battle? Do you see what the battle is, in your own life? Are you willing to go through the sifting of sin, every day? If you are, then you are ready to go out and help others.
http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/my-utmost-for-his-highest/09/08/devotion.aspx?year=2009
The sifting season, that one can be hard. There were so many times in my young life that I was "ready". I wanted to go out and help others. But, I was not ready. It is during the sifting season that all the impurities and the dead stalks are removed. It is during this time that we discover our true faith. It is during this time that we begin learning to lay aside our thoughts and start turning to Jesus for what we are really supposed to do.
Peter thought he was ready. He was ready for a fight, but he was still unaware of what Jesus was really wanting. He was still blind to the full realities of what was happening. In his impulsiveness, he was ready to fight. He had not been thoroughly sifted yet. It was in seeing his weakness and discovering how much he did not know, that he became ready for the battle ahead. Only, it was a battle he never dreamed would come, in the way that it did. He was expecting a physical battle, Christ has prepared us for a spiritual battle. A battle we must fight every day. A battle not with others, but with Satan. James 1:14, "Temptation comes from the lure of our own evil desires." The sifting that He has asked us to partake in, is a sifting that happens every day. If we are continually looking at other's sins, we are missing our own. If we are continually looking at our past sin, we are missing the present. The first thing we must do everyday, is to allow God to sift us. In opening ourselves up first, then we are ready for the fight. In opening ourselves up, we can see how much we need Him.
Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be ready for the daily battle; Belt of Truth, Shoes of Peace, Shield of Faith, Helmet of Salvation, Sword of the Spirit. (Eph 6) Every day we must walk through the threshing floor, so that our own impurities may be removed. After we have been sifted, we put on our armor, and go out to help others during their sifting. We are to continually wave our hands toward heaven and allow the winds of God to blow away our death, so that He can be a light of life to others through us.
Oswald Chambers, "It is only when God has transformed our nature and we have entered into the experience of sanctification that the fight begins. The warfare is not against sin; we can never fight against sin— Jesus Christ conquered that in His redemption of us. The conflict is waged over turning our natural life into a spiritual life. This is never done easily, nor does God intend that it be so. It is accomplished only through a series of moral choices. God does not make us holy in the sense that He makes our character holy. He makes us holy in the sense that He has made us innocent before Him. And then we have to turn that innocence into holy character through the moral choices we make. These choices are continually opposed and hostile to the things of our natural life which have become so deeply entrenched— the very things that raise themselves up as fortified barriers "against the knowledge of God." We can either turn back, making ourselves of no value to the kingdom of God, or we can determinedly demolish these things, allowing Jesus to bring another son to glory (see Hebrews 2:10).
Are you ready for battle? Do you see what the battle is, in your own life? Are you willing to go through the sifting of sin, every day? If you are, then you are ready to go out and help others.
http://www.rbc.org/devotionals/my-utmost-for-his-highest/09/08/devotion.aspx?year=2009
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