The Great Adventure

Abiding in Jesus's love; partnering with Him as He makes all things new

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Story of Meeting Jesus

My reflections on the day Jesus was killed led to an amazing discovery.

I'm giving my day to fasting and meditation on the cross (and posting on Facebook :)) I believe the Holy Spirit just spoke to me and connected up an amazing sequence of events that I'd never put together, specifically dealing with my wife, Joanne Walter.

I'm sitting here thinking about the moment I was born-again and about the events and timeline leading up to this, simply marveling at God's fatherhood and the mercy and care He has shown me.

I started looking at a calendar and discovered something really, really cool. Hold onto the end to find out.

To start with, I was born-again in the early morning hours of April 10th, 1994. That previous night, I had been in the bedroom at my friend Eric's house with a bunch of folks. Like a hundred times before in this room, we were there having "fun," but tonight was different in that it was the culminating point of a month-long wooing of my heart by the Living God.

They had found Kurt Cobain's body the day before, which was a major focus to the night's conversation. I remember, talking about suicide and why suicide with a guy name David and I kept bringing up the possibility of a God. This guy was a fierce atheist with a deep hatred of God and I remember I wanted to debate him about God existing and God being good even though I didn't believe in Him. I was conflicted.

Some might blame a drug-induced delusion, but 22 years later that night is more real than any other aspect of my understanding of reality. I remember looking around the room and everyone's face was a holographic picture, where I see them smiling and laughing and then they turn their head a bit, and I see the black well in each of them of fear, anger, hatred, bitterness, pride and all the other brokenness that makes up the heart of man.

It was then that, I believe, I heard the voice of God. The Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, “all that is in them is in you.” In a moment, I felt crushed by the weight of my brokenness and it propelled me out the door, down the stairs and outside. I was physically trying to run from my sin. Eric followed me out onto his front sidewalk and I remember grabbing his arm.

Eric: “Lee, are you alright, everyone thinks you’re freaking out.” Me: “I am freaking out!!” Me: “Eric, do you believe in God? Eric, what if there’s a God? Eric, I believe in God!”

At that moment something happened. Just as light impinges on the pupil allowing us to see, the light of God’s presence broke into my inner being and flooded me with the truth of His being. In addition, He manifested Himself physically. I felt fire all over me and I began to weep and tremble. I remember my friend Eric’s flesh and soul had the same response. He began to weep along with me.

It’s now early morning and I’m home in my bedroom La-Z-Boy listening to music asking myself, “what comes next?” It’s then that a voice flooded my mind, “Ask Jesus into your heart.” I shot to me feet with my hands lifted high and began crying out, “I believe, I believe, I believe.” Recognizing we're a sinner and believing that Jesus is the Savior of mankind does not save a person. We must turn to Him and surrender our lives to Him. It was as I did this that I came to life for the first time.

In looking at the calendar, today, I learned that the previous weekend, April 3, 1994, was Easter and I remembered how spectacular that weekend was for Joanne. God was drawing us both at the same time and she had an unimaginable experience on Good Friday-1994.

Prior to this weekend, Joanne, who worked at the Dairy Queen, had a guy come in and share the Gospel with her. He was recently saved and radical to ensure everyone was aware what was available to all who turn to Jesus. On that Friday, we went to a party at a house on Pine Knoll Shores and what I remember most was that everything just seemed different.

What happened to Joanne on Good Friday-1994 so overwhelmed her that it was weeks later until she fully recounted to me the events of the night.

Sometime in the evening, I remember, Joanne stopped talking and she seemed different in a way that kind of scared me. I was worried that she had gone out too far, but I was wrong. She had been sitting in the big open living room of this beach house looking across the room at our friend, Shannon. Joanne then had a supernatural experience that Biblically is defined as an “open vision.”

Shannon was standing up and behind him appeared a big shining cross made of white light. As her mind became overwhelmed by what she was experiencing, the arms of the cross began to close in around him, like a hug from behind. At this point, Joanne Walter is overwhelmed with the reality of Romans 5:8, “God demonstrated his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

I can remember Joanne crying and crying for hours after this. I was freaked out thinking that she was afraid her parents were going to catch her. Boy, was I wrong. God so clearly revealed his love to her in this experience that she was pouring her heart out to Him and being filled up with the felt love, healing and the power of His presence.

It’s today, Good Friday, that the True and Living God, who has created us for Himself, has demonstrated His love to us all at the cross. Some may ask where is God in this world of suffering and pain? I say, there He is. He’s stripped naked, beaten and mocked. There he is. He’s tortured and spat upon. Jesus, God in flesh, bearing the weight of the sins of us all.

Not only did God reveal His love to us at the cross and not only did He reveal His love to Joanne through her open vision of a cross, but these experiences converged in such a way that leaves no doubt that Jesus is worth it all.

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Kari Jobe and Spiritual Warfare

Read whole post.  Amazing​ story included :)

Spiritual warfare.  We will see the dislodging of demonic forces and the tearing down of historic, cultural strongholds over our region preceded by the Church united in day and night worship and intercession.  God-centered, apostolic prayers and the release of a "new song" is the primary basis from which God manifests His glory to dispel all the works of the kingdom of darkness.  Unprecedented revival will follow.

A great illustration of how worship of God serves as our primary warfare is contained in this story.

Several years back, a great friend of mine, Jason H., and I arranged to meet up in Ohio, before he headed off to Afghanistan.  Joanne, the boys and I had a wonderful weekend, catching up with our old, Bible College buddy.  As a part of the weekend, we drove over from Columbus to Beavercreek, OH, where Kari Jobe​ was leading a worship event.

The church hosting the gathering had a reputation in the spirit realm of having a mature understanding of prayer and their movements were being tracked by the kingdom of darkness.  So, it wasn't surprising, when this gathering was targeted by agents of Satan.

As Kari began to lead us into the presence of God, she stopped after the first song and with a very sober tone shared what she had just experienced at her hotel.

She first shared, what now is clearly the providence of God, how she had some type of scheduling issue and wasn't going to be able to make her flight from Nashville (I think) and had to rent a car instead to drive up for the event.  This allowed for her to bring two of her close friends along.  

When they arrived at their hotel room, they sat their bags down and as they were unlocking their door one of them heard strange noises that sounded like chanting coming from the room next door.  At first, they kind of mused at the sounds and focused in to listen to what was going on, when there was suddenly a blanket of manifest darkness and unnatural fear.

They immediately went into their room and began to pray.  Kari shared how, by the grace of God, one of the friends who came along was gifted in spiritual warfare and she went into action pushing back the darkness.  They prayed until breakthrough and experienced the comforting security of angelic guards.

I believe, through a word of knowledge, that the local Satanic coven targeted Kari for a purpose to disrupt this event.  They were most likely trying to release a curse for sickness to strike her.

Know this.  The group I'm talking about isn't a bunch of high school kids who've listened to too much Slayer on drugs and decided it a good idea to sacrifice the neighbor's dog and start a coven.  This group is a well-organized international group who have the purpose of bringing the kingdom of the anti-christ into the earth.

After Kari finished her story, what happened next is unprecedented in my life. As she began to sing, a door opened up and it was as if I was on the crystal sea before the throne of God. For the next hour straight, I was hit with wave after wave of the beauty and wonder caused by gazing at the One to whom our only response is Holy, Holy, Holy. Joanne had this same experience and I'm guessing that many others there had the same encounter.

I did a lot of LSD before I was saved and I've never been as tripped out as when the lights came on and my mind once again registered that I was in Beavercreek vs. the City of the Great King. My heart longs to be with Him and, more than ever before, surrender my life into His hands.

May our hearts ever be on pilgrimage to New Jerusalem. I invite you to "Look Upon the Lord."

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Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus

Chapter 34

Salvation in the Balance

My senior year at [Old Dominion University] was atypical.  Apart from the fact that it was actually my third year, it was also my first year living on campus.  Up to that point, despite my protestations, Ammi and Abba insisted that living on campus would doom me to depravity.  It was not until my senior year that I was able to convince them I simply had too many responsibilities at school to continue commuting.

One of those responsibilities was serving as president of the honors college, and I tapped into that role to choose my dorm room when I finally got my parents’ permission to move out of the house.  Located in the southwestern wing of Whitehurst Hall on the top floor, my room afforded a grand view over the Elizabeth River, the second best view on campus.  The adjacent room had the best view, but I declined it because it had heating problems.  

That room was ultimately occupied by someone who quickly became my friend, a Buddhist named Zach. Zach was a philosophy student, soft in speech and methodical in thought, which made him an excellent person to spar with intellectually.  A few weeks into the semester, we were already good friends, and I had engaged him in dawah more that once.  Dawah is the practice of inviting people to Islam.

As fate would have it, Zach attended some Philosophy Club meetings, where David was the president, and the two had hit it off.  So David and I both became good friends with Zach independently of one another.  After we learned about our mutual friendships, the three of us began spending time together.  We were a motley trio, serving as the butt of more that a few jokes.  

On one particular day, when a Muslim, a Christian and a Buddhist were sitting in a smoothie bar, I brought up the final Christian doctrine that continued to offend my sensibilities: substitutionary atonement.  Substitutionary atonement is the teaching that Jesus, through shedding his blood is able to pay for the sins of all mankind.  It was part of my ongoing efforts at dawah for Zach, which made for a comical scene.  Here I was hoping to bring Zach to Islam by indirectly critiquing David, who was evangelizing both of us.  Caught on the middle was Zach, who wanted nothing.  Literally.  His goal as a Buddhist was to attain nothingness.

“You see, Zach,” I pontificated boisterously, pointing my smoothie at him, “Islam is a fair religion. It has none of this nonsense about some random person having to suffer for your sins.”

“Now wait just a minute!” David sputtered over his smoothie, trying to interject.  I steamrolled over him

“You wait a minute, I’m not done yet!  As I was saying, according to Islam, we will all stand before God, each accountable for our sins.  No one will be able to intercede for us.  Our spiritual lives are our own responsibilities, and if our good deeds outweigh our sins, we will go to heaven.  If our sins outweigh our good deeds, we will go to hell.  That’s fair and just.  See what I’m saying?”

Zach was characteristically stolid.  “I do.”

“Of course, if God wishes to grant us grace, He may.  He is God, after all.  But what is completely our of the question is God taking your sins and placing them on an innocent man, as if that man can be punished for your crimes while you get off scot-free.  What kind of justice is that?”

David was smiling but looked ready to jump across the table.  “You’re not representing it fairly.”  

“It stinks when people aren’t fair, doesn’t it?  Now cool down a bit.  Try sipping on that smoothie.  I have one more thing to say.”

We were all laughing. This was fun, even though the topic was very serious.  I wanted to make my most poignant illustration before turning the conversation over to David, who obviously had a lot to say.

“Our national debt right now is what, seven trillion dollars?  Suppose I walked up to President Bush and said ‘Hey W., I know our debt is seven trill, but I can pay for it.  Here’s a dollar that should cover it.’  What do you think Bush would say?”

Zach didn’t skip a beat. “He’d say you’re an idiot.”

“Ex-act-ly!”  I exclaimed, accentuating each syllable by jabbing my smoothie at David.

Zach wanted me to spell it out.  “What are you trying to say?”

“I’m saying it’s bad math. Just like a dollar can’t pay for trillions of dollars of debt, Jesus’ death on the cross can’t pay for everyone’s sins.  Even if one man could pay for another man’s sins, it doesn’t add up for just one man to pay for billions of sinners.  So not only is Christian [salvation] unjust, it’s bad math.  Islam, on the other hand?  Simple, easy to understand, totally fair.”  With that, I returned to drinking my smoothie with a triumphant air of finality.  

Zach looked off into the distance, considering.  “Well, that makes sense to me, I guess.”

David wasn’t having any of it.  “Are you done?” he asked pointedly, half smiling and clearly amused.  

“Nah, I just started drinking it.”

“I mean with your rant?”

“The floor is yours.” I had once again deployed arguments I had known since childhood in order to build my case against Christianity, and I felt confident in their strength.  Smug, even.

“You’re inappropriately compartmentalizing Christian doctrines in order to make your case, Nabeel.”

I had no idea what he was talking about, so I was unfazed.  “Proceed.”

“You know full well that Christian doctrine teaches Jesus is God, yet you took that out of your equation when you critiqued the theology.  God is not forcing ‘some random person’ to suffer for our sins; He is paying for our sins Himself.”

“A better analogy would be a son who has stolen from his father’s business.  If after wasting the goods, the son returns to the father and sincerely seeks forgiveness, it is within the father’s right to forgive him.  But not all would be settled yet; the accounts haven’t been balanced.  Someone has to take the hit for the stolen goods.  If the father wants, he has every right to pay for his son’s debt from his own account.  That’s fair.”

I was confused.  “Who is the son?”

“We are the son, and God is the father.  We have incurred a debt against God, and can’t pay Him back.  So in His mercy, He pays our sins for us.  The wages of our sin is death, and He died on our behalf, balancing the accounts.”

I sat silently, sipping my smoothie.  Zach chimed in.  “Okay, David, I think I get what you’re saying.  Since our sins are against God, God has the right to forgive us.  And if Jesus is God, then Jesus can pay for our sins.”

David considered this. “Yeah, I guess you can put it that way.”

I wasn’t convinced.  “But that still doesn’t explain how one person can pay for all the sins of mankind.”

“Nabeel, you’re still forgetting that this isn’t just any person.  This is God!  This was not like paying off trillions of dollars of debt with one dollar.  This was paying trillions of dollars of debt with an infinite bank account!  God’s life is worth more than all the other lives in the universe combined.  His death more than paid for all the deaths that the rest of us deserve.”

I looked over at Zach to see what he thought, hoping for support.  He impassively returned my glance, as if to say, “It’s your move.”  I rallied my thoughts.

“Alright, David, there’s another problem.  You’ve been assuming this whole time that if someone sins, then it means they need to die. I’m not buying it.”

“It’s what the Bible says. Romans 6:23.”  It always impressed me when David quoted Bible references, but it also irked me.  I rarely knew the references to Islamic doctrine, since most of what I learned was from my teachers, who never knew the references themselves.  In this instance, his reference to the Bible sharpened our disagreement.

“I honestly don’t care if the Bible says it; it makes no sense.  What kind of judge is it who punishes the pettiest crime with the same judgment as the most heinous?  Think about it.  Imagine you were sent to court for jaywalking.  The guy before you is found guilty of rape and murder and sentenced to execution. Then you are found guilty of jaywalking and also sentenced to execution.  Forget unjust.  That judge would be cruel, probably sadistic!”

This argument had real implications for my heart.  I knew I was a sinner and that I had rebelled against God’s commands at times and chosen my own path over His dictates.  But since Muslims believe that salvation is a matter of doing more good deeds than bad, I never really felt anguish over my sins because I believed myself to be on the positive side of the scales.  To me, sin was bad, but not that bad.

But if it was true that all sins are so devastating that they lead to hell, what chance did I have? Of course, Allah could show mercy, but the Quran says Allah does no love sinners.  What reason would He have to forgive me?

David must have been given some insight because he spoke to the heart of the issue.  He shook his head and said solemnly, “Nabeel, you’re still seeing Christian doctrines from an Islamic perspective.  Christianity teaches that sin is so destructive it shatters souls and destroys worlds.  It’s like a cancer that slowly consumes everything.  That’s why this world went from perfection in the Garden of Eden to being the sick and depressing place it is today.  Do you think God would allow any that stuff in heaven?   Of course He wouldn’t.  If heaven is going to be a perfect place, by definition there can be no sinners in it.  None at all.”

His last words hung in the air, their gravity slowly sinking in.  After a few heavy moments, I spoke.  “Then what hope is there for us David?”

David smiled reassuringly. “Only the grace of God.”

“But why would He give me grace?”

“Because He loves you.”

“Why would He love me, a sinner?”

Because He’s your Father.”

David’s words hit me powerfully.  I had heard Christians call God “Father,” but it never clicked.  Only when trying to figure out why God would give me mercy and grace when I deserved none did the gears start turning.

I couldn’t speak.  It was all connecting.  Would I every question why Abba loved me?  He had loved me since I was born, the day he first spoke the adhan into my ear, not because of anything I did but because he was my father. I never doubted his love and generosity toward me, not because I had somehow earned his favor but because I was his son.

Was this really how God loved me?  Could God be that loving?   Could He be that wonderful?

It was as if I was meeting my Heavenly Father for the first time.  After having just confronted the depravity of my sins, His forgiveness and love was that much sweeter.  This God, the God of the Gospel, was beautiful.  I was spellbound by this message.  My heart and my mind were caught in the beginnings of a revolution.

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The Eternal Adventure

In this deceitful age that has birthed a barren generation.  The ache of emptiness leaves innumerable vulnerable to the felt love of God.  

My life is sustained by ONE thing.  It is the felt love of God.  Mostly in secret times, God manifests His Glory to me and completely captivates my heart and overwhelms my mind.  

Some of the funnest times of living this kind of lifestyle is being there when God released His Glory though you as you are about the Great Commission.  Preeminent in the way I lead my life, my family, my crew at work, etc., is my commitment to see the Gospel of the Kingdom fill the earth.  It's a fun way to live.

During our trip to NYC, I felt God's presence a lot leading my to intercede for mercy for NYC.  God hates what hurts people and there is a lot of that in NYC.  There is a shaking coming to our nation.  Be aware.

I'd boil it down to living your life to love God with your whole heart, soul, mind and strength and then encountering His love and this is the door into the eternal adventure.

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Coming Out and Being Separate from this World

Article comparing the progressive, liberal ideology to ancient paganism.

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=83960 These two streams of human culture are similar because they have the same foundation.  They are founded in the primary principle of satanism, which is that men should "Do what thou wilt."  We clearly see the fingerprints of the kingdom of darkness doing what they do best, which is steal, kill and destroy.  Let it challenge us to live out Deuteronomy 7:26, "Do not bring a detestable thing into your house or you, like it, will be set apart for destruction.  Utterly abhor and detest it, for it is set apart for destruction."  A primary challenge of the Christian life is to come out this world and be separate, because being a lover of this world will always lead us to a place of serious failure. What we set our minds on, we open our spirits to, thus Paul in Ephesians 4:27, commands us to, "Give no place to the devil."  The simple steps to keep our life pure and pursue righteousness protect our heart from being compromised and allowing devils to have place to manipulate us.  Allow this truth to judge our decisions about the people we are connected to in intimate relationships, the media you consume and the places you go.  Take the K Love challenge, by only listening to positive Christ affirming music over the next month and positive and life-affirming movies and shows.  Come out from under the influence of the manipulative streams of social media and see the change that happens in your life.  When we fast spiritual darkness our life begins to fill with light.

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God Visit Carteret County

Wouldn't it be great if the young people in the church were alive in Christ living a lifestyle of pursuing God with their whole hearts and, thus, encountering His love for them.  It's encountering His love that fuels hearts with passion for every good thing.  This is wisdom and this is what will be justified before Jesus on the last day.  Ephesians 3.

The alternative is young people affirming some Biblical truths and then working to modify their own behavior through their own strength and understanding.  This will not produce fruit that remains.  In order to be effective in life one must be connected to the vine and have the vine dresser at work in your life pruning away that which is not profitable.  John 15.  

We, the Church, are in deep need of understanding and vision, to move from the later to the former and see the breaking-in of awakening.  I believe God is releasing this, even right now to so many folks in our region.  He is building His team to work along side as He leads us into a new land.

It is born out of unified crying out in the place of prayer.  It is as we give up all other answers to every problem other than visitation from God that we will see His faithfulness to keep His Word.  Jesus's very name is Faithful and True.  

There is a petition before God that continues to be signed by many people in our region, crying out to Him day and night, night and day for Him to visit us.  Prayer for Him to visit our county and break-in over our whole region.  I believe He will be faithful to His promises to hear us and answer us.  God visit us.  

God is a good Father and a Husband to His people.  Check out this vision from heaven.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p21ij0_EmvE

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The Christmas Story

#1

In the moments following Adam and Eve’s rebellion against God, God graciously forgives them and promises Jesus would come into the earth and He would be the Deliverer of fallen man from the power of sin and Satan.

In Genesis 3:15 God says to Satan, “And I will cause hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel."

The offspring of the women God is referring to is Jesus. Throughout the rest of the Old Testament, God continues to remind and encourage His people that He is going to rescue them and through His prophets, God gives constant insight into the time when Jesus would come into the world.

#2

700 years before Jesus was born, the ancient Hebrew prophet, Isaiah, revealed that God, Himself, would become a man and would enter into human history through a young virgin girl.

Isaiah 7:14 says, “the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means 'God is with us').

Isaiah continues, saying, “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine…For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. His government and its peace will never end.

#3

Luke shares with us in his Gospel the fulfillment of the Isaiah 7:14 prophecy.

Luke 1:26-38 says, “God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a village in Galilee, to a virgin named Mary…Gabriel appeared to her and said, “Greetings, favored woman! The Lord is with you! Confused and disturbed, Mary tried to think what the angel could mean.

“Don’t be afraid, Mary,” the angel told her, “for you have found favor with God! You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you will name him Jesus.”

#4

Gabriel continues, “He will be very great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his ancestor David. And he will reign over Israel forever; his Kingdom will never end!”

Mary asked the angel, “But how can this happen? I am a virgin.” The angel replied, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the baby to be born will be holy, and he will be called the Son of God. What’s more, your relative Elizabeth has become pregnant in her old age! People used to say she was barren, but she has conceived a son and is now in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God.”

Mary responded, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” And then the angel left her.

#5

750 years before Jesus, The prophet Micah gives a prophecy that reveals to us that the village of Bethlehem would be the birthplace of Jesus. He also reaffirms that Jesus wasn’t going to be an ordinary man, Jesus isn’t a great man, alone, He is God who came into the world and became a man to rescue us.

Michah 5:2 says, “But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, are only a small village among all the people of Judah. Yet a ruler of Israel will come from you. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity”.

#6

Matthew 2:1-6 describes the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem as the fulfillment of Micah's prophecy.

Matthew writes, “About that time some wise men from eastern lands arrived in Jerusalem, asking, “Where is the newborn king of the Jews? We saw his star as it rose, and we have come to worship him.”

King Herod was deeply disturbed when he heard this, as was everyone in Jerusalem. He called a meeting of the leading priests and teachers of religious law and asked, “Where is the Messiah supposed to be born? They said, according to the prophet he will be born, “In Bethlehem in Judea.”

#7

Ever since the time of Adam and Eve, God promised to man that He would send the Savior. Every story in the Old Testament whispers to us the name of Jesus. There are lots of stories in the Bible, but all the stories are telling one Big Story. The Story of how God loves his children and comes to rescue them in Jesus…Let’s hear Luke tell the greatest of stories…

#8

At that time the Roman emperor, Augustus, decreed that a census should be taken throughout the Roman Empire. (This was the first census taken when Quirinius was governor of Syria.) All returned to their own ancestral towns to register for this census. And because Joseph was a descendant of King David, he had to go to Bethlehem in Judea, David’s ancient home. He traveled there from the village of Nazareth in Galilee. He took with him Mary, his fiancée, who was now obviously pregnant.

And while they were there, the time came for her baby to be born. She gave birth to her first child, a son. She wrapped him snugly in strips of cloth and laid him in a manger, because there was no lodging available for them.

#9

That night there were shepherds staying in the fields nearby, guarding their flocks of sheep. Suddenly, an angel of the Lord appeared among them, and the radiance of the Lord’s glory surrounded them. They were terrified, but the angel reassured them. “Don’t be afraid!” he said. “I bring you good news that will bring great joy to all people. The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David! And you will recognize him by this sign: You will find a baby wrapped snugly in strips of cloth, lying in a manger.”

Suddenly, the angel was joined by a vast host of others—the armies of heaven—praising God and saying, “Glory to God in highest heaven, and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased.”

#10

When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

They hurried to the village and found Mary and Joseph. And there was the baby, lying in the manger. After seeing him, the shepherds told everyone what had happened and what the angel had said to them about this child. All who heard the shepherds’ story were astonished, but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often. The shepherds went back to their flocks, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen. It was just as the angel had told them.

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Is The God of the Bible Arrogant Considering All His Exclusive Claims?

God's first and greatest command is that we are to "love God with all of our hearts..."  The 1st of the ten commands given to Moses says, "You shall have no other gods before me."  It is made clear that giving divine honor to anything or anyone other than Yahweh is death to man.

The question is, is God some kind of arrogant, self-centered deity longing for the praise and adoration of mortals?  The simple answer is, no.

God desires humankind's wholehearted worship, not because He needs to be worshipped or even desires to be known as the most preeminent one in the universe, but because He is the Preeminent One.  

God is aware of His preeminence and is also well aware that at the very heart of His existence is an inextinguishable fire of pure love.  The human heart's deepest longing is for this fire to consume us; the fire of God's love.  God has made us for Him.  

God's humility drives Him with a deep passion to serve us and give to us what we need the most, which is HIM.  What He won't do is take our hearts by force.  He is humbling seeking and saving all those who will turn to Him in response to His humble demonstration of love, the death of the cross.  

It is when we surrender our hearts in trusting love to Him and begin to seek Him with our whole hearts that He is found and with Him the satisfaction of our deepest needs and desires.

God, Himself, is our "great reward."  The surpassing worth of human life is knowing Christ Jesus the Lord.  Nothing more or nothing less, the objective of life is God.

Click here for a song to set your heart before God and ask for an impartation of how He feels about you.

Misty Edwards - The More I Find You

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Passion Through Repentance

The unrelenting passion needed to not quite in our pursuit of God isn't generated in the human heart.  It must be imparted by the Holy Spirit.  One essential element to pursuing God with our whole heart is, we must learn to live a life of conscious repentance that will produce unconscious holiness.  

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  1 John 1:9.  

Without the supernatural purification of our hearts by the cleansing fire of the Holy Spirit, we remain ourselves, and we are jacked up :)

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God Made Us: Invented Us as a Man Invents an Engine

“God made us: invented us as a man invents an engine. A car is made to run on petrol, and it would not run properly on anything else. Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy in our own way without bothering about religion. God cannot give us a happiness and peace apart from Himself, because it is not there. There is no such thing.

  That is the key to history. Terrific energy is expended - civilizations are built up - excellent institutions devised; but each time something goes wrong. Some fatal flaw always brings the selfish and cruel people to the top and it all slides back into misery and ruin. In fact, the machine conks. It seems to start up all right and runs a few yards, and then it breaks down. They are trying to run it on the wrong juice. That is what Satan has done to us humans.”

— C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

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FAITH: The Law of the First Step

“There is always a quarrel between our common sense and the revelations made in God’s Book.” – Oswald Chambers, from The Psychology of Redemption

If any of us are going to learn to effectively follow God, the first step is learning it will always be according to His terms and conditions.  This is called faith.  Faith is the very substance of a lifestyle filled with choices based on complete confidence that what God has said is solely to be trusted and His word to us is paramount in every area of life. 

Faith begins when we come to the place where we have resolved that God’s Word is sure and unfailing and in Him alone we will depend.  Faith is trusting in God's faithfulness and knowing that He has never failed and He won't start now.

When we determine to follow the markings left by God on the trail of life, we are submitting to the revelation of His Word and resolving that perseverance is the key to our victory as we patiently wait for the salvation of God.  We must then burn all the bridges and sink all the boats.  We determine to have the promised child, Isaac, and refuse to accept the counterfeit son of the flesh, Ishmael.  Those who persevere in the place of waiting on God believe God is always faithful, and He WILL bring His promise to pass in our life.  Those who don’t quit win, those who endure to the end shall be saved. 

Next, if we are going to learn to depend on God in this way we have to learn how to successfully wage war with our flesh and this world.  We must go to war with depending on ourselves and this fallen world.

We see this in the lessons learned by Children of Israel in the wilderness.   We see them in every hard situation wanting to go back to Egypt.  Their focus and passion had been parceled out and prostituted to the things of this world and thus their faith, hope and love were seemingly being satisfied by the counterfeits of this world system.  Yet, in reality, they were only slipping deeper into fear.

God takes them through a long process in the wilderness in order to purify their hearts through these many humbling object lessons.  God, in all His wisdom, was working all things together to produce the necessary faith it would take to conquer the land promised to them and to continue to inhabit it with God as their King.

An important lesson from the wilderness is the "manna principle."  We see God humbling the men of Israel by causing them to have to depend on God to feed their family, cutting into the heart of many mens' identities.  It is a false identity that says we are what we do or don’t do, and we must war with identifying ourselves with our successes and failures especially in providing for our family. 

Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount goes into great detail warning against making our ultimate concern our lives, what we eat and drink, etc.  The point his is making is that if our ultimate concern our own lives and preserving our families, this will always result in worry and anxiety and an open door for Satan’s emissaries to thrash us.  

Our lives will naturally fill with uncertainty because of our lack of confidence in our ability.  One thing is certain when we trust in ourselves; we WILL FAIL.  We know we fail and thus fear will always be natural if our highest value is caring for our life.  Jesus simply stated, “Take no care for your life…seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be given to you.”  Something magical happens when we draw the line in the sand and step over into the place of trusting God with all of our life and seeking God with all of our heart.  We will be DELIVERED from the spirit of fear.

In determining to live by faith, we are committing to give our whole hearts, all our passion to God and the first fruits of our treasure, time and talent to His kingdom.  It is this kind of wholeheartedness that will produce faith that doesn’t waiver in the face of adversity.  As we pursue Jesus with our whole heart, we will find ourselves in the middle of God’s purpose for us in fulfilling the Great Commission, thus God’s greatest concern becomes our greatest concern.  It’s here that the human heart is satisfied.

God, in His ridiculous infinite wisdom, has so arranged history that the events of the nation of Israel under the leadership of Joshua are objects lessons of how God is calling us to trust in Christ right now.  Joshua’s life is meant to open up our understanding about yours and my relationship with God and allow us to ask ourselves if we are truly pursuing a life of faith. 

In our first introduction to Joshua back in Numbers 13-14 we see the reconnaissance team coming back with the situation report from Canaan and Joshua’s report is, “The land we passed through and explored is exceedingly good. If the Lord is pleased with us, he will lead us into that land, a land flowing with milk and honey, and will give it to us. Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up. Their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us. Do not be afraid of them.”

Minus Caleb, the rest of the spies came back with the unified report, “We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them.”  What an amazing lie they have believed, and their perceptions are warped by this lie.  We learn later that the city of Jericho is scared to death of the Israelites because of the exploits of God on their behalf, but these spies had come into agreement with what I call, “naturally-perceived reality” versus true supernatural reality that is revealed to us through God’s Word.  We are always making decisions of agreement.  We are either believing ourselves (aka leaning to our own understanding), circumstances, Satan or God.  We must contend to always be fighting the fight of faith; contending in every choice to be coming into agreement with God.

Because the spies determined to view reality through their own perceptions, they are therefore limited by time, information and intelligence and they are choosing to disregard God and His promise to them.  This type of rebelliousness is as witchcraft; it’s like inviting demons to our table to give us their point of view.  Here you see another important principle, don't trust demons. 

When a person is in this condition of fear, a natural symptom that will manifest is grumbling and complaining.  An imagination filled with fantasies of fear must voice itself and will manifest in stories of perceived futility and failure.  God is so concerned with the sin of complaining that he lists it alongside idolatry and sexual immorality in 1 Cor 10.  The grumblings of these spies infected the whole camp, thus opening themselves up to the fear of Satan and ultimately a spirit of murder.  

We see the “whole assembly” talking about stoning them, and it is here that we see God determine to kill the whole nation and start over with Moses. 

Numbers 14:11, “The Lord said to Moses, “How long will these people treat me with contempt? How long will they refuse to believe in me, in spite of all the miraculous signs I have performed among them? I will strike them down with a plague & destroy them.” 

God does relent in response to Moses's intercession, but declares that no one of military age will enter into the promised land.  It’s the second time that God had talked about starting over with Moses, the first being after the Golden Calf.  There is only one way to please God, it is through wholehearted faith.

In the book of Joshua, Joshua is a standard God has shown us of what faith in action looks like.  Faith actively pursues to bring God’s kingdom into the earth.  He is also a type of Christ, because God exalted him in the eyes of the people in order for them to listen and obey Him. 

Joshua shows us the type of faith that wholeheartedness can produce.  The book of Joshua begins with God reiterating His promise that He will deliver the land into their hand. The Lord speaks to Joshua and says, “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.”

God doesn’t say that He will make them strong and courageous; He commands them to be strong and courageous.  We can’t do what God can do and God will not do what He has called us to do.  Joshua's heart becomes fearless in the light of sitting before God's Word.  

We must be in the process of hungering and thirsting for righteousness, pursuing wholehearted devotion to God, God says, “Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night.”  It’s here that we see what the law of the first step is. God waits to act until we begin to move in faith!  It’s when we are grounded in truth, pursuing righteousness that one will begin to see God’s power released into their life.

God is clear in His terms and conditions in the way He has determined to deal with mankind.  He desires that I trust Him and act.  In Exodus 14 we see God telling Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward.  Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground.”

In Joshua 3, we see the people begin to move from their camp to march on Jericho, and the people’s faith in Joshua is tested and Joshua’s faith in God is tested.  Joshua had a word from God.  He was to have the Ark of the Covenant lead their march.  He did as the Lord directed and ordered the Ark of the Covenant to lead the way to the Jordan River.  Joshua is learning to hear and declare God’s Word and the people are learning to follow Him. 

Fear and faith are mutually exclusive.  According to George Mueller, “The beginning of anxiety is the end of faith, and the beginning of true faith is the end of anxiety.”

The Ark leading the way is God telling them that you must always be following Me through the howling wilderness of life, because you don’t know which way to go, you have never been this way before.  When Joshua turns his back on rational thinking and comes into agreement with God, God honors Joshua.  The priests step into the water carrying the Ark and the waters pile up upstream at the city of Adam.  

For the rest of the march on Jericho, we see unwavering faith from Joshua.  In Chapter 5, He encounters a theophany.  A theophany is a manifestation of God in the physical realm.  The commander of the Lord’s Army (Jesus before the incarnation) comes directly to Joshua to deliver the marching orders for the conquest of Jericho.  It’s interesting to note, when Joshua asks Him if he is for them or their enemies He says, “neither.” 

As one continues in the reading of Joshua, it is demonstrated how learning to be faithful to God’s way of doing things always produces incomprehensibly better circumstances than trusting in our own strength.  After the hiccup at Ai, Israel’s armies are devastating the cities of the land given to them, as they continue to persevere in obedience to God’s direction.  Their success continues to be directly related to their obedience to God's direction. 

The trailhead of the path of faith is when begin to understand that the pursuit of this life is the man, Christ Jesus.  He isn’t our primary pursuit or our most important pursuit; He is our only pursuit.   Our pursuit of Him is always a product of our understanding, which comes from revelation God is furiously longing for us to turn to Him and experience His love for us.

The Holy Spirit is at work in the earth mediating this revelation and imparts love to our hearts so that we might respond wholeheartedly to the Father as children and to the Son of God as a bride. Whether our hearts are focused on the Father God or the Bridegroom God, we experience burning desire. Something profound happens in us when even in our weakness and brokenness we feel wanted, longed for, and rejoiced in. Our response is to abandon our hearts to God.

Paul writes in, Philippians 3:13.  “Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.” 

In this last verse we see what Jesus was saying when He said we are to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect.   If our faith walk is a 1-10 scale and I’m currently at a 3, there is no Biblical way to stay at a three. I’m either becoming a 4 or reverting to a two, we are either transforming into the image of Christ or we are conforming to the spirit of this age.

In Philippians 3:8 Paul clearly states what is the prize of those who follow Christ, he writes, “Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.”

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Grace to Live Holy

A major distortion of the grace of God is that it frees me from the obligation to the law so therefore I'm free to do as I please.  When we take God's unconditional love and attempt to equate it to unconditional acceptance, we end up in a fantasy world.  It is simply delusion.

The grace of God is God's gift of empowered-discipline by which the Holy Spirit brings liberty and a vibrant heart to those who desire to love Him.  We aren't freed to do as we please, in converse we are called to complete obedience to His commands.  What the grace of God imparts is the LIBERTY to know what's good, love what's good and do what's good.

Once again, grace brings empowered discipline that brings us into a place of liberty and a vibrant heart pulsating with the life of God through communion with the Holy Spirit.  The release of God's grace is born out of my desire to be "holy as He is Holy."  

John, the Apostle, in his first epistle makes a clear connection that the longing to be pure as God is pure generates from a place of our hope being set in God.  It is when we develop certainty in the Father's love and long to see Him and know for certain that we will see Him that we long to pure as He is pure.  See 1 John 3:1-3,

1See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.3And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

http://bible.us/59/1jn.3.1-3.esv

That's the "why" of purity, so what about the how of "purity."  The answer is they are intrinsically connected.  The why gives you the desire and thus forward motion to want to guard our hearts, our minds and eyes from that which defiles.  We desire to see the God, over whom our heart is lovesick so we go to His Word and find ourselves being energized by God's truth and discover sustainable and enjoyable purity being the natural output of time spent before God, transformed in His presence.  

It is when we connect our heart to God's heart by setting our mind on God's Word and allowing the life and light it contains to explode in our innermost being that we begin to experience the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit and thus are magically becoming holy.

Please note, that I'm talking about reaching for 100% obedience.  There is a powerful effect when we sincerely decide we want to surrender our whole life to God, but we don't become perfect over night nor any other night in this current age.  What I must warn is just because we will fail, don't plan to fail.  To desire to seek God with nearly all of one's heart will leave one searching for the inferior pleasure of sin with the rest of your heart leaving you dull, angry and sad.

Reach for 100% and when we fail we have an advocate with the Father, we can be certain of His forgiveness EVERY time.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.  

1 John 1:9

His unsearchable mercy is too much and the last part is too wonderful.  It's in repentance that, once again, we experience an explosion of the power of God in our innermost being.  The cleansing fire of the Holy Spirit magically transforms the very intentions of our hearts.  Thank you, God.

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Appetite for Blood

In Genesis 3:21, God demonstrates to Adam and Eve that the wages of sin is death.  Because of their rebellion, an innocent animal was slaughtered and the first human family was certainly traumatized by the sight of the carnage and bloodshed.   God has made it clear that it is sin that has unlocked the carnage and bloodshed of death and made clear bloodshed is very, very bad.  The problem within the human experience is when we are dull to the spiritual and mental affects of seeing bloodshed and cultivate within ourselves an appetite for it.  We can even learn to love it.

This perversion begins when we delight in the failures and punishments of others and learn to enjoy seeing people suffer who have made us suffer.  This perversion is the stepping stone on the path to murder, where a human becomes vengeance.

The shedding of blood is death.  When we cultivate a perverse appetite of enjoying the suffering of our enemies, we are unknowingly building our desire to shed blood with our own hands.  This is why bitterness is like drinking 200 proof death and is so damaging to the human spirit.

When we take a Biblical look at blood and define it's value to God and see His hate for it's shedding, we then become aware how perverse it is to enjoy the shedding of blood.  It is a deep spiritual sickness.  

The appetite for the viewing of the shedding of blood so common in the simulated violence on today's video games is mass-distributing spiritual death and mental self-harm to a generation. They sadly believe they are just having fun, when in reality they are drinking death unto themselves and others.  

The spirits of self-hatred, self-harm and suicide LOVE to use today's blood-soaked movies, zombies and blood-letting video games to develop an ever-deepening addiction to death.  So many young people completely unaware of the connection to the deep soul pains of life's unresolved trauma. 

There is a demonic link to the digital media being consumed and the spirit of death that covers this generation and it will only be broken by the anointing.  May God give us the burden to see how bad it really is and the unction to cry out to Him to break in with power and set them free.

There is one answer.  We must drink the blood of Jesus that cleanses and makes all things new.  We must learn to fill our bowls with the blood of Jesus and know how to apply it to the doorposts of this generation's lives.  The blood of Jesus has broken these chains, God help us to walk in it.

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Surprised by the Love of God

As the Body of Christ, we are successful when our hearts are compelled by the Divine Love. God abides in us as we are whole-hearted in our commitment to abide in Him; it's then that His love is perfected in us.  The only way for us to authentically love people is as we pursue God with all of our heart in response to the revelation of His deep love for us. It is this collision of love that breaks open our heart for the world around us and the love of God will ooze out.

1 John 4:12 says, No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.

http://bible.us/59/1jn.4.12.esv

In order for the love of God to work in our life, there is a supernatural exchange that must take place. We see glimpses of it at work when one is put in front of a murder or pedophile and you feel deep compassion and desire for this person to be free (on the inside) and you say, "Whoa, where did that come from? Is that your heart God?"

It takes God's love to love unloveable humanity, you and I simply do not have the supply of love to successfully love one another.  The anointing to receive God's love and then return it back to Him and give it to others is the greatest gift that the Spirit imparts to our heart.

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WHY CHRISTIANITY SPREAD

From a conversation between Lee Strobel and Professor John D. Woodbridge, PH.D recorded in Strobel’s book, “The Case for Faith.”

Historians have long marveled at--and theorized about--the amazing speed with which Christianity spread throughout the Roman Empire despite brutal persecution.  I asked Woodbridge to assess the comments made by atheist-turned-Christian Patrick Glynn:

Part of the reason for Christianity's rapid spread, historians have remarked, was simply that the early Christians were such nice people.  The very kindness of the Christians and their service to the poor and downtrodden attracted new adherents.  'Christians astounded the ancients with their charity,' as one historian has put it.

Woodbridge nodded in response.  "Yes, I think Glynn's reference to the rapid spread of Christianity is accurate," he said.  "Tertullian writes at the end of the second century, 'We are but of yesterday and yet we already fill your cities, island, your palace, senate and forum, we have left to to you only your temples.'  So in a hundred and fifty years, Christianity spread very, very quickly.

One explanation of its rapid spread, as Glynn indicated, is that many Christians were not just taking care of their own, but they were caring for neighbors, the poor, and widows, the hurting, and they were basically very loving.  They showed compassion toward children, who were often treated very callously by the Romans and Greeks at birth, especially baby girls.  The lifestyle of Christians matched their teachings, so that many early Christians were not afraid to say, 'Imitate us as imitate Christ.'"

Having said that, Woodbridge added a bit sheepishly: "Unfortunately, in contemporary evangelicalism sometimes people say, 'Don't look at us, look at Christ,' because we are worried what people will find if our own lives are scrutinized.  That wasn't true of many of these early Christians--there was consistency between their beliefs and behavior."

Woodbridge pulled out a piece of paper.  "We can also gain some insights into why Christianity grew so quickly from a few early non-Christians,” he said, reading aloud the observations of Lucian, a second-century Greek satirist and critic of Christianity:

These misguided creatures start with the general conviction that they are immortal for all time, which explains the contempt of death and voluntary self-devotion which are so common among them; and then it was impressed on them by their original lawgiver that they are all brothers, from the moment that they are converted, and deny the gods of Greece, and worship the crucified sage, and live after his laws.  All this they take quite on faith, with the result that they despise all worldly goods alike, regarding them merely as common property.

He’s confirming the fact that Christians treated each other as brothers and freely shared their possessions with each other.  Add to that another important factor to which he alludes: Christians believed that to die is to be with Christ.  Justin Martyr, in the First Apology, says: ‘You can kill us, but you can’t hurt us.’  Most of us think killing is a big-time hurt, but from their point of view, being killed doesn’t matter too much.  As Paul said, ‘To live is Christ and to die is gain.’ 

“So when you take into consideration the early Christians’ fearless devotion to the faith; their willingness to testify through their own martyrdom to the truth of Christ; their humble and compassionate lifestyle; their care for each other and the helpless and hurting and disenfranchised in the community; their commitment to prayer; and their empowerment by the Holy Spirit, you can being to understand why the faith spread so rapidly.”

“Ultimately,” I asked, “was it a good or bad thing for Christianity that it was adopted as the state religion of the Romans?”

“On one hand, it was very nice to have the persecutions cease, so that was a good thing,” Woodbridge said with a smile.  “But as the church became closely related to the state, then the church began to use the state as a persecuting agency, and that became a very bad thing.  Also, worldliness swept into the church.”

“How so?” I asked.

“The rumor was abroad that Constantine promised if you became a Christian, you’d get a beautiful robe and pieces of gold.  Well, those aren’t very good reasons to become a Christian.  So the door was opened wide to persons who may have professed Christianity, but who didn’t really embrace Jesus.”

“In other words, cultural Christians rather than authentic followers of Jesus?”

“Exactly,” he said.

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Hobby Lobby Refuses to Relent

You know you live in an unhealthy society, when the law of the land mandates private companies to provide abortion-inducing drugs to their employees in complete disregard to that company's principles of operation.  I thank God for the display of courage and integrity by Hobby Lobby who will be fined $1.3M dollars a day, starting on the 1st, for their refusal to violate their conscience in this matter.  Wisdom will be justified. Maintain the course, fight the fight.  Act 4:19, "Peter and John answered them, 'Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge..."

Read the details about Hobby Lobby's decision to not comply by clicking here...

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Godliness

The highest expression of godliness is living in love in a spirit of humility.  Denying who we are isn't humility, thinking less of ourselves with lots of self-deprecating statements isn't humility.  

Humility is born when we agree with God about who He says we are.  We surrender our own ideas about who we are and what we're for and bow before the Holy God, saying, "tell me who you are, tell me who I am to you, tell me what I'm here for."  

Humility isn't as much an outward expression as it is an inward motivation.  Let this mind that is in Christ be in us.  Humility is the fruit of the Holy Spirit revealing the nature of God in the surrendered human heart.