just a thought

The joy of the Lord is my strength
I cannot be other than joyful because of whom Christ is to me. God has poured his grace upon me and I am now experiencing a life filled to the rim, or I guess I can even go as far as saying "an overflowing" life of JOY! Many people consider the words joy and happiness to be very similar, but I beg to differ. When lost in thought about the word happiness, it begins to introduce visions of my favorite golf course, or vacationing in a dreaming locale. It sparks images of children running wild at a playground. I even picture myself sharing precious moments with those I love. Other times happiness reminds me of those unbridled laughter’s that I shared with friends throughout my life. Every person desires to be happy; we pursue this mysterious idea and make it our lifelong quest: Searching for innovative experiences, beautifying ourselves, some people go as far as spending their money outrageously hoping to find the missing puzzle piece. But if happiness depends on our situations, what happens when the golf course is flooded, or when there is no more laughter? What happens when our loved ones die or our vacations turn into our worst nightmares? Often happiness scurries and anguish settles in. That is why I believe that joy surpasses happiness. In distinction to happiness stands joy. Joy is the quiet, confident assurance of God’s love and work in our lives- that he will be there for us no matter what! Happiness depends on happenings but joy depends on Christ.
The majority of us know the well quoted verse found in Nehemiah 8:10; "for the joy of the Lord is your strength." But many of us don’t truly know the profound meaning of this word "Joy" and how the joy of our precious LORD really is our strength. To me the only definition that comes close to describing this word joy would be this: Joy is the ecstasy found in elation with the completeness of euphoria which places you into a delightful heavenly state where you are not ignorant of reality but truly alive and jubilant in our LORD Jesus Christ. Simply put, joy is a taste of the presence of Jesus. It is part of the aroma of Christ, where when experienced truthfully it brings out the overwhelming essence of life. When a person becomes absolute in joy, they automatically become supreme in love which makes them whole in Jesus. Nehemiah was onto something when he said that our joy is in the LORD. If you were to take love or joy and place it within you, can it one day be destroyed? If you were to take an abundance of faith and trust and place them within someone that you love, can that faith and trust stand forever? I believe not! Because we are merely human; and more often than we want we disappoint, hurt and demolish our closely knitted relationships which obliterates our love, joy, faith, trust and everything else. But if you were to realize that these emotions, especially your joy is elaborately embroidered in the heart of Christ, it will never cease to move and then, what you allow to be in Him, will always be within you!

How can the joy of the Lord be our strength? How can a person receive the true joy that is found in Jesus? A person cannot have joy for something unless they are ecstatic about it. Jesus is so passionate about you that he joyfully made a way for you to live with him eternally! And because of his crazy desire for you his indescribable joy can nourish your spirit in a supernatural way which places a mystical strength throughout your entire being!! This strength that is given to us from Christ's Joy, I believe is crucial for the beginning stages of becoming Christ-like.

I often ponder of the Joy that Christ has for his children. How great and awesome is it? It spreads across all the heavens and the earth so much so, that some days I can feel it embracing me like a blanket of fresh dew on an early morning. Who can fathom his infatuation for his children? It is beyond all the minds that ever existed!! And every time I feel his love and joy for me I begin to spin like a wild leaf contained by the wind free from the tree that bore me. I joyfully allow him to be my wind, to carry me wherever he chooses. And the tree, the world that tried to destroy me… no longer can control me, no longer am I enslaved to it.
And when the JOY of the Lord becomes your strength, everything about you begins to fill with his splendor. You begin to see, feel, taste, and hear him everywhere. Psalm 139:1-12 says; "O LORD you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord. You hem me in- behind and before; you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, to lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your spirit? Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me; your right hand will hold me fast. If I say surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me, even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

If it were possible to gather all the lights within this world, add them to the lights of heaven; the suns the stars and everything that shines it would barely be a fraction of the glorious light that Christ’s JOY puts out! Only Jesus can look at you and see who you were meant to be. His passion for me drives me to him with arms wide open renewing everything within me including my strength, joy, hope, faith, and love... 1 Thessalonians 5:16; "be joyful always, pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

Isaiah 51:11; "The ransomed of the LORD will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away."

Just a Thought

Christ-like

            I fell upon a verse this past week that glued to my heart like frosting on a cupcake. No matter how hard the devil tried to destroy what God was building within me this verse remained true… it became the mouth-watering frosting on my week. When those moments of severe difficulty abruptly approached, this verse acted as a sweet delicious delicacy that welcomed all bitterness and disgust knowing that it was more than enough to overcome any horrible taste. It provided me with an intense desire to keep on going and it filled my heart with a new savoring taste. A flavor so unimaginable that not even Willie Wonka and his crew of fascinating Umpa Lumpa’s could come close to creating! This I believe was a portion of the Essence, the Zest, and the Aroma of Christ Jesus! "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his son." (Romans 8:28, 29) I know that this is one of the most quoted verses from the Bible but it fed the fire within my heart and added to my foundation, strengthening the pillars and framework around my core. The idea of knowing that God works all things for the good of those who love him is breathtaking! But the thought of becoming constructed in the likeness of Jesus is mind boggling and awe-inspiring!!

            Have you ever felt so trapped in life that no matter how hard you try to get out of your horrible situations you only dig your hole deeper and deeper? Have you ever felt so lost or stuck in the work that you are trying to accomplish, no matter what you do everything crashes and bursts into flames right before your eyes? These past few weeks I have seen more crashes, more explosions, more disasters in the work that I came here to do, than ever before… but as my world felt like it was coming to a bittering end, within my heart, a small still voice kept on saying; "all things work out for the good of those who love him… for they will be formed in the likeness of the Son." My love for God grows enormously daily and because of his work within my life I will forever continue to do his will. As I read Romans 8:28 over and over again I began to see it in a different way… when Apostle Paul wrote this I think what he was trying to say was, "for those who are completely and desperately in love with our Heavenly father, He [God] will take the "good" that is missing from within us, and intertwine it throughout our beings, so that we will be formed to the likeness of his Son. This isn’t a verse promising that in all your circumstances you will have your needs handed to you because you love God and God loves you… I trust that this is far more than we can imagine. I believe this verse is a direct promise from God to those who love him that they will be transformed to the likeness of his Son. And when a person is formed to the likeness of Jesus there is no more room for worries, pain, fear, hardships, etc. within their hearts. They become filled to absolute fullness with true love and Jesus begins to shine through them so that Gods Holy name will be glorified.

           I think Apostle Paul had a direct revelation from God about who God wants us to become. Time and time again he reminds us of our transformation. Although I am convinced that God’s dream for each person may differ from one another I strongly believe that His will is the same for each of us… that is to be formed in the likeness of Jesus Christ. Again Apostle Paul mentions in Galatians chapter 4 "oh how I wish I could be with you now… because I am perplexed about you." Paul goes on to say that he is in pain and suffering for the Galatians until Christ was formed within each of them. One of my greatest joys is seeing Christians advance beyond the mind's eye to a place of impossibilities; the place of being Christ-like. The thought of knowing that my loved ones have finally understood and are pursuing Christ in a passionate quest, drives me bonkers!!! Literally, I feel like my heart will burst because of its richness in joy!! Oh how I desire for people to step into this simple but deeply profound relationship with God.

         So what does it mean to be Christ-like? What does God mean when he tells us that he wants us to attain to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ? I believe that we can find a small piece of what this means or how to become Christ-like in the gospel of Luke. These are the words of Jesus in Luke chapter 6:27-35; "but I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you, if someone strikes you on the cheek turn him the other also. If someone takes from you your cloak do not stop him from taking your tunic. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you do not demand it back. Do to others as you would want them to do to you… But love your enemies, do well to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High God!" I don’t think that Jesus is saying here give all your materialistic belongings to everyone around you if they ask for them. I concur that we shouldn’t be tied down to any of our special belongings, but what I think Jesus is say is beyond just giving to those in need. We must give with fullness of heart to everyone around us. Love does not measure it simply gives everything continually. I think that in this passage Jesus is telling us to splurge our love, compassion, patience, hope, kindness, gentleness, and the like, out on everybody around us. We must do so continually. This is part of being Christ-like. Can you really dig to the bottom of your heart and love to an extreme measure, all those who have done you wrong? Can you spend hours in prayer for the drunkard who drove his car vicariously into the car of your only child, taking their life? Can you give an abundance of love to the man who convinced your wife that nobody will find out what they did behind closed doors? Can you bless those who have spread evil rumors about you and your family ripping you guys apart? Can you think of the absolute worst case scenario that you can possibly imagine and after doing so, can you invite those who did you wrong and serve them not only with a grand dinner but also by getting on your knees and washing their feet? Ephesians 4:22, 23- You were taught in regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its evil desires; to be made new in the attitudes of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true Righteousness and Holiness." We must give ourselves in a "servant hood way" to provide the characteristics of Jesus through humbleness. What Jesus is saying in Luke chapter 6 is give yourselves entirely to the people around you so that Gods name will be glorified and so that you may be children of the Most High God! This is the beginning of being Christ-like. (For even the Son of Man came to serve, not to be served.) There is no greater illness in this world than the lack of love… we must let God form and shape us into the characteristics of Christ, so that we may spend eternity with Him! "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his son." (Romans 8:28, 29)

Just a Thought

Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.  Hebrews 11:1

When my buddy (Brent) and I first came to Spain, we were so sure that God would open every door for us immediately.  We had the faith that our dreams would be fulfilled within the first month of being in Madrid…  Little did we know that God had to form and mold us through an extreme process before we could truly begin to live.  Each one of us must go through a fiery furnace so that we may be formed and molded to His desired creation before we could begin to dine within our dreams. 

A few people came to me recently and asked; “Stelian, if you have so much faith, why won’t God give you the things that he promised you?  You claim to have faith the size of a mustard seed but we don’t see you moving mountains, or performing miracles!”  In response I said, “My Faith is in God, and in God alone.  I believe that He can move all mountains.  I believe with all my heart that his word can stop the sun in its place.  I believe that all things are possible through Him! But just because certain events in my life have not yet begun that certainly does not mean that my faith in him is too little.  It simply means that I am not ready for what will soon occur.   If God were to give me my dreams and desires now, I could surely destroy everything by falling away from God.  It took King David 22 years before he became King, not because his faith in God was too little, but because it was not yet time for him to shine.  During this molding process that we each go through (if we let God do the molding) we begin to shine more and more as the days go by until eventually we are so refined that people around us will be awed. They will stare intently at the splendor of what God has done.  I may have to wait 2, 3 or even 10 more years to become what God promised, but my faith in God will forever stand! 

Faith cannot be based off facts.  It is being sure of what we hope for and more than certain of what we do not see.   When a person has faith without seeing, their faith becomes seen. If you try to base your faith off certain facts you will get to a point in your road where you run out of faith.  A time will come where you must have faith first so that you can see.

Faith is only seen in action. I love the story that Mark writes in chapter 2 of his Gospel.   It reads; “A few days later when Jesus entered Capernaum the people heard that He had come home.  So many people gathered that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them.  Four men came carrying a paralytic, bringing him to Jesus.  Since they could not get to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus and, after digging through it they lowered the mat with the paralyzed man down.  When Jesus SAW their faith, he said to the paralytic, ‘Son, your sins are forgiven.”

What about the event in Acts chapter 14:8, 9; ‘in Lystra there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from birth and had never walked a day in his life.  He listened to Paul as he was speaking.  Paul looked directly at him; SAW that he had faith to be healed and called out, “stand up to your feet!” at that moment the man jumped up and began to walk.’  A mustard seed faith is always visible.  It is visible because in that moment of faith that person is completely relying on God to do the miraculous. A mustard seed faith does not fear.  It builds an ark before there is even a cloud in the sky… A mustard seed faith drenches the alter with water knowing that God will send down his fire to lick up every drop… a mustard seed faith gives their two little fish and five little loaves convinced that it will feed 10,000… It plunges into the water before thinking that God will part the water so they may cross. A mustard seed faith takes their sling and stone and faces their mighty giant confident that God will show up. It does not need man’s consent or their money. It stands firm in God and rejoices in every storm.

One of the most well known verses from the Bible is 2 Corinthians 5:7, “We live by faith and not by sight.” Faith is everything in our relationship with God. The book of Hebrews mentions that without faith you cannot please God. Faith is the structure of our core. I have faced and still am facing many days where my faith is tested… not just a little… it’s tested to the deepest of my being.  I have learned that People destroy their dreams when they allow their fears to grow bigger than their faith.  An unseen faith cannot be a mustard seed faith because a mustard seed faith is always visible.

Faith is the knowledge within the heart, beyond the reach of proof… it is intricately woven so deep within the heart that nothing, not even proof can touch it… and if you learn how to reach to the core of your heart and grab hold of that faith it will unleash the potentials that you never dreamed existed… within faith is hidden a world of possibilities.