When Things Don’t Change
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In my 38 (almost 39)years on this Earth, I have seen so many things change. I have seen myself get older, my children transform before my eyes and become teens, and my career path change quite a few times. Change is inevitable.
The New Year has begun and for many it is a new start. It is a new opportunity to make some changes in our lives that maybe we didn’t have the gumption to do before. The types and quantity of resolutions are endless.
The problem is when things don’t change.
You’re still the same weight. Your marriage is still a mess. Your kids still hate your guts. Your finances are still a wreck. You still hate your job.
The blame game begins on the things that didn’t change. Despair and disappointment set in and you’re done.
The year comes to a close again, and you resolve to make “the next year”, the “year” everything changes, and the cycle continues on. The failure to see change continues.
The following reasons things don’t change sometimes are things that I have come to understand about myself and still walk through and wrestle with all the time. I don’t claim to have mastered them, but I believe they will help you.
1) We don’t see the change in the circumstances around us is because of our failure to see the change that needs to take place inside of us.
Many times things need to change inside of us in order for things to change before things can change in the outside world. We have attitudes, mindsets, and ways of thinking that need to change. Perhaps you are filled with pride or you lack mercy, or you lack character. If the way we think or see things doesn’t change, we would doom everything we want to accomplish. Left to our own devices, because of the sinful, fallen nature we have, we would mess it all up. We may see this as God torturing us or denying us what we want but this is His mercy on us that He doesn’t gives us what we want, when we want it. This is definitely a tough pill to swallow. No doubt.
2) We don’t see change because we are looking for something outside of Christ that can only be found in Him alone.
This one is huge. Many of the things we desire for ourselves are merely a substitute for something we can find in Christ alone. Whether it’s security, love, acceptance, or provision, God wants to fill all of these things in our lives. All too often we turn to our jobs, our spouses, our kids, or even doing good things to fill the longing of our hearts. The problem is that they never bring lasting joy to our lives. God is jealous for our hearts and He will not let anything bring true fulfillment outside of Him and what Jesus did on the cross.
I have no doubt that all of you wrestle with these things in varying degrees. There may some of you that this may be an eye-opener for you. My prayer for you (and me) is that we will have ears to hear, eyes to see, and teachable heart to allow God to reveal us those things we need to learn. That we would be able to look back on the previous year, and see how far God has brought us all.
The one thing I am grateful for that doesn’t change is how much Jesus loves you and me.
God bless your New Year
Kevin
The Day After Advent
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The Advent season seems to be more meaningful every year as God reveals more and more the wonder of what He did in coming to this fallen, corrupted, and doomed world. Becoming a man, lived a life of total obedience to the Father’s will in sinless perfection, and lived to be a perfect sacrifice to redeem this world. In paticular, He came and revealed Himself to me; a fallen, sinful, doomed soul and chose to save me despite the fact that by my actions I could merit no favor.
I can’t imagine the splendor of the heavenly hosts that the sheperds saw. The wonder of wise men who travelled from the East to a small town, to a stable where they would behold the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords and pay homage. These things are beyond my minds eye can fathom.
I was just sitting here thinking: “What about the day after Advent?”
The angels are no longer lighting up the heavens, the sound of angel song ceases, and now all that the sheperds hear is the bleating of sheep.
The wise men begin their trip back home, but their thoughts travel back to a stable in Bethlehem and questions of: “Did we truly see the King of the Jews? Did we follow the right star? Why is a king lying in a manger?” begin to dance in their heads.
Did Advent come and open your heart and mind with wonder and fill your heart with hope? What about the day after Advent? Once you were feeling the joy of spending time with family and now you are saying goodbye and going back to “the same ole same old ”. Songs of His glorious birth are replaced by the honking of horns on your morning commute to work. The trees that held under its branches items things you really wanted, is now empty and your heart still yearns for something more.
The day after Advent is more important than the day of. This is the day that you have to truly experience the joy of His coming.
You will face the trials and tribulations of life. You will have to go to work. You will have to face the same people that you had a problem with. Life doesn’t stop because of Advent, it begins!
Jesus came that we might have life and have it more abundantly. Jesus didn’t come to remove you from your life. He came that He might live His life in you and through you! His Advent gives us hope that tomorrow will be better than yesterday. Because He lives in you and me we can face tomorrow. His coming was not just into a manger, but because He came, He now dwells in the hearts of His people!
So this day forward, we are no longer lost, but we have been found. We no longer have to live our lives to appease an angry God, but His sacrifice covers and clothes us in His righteousness. We have more reason to celebrate Advent today than we did on Christmas so let us declare His greatness each and every day, knowing His Advent brought us eternal life!
Kevin
Walking in The Light
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1 John 1:5-10:
5This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
We discussed this passage of scripture a little in prayer Wednesday night. I have been thinking about it ever since. There is some wonderful, liberating, truth here.
Verse 5 says that God is light and in Him there is no darkness. It goes on to say in verse 6 that if we walk in darkness, we are not practicing the truth and we are liars. Seems pretty harsh, but John is getting ready to pop the top on something wonderful!
7) But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus cleanses us from ALL sin. The key is walking in the light (which we established that God is the light). If we skip to verse 10 for a second, the scripture tells us if we say we have not sinned, we make God a liar, and His word is not in us.
When we walk in the light, the light (God) exposes our darkness (sin). If there is no light (His truth), then we walk in darkness (sin) and we do not have fellowship with each other and His truth can’t be in us. In order for us to see our sin (darkness) we must walk in His light. The greatness of this comes in verse 9. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
God knows we are sinners. His light exposes our darkness, but it is the fact that the light opens our eyes to see our sin, and also opens our eyes to what Christ did on the cross. Now, because of what He did, we can walk in the grace that His death bought for us! That allows us to approach God, confess our sin, and to be cleansed from ALL sin! Thank you Jesus!
When we refuse to confess our sin, and try to hide the darkness inside us; when we conceal our sin like Adam and Eve tried to cover their naked bodies, we are not allowing His truth to set us free, or receive His forgiveness in our lives.
Let’s walk in the light today. Let’s not be ashamed, but walk in the truth that in fact we are spectacular sinners, but we have been saved by a spectacular God and we no longer have to walk in shame, but know we are forgiven because of Jesus Christ and His sacrifice.
Kevin
It’s All His
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Psalm 24
1 The earth is the LORD’s and the fullness thereof,
the world and those who dwell therein
I’ve been meditating on this passage of scripture last night and this morning. If we don’t meditate on the scripture, we can lose a lot of meaning from God’s Word.
We say “Yeah, the Earth is the Lord’s. That’s kind of a given isn’t it”? Not really.
If we start looking at our lives in relation to the Gospel, we don’t live like the Earth is the Lord’s. If we are honest, we live like our lives our ours to choose to live how we want, we spend our money like it is ours and we can do what we want, and we pick scripture that we choose to follow and others we choose to “not listen to”.
That phrase “and the fullness thereof ” accentuates the fact that everything truly belongs to Him and Him alone. From the oxygen you breath, your family, to the things that you worship and give a greater place to than Him. It is all His!
Do we (includes me) act like our lives are truly His? Do our actions reflect a life submitted to Christ? I’m sure everyone can say there is something they are struggling to trust and give God control of. This is why we need His grace so terribly. Our need reflects our inadequacy. Our struggle for control reveals our powerlessness.
Jesus does allow us to experience failure, loss, hunger, frustration, poverty. It is not out of anger that God does this because has already paid the full penalty for our sins and transgressions. He took the consequenses for disobedience, the shame of our failures, and the punishment for our transgressions. What didn’t God do that allows me to go through these things? Why do we suffer? We suffer to bring Him glory, that in these weak, disobedient, wicked shells that will one day pass away, His glory can be made manifest. I am no longer being punished for my sin. I may be disciplined, but I am never rejected. We are His children, and the Father disciplines those He loves. I may go through difficult times but the Father will never leave or forsake us. EVER. We experience suffering because our hearts wander, we lack trust in Him, or we try to find our needs met outside of Christ.
Why do we struggle financially? It is because we do not trust God to provide so we strive, stress, and look for any other way under the sun to find security and sustenance. He will allow us to continue to struggle financially not as a punishment, but that we may through that suffering come to the understanding that He is our provider. Why do people struggle to find peace and turn to drugs and alcohol? It is because they do not find peace in the cross of Christ and do not allow God to bear the weight of our cares. God allows us to experience this lack of peace till we understand where we are to find true peace.
The Lord contends for our hearts. His Spirit works in our lives to make us aware of our need for Him, and reminds us that everything belongs to Him.
Kevin
Do You Think Your House in Order?
What a mess!! Right? Can you imagine someone coming into your house and completely trashing it? Can you imagine someone flipping tables over, ripping up your couch, and putting holes in your walls? Can you imagine someone taking your treasured photographs, gifts you received from your spouse, or awards for your achievements and tearing them up, mangling them, or smashing them to pieces? After all, why would anyone do that? Right? Well what if I told you God does this (in a manner of speaking)?
Well let’s take a look at some scripture:
1 Samuel 30:
1) Now when David and his men came to Ziklag on the third day, the Amalekites had made a raid against the Negeb and against Ziklag. They had overcome Ziklag and burned it with fire 2) and taken captive the women and all who were in it, both small and great. They killed no one, but carried them off and went their way. 3) And when David and his men came to the city, they found it burned with fire, and their wives and sons and daughters taken captive. 4) Then David and the people who were with him raised their voices and wept until they had no more strength to weep. 5) David’s two wives also had been taken captive, Ahinoam of Jezreel and Abigail the widow of Nabal of Carmel. 6) And David was greatly distressed, for the people spoke of stoning him, because all the people were bitter in soul, each for his sons and daughters.
This passage of scripture has lots of Gospel implications. I will try to stay on point here. Here is David, man after God’s own heart, chosen to be king of Israel after Saul, a man who could have killed Saul a number of times in his sleep, but chose to walk in integrity, for all intents and purposes, a man doing the right things with God’s protection and favor on his life. David comes back home only to find his home burned to the ground and his wife and the families of his men taken into captivity, and to top it off, his men are about ready to kill him because of all this. Doesn’t sound like a good situation for David does it? Obviously there was a lot of criticism of the way David ran things, since David decided to leave the city and their families unprotected while they went off to fight elsewhere. People would probably say that he didn’t have his ducks in a row.
In most circles today, people would say that “the devil must really hate David to attack him like this”. Or he would have faced a lot of bad media press and calls for David to be replaced with a more competent leader. A lot of times we see tragedy, trials, and tribulations as attacks of Satan or just stupidity on our part (and these do happen and the devil is real), but rarely do we see the hand of the Potter moving in our lives.
I was praying one day and I saw the inside of my house. It looked like someone had come in and flipped tables over and moved things around a bit. It was a mess. It took me a while, but I managed to clean up the mess and get everything put back in place and it even looked better than before the “vandals” got in and messed things up. I was very happy with the way it looked and I thought “man, I would love for people and come over and check out how nice it all looks”. Well, I was brought back to the doorway of my house again, and when I opened the door expecting to see the house looking pristine and orderly, I was in for a shock. Not only was furniture flipped, but the couches were ripped open and the stuffing was all over, pictures were smashed and ripped, chairs were broken beyond repair, holes in the walls, just like the picture above. It was ruined beyond my ability to clean or repair.
It was then I heard God speak to me: He showed me that the things I have tried so hard to fix in my life were not necessarily the things He wanted me to fix (not that I had the power to do so in the first place). The more I arranged my house the way I thought it should look, the more dramatic the destruction would be when He comes in and does what He wants to do in my life. He showed me my lack of faith and trust in Him to bring me where He wants me to be, not where I think I should be.
God is not asking us to fix ourselves. What He is asking is that we trust Him. He is asking that we go when He says to go. He is asking us to rest under the shadow of His wing and take refuge and find our strength in Him. Change will come, but change that will last will never come by the work of our hands. Only through the finished work that Jesus Christ did on the cross will we ever find security, hope, and our destiny.
Emptiness of Medicating Ourselves
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Lamentations 1:
18 “The LORD is in the right,
for I have rebelled against his word;
but hear, all you peoples,
and see my suffering;
my young women and my young men
have gone into captivity.
19“I called to my lovers,
but they deceived me;
my priests and elders
perished in the city,
while they sought food
to revive their strength.
20“Look, O LORD, for I am in distress;
my stomach churns;
my heart is wrung within me,
because I have been very rebellious.
In the street the sword bereaves;
in the house it is like death.
21“They heard my groaning,
yet there is no one to comfort me.
All my enemies have heard of my trouble;
they are glad that you have done it.
You have brought the day you announced;
now let them be as I am.
Anytime we look for comfort, security, affirmation, peace, or joy aside from Christ, we will find ourselves sorely lacking and sorely disappointed.
Are you disappointed with God over something? Are you angry that He is not “changing you fast enough”? This is one that I have dealt with a lot. Are you disappointed that other people are being blessed and you are constantly in need or want? If yes is your answer to questions like these, you may be looking to “another lover” for something that only God can give, only God can fill or provide.
Is it tv you look for solace? Maybe it’s that big bowl of ice cream, or maybe it’s exercise, work, or even some sort of religious activity that gives you a sense of comfort or right standing with God. At some point, those lovers will fail to deliver, and you will be left scrambling for something else to find comfort in. It’s not until we become still and come to Him, not as a spoiled child who doesn’t like what they are having for dinner, but in true brokenness and humility. There’s something about true humility and brokenness that moves the heart of God. Medicating ourselves with things other than God fills us with pride that we “handled” the situation. Don’t be fooled. Only God can bring true, lasting change, joy, peace, and deliverence.
Will you continue to medicate the problem, or will you turn to Him in true repentance and humility?
Kevin
Emotions and Faith
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I was really challenged by this post by John Piper yesterday. The message is still ringing in my brain.
I was brought up in a Penecostal/Charismatic church background. Dancing, shouting, clapping were the norm. I saw a lot of people putting on a show to get attention, to get others to think they are “more spiritual”. LOTS of hype, lots of excess, lots of fakeness.
Now before you think I’m on a Charismatic bashfest, read on. In the past ten years I have seen the pendulum swing in the opposite direction for a lot of people who were a part of these churches who left for the reasons I raised a few sentences ago. Those who once exhibitted so much passion are now some of the most stoic, unemotional people I have seen. I raise this question:
Is there a disconnect between our emotion and our worship and walk with God?
My belief is yes. How do I know this?
When you sin, does it grieve you to the point of tears? Probably not. We have programmed ourselves to deflect that. Any negative emotion is bad, right? We work really hard to shut out sorrow and conviction. We are quick to label any negative emotion as condemnation and shut it out. What if, I mean really, what if we truly felt Godly sorrow that led to true repentance? What if we came together and repented of our sin because we have taken the sacrifice Christ made on the cross for granted?
Should we walk in condemnation? No, but if our sin does not break our heart because we are breaking the heart of God, then why change? Why bother? We spend a lot of time medicating ourselves with things (idols) to help us escape the stresses of life, but what if we are medicating ourselves at the cost of tuning the Holy Spirit out and tuning our emotions out so we don’t see that the stresses that we face are because we are walking in disobedience and God is trying to show us things in our lives that we need to repent of so we can walk in the joy God has for us?
When you disconnect emotion from repentance you have empty confessions of sin that you have no intention or conviction of doing anything about.
When you think of what God has delivered you from and how He has changed your life, does it truly fill your heart with thanksgiving? We know in our head that we should be grateful, but how do you exhibit that gratefulness? Let me ask, “how can you exhibit true gratefulness without emotion?”
Imagine if you gave your spouse or child something that you knew they wanted more than anything and they looked at you straight faced, hands in their pockets and said “thank you, I am so grateful” in a completely monotone voice. Is that reaction worthy of such a fantastic gift? Can you really do that? If your answer is “no”, then why do we go into church on Sunday, stank-face, put our hands on the seat in front of us and refuse (and I do mean refuse) to take 15-20 minutes of your precious weekend to praise God who is worthy and has done so much for us, who are unworthy, with all of our might? We should leave church tired cause we worshipped our God with everything we have! We spend so much emotional energy on things that seek to drain us of our joy. Why not use that energy to praise our God with a heart of thanksgiving? How big will those problems be when we exalt the name of Jesus over those things?
When you disconnect emotion from your worship, you cannot have true worship.
God made us in His image. (Genesis 1:26-27) God has emotions. God loves (John 3:16) and God can be grieved (Genesis 6:6). Too often we connect our emotions to things other than God and it’s that desire for those things that make it so difficult for us to connect with God. Just like we can’t love our wife and a mistress we cannot set our affections and passions on other things and expect to have a passion for God and His kingdom. Until we identify these things we will struggle in our worship, struggle in our prayer life, struggle in sharing Christ with others.
Where our heart is, our emotions will follow. that is why we get upset when someone starts messing with our idols. That is why we are crabby when our luxuries and pleasures are removed from us. That’s why we grumble when we have Ramen to eat and you really want a steak. Our emotions are attached to things and people rather than the person of Christ. The things that would upset you most if they were taken away are normally the biggest idol in your life.
Emotions are a gift from God. We should use them to draw closer to Him. Let’s glorify our God with them. I pray that we would all truly repent of the things that are keeping us from worshipping Him the way He truly deserves.
Kevin
Paying the Price
Haggai 1
1 In the second year of Darius the king, in the sixth month, on the first day of the month, the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest: 2“Thus says the LORD of hosts: These people say the time has not yet come to rebuild the house of the LORD.” 3Then the word of the LORD came by the hand of Haggai the prophet, 4 “Is it a time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies in ruins? 5Now, therefore, thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. 6 You have sown much, and harvested little. You eat, but you never have enough; you drink, but you never have your fill. You clothe yourselves, but no one is warm. And he who earns wages does so to put them into a bag with holes.
7“Thus says the LORD of hosts: Consider your ways. 8Go up to the hills and bring wood and build the house, that I may take pleasure in it and that I may be glorified, says the LORD. 9 You looked for much, and behold, it came to little. And when you brought it home, I blew it away. Why? declares the LORD of hosts. Because of my house that lies in ruins, while each of you busies himself with his own house. 10Therefore the heavens above you have withheld the dew, and the earth has withheld its produce. 11And I have called for a drought on the land and the hills, on the grain, the new wine, the oil, on what the ground brings forth, on man and beast, and on all their labors.”
I was looking at this passage today and it kinda hit hard.
I know a lot of folks use this passage to talk about giving. I think we are missing a lot when we take a scripture and apply a label to it.
Read the passage again. God is talking about rebuilding the temple of God. In a New Testament context, the building of stone and wood has been replaced by a temple of flesh and blood.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
19Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, 20 for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
God is talking about how we devote so much to what returns so little. We build our houses (look to satisfy our desires) while we neglect the temple (our spirit man). I used to wonder why we don’t see the kind of miracles and wonders of the bible in this present day. The fact is we don’t want to pay the price that is required to see God do those kind of things in and through us.
Matthew 20:20-23
Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him with her sons, and kneeling before him she asked him for something. 21And he said to her, “What do you want?” She said to him, “Say that these two sons of mine are to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom.” 22Jesus answered, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink?” They said to him, “We are able.” 23He said to them, “You will drink my cup, but to sit at my right hand and at my left is not mine to grant, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared by my Father.”
Its really bad how we want to see revival, we want to see people healed and transformed by the gospel, we want God to do so many things, but we don’t want to pay the price to see those things happen. We want everything handed to us on a silver platter and no sweat off our brow. We don’t want to study, we don’t want to pray, we don’t want to fast, we don’t want to volunteer “too much of our time”,we don’t want to take too much focus off ourselves for too long to see God do anything significant in our lives, our church, our community, our city, state, country, or world. As long as we are good in our own little world, we are content. This my friends, is not the gospel.
Those who make the biggest difference make the biggest sacrifices. The gospel will not be manifest in our lives until we deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow Him. The “cup’ He would have us drink is not kool-aid folks. It is hard. It is a sacrifice. It is a lot of self-denial. I was just told by my doctor a week ago that my blood sugar is way too high. I have had to make some changes in what and how I eat. Many things that I enjoyed are now things that I can no longer enjoy. It is hard to give up things that you enjoy. It has been a struggle for me at times, but I understand that if I do not make those changes, I may die or have serious health issues when I get older. Same thing with our spirit lives. If we neglect what our spirit needs to grow and develop, we produce lives deficient of fruit the of the Spirit. Many times we struggle with the same things in our lives because we neglect our spirit man.
Do you want a closer relationship with God?
Do you want to see others come to know the grace that God shown to you?
Do you want to know what God says the situations you are facing in your life?
Do you want to be free from addiction?
Do you want to be able to worship God with passion and reckless abandon?
This will not happen doing the same ole thing you are used to doing. This will only happen when you step out of your comfort zone, deny yourself, volunteer to do something in your church, make time for His Word and prayer, and when you mess up, get up and keep going.
Will you pay the price?
Kevin
Taking a Shot
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I remember when I was a kid, my big brother used to punch the mess out me. Thats what boys do. They wrestle, play slaps, arm wrestle, bloody knuckles, you name it. Playing these games would get you bruised up and occasionally bloody, but they were a right-of-passage and showed you how tough you were and how you gained respect by the other boys.
As we move into adulthood, the shots we take are much less physical, take on other forms, and can be a lot more serious. Whether it’s a crazy co-worker that hasn’t had their coffee, or it could be a bad diagnosis from a doctor. The way we take these shots reveals our character and in whom in we trust. Check out what Paul went though:
2 Corinthians 11:24-28
24Five times I received at the hands of the Jews the forty lashes less one. 25Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked; a night and a day I was adrift at sea; 26on frequent journeys, in danger from rivers, danger from robbers, danger from my own people, danger from Gentiles, danger in the city, danger in the wilderness, danger at sea, danger from false brothers; 27 in toil and hardship, through many a sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure. 28And, apart from other things, there is the daily pressure on me of my anxiety for all the churches.
As Christ-Followers, we are going to take shots. We are going to get bad news, we are going to have disagreements with our spouses, we are going to experience various trials and tribulations. Some things are just going to bust you right in the chops.
As a Christ-Follower, can you take a hit? Can you turn your cheek when your co-worker tries to run you down to your boss? Can you declare the Lord is your healer when you are diagnosed with some disease? Do you rest on His strong right arm when it seems there is no way out of your circumstance?
The Bible declares that we will have trials, tribulations and turmoil. Will you take the shot and keep moving forward or will you shrink back? Will you walk in faith or will you allow the enemy and this world to run all over you and steal your joy and peace? It’s time to move forward in faith in Christ. It’s time to start preaching the gospel to yourself and to your circumstances instead of listening to them and allowing them to dictate how much joy and happiness you experience in your life.
2 Corinthians 4:7-11
7But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. 8We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; 9persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; 10 always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. 11For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.
Are you ready to take a shot?
Kevin
Just Being
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One thing I enjoy very much is dates with my wife. I enjoy being with her. It’s not necessarily what we are doing, it’s just being together. It’s during these times that I get to remind myself how wonderful she is and why I fell in love with her.
Why would this not be the same with our relationship with God? Sometimes we need to “just be” with Him.
Psalm 16:11 (English Standard Version)
11You make known to me the path of life;
in your presence there is fullness of joy;
at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
If there is fullness of joy and pleasures forevermore, why would we not make the time to be with Him? What are we doing that is more important? There is a gospel balance in having relationship with Him and “serving Him”.
Matthew 7
21 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’
Jesus spoke some very important words here. He was explaining how important relationship is over works. The problem most of us run into is that we get so caught up trying to things for God, that we forget to “be with Him”. This passage shows that we can do things in His name and have God tell us that He never knew us. Most of us feel like if we are not doing something for Him, we are not loved by Him and it is because of our good deeds we are loved. The gospel teaches us that we ARE ALREADY LOVED and accepted by Him, before we knew Him,and it because of THAT love that we are free to love Him with no strings attached and no services we must render to deserve that love. So when I mess up with my wife or kids, or blow it some other way, HE LOVES ME NO LESS! His love is complete and unalterable, meaning it does not change, nor can it be changed!
That’s the gospel.
He’s waiting on you. Will you quiet the chaos that is your life for a little while and “just be” with Him? Enjoy His presence, and take the time to remember why you were drawn to Him in the first place. Find the joy that you have been looking for for so long. You will not miss whatever it is that you think is so much more inportant than spending time with Him.
Just Be
Kevin
1 Samuel 15
Image by monkey cat via Flickr
This is (hopefully) a study of the chapter 1 Samuel 15. There is a lot of stuff here and I don’t want to leave too much out. It is a powerful chapter. I was at work the other day and I felt like I was being drawn by God to this passage. So there is personal meaning that I apply to my own life and hopefully to yours as well. We have been studying the gospel and its power to change our lives at Journey Church for about a year. It has been an incredible journey and continues to challenge me in more ways than I can get into in this post. Let’s get started on this passage.
The Old Testament is a type of representation of the New Testament. There are a few ways to look at it and there is a lot of wonderful things that the Old Testament reveals. The way I am looking at this passage, at this time, is a representation of the life of a believer or Christ-Follower. The three persons involved in this chapter is God, of course He is involved, Saul, the king of Israel, and Samuel the prophet. Let’s take a look at the first few verses:
1 Samuel 15:1-3
1And Samuel said to Saul, “The LORD sent me to anoint you king over his people Israel; now therefore listen to the words of the LORD. 2Thus says the LORD of hosts, ‘I have noted what Amalek did to Israel in opposing them on the way when they came up out of Egypt. 3Now go and strike Amalek and devote to destruction all that they have. Do not spare them, but kill both man and woman, child and infant, ox and sheep, camel and donkey
If we look at this scripture in the context of modern culture, lots of people would have a a problem listening to God tell them to kill every man, woman and child of any people. We have to look at this in the eyes of God. God just led the people out of a land of people who served various idols and gods. The people of Israel have only heard passed down knowledge over 200 years, of who the God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob is. There is no Bible to look at, or website to pull up. All these people know is that this unknown God has performed some great miracles and delivered them from slavery to the Egyptians. Throughout the next 40 years, God is constantly dealing with their wayward hearts, even after the 10 commandments were written by the very finger of God. His very first commandment was that they should have no other Gods before Him, and even still Israel disobeyed, complained, and tried to create gods that fit more to their own liking. Sounds a bit familiar huh?
After God had the people of Israel wandering 40 years in the desert and the last of the people who doubted God when they were about to go into the promised land the first time had died, God commands the people of Israel to cross the Jordan and take the land of Caanan. A huge issue is the people there are not too unlike the Egyptians, people who worshipped other gods and did not worship the God of Abraham, Issac, or Jacob. Many of these nations practiced many things that were horrid in the eyes of God such as human sacrifice, beastiality, and incest. The Holy God of Heaven could never share a land with people who worshipped other gods or practiced such things that were against His commandments. Therefore God commanded the people of Israel to kill every man, woman and child and in some cases, even the animals. By the end of the book of Joshua, we see that Israel did not follow God’s commandment and actually took some of the women from these lands as wives. Because they failed to do as He commanded, God told Israel that these people would constantly cause problems for them despite the fact that God gave them the land. So throughout the Book of Judges and into 1 Samuel, we see Israel turn away from the one true God, to the gods of the people of that land, which forced God’s hand of protection to be removed and allowed those people to harrass, enslave, and oppress the people of Israel. Then Israel would cry out to God and He would raise someone up to lead and deliver the people from the oppression of their enemies and they would serve God for a time only to return to the idols of the people of Caanan.
So I guess you could see the importance of why God commanded them to do so. Idolatry was the thing that God was constantly dealing with the people about and even when they followed His commandments, their hearts were not in their worship cause they worshipped other things in their hearts.
Let’s bring this representation into the life of the believer. God has delivered us from slavery to sin and has set us free from being enslaved to it. This is what happens when we confess Jesus Christ as our Savior and Lord. I think we who have been Christ-Followers for a while forget that just like Israel, we do not know Him and His ways immediately after accept Christ and we realize how jacked up we are in the presence of a Holy God. We have habits, hangups, fears, and mindsets that God has to reveal to us and deliver us from. We also have idols, or things that are constantly warring against us in the battleground of our hearts for our affections, our time, and our love. God is constantly pursuing our hearts, revealing the things that we value more than Him, so we can ultimately see that He is all we need and in Him we find our greatest joy! So in essence He is at war with everything that we love more, we find more joy in, that we look to find acceptance in, than Him so we can know unconditional love, pure joy, and acceptance that dwarfs any that comes from man, woman, or child. He will not rest until every part of our hearts are completely and utterly His.
This should bring us great comfort. We do not serve a God that passively stands by and watches us struggle. We have a God that sent His Son to redeem us back to Himself. We have a God actively a part of our lives, gving us the power to be more like Jesus every day, not a God that stands in heaven scowling at us every time we mess up. We serve a God that turns our impossible to change lives into incredible testimonies of His grace and mercy!
To Be Continued…
Kevin
Lots of Downloading Lately
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Been soaking in a lot of gospel teaching lately. I can feel the things I was taught becoming clearer and more grounded than ever in my life.
I have found much more stability in my life as a Christ Follower, Husband, and Father.
Things that bothered me a lot about other people doesn’t do so as much as I remember the grace that has been and is continually poured out on me in my life.
Gospel perspective has helped me see my wickedness and how much I deserately need the power of the cross of Christ working in my life.
It fills me with peace that I am totally accepted and loved by Him before I was born.
My praise and worship is so much more deeper and richer and fulfilling as I think of His goodness.
My mind is still blown away by the fact that its not my good deeds or religious service that moves the hand of God but His undeserved favor and mercy.
Meditating on the gospel has been a life changing experience.
I will try to share more on these things soon. There are a lot of books and blogs that are sharing the gospel message. I am certainly not a pioneer. We are all commissioned by Christ to share the gospel, so I definitely want to do that through every medium He allows me use.
Let me leave this passage with you:
I Cor 15: 3-7
3) For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, 4) that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures, 5) and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. 6) Then he appeared to more than five hundred brothers at one time, most of whom are still alive, though some have fallen asleep. 7) Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles. 8) Last of all, as to one untimely born, he appeared also to me. 9) For I am the least of the apostles, unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. 10) But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. 11) Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
Kevin
What I Need
Image by stevendepolo via Flickr
Proverbs 30:7-9
7) Two things I ask of you;
deny them not to me before I die:
8) Remove far from me falsehood and lying;
give me neither poverty nor riches;
feed me with the food that is needful for me,
9) lest I be full and deny you
and say, “Who is the LORD?”
or lest I be poor and steal
and profane the name of my God
“Feed me with the food that is needful for me”
We are in need. Whether we realize it or not.
The irreligious, the unregenerate, the rebellious, are in need of God’s saving grace. They need to see their spiritual poverty and surrender to a loving, merciful, forgiving God.
The religious, self-righteous, ”the redeemed” need to see their good deeds and works and all the things they think win God’s approval are nothing more than filthy rags before a God who is righteousness incarnate.
Whatever end of the spectrum we are on (and you can claim to be saved and still be irreligious) we need God’s grace..
We don’t need another party, or medication, or sexual partner, or bible study, or podcast, or the newest trendiest book on how to get God to do what you want Him to do. We need an encounter with a life changing, heart pursuing God.
What I Need
“Feed me with the food that is needful for me”.
Not what is comfortable or easy to swallow, I don’t need my butt patted.
“Feed me with food that is needful for me”.
Conviction to grieve my self righteous, idol worshipping heart.
“Feed me with the food that is needful for me”.
Forgiveness for the places in my heart that my brain wants to think You could ever love or forgive.
“Feed me with the food that is needful for me”.
Joy in the mundane things of life and the understanding that Your love and grace doesn’t depend on my actions.
“Feed me with the food that is needful for me”.
Grace to see others and myself through Your eyes God.
Kevin
Testing…Testing….
Proverbs 27:21 (English Standard Version)
21 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
and a man is tested by his praise.
I have been having a really good time reading through Pslams and Proverbs. During today’s reading, this scripture stood out to me more than any other.
I have said it many times and many others have said it too: How you react during times of testing and adversity will reveal your character. How you act in your moments of weakness will show you a lot of things about yourself.
Praise is a by-product of His unimaginable grace and love and forgiveness. Praise is not singing a fast song, or our volume, or anything to do with our ability to sing. The Bible says that out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45). Proverbs says that we are tested by our praise. Our praise has to do with the condition of our heart. We are (our heart) tested by our praise.
Can you praise Him when it seems like you are losing everything?
Can you praise Him when God doesn’t do what you want Him to do?
Are you carrying bitterness or unforgiveness?
Does the thought of your sinful condition cause you to draw nearer to God? Or pull away?
I have had to ask myself these questions and more at times in my life. Especially when I did not feel like praising Him. The conclusion I normally came to was there was something I was dealing with, such as bitterness, rejection, disappointment. These things will corrupt your heart and shut down your praise more than anything else. This is why we must constantly come back to the cross and repent. Repentance brings us back into right standing with God and shows us His everlasting love, forgiveness and deliverance. Repentance will wash away unforgiveness because we know we are forgiven much. He is not disappointed because He loved us before we knew Him; and because of Jesus’ sacrifice we are not rejected but we are accepted! Thank you God!
You may be in the midst of a test today. You may be dealing with more than one thing at a time. You may be in a situation you see no way out. Others may be watching to see what you are going to do. How will you react?
This is a test of your praise. Testing……Testing……
Will you?
Kevin
No Matter What it Takes
Image by Werner Kunz (werkunz1) via Flickr
I’ve used the above line before.
I’ve meant it when I said it.
At least I thought I did at the time.
It is funny how the gospel will redefine and change every aspect of your life. It not only refines your character, it redefines your life too. What I mean by redefine is that it will change everything. including the very meaning of your words and what they apply to your life from a gospel-centered perspective.
Ten months ago, I thought I would do anything for God and I truly thought I was. During this time, God exposed my heart and showed me how much I hold back from Him. He showed me that I would do whatever it takes for His kingdom ”except”…….. I had a few (and who knows what God will reveal in the future), but I’m sure you could come up with a few yourself.
What I’m finding is that as God works in my life and yours, “No Matter What it Takes” takes on a new meaning. “Worship” takes on a whole new meaning. “Giving”, ”Community”, ‘Love”, “Forgiveness”; all these things mean something so much greater and deeper than they used to. They are redefined in the light of the gospel and will continue to change as the Holy Spirit continues to open our eyes to what the gospel means in our lives.
“No Matter What it Takes” Jesus, let the light of your face shine into the darkness and reveal those things that are hidden from our understanding, so we can serve you, and love You more and more that we can do whatever it takes to see Your kingdom come and will be done on this Earth as it is in heaven.
Kevin
Dangerous Prayers
The more God has been dealing with me lately, the more I find myself praying more dangerous prayers. You ask “what are dangerous prayers?” Let me share.
I have seen more books on prayer than you can count. Books that have the “key” of getting God to do what YOU want him to do. The whole Prayer of Jabez thing back a few years ago is just a great example of this. If you pray this prayer, God will bless you, and prosper you, and make life free of care and worry. As if we have the power to manipulate the God of the universe who sees every intention in your heart and knows your motives before a word can be uttered from our lips.
Bless me, take care of me, help me at my job, bless my food. There is nothing dangerous about these prayers. There isn’t a whole lot of risk or sacrifice in these prayers. I have even been convicted when we pray before our worship practice to not ask Him to bless our efforts, but to glorify Himself through us in whatever way He sees fit. This is a dangerous prayer. This means that He can take our plans and chuck them out the window and do something else.
The most dangerous prayers are the ones that we lay our agendas and plans down and ask Him to have His way. The most dangerous prayer I ever prayed was “God, change me. Mold me into the image of your Son Jesus.” He has been working on me ever since. The molding process is painful sometimes. Asking Him to change you is very dangerous. He has allowed me to experience the pain of my attitudes and selfishness over and over until I finally surrender to Him allow His Spirit to work in me, to change those things that my selfish heart doesn’t want to change.
What dangerous prayers are burning to come out of your lips?
What is God laying on your heart that you are resisting to ask for?
What are you afraid it will cost you?
Let’s pray some things that take a faith beyond ourselves. Let’s believe for things that seem impossible. Let’s step out in faith to pray for God to do what seems impossible.
Will you pray with me?
Kevin
Book Review: The Jesus You Can’t Ignore by John MacArthur
I would call this book more of a position paper than a book. MacArthur makes a strong, sound, biblical case against the postmodernist, emergent view of Jesus which portrays Jesus as a meek, gentle, hippie, who never confronted people or truly showed any passion for God’s Word or contempt for the religious systems that were in place that made it even harder to come to God.
MacArthur gives example, after example, after example, after example where Jesus confronted and called out the religious leaders of the day, challenging them, exposing them, and calling them to repentance. Almost to an exhausting degree. MacArthur does a very thorough job explaining expositorally through each scripture he uses as a basis for his position. A position I totally agree with.
If you want a real simple, easy, read, that gets to the point, I don’t know if this book is for you. It has tons of real good information and scripture, but was even a chore for me to finish, and I love to read and study the scripture. It had a hard time keeping my attention cause I already believe the same things he laid out in this book, so it was much more information than I needed.
I would recommend this book to the “intellectuals” who would argue for the post-modern, emergent view of Jesus. The only way to get around John Mac Arthur would be to totall y reject the scriptures and fall into full-blown heresy. It’s that clear cut and concise in this book.
So, I would say this book is a good book, but I had a hard time keeping my attention for as long as the book is.
Kevin
Two Churches in One Building
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I’m not talking about two churches that rent or use the same building.
Yesterday, I was talking to my wife about reaching more people that are hurting and broken, and later on I had a vision of two churches in one building. One group was dressed in white robes, the other was dressed in black, kind of gothic looking.
I thought this is kind of weird, and I didn’t understand this and then God spoke to me:
Those dressed in black represent the broken, addicted, wounded, afflicted, harrassed by the demonic. They represent a part of My body that most people don’t want to see or deal with. They are people that a prayer and a hug won’t help solve their problems. They have come out of dark circumstances that even now seek to ensnare and swallow them right back to where they were. They are struggling in their faith and knowledge of God on a daily basis. They desperately want to know Me, but like sheep without a sheperd they wander, they’re afraid, they’re disillusioned, they’re hungry (physically and spiritually), and they’re lonely.
Those dressed in white are the people the world and “those who have it together” want to see. They stay huddled together. They have great lives. They have everything they need. They have each other so they really have no need to seek friendship from outside those in white. They are happy and content to live thier lives undisturbed by the things that are going on in the world. They keep their robes from getting dirtied by the people in black and certainly don’t have much time outside of their happy lives to help them. Drama is forbidden by these in white so they never connect with those in black, but they are glad they come, cause “they need it”.
We have two churches in many buildings today. We know we have hurt and broken people around us out in the world, but don’t know about the one sitting next to us in church. Or what’s even worse is we know about the ones sitting next to us but we don’t want to be bothered by them. Worse than that is that those in white are just as messed up but hide in good deeds and religious cliches and worthless drivel. Here’s what we know about those in black. They are stubborn. They don’t want to serve in church. They don’t come to church regularly. They don’t listen to our counsel. They take way too much time and energy to invest in. This is true in a lot of cases. What’s also the truth is that there are those in white who would much rather hang out with those people who “have it all together” or feel like we can help with minimal effort so we can look like we are fulfilling our “biblical obligations”. Where is the character of Jesus in either?
Am I striking a nerve? I hope so.
Which church are you a part of? God wants to confront those in white, the self-righteous, and bring them to a state of brokenness and repentance and He wants to bring the rebellious and broken to a place of healing, salvation, and restoration.
The cross is here for both. It here for the rebellious, hurting, broken, lost and the forgotten, but it is also here for the stubborn, self-righteous, arrogant, prideful, and the apathetic. There is only one church when we come to the cross. It is here for all and it’s power alone can truly make us one.
Kevin
Lessons From the Philippines I
Well, I just got back to my hotel from saying goodbye to some great people. I figure I would start sharing some things that are on my heart. Some things I got from my trip to the Philippines. This is the first part of a series. I don’t think that you can go to another country and not get some things that you learn from being there, and taking part in another culture. This series of posts is a result of not only my trip but what I learned and was reminded of before I went anywhere, so hang with me.
My friends came to the U.S. a little over 3 months ago to learn some of our jobs cause the company I work for is moving some jobs to the Philippines. Not everyone in the U.S. is that gracious when folks come to take your job. It’s not an easy thing to train your replacements. I don’t think anyone really likes it, but that’s just a reality in the world we are living in these days. I am thankful that I am keeping my job with the company, but I have had to say bye to some of my co-workers. That’s not an easy thing and there was a while I wondered if I would keep my job.
Lesson 1) Uncertainty is Certain
The only thing certain is that change is inevitable. We live in a world that is constantly changing, moving, spinning. Think about it, we live on a planet that is always spinning and orbiting the sun. The tectonic plates in which the continents are constantly moving, rubbing up against each other (earthquakes), spewing hot liquid rock and metal (volcanos). The oceans are always rising and falling (tides). The wind blows across the water and ground in constant movement, causing clouds to form, and rain, and plants animals and people to be affected by it. Even our hearts beat every second of our lives so we are in constant movement till the day we die.
If this is the case, why should we think that things in life won’t? Let’s look back in Ecclesiastes for a second:
Ecclesiastes 3
A Time for Everything
1For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:
2a time to be born, and a time to die;a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; 3a time to kill, and a time to heal;a time to break down, and a time to build up; 4a time to weep, and a time to laugh;a time to mourn, and a time to dance; 5a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; 6a time to seek, and a time to lose;a time to keep, and a time to cast away; 7a time to tear, and a time to sew;a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; 8a time to love, and a time to hate;a time for war, and a time for peace.
So many of us are tossed to and fro on the waves of our emotions, circumstances, and situations. One minute we are happy, another moment we are sad. One minute we thank God for His blessings, the next we are complaining about what He has given us. One minute we are happy about the church we attend, the next we are visiting another. One minute we are in love with our spouse, the next we are contemplating divorce.
Just because life is so uncertain, doesn’t require that we be so uncertain. There are things we can as Christians, can “hang our hat on” so to speak:
God loves us unconditionally
Romans 5:7-8
7For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die— 8but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Tough times will come
John 16:32-33
32Behold, the hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, each to his own home, and will leave me alone. Yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. 33I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
He did not leave us to fend for ourselves
John 16
13When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. 14He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you.
Remember, change is inevitable. How we respond to change when we have an opportunity to show our maturity, or a an opportunity for God to show us where we need to mature so we can move toward our destiny in Him.
Kevin
Walking in Truth
My writing has been a lot more sporadic lately. I’ve gone weeks without a post. For those of you who keep checking in, I am so very grateful for it. There is definitely a method to my madness which I kind of hope to explain. Not to explain why in an apologetic slant, but in a way to make you step back and think about motives and condition of the heart.
God has revealed Himself to me in so many ways I don’t know if this blog could hold them all. He is so good and the depth and breadth of who is cannot be measured. He has opened up scriptures to me and shown me that there is so much depth to them that you could spend a lifetime reading them and still find something new that you have never seen before.
Something He has shown me is that some truths can’t be explained or taught, some have to be walked out. We can speak the truth, but are we walking in the truth? Are we walking in the truth that God has revealed to us or are we learning about the truth for sake of saying we know it?
James 1:26-27 (English Standard Version)
26)If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. 27) Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.
I think we can be a lot better at telling people how to live than living the Truth and we need to shut up and live it. That’s what I get from this scripture. That’s my message to you and me.
Some truth is meant to be revealed, some is meant to be walked through, wrestled with, and toiled in.
Are you walking in the Truth?
Kevin
Lost Touch?
Everyone has people that they knew for a long time and have lost touch. We were close to know thier quirks, habits, likes and dislikes. We remember the good and bad times shared together. We were close to those people, but somehow, we just lost touch.
I wonder as Christ-Followers if we have lost touch with our “old-selves” or the person we were before Christ found us. I think it is critical to ”keep in touch”. You may wonder why we should want to remember our “old-selves”. Let me ask you a few questions:
Are you moved to compassion when you hear someone else’s struggles?
Do you feel empathy or disgust when someone shares a weakness you once posessed in your “old life”?
Is your first reaction when someone confesses a hidden sin to you that you are glad “you don’t have that problem”?
When someone asks you for help is the first thing you do is figure out how you can pawn it off on someone else?
Are you emotionally unavailable to those closest to you?
If you answered yes to any of these questions, you have lost touch.
What you have gone through, where you have failed, the pain you suffered, the wounds you have received, the wounds you are still healing from, are not a thing of just the past.
God allowed you and I to experience these things for a purpose. Not as things we need to forget, or hide, or as a self-righteous “before and after” picture. Just as we are healed by the wounds Christ bore upon His body, so our wounds are ordained for the healing of others. Our failures should help keep us and others from slipping into self-righteousness. The pain we suffered should move us to compassion to show the love and mercy of Christ. They were not meant to be discarded or concealed.
We are broken people who have been drawn to the arms of love, healing, and mercy. We have the ability, with one decision, to wreck our whole lives! We are not so righteous that we can forget that we have an old nature that is at constant war the nature of Christ that compels us to sin?
We can hide our weaknesses, we can cover our wounds with religion. We can cover those things with a number of things that may seem good, admirable, even righteous, but in doing so, we cut off those things that drove us into His arms to begin with and into the bed of self-righteousness and cold dead religion.
Have you lost touch?
Does it matter to you?
Kevin
Almost Saved?
In my life I wrestled with this, and sometimes still do to an extent. Being raised in the church, I learned a lot about “what not to do”.
Don’t drink
Don’t smoke
Don’t do drugs
Don’t have sex (ever)
Don’t ever mess up, cause “you never know when Christ will return and you will be left behind”.
Don’t see “R” movies
I also learned about the things I “should do”.
Read your bible
Pray
Go to church
Give your tithe
Serve in some area of the church
I lived a miserable life. If I wasn’t happy cause I couldn’t do anything “cause I was a Christian”, I was unhappy cause I struggled constantly with the things I was supposed to do that I was not doing. I didn’t make a good sinner or saint! That depressed me too!!
It finally sank in my thick skull that I was totally guilty (100% sinner) and totally lost, no matter how much “good” I did, and I realized Christ received the punishment for every sin, every hurt I caused someone, every time I disobeyed Him, every time I fell short of what I or anyone else thought I “should” be doing, that I was able to experience the freedom and the joy that I longed for so much!
The idea of being loved with no stipulations, no catches, no God waiting to zap me if I fail, still boggles my fallen fleshly brain. It fills me with so much peace to know that I am saved, not “almost saved” depending on certain conditions that I must fulfill. His grace was freely given before I had a clue about what grace even was!
That love is so powerful, it compels us to do even greater things than we tried to do in our own strength to gain His approval! His radical love compells us to action for the sake of love, not obligation or religion. It goes beyond our “self” to the end that we lay down our lives if necessary.
That is the gospel for church folk like me. It is even more amazing than the day I accepted Him into my heart.
Kevin
The Most Important Thing
1 Corinthians 15 (English Standard Version)
1) Now I would remind you, brothers, of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, in which you stand, 2)and by which you are being saved, if you hold fast to the word I preached to you— unless you believed in vain.
3)For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,…….
We live in an information age. If you have a question on almost anything, you can plug it into Google or any other search engine and get an answer. In the Christian world, there are millions of sites and blogs (like this one) where you can find teaching on more topics than you could ever study out in a lifetime.
The issue with so much information available, it is so easy to get swept away by the deluge of information that we forget the most important thing.
When Paul wrote to the Corinthian church, he reminded them to hold fast to the things that Paul taught them. He knew that there were so many things people would be distracted by, that would draw their attention away from the most important thing.
“For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures,…….”
The gospel is the most important thing! Paul didn’t say “that Christ died so I could speak in tongues” or “that Christ died that I may prophesy”. He said “that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures…”. Prophesy and speaking in Tongues are not bad in and of themselves, but when they become the focus, we are no longer preaching the gospel.
John 3:16
16)“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
As a young person growing up in church, I heard many people say “that message wasn’t deep enough for me” and “we need to move on from the cross and get into deeper things.”
The Father showed His ultimate act of love by sending His only Son to die for us. His heart was revealed and displayed for the whole world to see. When we “move past the cross” we move away from His heart. When we move away from His heart, we are no longer preaching the gospel.
The gospel is what our lives should be centered around. It should be the determining factor that every decision should be based on. Imagine with me for one second, how the world and the church would look if we made every decision centered around the gospel of Jesus Christ? How would our workplaces, our families, or schools look? How would we look at our finances? The things we spend our money on? The things we do with our “free” time? Think about that.
Let’s not forget the most important thing.
Kevin
Controlled by His Love
1 Corinthians 5:13) For if we are beside ourselves, it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. 14) For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; 15) and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.
This passage of scripture has challenged me a lot in the past few days. I was getting ready to leave the house on Sunday to go to pre-service practice, and God brought me to this scripture.
God asked me “are you controlled by My love this morning, or are you going through “the motions”.
Are your motivations pure?
Do you love Me so much that you are truly willing to do anything I may ask you to do today?
You don’t have to preach, or lead worship, or teach a Sunday school class to answer this question. We face it everyday. In our cars, our jobs, our homes we have the opportunity to surrender our lives to Him. The opportunity to have His life pour in us, and through us, till it overflows and touches the lives of others.
I know more often than not we choose the latter, but I’m not here today to beat you up. I am here to show you the opportunity that God has placed before all of us today. We have the opportunity to proclaim the gospel of Christ to others. We may not stand on a street corner and preach, but our actions will preach more to people than anything.
Even if you answered “no” to all the questions, grace gives us the opportunity to change. We no longer have to live for ourselves. We are free to live the life that God has given us to the fullest for Him. His death gave us a life that all the pleasures of this life couldn’t hold a candle to.
Let His love come into your hearts and fill you till you are so consumed by His love, you are forced to do something about it.
Kevin
