But who can discern their own errors? Forgive my hidden faults. Keep your servant also from willful sins; may they not rule over me. - Psalm 19:12-13
Many times we lie to ourselves to continue in the “freedom” of choosing sin, much in the same way a free man would bind himself in chains behind the locked doors of solitary confinement convincing himself he is free.
Throw down the chains, open up the doors, and expose all of your heart. The freedom of obedience was given from One who always has our best interest in mind. True freedom and abundant life are always God's intent for us.
Monday, August 8, 2016
Saturday, May 21, 2016
Why Would Anyone Want To Be A Christian?!?!
What is the one thing that differentiates Christianity from all other religions and belief systems, that makes it unique?
Why would we follow Jesus Christ, when there are so many other options?
Grace!
Ephesians 2:8-9 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not from yourselves it is the gift of God, not by works so that no man can boast.”
There is no way to earn it! You can only receive it. A gift that is available to anyone and everyone.
Christianity is the only religion where the God of the religion sacrifices himself for His people. The God of Christianity sacrificed himself for His people because there was no one else who was able to (Isaiah 59:16). This was prophesied about through multiple people, occasions, places, and writings in intricate detail hundreds and thousands of years before Jesus came to the earth. It would actually take more faith to not believe in God. The probability that all of those intricate details laid out in the old testament pointing toward Jesus Christ would come true solely by coincidence and random occurrence are infinitely less than believing in the grace and truth of being reconciled to God through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
The details of the covenant, sacrifice, atonement, and Christ’s permanent priesthood, are laid out very thoroughly in the book of Hebrews and Romans. But it all boils down to that one word. Grace.
When we truly understand God’s grace and his never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever love, then we understand why he gave us the commands that He did.
God always has our best interests in mind.
Don’t lose sight of this.
God's only objective of a relationship with us through His Son Jesus Christ is freedom and true life for all. Period. That’s it!
“I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].” John 10:10 AMP
Why would we follow Jesus Christ, when there are so many other options?
Grace!
Ephesians 2:8-9 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this not from yourselves it is the gift of God, not by works so that no man can boast.”
There is no way to earn it! You can only receive it. A gift that is available to anyone and everyone.
Christianity is the only religion where the God of the religion sacrifices himself for His people. The God of Christianity sacrificed himself for His people because there was no one else who was able to (Isaiah 59:16). This was prophesied about through multiple people, occasions, places, and writings in intricate detail hundreds and thousands of years before Jesus came to the earth. It would actually take more faith to not believe in God. The probability that all of those intricate details laid out in the old testament pointing toward Jesus Christ would come true solely by coincidence and random occurrence are infinitely less than believing in the grace and truth of being reconciled to God through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
The details of the covenant, sacrifice, atonement, and Christ’s permanent priesthood, are laid out very thoroughly in the book of Hebrews and Romans. But it all boils down to that one word. Grace.
When we truly understand God’s grace and his never stopping, never giving up, unbreaking, always and forever love, then we understand why he gave us the commands that He did.
God always has our best interests in mind.
Don’t lose sight of this.
God's only objective of a relationship with us through His Son Jesus Christ is freedom and true life for all. Period. That’s it!
“I came that they may have and enjoy life, and have it in abundance [to the full, till it overflows].” John 10:10 AMP
Wednesday, May 11, 2016
A Distorted Reflection of Ourselves
James 1:22-24 “Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like someone who looks at his face in a mirror and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.”
When I was younger we would go to the amusement park in the nearby town on occasion. I loved going on all the rides and seeing how many times we could get through the roller coaster line before my parents had to convince my brother and I that we couldn’t stay there forever. The exit from the best roller coaster went through a mirror room that had all sorts of different types of mirrors that distorted our reflection in some way. They would make our head look huge and body small, or look short and round or tall and skinny, and one would even make your body disappear so it looked like your head was floating….weird!
I would imagine that if someone spent all of their time in that room every day and never looked in a regular mirror, they might begin to have a distorted perception of what they really look like.
Day to day life can be similar to the mirror room at the amusement park. Our interactions, experiences, successes, and failures can reflect images back to us that aren’t necessarily consistent with the true one we find in Christ. It can distort our perception of who we are, what our worth is, and what we look like. Our sense of identity, purpose, and values can start to be formed by looking into the outside influences and successes and failures of the day.
The only way to find consistency through the ups and downs and numerous influences is by looking intently into the word of God each day finding our identity in Christ, as we have been made a new creation in Him (2 Corinthians 5:17).
So let us daily look intently into the mirror that will provide a true, consistent, stable reflection of our identity and purpose, through daily time with the Lord in the Word and prayer.
Praise the Lord for what is good, and look to Him and the Word for your identity and purpose and you will be “like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither - whatever they do prospers.” (Psalm 1:3).
When I was younger we would go to the amusement park in the nearby town on occasion. I loved going on all the rides and seeing how many times we could get through the roller coaster line before my parents had to convince my brother and I that we couldn’t stay there forever. The exit from the best roller coaster went through a mirror room that had all sorts of different types of mirrors that distorted our reflection in some way. They would make our head look huge and body small, or look short and round or tall and skinny, and one would even make your body disappear so it looked like your head was floating….weird!
I would imagine that if someone spent all of their time in that room every day and never looked in a regular mirror, they might begin to have a distorted perception of what they really look like.
Day to day life can be similar to the mirror room at the amusement park. Our interactions, experiences, successes, and failures can reflect images back to us that aren’t necessarily consistent with the true one we find in Christ. It can distort our perception of who we are, what our worth is, and what we look like. Our sense of identity, purpose, and values can start to be formed by looking into the outside influences and successes and failures of the day.
The only way to find consistency through the ups and downs and numerous influences is by looking intently into the word of God each day finding our identity in Christ, as we have been made a new creation in Him (2 Corinthians 5:17).
So let us daily look intently into the mirror that will provide a true, consistent, stable reflection of our identity and purpose, through daily time with the Lord in the Word and prayer.
Praise the Lord for what is good, and look to Him and the Word for your identity and purpose and you will be “like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither - whatever they do prospers.” (Psalm 1:3).
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
A Tribute To Moms
Moms have been gifted by God to nurture, grow, and love little ones to be people who inspire, lead, and bring life and change to many. The moms of some of the great influencers, the John Wesleys, DL Moodys, and Martin Luthers of this world endured and stayed patient through the kids’ tantrums and endured their strong will, wiped their noses, and cleaned up the food they threw across the kitchen and taught them about the love of Jesus Christ, and showed them the power of the Gospel in action and in words so that one day they would bring revolution, revival, and life to many. And perhaps the most profound is when the grown children maintain a grueling or “low-status” job with perseverance and joy to bless those around them, because they learned what it meant to work hard and show love growing up. So when it is hard, tiring, and exhausting, remember God has brought you to the highest calling on this earth, to help shape the life He has entrusted to you, and as you use His strength and power to do what He has called you to, you will reap a harvest more bountiful than any other investment. After all one candle can start a forest fire : ) Keep the fire of the Gospel alive in your young ones, that they may praise His name!
Happy Mother’s Day!
Happy Mother’s Day!
Thursday, May 5, 2016
Skittles, Rats, and Surrender
Giving up a bag of Skittles for a shopping spree in a candy store, trading a cardboard box for a beach front property, and giving away a roasted rat for a steak dinner all seem like obvious choices. The spiritual equivalent would be when we surrender our will to God's will, with no contingencies, because it is here we find true freedom. It is counter-cultural and radical, but it is powerful. If you give it all you will gain it all, if you keep it all, you will lose it all. Surrender is not giving up, it is starting.
Matthew 16:25 “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” - Jesus
Matthew 16:25 “For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it.” - Jesus
Sunday, May 1, 2016
Weaknesses Made Into Strengths
This last winter I was out in the woods snowshoeing with a friend after a significant snowfall. As we were breaking new trails through the deep fresh powder I marveled at the beauty of the forest freshly coated and outlined with glittering snow that had just fallen the night before. At one point we stopped and right in front of us was a large old locust tree. It was hanging every which way, covered in thorns, messy looking, and would have been cut down in a heartbeat if it were anywhere else but the middle of the woods. But in this case it was transformed into an amazing work of art. Dusted with the fresh shimmering powder, the transformed thorns and hanging branches sprawled wide and low to create a canopy that shined unlike any other tree around, when a few months earlier it would have been considered by far the most ugly trashy tree in the area.
This is exactly the way our lives are. Our heart, mind, and spirit can at best be like the locust tree on our own effort, but covered in the grace of God everything that was once considered weaknesses and shortcomings can be made into something spectacular.
But how?
2 Corinthians 12:9 “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
But how does this work?
Romans 4:17b “the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.”
If God would take the time to make a work of art out of a hideous locust tree in the middle of the woods where few will see it, how much more will he make every shortcoming and weakness of ours into strengths more magnificent than anything we could imagine when we take them to him and surrender them before him. If we do, it will be a magnificent display for all to see, that our lives would bring praise to God for what He has done.
Let us hold firmly to God’s truth for us….
This is exactly the way our lives are. Our heart, mind, and spirit can at best be like the locust tree on our own effort, but covered in the grace of God everything that was once considered weaknesses and shortcomings can be made into something spectacular.
But how?
2 Corinthians 12:9 “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ’s power may rest on me.”
But how does this work?
Romans 4:17b “the God who gives life to the dead and calls things that are not as though they were.”
If God would take the time to make a work of art out of a hideous locust tree in the middle of the woods where few will see it, how much more will he make every shortcoming and weakness of ours into strengths more magnificent than anything we could imagine when we take them to him and surrender them before him. If we do, it will be a magnificent display for all to see, that our lives would bring praise to God for what He has done.
Let us hold firmly to God’s truth for us….
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