Abide in Me

A person cannot encounter Jesus to the fullest and NOT receive a change of heart or an attitude adjustment.  Life is hidden in the words of Christ and only in him can one find freedom to live life to the fullest. By humbly lowering oneself under Christ, by willing to learn and to be guided by his powerful words, our hearts, passions and mentality will constantly seek to follow HIM.

At one moment in the gospel of John Jesus comes out and says, if you really are my disciples you will hold to my teachings and then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.  Jesus is saying; “if you hold or abide to my teaching, if you settle down and soak in my words, if you use me as your foundation, if you dwell in my word or in my teaching then you are disciples of mine and then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free.”

To find the abundances of life we must learn first who Jesus is and then who we are in Jesus…  Only then the possibility will come where you can walk in step with God and actually hear His voice and hear His truth every day.  If we learn to abide in His word no matter the circumstance, in any situation, in any dilemma, under any kind of confusion we will hear the voice of Jesus and hear the truth of Jesus and begin to abide in His truth finding freedom in every context and every position of life.

Jesus’ desire is for us to bask in his word so that the word can shape and form us into truth.  My desire is that we would guide and produce followers of Jesus who get excited about what Jesus says and who will go to great lengths and far off distances for the sake of His name.  I want believers who can find themselves in Jesus and know that without God they are nothing.  I want to make sure that we elevate followers of Jesus not followers of churches.  I want to make sure that we raise followers of Jesus not followers of pastors or authors.  I want to raise followers of Jesus who get excited about the words of Jesus and not the words of the world.

The bible is not just a book, it is truth, and His word will give everyone life and it will set all free… There is a whole world lost and locked in a destiny and there is only one key for them so that they may be set free from the lies and the deceptions of this world.  It is the Christians job to bring the world to this knowledge.  It is the Christians job to tell the world that before their pain came, HE WAS, before their heart was broken, HE WAS, before it all went wrong, HE WAS, before the house burned down, before your world collapsed, before their most excruciating pains, HE WAS!  And we can all go to the one who was before all things knowing that He will gladly take our lives and mend and restore them all back together.  HE can put back together what has been shattered, torn or lost cause he is God and nothing slows him down.  For he alone claims; “before Abraham was, I AM!! I am God before all that!!  So don’t ever think that your life is over.”

“These trials have come so that your faith - of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire - may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.”  The faith that you have, which comes from the message of Christ, is worth more than anything the world has to offer!  Do not let anyone deceive you into thinking salvation can be had without obeying the gospel.  Those who have faith in God will do what He says and their faith will lead to their salvation. We must come to the realization of the power of the FAITH that God has given us!! 

Wherever you insert your faith and hope in, whatever you connect your life into is the most important decision that you will ever make.  There are a thousand different voices all around your life trying to dictate your decisions.  And every voice seems to have a different response or opinion for your daily situations but if you plug your life into these voices, or if you plug your life into your current circumstances you may not get very far.  We must come and connect our lives into the words of Jesus, then and only then will you be set free.  We need the words of Jesus because if we don’t have them we will drown in the words of other people causing us only pain; we need the words of Jesus so that we may be set free. 

The much needed change

John 7:1; “After this, Jesus went around in Galilee. He did not want to go about in Judea because the Jewish leaders there were looking for a way to kill him.”

When the church ceases to become dynamically fruitful in this world it becomes irrelevant to those around them, even more it becomes irrelevant to God.  How often has Christ wanted to enter the epicenter of our lives but could not and would not because “we, the Jewish leaders” (the Christians) were always looking for some kind of way to kill or chase him out of our life?

When the heart of the church fades, when the passions and faith, the love and hope go away… Jesus goes away.  When we no longer live for the heart of Christ we become blind to the fact that Christ left our building.  Jesus came and said in John chapter 7; “I couldn’t go up to Jerusalem because they were trying to take my life. They are trying to take me out of the world that I created!”

When the heart of the church no longer pounds with life, Jesus no longer resides within that church.  Time and time again we see churches praying crying out to God saying, “O Great God, how is it that such a loving creator can see the beggar in desperation, the beaten wounded and the crippled helpless and yet not do anything about them?” but each time God answers us with the same answer, “I did do something, I made you!”  Has the church gotten so blind?  Have we lost ourselves in the midst of this world?  Just days ago I found my close friends in a confrontation about meaningless things and right in front of them exists a world of great need, yet neither of my friends was willing to reach out and give a helping hand.  Are we so stuck on trying to justify ourselves that we lose sight of the heart of Christ?  Are we so focused in the way that we choose to live life that maybe just maybe we are chasing Jesus out of our city?

Everybody comes to the conclusion that the world needs to be changed, but not many people actually see that the change needed is actually them:  Even more, we the church, need to be the change that we wish to see in this world.  We have to come to the place where we no longer chase our Christ out of our world but instead we must come and join Him on His quest.   

If we strive to become fruitful and engage in the needs of our world we will once again open the gates of our “city” so that Christ will gladly enter.  If our hearts once again become intertwined with the affairs of Christ, then our city walls will be destroyed allowing Christ to enter from every direction to teach, heal and mend the broken hearted.

Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Everybody can become great…, because anybody can serve.  You don’t need to have a college degree to serve.  You don’t have to make your subjects and verbs agree to serve… you don’t even have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve.  You only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love.”   

Sitting at the table amidst His disciples Jesus began to speak saying, “drink my blood and eat my flesh”... later in the conversation he boldly states, “I am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father except through me.”  This whole conversation found in the book of John chapters 13 and 14 is focused on the idea of who we are, who Jesus is and who we are supposed to be in Jesus.  Without effort Jesus steps forward and says, “Guys listen to me, do you want life?  Do you want to live to the fullest of abundances?  Then join me in my heart, consume my blood and eat my flesh for if you feed on me and my word you shall live because I and I alone am the sole provider for life.

There is a very old rendition of the word intimacy.  I heard this quite some time ago.  If you break the word intimacy into three parts it sounds like this, “into-me-see.”  Jesus enters our realm, our world, our life passionately desiring intimacy with us.  As he bluntly invades our hearts he tells us to see into him so that we may learn to live with him.  We must acquire to see into the heart of Christ so that we may learn to know him. With arms wide open Jesus looks towards us daily saying, my dear children see into me, see my goodness, my faithfulness and my love that I have for you.  Come and enter in communion with me and let me journey you through my heart so that you may once again be fruitful and so that I may once again enter your world.

“The soul would have no rainbow if there were no tears in the eyes…”

And as life's pains and sorrows commence to embrace us, as we begin to lose ourselves in the darkness of life we become blind to His Grace realizing that the frigid pit in which we are stuck in is all our eyes can see.  Often times there are stark and desolate holes that we find ourselves lost in.  And after much arduous escaping attempts we gasp for life only to notice ourselves curled up, trembling with doubts and fear from the horrific pits of darkness.  But in the midst of our pit, in the furious fiery furnace, in the center of our lion’s den, if and when we turn our focus upon Jesus, our eyes become wide open and we clearly begin to see that He is here standing amidst our pit waiting for us to allow him to take the reins of our life.  Outlying above the lonesome darkened hole that we are in…, far above the valley of the shadows of death…, beyond the vastness of the heavens endures the story of Christ.  Though there are different explanations for these dreadful dwellings, these pits of life nevertheless are brief moments, but the story of Christ stands firm for all eternity! 

I have learned that there are excruciating pits of more than one kind. Some come from ahead, others come from behind. But I've learned to allow my God to comfort and grow me so that whatever lies within these pits will dread and fear me.  It is in the darkest of moments that we must focus to keep our light on so that maybe just maybe someone will be led home to the arms of God. In the core of all difficulty rests some type of opportunity.  We must embrace trials and tribulations and burn them as fuel for our journey.

Jesus Christ made a public spectacle of Satan’s army the day He died for our sins! For Christ won the battle for our souls by removing our burdens our sins and our slavery to Satan! This is the encouragement we have as believers!

Colossians 2:11-15 says: “In him you were also circumcised, in the putting off of the sinful nature, not with a circumcision done by the hands of men but with the circumcision done by Christ, having been buried with him in baptism and raised with him through your faith in the power of God, who raised him from the dead. When you were dead in your sins and in the uncircumcision of your sinful nature, God made you alive with Christ. He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away, nailing it to the cross. And having disarmed the powers and authorities, He made a public spectacle of them, (meaning he made them a laughing stock… humiliating them in the deepest of ways) triumphing over them by the cross.”

As we read the written story which scales across creation we translucently contemplate that Christ has given us eternal life, He forgave our sins, freed us from the condemnation of the written code, and gave us victory over the evil forces of Satan! Christ redeemed us from Satan’s evil grip! The dark spiritual powers and authorities were conquered and disarmed by our Jesus, who is to be praised and blessed forever and ever!!! Truly Satan bruised the heel of Christ; but Christ crushed his head! (Gen. 3:15) God used Satan against himself! For Satan thought he won the victory; but instead, he lost! If Satan and his malevolent brigade had known that Jesus’ death was to bring victory to the lost, he would’ve protected Jesus, keeping Him from dying for our sins! For, as it is written in 1 Corinthian 2:7-8, “...we speak of God's secret wisdom, a wisdom that has been hidden and that God destined for our glory before time began. None of the rulers of this age understood it, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.”  Thanks be to God for giving us victory in Jesus Christ, the Savior! By fighting the battle Satan himself didn’t understand that God released the forces that work against us! Jesus didn’t come to take the world from Satan; He came to take us from Satan’s world!

 “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God!” 1 John 5: 3-5

His Loving Grace.

There is an umbrella of grace that spreads over all creation showing us that God is always at work.  If allowed by us, every difficult situation that we are in, God can and will turn it around for his glory.

Jesus said in Matthew 11:28; “Come to me, all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” 

It is often difficult for people to believe that if they come near to God, they will NOT find themselves drowning in condemnation, but instead they will find that they are swimming in an ocean of compassion.  Jesus called out to all who were weary and who found their hearts exhausted to come to him and find rest.  He is telling us that God will be for us our “bed” where we can find rest.  Many have persuaded themselves to believe that the one who is “Love” could not and would not embrace them.  Though we deserve God the least, He is the one that we need the most and without him we have no life… but what's strange is even though we constantly turn our faces from him, out of everything that exists he passionately desires us the most. So then if God is love, those who know God best would love people the most.  We must learn to grasp love and throw away condemnation for even God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but to bring the world life.

For Love is Grace, and Grace is love undeserved.  Love uplifts the lowly with understanding and invokes only thankfulness, and it gives to those who deem themselves unworthy of it. Grace is patient and kind, for the love it gives is without condition. It fills all those who are poor in spirit, that they shall lack nothing more.

I believe it was Ravi Zacharias who once said; “Love is a commitment which will be tested in the most vulnerable areas of spirituality, a commitment that will force you to make some very difficult choices. It is a commitment that demands that you deal with your lust, your greed, your pride, and your power, your desire to control, your temper, your patience, and every area of temptation that the Bible clearly talks about. It demands the quality of commitment that Jesus demonstrates in His relationship to us.” 

When we come to Christ and allow him to weave within us his love we find rest in Him and eagerly begin to bask in his presence while pouring upon him our burdens. When we truly learn to live in a commitment to Christ's love we realize that the choices that we make don’t just affect us and our generation but that of the future generations to come.  Our faith is not just about us… our journey with Christ is not just about us.  Our life here on earth is not just about us.  It affects all those around us and the future generations.  Every decision we make, every action we take will cause an effect on the people around us. We must be careful on how we live the very breaths of life, for if we do not, we might just find ourselves with everything this world has to offer and later find we have lost ourselves in the disorder. Unless we understand the Cross, we cannot understand why our commitment to what is right must be precedence over what we prefer.  What we believe in our hearts must make sense in our mind.

Animosity is the foe of love because it makes a person unforgiving and unwilling to give love unconditionally.  It is the adversary of hope because it makes people incapable of seeing a better future.  It is the rival of faith because it makes you stop trusting in anyone but yourself.  I believe that many of us have become blinded by a foul bitterness and if we are not careful we will lose the ability to see such things as love, grace, truth or even affection.  More importantly you may close your eyes to what your heart needs you to see most.  “When love does not come to you, it breaks your heart, but when you do not give love away, it hardens your heart.  One thing vaster than our need to be loved is our need to love.  We are designed to love.  From the very beginning you were made for love.  We are the object of God’s love.”  Erwin McManus

And as we give way for God to encounter our lives he sends his promise, His holy spirit to teach and guide us into his heart.  And we learn that the ways of the Spirit are always more sensuous than the ways of the flesh because it ravishes, intoxicates and exhilarates the invisible and inner person to an unimaginable depth beyond our possible dreams. God's Holy Spirit satiates us with peace and pleases us emotionally, physically and psychologically. He satisfies all our feelings and affections within our heart and soul. The Spirit's power is the real, exciting, mystical kingdom. It is a rich, luxurious palace overflowing with thrilling and ecstatic serenity and pleasures engulfing our soul with consuming delights. It bestows amazing endowments, joy, peace which God's gladly shares.

Worship is mans answer to God’s grace.  And when men come to worship at the throne of grace, when they accept to dwell in the love and grace of the Father, they get an over consuming fill of Jesus who is the full representation of God.  Jesus is the final and the full source of life. Let us Marinate and revel in His grace and presence... For His love and grace is the only hope for each of us.

Destroying Our Idols

“And when we allow the temptations of the world to embrace us, we begin to sink deeper and deeper into our sinful nature falling into a realm where we soon discover that we are lifeless, blind, mute and deaf. We become like the idols we have created.”

Psalm 135: 15-18; “the idols of the nations are silver and gold, made by the hands of men.  They have mouths, but cannot speak, eyes, but cannot see; they have ears, but cannot hear, nor is there breath in their mouths.  Those who make them will be like them and so will all who trust in them.”

The great peril for life in the midst of any culture, whose idols are pleasure, and comfort rests the fact that people harden their hearts and become egocentric.  Our idols may not necessarily be silver and gold but they can surely be the pleasures and the comforts that we so dearly hold to.  Finding ourselves buried in the epicenter of our idols can and will lead to our destruction.  When we are dictated by our desires and pleasures we can easily become influenced by our surroundings.  Go ahead, test it. Ponder upon your truest desires and pleasures and see if your surroundings don’t influence you.  See if the competiveness, the pride, the actions of those around you drags you into their realm of thinking.   Whether it be singing, teaching, playing sports or even writing, whatever it is that you gladly do, if you position yourself in a vulnerable situation amongst the enjoyments of your hearts without inviting God to partake fully in your engagements, you can so easily spark the creation of an idol. And by creating the attractions within the heart without implicating God, one can soon find themselves learning to trust in something that is lifeless, blind, mute and deaf… and with time they will eventually become like their idols.  Helen Keller once said; “the only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision.” 

An idol worshipped within the mind is as odious to God as an idol made by hand.  From the moment we are born every one of us become a slave to idols, and the intrinsic objective of living a triumphant life is to allow the God of the universe to invade us in fullness to where we no longer live for godless idols but for the one true God.  And when we accept Christ Jesus as our Lord and savior we no longer belong to our sinful nature of idolatry...  Because everyone born of Christ Jesus is free and free indeed!

Clearly we can see that Man's mind is filled with idolatry and false notion; so much so that if a man conceives or allows the sinful realm around him to enter within his core, it is assured that at that very moment he will forsake God and forge some idol in his own mind. When your thoughts and opinions become rebellious against the Word of God, breathless, lifeless idols are born. But the day will come when you will quickly find your idols shattered in Gods dust.  For even Gods dust is superior to your idols.  What happens is, the idol which you create today will push you out of the recollection of the one and only God whom you are planted into, thus supplanting who you were created to be with who you are creating too become. Every time we inwardly submit to the strongholds of pleasure, comfort and pride, we ignite the birth of an idol.  And each of these idols must be smashed, splintered, and obliterated from the milieu of our hearts. The only way pleasure and comfort are accepted is if they are inundated with God so much so to where everything that we do, even though it pleases and comforts us, brings praise and honor to God Almighty. 

The good news is that idols are manmade, and no matter how intimidating they may be, they are always inferior to us, and that is why we will always have it within our power to destroy them.

So where does God fit into all of this? Though we are born to a sinful nature we must learn to live an “idoless” life. We can only do so by allowing the love of God which flows abundantly throughout us to rejuvenate our being. We must annihilate our manmade idols and we must come to the conclusion that God doesn’t judge us by our good deeds but by his magnificent love, His immaculate grace which inundates the heavens and all existence making a way for us to live.  I believe that Worship is a man’s answer to God’s grace… and if we learn to worship God through all of our actions his love will guide us to an intimate relationship where manmade idols cannot and will not exist.

“The difference between grace and works is the difference between worship and idolatry. The man inebriated with the thought that all he has is God's gift finds himself repeatedly on his knees, adoring, thanking, and praising Him. But if we do not grasp grace we plummet into idolatry, for that is the inevitable corollary of self-sufficiency.” Dale Ralph Davis. God’s Divine Grace will not be assisted in the performance which merely belongs to Him, by the imperfect performances of men.  For man to attempt in the completion of what grace began, offends the Lord.  Therefore, let everyone know, that grace is either absolutely free, or it is not at all: and, that those who profess to look for salvation by grace, either believes in their heart to be saved entirely by it, or they proceed inconsistently believing that they must earn their rights to salvation through their deeds.

Embellished Living

“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”  Martin Luther King

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters, ²⁴ since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving.” Colossians 3:23

When we beyond doubt run into the heartfelt love of Jesus Christ it should penetrate our soul to make us think and live in new ways.   I remember attending a church a few years back.  My heart and mind were focused on working with the youth.  I had great dreams and my passions exceeded what I thought was possible.  The youth were excited to start something with me but the leadership of the church stepped in and decided against what we wanted.  Their response was; “this is not our focus at the moment.” Upset I went home and cried out to God in anger and bitterness.  “What is wrong with people?!!” I said.  “God, why won’t they allow you to work amid their church communities?”  I was frustrated that the church wouldn’t step into the vision that the youth and I had.  Time passed and nothing happened.  The church split and many of the youth left. Then one day God answered me.  He said; “it isn’t the churches job to get behind your vision.  It is your job to work out the vision of the church and to serve that vision through your ministry!”  My mistake was in thinking that the church existed for me and my vision, when in fact; I exist to fulfill the cause of Christ and serve it through the vision of his church.  Somewhere along my journey I had developed the thinking that the church existed for me.

At one point of his ministry Jesus begins to talk about how a divided house cannot stand.  I believe that a divided house is one that is going in different directions.  If we are truly “one” we need to be united going in a particular direction. When your church has a united vision and is anchored on a greater cause, there is a great sense of solidity and security because everyone knows where they are heading.  I often wonder what it would look like to journey through the heart of Christ. What would it be like if God literally showed us specifically what was on his heart? Jesus himself taught us to seek first the kingdom of God.  This kingdom is not a mystical place in the heavens; it is everything in the realm of Christ.  It is living in such a way that we bring the will of heaven to earth. It is journeying through the heart of Christ living in the midst of compassion.  Because compassion is the imperative aptitude for feeling what it is like to live inside somebody else's skin. It's the knowledge that there can never really be any peace and joy for us until there is peace and joy finally for others as well.

Many of us have a concept of God that needs clarification. God is not callous, for he took his heart and wore it into humanity within the person of Jesus. He did this far beyond the limits of humanity as we know it; so that he can be everything we are… and are not. God is not part loving, part graceful, part peaceful and part forgiving.  Instead he is all loving on top of all graceful on top of all peaceful.  He is not divided up so that we each get a piece.  We all get all of him, all the time.  Everything about him exceeds beyond limits, His love, His patience, His grace…, everything.

So we come to these conclusions in life, where we are lost and confused and our perception of God gets lost within our problems.  We forget about His abundance of love, His immeasurable grace, we forget about who He is and what He has done.  Deeper and deeper we get sucked into the hurricane of complex quandaries.  But if we allow His Grace to bring us to the stillness of His presence, there we will find that He is more than sufficient for us; Thus birthing faith within us. You see faith is born when in our every moment we allow our flesh and spirit to collide. I love this Psalm, and meditating on it in the midst of storms always gives birth to faith once again.  King David writes;  “You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.  I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. I cling to you; your right hand upholds me.” Psalm 63: 1-8

Each of us was born for something bigger than ourselves and God is using your present circumstances to make you more useful for the rest of the unfolding story. We are supposed to lead a life of excellence, backed up with character while being undergirded by faith.  We must learn to lead a life not for selfish gain but for the name of God allowing him to teach us everything we need to know so that we may live to the fullest capacity for him. I wonder how many people today realize that they are being called by God in a unique way. And if you just allow your spiritual place to be the fuel, the engine, you will enter into a relationship with Jesus that will ignite you to move towards excellence.   And if you allow Christ to intertwine himself through your living you will realize that you can change the direction of culture either locally or globally for all of us in the world because that’s the kind of aspirations that are embroidered within us.  We all have incredible, invasive excellence woven throughout us because of Jesus.  God cares about everything that we do and we should to because it reflects God.

Hidden within everything lies the grace of God.

…How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.... When you send your Spirit, they are created, and you renew the face of the earth.  Psalm 104:24, 30…

…The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world and all who live in it, for he founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the waters…  psalm 24:1,2

…You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship you.  Nehemiah 9:6

Our universe is inundated with the grace of God, and his marauding presence is revealed throughout our world- in the power of a lion, the beauty of a waterfall, the unity within a friendship, a child’s laughter, a rainbow after a storm.  God deliberately proposed for us to discover his loving presence in the world around us. The Grace of God is a mystery hidden amongst everything, but when found it sparks a joy so soothing that even if under the most unpromising circumstances or in the midst of suffering, our comfort and hope are restored.  For the grace of our God, the love of our Lord Jesus Christ and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit open us to the divine increase everywhere about us.

But it seems that many of us have lost our sense of wonder, shutting the door in the face of grace.  We no longer catch our breath at the sight of a sunset or get lost in the scent of a rose, as we once did.  No longer do we stare in awe at the colors of the Aurora Borealis.  We no longer shout in a cave to hear nature reply our exact words back to us.  We have befallen so engaged with ourselves that we are immune to the glory of creation.  We barely notice the moon glistening upon the water, or the dewdrops clinging to the petals of a wild flower.  The quietness within a snowstorm; the way a flame freely dances in the night.  How often do we walk across a meadow without thinking about the bounty of God’s creation missing the experience of astonishment, awe and wonder? There was a time when the powers of nature caused grown men to quiver and feel small.  It seems as though God is being edged out of His world. Examine your life.  See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way into God’s heart, because in the end all moments can be perfect, and hidden within the crevice of life itself we find grace.

What if we lived in this world in such a way to where in everything, we found God?  What if we were created to live where the love of God, the grace of God is supposed to be manifested through all His creation?  I believe that intertwined in the midst of every created thing lays the grace and providence of our God.  So often we saunter amid the beauty and fullness of nature astray in ourselves, missing the panorama of life.  Nature’s splendor is lost, and the opportunity to be enveloped in silent wonder before the God of creation passes.  We fall short of seeing the brilliancy of our world drenched with grace.

The grandeur of a life lived in grace is so enticing that it transcends the exquisiteness of all created things.  Living by the gospel of grace leads us into a divine setting- a God filled, Christ saturated creation, and a world enthused with the opulence of God.  When in our wilderness we search to find the hidden grace of God, along with this ever surpassing fountain of grace we will find ourselves well when in sickness, singing for joy when we are dying of pain, running when our legs are broken, for when grace is found hope appears.   

 How wondrous is the grace of God?  For Him to look upon creation and speak into it your name giving you life. There was a time when you were not, but you are now because creation wouldn't be complete without you. I suppose that to live life to the fullest we must lose ourselves in the midst of God’s grace.

As we come to the end of Romans chapter 11, Paul overwhelmed and in awe of God, all of a sudden stops in wonder to praise God.  Before verse 33 in Romans 11 the word doxology appears which means a glory moment.  And then in verse 36 we read; “For from him and through him and to him are all things.  To him be the glory forever! Amen.”

We can never get to the substructure of the good merciful works God… His love and His grace which portrays all of creation are unfathomable.  To abound in life we must learn not only to live by Grace but to see the Grace of God within everything.

The Seasons of Life

“He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season.”  Psalm 1:3

As we find ourselves in the midst of autumn where the colors of life bring both a frigid cold and embracing warmth, so are the seasons of life in which we journey through.  Starring into the deeps of autumn we see it strenuously fighting to hold on, not ready to release its grip, for the chills of winter approach…  Winter is but a breath away.  So are the seasons within our lives.  In the heart of summer the abundances of life hide the bareness of us, but when the days of winter crouch near they begin to reveal the core of our being.  The abounding Fullness often distracts from our foundations.  But it is in the stillness of winter, when our soul, our hearts our very being are no longer covered by the leaves of life, it is then that our true strength is unveiled. 

During the months of winter, as we look around we see the austerity of life.  The cold and bitter epoch engulfs life as it tries to hide its inmost secrets.  But even though this era exposes the core of our existence, life itself is not barren.  We still are.  Life does not lay still-though in winter she retracts herself.  But in doing so, she is preparing for the future.  And so similar it is with us.  Seasonally, we too are stripped to the core from all of the visible gifts.  Our talents are hidden; our abilities are underestimated.  When our successes fade and current efforts falter, we can surely mistake our unfruitfulness for failure… our flourishing abundance may make us feel more productive, but perhaps barrenness has the unfathomable power to strengthen our souls.  In spiritual winters, our fullness is exposed so that we can focus on our character instead of being distracted by our gifts.  When we closely gaze upon ourselves, we are left with nothing to stare at except our foundation.  Through all these lonely difficult moments our spirit, if allowed by us, will begin to grow.  Like a tree planted by living water, we will stand and grow tall because we remain in HIM.  With gratitude we simply abide in the seasons of life.  The truth is; the fathers’ exertion within us will never fail to proceed- though in winter he may seem to be retracted.  But by doing so, he endows us with love, purifies our faith, weaves within us courage, strengthens our character, conserves our energy, AND THEN, HE PREPARES US FOR THE FUTURE!!  These chilly days of winter hide and protect us so that the tempting seductive days of summer will not ruin us.  During this lonesome winter we should strive for a peaceful pace because we measure ourselves not by where we are going but by whom we are following and how closely we walk together.  I am sure that God finds joy in every season of our lives, but it would not surprise me if we learn that He especially enjoys our winter years.  They are less cluttered with the fancies of life which more than likely distract us from his face.

The decisions we make in difficult places today are to a great extent the product of decisions we made in the unseen places of our yesterdays. In the midst of our winter epoch we must see that though we are bare to the human eye, we are still fully clothed in the sight of His Majesty. It is when we live in the sole space where God is our ‘everything;’ it is when we swim in the presence of God being drenched with him, it is then that we can live in the darkest of era’s, firmly planted ready to endure all the bitters of winter.

In the darkest of hours when our hearts begin to drown in the midst of our winter, when the core of our very being becomes torn apart we may find ourselves hopeless, barely gripping on to life.  But in these moments if we approach the throne of grace we will surely find an ever consuming grace that will carefully begin to intertwine itself through our being pouring within us hope for life once again.  Though we do not understand the mysteries of God one thing will forever stand; his generous endowment of grace that He gladly splurges upon each of us.  Hebrews 4:16 says; “Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

So as the seasons of life begin to form its dwelling around us, we must ready ourselves for what will come because today’s decisions foreshadow tomorrow’s challenges and reflect yesterday’s choices. Life doesn’t just happen; it’s something where we together with God make happen.  When we choose a life with Him, we no longer walk through the seasons of our lives alone, but we walk alongside God Almighty which brings an over-joyous comfort upon me.

Just a Thought

Matthew 26:36-41; Then Jesus went with his disciples to a place called Gethsemane, and he said to them, “Sit here while I go over there and pray.”  He took peter and the two sons of Zebedee along with him, and he began to be sorrowful and troubled.  Then he said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death.  Stay here and keep watch with me.”  Going a little further he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, “My father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me, yet not as I will but as you will.”  Then he returned to his disciples and found them sleeping.  “Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked peter.  “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.  The spirit is willing but the body is weak.”

When we pray, we open ourselves to an unlimited potential for God to work in our lives.  I can remember countless times where God intervened with miraculous wonders in my life just because I humbly approached Gods throne of grace on my knees.  Since the day I asked the Lord in my life He saved me, called me, counseled me, loved me and led me directly to his grace.  We should desire to pray consistently because when we were on the verge of death he alone saved us, He alone loved us unconditionally.  Much of the power of prayer is not in its one time quantity but it’s in its consistency.  You got to get into a place where you can pray consistent daily.  If we, Gods children don’t learn how to pray consistently, what will happen is that Satan will send his army to destroy our hope, faith, and love for Christ.  The greatest ambition of Satan is to let thorns grow over the path to your prayer chamber.

The challenges of prayer come when you let your flesh do the talking instead of your spirit.  The bible says that God is Spirit so you must come to him in spirit.  Remember the Pharisees and how they prayed.  They prayed in their flesh out loud so that they may be recognized and glorified.  They prayed so that many others would hear their complex prayers showing their holiness.  Galatians 5:16 says; “so I say, live by the spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature.  For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the spirit and the spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature.  They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want.”  When you come to Jesus your spirit is alive.  And the more time you spend with Jesus the more your spirit directs your flesh.  In fact your spirit will rule your flesh so much so that your flesh will become an instrument for your spirit to use so that Gods name can be glorified.  If you walk in spirit, you will live in spirit.  You will be dead to this world but alive to the kingdom.  No power or desire here on earth will be able to overcome you.  The correct Greek translation for the word walk is to make due use of opportunity.  In other words take advantage of the opportunities God places in front of you by walking with Him in His presence. 

If you think you’re praying enough, you’re not doing enough.  It’s like a relationship.  I can’t come to you and say; “I think we spent enough time for this year and therefore we will go our separate ways and see each other next year.”  We both know that our friendship would crumble very quickly and it will not last until next year.  It’s the same with prayer.  If you come to God only on Sundays you will never get to know God.   God asks us to come seek him daily and He will open or hearts and minds to a spiritual relationship.  When you come to God in prayer you have to believe that what you receive from Him on that day is what you need for the day. When we pray, we should pray open hearted and open minded allowing an opportunity for heaven to invade earth through us.  I strongly believe that a person committed to a prayer life with God, will impact and influence the world, rather than the world impacting or influencing that person.

Psalm 19:14 says: May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight O lord, my rock and my redeemer.” IF we Gods children learn to conceal God’s word within our heart, if we delight in the statutes of the Most High God will He not graciously give us understanding and direction?  Will He not pour out his unfathomable wisdom upon us? The unfolding of God’s word gives light; it gives understanding to everything, shouldn’t we then long to hear his words?  Shouldn’t we open our mouths panting, desiring more and more each day just to sit and pray to God?  OH! How WE should love to come and stand in the presence of the Lord!  Only then will His face shine upon us teaching us His ways.  Don’t be like most people who wonder why God won’t answer their prayers when they themselves forget God all day and remember him just for a brief moment late at night when they are too tired to spend quality time with God.

 Matthew 26 verse 40 says; “Could you men not keep watch with me for one hour?” he asked peter.  “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.  The spirit is willing but the body is weak.”  The word watch means “a state of being alert.”  God knows our flesh is weak.  He created us and knows us better than we know ourselves.  But He created our flesh which was born to this world and in this world.  Then He gave us his own power, the power of the Holy Spirit to live by.  Only through his Spirit can we live a life pleasing to Christ.  “For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him.”  (2 Chronicles 16:9) Apostle Paul writes in Colossians 4:2; “Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful.” When a person devotes themselves to prayer being watchful in all that they do, an amazing thing begins to happen within them.  A surge of immeasurable power begins to flow within them allowing them to live a Christ-like life.  It is at this point of a Christian’s life that God begins to do the unimaginable impossible work that He laid aside for that particular Christian.  It is at this point where the Christians spirit takes control of their flesh bringing all praise and glory to our Heavenly Father.

Imagination of your heart

If you had one question to ask God what would it be?  What profound thought would you desire to be answered? I'm frequently caught in deep thought pondering about God and his ways.  I lose myself over and over again in his greatness.  Sometimes as I begin to travel deeper in thought about God I begin to ask questions, questions that lay buried within my heart for quite some time, questions that I thought were placed away forever in the corner closet of the attic within me.  In Matthew chapter 22 the Pharisees united together to come up with what they thought was an exceptionally complex question so that they may try to trap Jesus in his words.  After agreeing on a question they sent an expert in the Law to Jesus asking him more or less; “Out of all the things that God has ever said, which is the most important?”  Jesus replied; “Love the lord your God with all your heart with all your soul and with your entire mind and the second is like it; love you neighbor as yourself.”   

I believe that three universe exist; the universe that we live in, the universe of God, and the universe within us.  The universe within us or our “inner universe” comprises entirely all of our thoughts, our imaginations and everything that intertwines through us.  But more importantly it combines two universes together: our inner universe and the universe that we live in.  The object of successful living is to learn to live abundantly by combining all three universes together.  When a person can utterly overflow their inner universe and their outer universe with the universe of God, then and only then will they finally live life to the fullest.

The Proverbs say; “as a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”  Our imaginations are not just a place where we can day dream or a place where we can lose ourselves to a mystical world; it’s so much more than that.  Our imagination is a gift given to us by God and its part of the human essence that allows us to dream and create inside of us an inner universe that actually has an effect on our outer universe.   Jeremiah 33:3 says; “Call to me and I will answer you and tell you great and unsearchable things you do not know.”  God is saying; “if you just come and have a conversation with me, if you just invite me into your daily life, if you call to me, I will tell you things that go beyond your wildest imaginations, things that people dream to know.”  I love this cause it tells us that once we allow God to converse with us in every aspect of our lives he begins to expand our minds and begins to teach us his ways.  He is saying that if you invite him in your every thought HE will erase the boundaries of everything that you have ever thought was possible or probable and allow you to see life in an entirely new way… the way HE sees it.  By allowing God in your conversations he will begin to expand your mind with understanding and knowledge of love, hope, faith, truth and ALL that partakes of the spirit.  

There is a parallel verse to Jeremiah 33:3 and its found in Ephesians 3:20, it says; “now to him who could do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generation, forever and ever amen.”

 I think that the human imagination was created by God, designed in us so that God can in a sense have a playground or maybe a workroom where he can begin to speak within us and give us a picture of our lives and of humanity.  I also believe that he gave us our imagination so that we may see a picture of the future or what the world would look like if we just connect with him or affiliate with him and his power so that he can create that particular reality through our hands?  The truth is that when we allow God into our minds and into our hearts he broadens our imagination and views on everything, allowing us to see through his perspective… is it possible that there are things going on around you that you simply can’t see because you just don’t have the eyes to see them?  Is it possible that what God wants to do in your life is not only to expand your imagination, your dreams, faith, and hope but is it possible that he also wants you to see more as well? Is it possible that He just wants you to begin to see the invisible as the visible?  Is it possible that God has been and still is actively working all around you every second of your life but you have not developed the capacity to see him?  It’s through the human imagination that God gives us the capacity to connect the visible to the invisible. 

A part of the human brain is to create imaginations but the other part is the will.  In psalms 73 Asaph says; “and the evil imaginations of their hearts and minds know no limits…” the problem with all crimes or wrong doings is that the people who committed the wrong, let that ‘wrong thought’ evolve within their imagination. Maybe there were times in your lives where you trusted and loved someone but they brought so much pain and hurt, so much betrayal and disappointment to you but what hurt you the most was that you never imagined them to do anything like that...  the problem is that before it ever even happened, it was imagined. 

Whenever God gives us a gift of great value and essence it can always become a curse… Part of the dynamic of the human imagination is that we can choose which way to go within it.  You can take your imagination to destruction, violence and evil, you can take it to places that are seemingly unimaginable. We have been given the choice on how to live our lives.

The universe that you create in your imagination is the universe that will hold you captive.  Our imagination holds us responsible to do what we want with our WILL.  But there is this difficulty between imagination and WILL; believe it or not every time you imagine, it’s actually your WILL choosing where it wants to go… it’s completely engaged in this internal universe.  Scriptures tell us so as a person thinks in their hearts that’s who they are because when you are inside your heart, your mind, imagination and your dreams, you are creating not just the world that you will live in but also you are creating the YOU that will live in this world.  And inside this created universe your WILL is the creative agent.  And as you create this world your ‘WILL’ will choose what to take into the world of reality.  Your ‘WILL’ determines what to take from the invisible to the visible… Genesis 4 gives us a conversation found within the life story of Cain and Able.  I think that this passage is some of the greatest insight from God on what happens when we allow our minds to go wild.  God said to Cain; “why is your face downcast? If you do what is right, will you not be accepted? But if you do not do what is right, sin is crouching at your door, it desires to have you but you must master it.”  The human imagination is the playground or workroom where we can create our universe.  But our will is what God has given us to ensure that we can have mastery over our imagination and it’s what our imagination steers into reality.  God was saying to Cain, “Cain why are you angry, why are you letting yourself get upset? Cain why are you acting like you do not have a choice?!!  If you do what is right, it’s not too late for you.  You know what to do; you know how to do it and your capable of it.  You must choose to be the master of your imagination.

Just a Thought

Becoming your Superman.

The blood of a superhero flows within you.

In a hurry as if everyone depended on him, the little boy grabbed his superhero cape and jetted out the door hardly hearing his mother as she yelled after him; “Tommy, don’t stay out to long! Dinner will be ready in 10 minutes!”  With a grin on her face she turned towards her husband and said; “That boy is off to save somebody again.  When will you tell him that superhero’s don’t exist? He is old enough to know now!… I just don’t want the other kids at school teasing him.”

Wasn’t it fun when you where just a kid and you were allowed to use your imagination without limitation? As we get older we begin to live in a world surrounded by fear.  But children have this amazing way of not knowing when they are supposed to be afraid.  Somehow they find courage and strength to press on in the darkest of hours when adults seem to have long forgotten who they are truly meant to become.

Becoming the Ultimate Superhero is not something to be taken easy.  Many people live their lives wishing and hoping that they were something more than they really are.  The reality is… they are, we are… each of us is born to become the Ultimate Superhero.  

As a child I grew up a huge fan of superman.  In fact secretly I still am.  I have had superman hats, shirts, belts, gloves, house slippers, posters and many other superman accessories.  But growing up I was a superman loner fan.  Everyone else liked Spiderman, Batman, the X-men or whatever other insignificant superheroes that linked in the shadows of Superman.  When I was young I liked superman not only because he was the strongest, fastest and most elite but as well because he could do everything that I have ever dreamed of doing.  As an adult I now look at this superhero with a different perspective.  I guess I’m drawn to him because of the similarities between him and what we “Christians” are supposed to be like.

Growing up superman had no idea of his supernatural strength.  He thought he was just like everyone else, limited in a sense by the boundaries of this universe.  As he began to grow and mature something inside of him began to erupt causing an over-abundance of powers to overflow from within him. When we Christians are young in spirit often times we feel limited and powerless to do the work of our Heavenly Father.  We don’t realize that deep down within us is a surge of power just waiting to be released for the glory of our Father.  As superman began to enter into his adolescence, his powers became exposed to him when in desperation and in need… it seems even for us, when we are in desperate times, in our deepest of troubles, if we humbly approach the throne of grace, it is at those times when we look up towards God that HE begins to release the powers of his Spirit which he placed within us.  You see, it’s not where you’re from that’s important; it’s WHERE YOU’RE GOING. It’s not what you drive, it’s what DRIVES you.  It’s not what's on you; it’s what's IN you.  And it’s definitely not what you think, but it’s what you KNOW that is of importance.  And if you truly dedicate yourself to God you will succeed indeed at becoming a chosen superhero.  Superheroes are born superheroes.  They don’t just become a superhero one day after doing something incredible.  They have always had the blood of a superhero flowing within them.  We must always let the world know us as who we are! Not as you think you should be!  Christians are superheroes sent by God to bring his children home.  Sooner or later if you are posing to be someone you really are not,  there will come a time when you will forget to pose and the photographers around you will quickly pursue you taking photos so that all may see the real you, the one who faked his “superheroness.”

Superman was born with many powers but did not discover them until a later age.  Among his powers are a chilling breath that can freeze anything in its path, laser eyes which can melt the toughest of metals, strength that can lift cars, move buildings and even stop a locomotive in its tracks, speed faster than a speeding bullet, and the ability to fly anywhere and everywhere.   Although superman’s world is not our world, they are very similar indeed.  All of his power, his strength and endurance come from the sun.  It’s as if he is one with the sun, like he belongs and must partake daily from it.  He desires and craves the energy that the sun puts out.  In fact he is powerless without the sun.  Our power as well comes from a Son, but not from the sun that exhorts our earth, but from the one and only Son of the living God. We may not have super powered breath that can freeze a flame without putting it out, but we do have a breath so powerful that when used correctly it can extinguish the fires of hell.  We may not have laser eyes that can cut through cement walls or the strongest of metals, but we do have such a powerful flame in our eyes that when we release the fire of love from within, we can impact and change even the toughest of criminals who daily are being crucified on their cross. We have the strength given to us from God to move mountains and to fight the armies of a thousand worriers single handedly.  There are no limitations contained in us because through the power of the Holy Spirit we my dear friends have the abilities to do all things because Jesus went to the father for us. All of the power that lives within us is given to us from the Son of God.  If we desire and crave Jesus, if we long to encounter him daily he will pour upon us his wondrous power in an exceedingly way so much so that any force that comes our way will stop at the sound of the voice which Jesus placed within us.  Jesus himself said in John 14:12-14; “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing.  He will do even greater things than these because I am going to the father.  And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father.  You may ask for anything in my name, and I will do it.”  Apostle Paul wrote to Timothy saying, “For this I reason to remind you to fan into flame the gift of God… … for God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of POWER, LOVE, and SELF-DISCIPLINE.” This spirit, this Holy Spirit of power, love and self-discipline utterly completes what we need to live the life of the superhero within us.  If we build upon our strengths the power that is within us will gradually destroy the weaknesses contained in our blood.

There was a comic series that was written and published a few years after superman’s greatest debut.  It was the story of superman dying and then coming back to life. Superman’s job here on earth as well as his passion was to provide protection for mankind from the evil that lurks throughout this world.  Our job as well is to provide protection to humanity by spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ.  One day Superman was faced with an enemy that he couldn’t defeat.  He fought his fight but in the end he fell to his enemy.   After his death he came face to face with his father who in turn gave him a choice between life and death.  I'm frequently reminded of this story and how each one of us when facing the death that sin brings into our lives have a choice to make; Life with Christ or death with sin.  We like superman were given a choice from our Heavenly Father.  The only difference is that we must make our choice daily; to live lively with HIM or to die along with this world.  There is a power beyond powerful flowing within us, in fact words can’t even describe this power, and it abides entirely within us eagerly waiting to be used.  It is the power of the living God.  With this power we become more than superheroes, we become a chosen son of the Holy God… simply put we become Christ-like.  

Just a Thought

I often think about my past; remembering things that I used to do, not because they haunt me but because those thoughts remind me of whom I am now in Christ Jesus.  Remembering my old ways aids to advance my current life.  It helps me to abscond further and further away from the lifestyle that I once had.  I remember not too long ago I was living with a friend who would often aggravate me to the point of where I just wanted to fall off from the map of friendship with him.  My response to an irritating person was always “silence.”  I would simply ignore whoever was bothering me.  I tried hard not to be exceedingly cruel but to be honest I think keeping silent in a moment where words are needed can be beyond excruciating.  In fact I believe that silence can be the beginning downfall of many relationships.  When extremely annoyed I would act as if the person who brought me to that point of annoyance did not even exist.  Literally they would enter the room, ask a question or try to start a conversation and I would just walk away as if they were invisible.  It’s silly and childish to do things like that but it was the way I coped with frustration, annoyance and many other issues. 

I remembered a girlfriend I once had; she would walk into my house after an argument we just had and act as if nothing was wrong.  Now I'm not the type of person who likes to argue but I like all matters to be solved before I could move on.  And because certain issues were not taken care of, I just kept my silence thinking to myself that I won’t say or do anything until that certain person sees their fault.  I wanted them to figure out the mistakes on their own.  Christians must try hard not to let the ways of their past dictate their lives.  We should not let our past be part of who we are now.  With the help of our Lord and Savior, everything that we used to be should quickly demolish, leaving behind our old worldly self, and advancing in excessive growth through Christ.  By allowing Christ to destroy our anger, frustration, lunatic obsessions, and any other outrageous ways that us humans have, we open a passage to a new beginning  living as Christ asks us to live.

This past week God placed a passage on my heart that put a great challenge on the hearts of the people I shared this with. 

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?”  “Yes Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” then Jesus said, “Feed my Lambs.”  Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you truly love me?”  He answered, “Yes Lord, you know that I love you.”  Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.”  The third time Jesus said to Peter, “Simon son of John do you love me?”  Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” said Jesus.  “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.”  Again Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.”

I want to put your focus just on a few words from this passage; “Feed my sheep.” The idea of these words is far beyond the majority of what people think.  The profound meaning of these words I believe touch the very essence of what a Christian must be.  What did Jesus mean when he told peter to feed his sheep?  Why did he repeat himself three times?  “Do you love me,” said Jesus, “then feed my sheep!” 

Lately here in Spain I have seen that more and more people own a dog.  In fact the majority of all my Spanish friends have a dog.  These dogs have become more than just a dog; they have become part of these peoples family.  I have one friend in particular who treats his dog like a true friend should treat another friend.  Every morning he wakes up to feed his dog breakfast, but before he does he lovingly welcomes him into his arms caring for him as if he was his beloved companion.  This friend of mine not only cares for his dog once or twice a day but all day long he serves this dog in a compassionate way as if they were the only two beings left alive on this planet.  He cheerfully provides care for this dog as if this it were a king. 

Now I don’t want to compare us to dogs or say that we should serve them but I want to simply illustrate what Jesus was saying when he said, “feed my sheep.”  I read this passage one day and the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart explaining the very meaning of what Jesus was saying.  Another translation of the word feed is “to supply nourishment.”  Jesus is saying, “If you declare that you love me; then go! Rain heavily in a nourishing way upon all my sheep!  Feed them the love that I have poured out upon you! Hold MY sheep in high honor humbling yourselves before them cascading your very being upon them as if they were a chosen king! Offer yourselves in a serving manner so that they may know my name!”  If we truly love Jesus, there should not be even a hint of immorality, impurity, greed, anger, malice, deceit, hatred, annoyance, discrimination, or anything else that does not come from the Holy Spirit to reside within us. Apostle Paul writes to the Ephesians that such a man does not have any inheritance in the kingdom of God.  We cannot act in any such way toward any of Christ's sheep! But instead we must feed them with a loving kindness, building them up according to their needs in such a serving way that God may be glorified through our actions. 

How often do we find ourselves so occupied in our own world that we forget the true meaning of our calling?  How many friends do we walk by without lending a hand or our heart for their needs?  Better yet how many Lambs that need to be fed daily do we come in contact with and simply walk by like they don’t even exist? If you love me, then feed my sheep!

Colossians chapter 2:20; “Since you died with Christ to the basic principles of this world, why as though you still belonged to it, do you submit to its rules: Do not handle! Do not taste! Do not touch!”?  What is it about us that we eagerly talk the big talk regarding our profound love for Jesus Christ but we don’t even come close to living the life the he called us to live?  Why do we still submit to the principles of this world, touching with our own hands in a desperate way, tasting everything that this world offers in an overindulging way, and even handling what God calls sin with our own heart and soul which one day praises God and the other day abuses him?!!  The devil hurriedly comes and offers us a buffet of sins with a pleasing approach and we rudely push others out of the way so that we may taste just a little.  James the brother of Jesus says it best; therefore get rid of ALL moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly except the word planted in you which can save you… …with our tongue we praise our lord and father, and with it we curse men who have been made in Gods likeness.  Out of the same mouth come both praise and cursing!  My dear friends if you love our precious Lord Jesus Christ, then your patience, loving kindness, gentleness, compassion humility, etc. should saturate entirely over the lambs of Christ so that they too may learn of HIM and share in the heavenly kingdom.  Blessed are those who nourish Christ's sheep!!

Just a Thought

I lived in an old house for a short time where my only light source for my bedroom was a lamp on the opposite side of my bed...  I guess I could have installed a light on my ceiling; it wouldn’t have been that difficult since at one point of my life I worked as an assistant for an electrician… I had the knowledge and insight on how to do it, I just chose not to for some reason.  Because the house was not “up to date” with its electrical system, the way my room was wired left me with little options...  Sure I could have gotten an extension cord to move the lamp wherever I desired but then I thought that it might just get in the way of things.  Many nights would come and go that I would enter my room after a long day of work and as I tried to find the switch to my lamp, over and over again I would stub my toe or trip over something injuring myself in one way or another.  No matter how many times I hurt myself I did nothing about my “light situation.” But in that complete darkness, when I turned on my little lamp, it still lit up the entire room exposing everything to its light.  When darkness engulfs our surroundings does our inner light shine exposing everything around us?  Is this how our spiritual light should be? I'm afraid not; our light should not be seen only in darkness, but it should be just as bright during the day.  In fact it should be so bright that the light of day seems dark compared to the Glorious God-given light that our LORD placed within us.

 Where I now live my ceiling light is just a simple light fixture with 1 light bulb.  I spend many days sitting in my room reading a book or studying.  In the corner of my bedroom I have a nice comfortable recliner sofa chair, but as the sun begins to set over the horizon, quite often there is not sufficient light in my room to read or write. When it is not completely dark outside my ceiling light does not produce enough light to where reading can be enjoyable.  Often I take an hour break until the sky darkens.  The moment the night settles in, my ceiling light becomes superior to darkness and without notice everything becomes visible.  I fear that often our inner spiritual light comes and goes as it pleases, becoming visible only when there is truly complete darkness around us. Have you ever had a light that can be dimmed or brightened to your liking? Our light should not be like a dimmer light where it dims down or brightens depending on our reactions of daily circumstances.  We should, or may I say, we MUST ALWAYS SHINE with a glorious light that surpasses all darkness.  All our moments should be lit to the fullest especially in those times where light is not supposedly needed.

 I recently realized that there can be good light and bad light?  Bad light is in a sense where the things that you need exposed at a particular moment are still difficult to see and it seems like that light shines only on the place where you don’t need it.  Let me explain; last week I installed a telephone jack in my bedroom so that I can move my ADSL internet router closer to my computer because of the lack of wireless signal.  What I had to do was run a telephone wire from my dining room to my bedroom, about 20 meters or so.  It’s normally quite a simple work project except the fact that the main telephone jack is behind my dining room furniture which gave me barely room to work.  If I were to move the furniture I would have had to dismount the entire thing which would have made a 10 minute job turn into a 4 hour job.  So I decided to get a flash light and shine it in the area that I needed.  The problem was that since I needed both of my hands to work, I had to hang the flashlight up above my hands somehow which gave me very little light.  Actually it seemed to shine everywhere but the place I needed most.  Even though the flashlight shined its little light, the area that I was working in was still dark which made it difficult to work.

Another example of bad light could be this; I lived in a studio apartment for a little over a year.  Now this apartment, because it was a studio, had only one light in the center of the entire apartment trying to spread its little light from the area of my bed to the kitchen and then across to the living room area.  The light was sufficient for seeing your way around, but it was not enough to sit and read a book, or the ingredients of your favorite dinner dish.  The eye uses 65% of your brain power… the most out of all the other body parts, and for me when I read without adequate light my eyes and brain are forced to go beyond what they are accustomed to do.  I soon find my eyes beginning to hurt causing an unwelcomed headache.  To me, light that is not bright enough falls into the bad light category, or the darkness group.

The eye is the lamp of the body.  If your eyes are good your whole body will be filled with light.  But if your eyes are bad your whole body will be filled with darkness.  If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness?!!  Matthew 6:22, 23.

Looking at this scripture brings up many different images to my heart.  It also reminds me of different instances I had with a flashlight in hand, trying to shine it towards the vicinity that I thought was needed as I looked for whatever I lost.  Imagine if the light within you was just a typical earthly light, like your bedroom ceiling light, or a flashlight.  What if your light was equal to the headlights of a car?  Let’s go even brighter, what if your light was as bright as the lights of an entire city?!!  Would that “man created light” be enough to guide people in the right direction?  Would it be enough to withstand this hovering darkness that seems to choke mankind from the truth? I believe heavenly light is the only light powerful enough to produce a supernatural radiance that can lead people to our loving LORD; and if our eyes are true to our LORD, than they will produce an absorbing mystical light that will grasp the attention of people around us.  Like a deer in headlights people will be stuck, staring, wondering, and wanting what we have. If your eyes are good your whole body will be filled with light.

The eye can process about 36,000 bits of information per hour and it controls 85% of all the knowledge that you will ever get… our eyes can also act as a firewall to our hearts.  They can choose between the good things and bad things surrounding us. In a way our eyes are the anti-virus security system for our hearts.  Our eyes can choose to let in the nourishing goodness or the destructive evilness. The eye is the lamp of the body.  It decides whether to light the body or darken it.  I read an interesting verse not too long ago; while being persecuted by King Saul, David writes in psalm 17:8 saying to the LORD; “Keep me as the apple of your eye; hide me in the shadows of your wings!!” The original Hebrew for this expression can be literally translated as "Little Man of the Eye." This is a reference to the tiny reflection of yourself that you can see in other people's pupils.  This Hebrew phrase is surprisingly close to the Latin version, pupilla, which means a little doll.  It was applied to the dark central portion of the eye within the iris because of the tiny image of oneself, like a puppet or marionette, which one can see when looking into another person's eye.  God referred to his people as the apple in his eye in the book of Zechariah.  We are dearly loved by our wonderful God.  In fact he asks us to be so close to him that we might see our reflection in His eyes.  Or better yet, so that others may see Gods reflection in our eyes.  If a person’s eye is the lamp of their body and their eyes are filled with Gods reflection, than within that person is a pure and lovely light; a light that truly attracts other people passionately to Christ.
We were placed here on earth to shine with an immensely tremendous glorious awe-inspiring overwhelming breathtaking light that is only given to us from an encounter with God.  Remember the time when Moses came off the mountain?  He tried to hide his face from the Israelites because he was glowing with the majesty of God!  We as Gods children should shine outwardly as much as inwardly… and we should start by letting our eyes light up our heart and soul with the nutritious scrumptious buffet of beautiful scriptures found in the Bible given to us by our heavenly father.  You my dear friend where perfectly created for a grand purpose by Majesty Himself; to shine and dance in this life producing a magnificent light so that the world around you may come and be part of the Splendor of His Presence.