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@the5hiptheanchor
The day I can officially say I couldn't get you off my mind. I think I was in denial. You're great and I think the world of you. I pray for all the single men in my life, that they may find a woman who captures their attention as you have mine. Hope your Friday is going well! #LoveYou #EngagedMan #TheTessMess #LiveBoldly #FantasticFriday
|| NEW BEGINNINGS || It's been 3 years since I have recorded any music....3 years since I have poured my heart out in song. 3 years since I have ridded myself of the emotions that plague the inward places of mankind's heart. Music is a catalyst for change a gift to humanity, and I intend to highlight that in the coming weeks and for the rest of my life. Why has it taken me so long? I could give a really drawn out response but I'll suffice it to say....for the past 4 years I had given up on the expectations I had for myself musically time and time again. 3 times I tried to enter a studio...each time failed (unforeseen circumstances). My heart sank. Life happened. I moved on. Eventually I found myself living in WA....met the woman of my dreams and even more life happened. It's been a huge journey but I've embraced all the changes, heart aches, struggles and disappointments. My new studio is almost complete.....but more importantly I feel more complete than ever before in my life. Here's to new tunes, to giving people new hope - to giving life...here's to new beginnings. Stay tuned! #RecordingLife #Producer #PNW #Seattle #LivingInColorMusic #NewBeginnings #NewMusic #Engineer #LiveBoldly #SM57 #SterlingAudio #LogicPro #AKG #Tascam #MonsterCable
Spokane, WA you've got some pretty swell views. You look great. Until next time. #MountainsGandalf #LiveBoldly #MotherNature #GreatOutdoors #PacificNorthWest
|| REST || Sometimes I think I owe God an apology for not appreciating His majesty. Learn to just rest and soak in what He has to say....man is life so much easier. #Rest #Thankful #EngagedMan #FortCasey #PNW #WestCoastBestCoast #LiveBoldly
Bitterness is the Spiritual Cancer of this Generation
I think its safer for us to believe that we are most afraid of ourselves than we are of others. Why? Because we know we are our own worst enemy and fear makes the wolf grow stronger. Over the past few months of my life I have replayed the story of Jonah over and over in my head. I wonder what it was like for those terrified men on the boat when Jonah told them he knew who was causing the storm. Only for the answer to be well….himself. I think of the audacity that someone would have to have in order to sleep in the midst of troubles that they themselves have caused and of which are affecting other individuals. Yet. Let’s just be real for a moment. Jonah is us. God calls us to one place and then we go and take a huge detour and then grumble and complain about our life and how much better it could be. Bitterness. Man. It will do things to a person nothing else can. Consider most of Jonah chapter 4.
“Bitterness is the spiritual cancer of this Christian generation”
So often we blame other people for the problems in the church or in the case of Jonah, God Himself: “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, relenting from disaster. Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live” And the Lord said, “Do you do well to be angry?”
Almost from the get go of the story we learn a few things about Jonah.
#1: He was a servant of the Lord (or better put, a prophet) #2: He knew what the Lord was requiring of Him #3: He directly rebelled against what God had asked of Him #4: His rebellion caused repercussions for the men in the boat #5: He knew the heart of God towards His repentant people
These are just a few of the obvious signs of a heart that is not positioned correctly before the Lord. Now, we could spend ample amounts of time discussing the obvious implications of this story, but I think there is far more to the story of Jonah then just a heart that is set on aiming on just not wanting to do what the Lord is asking (ie: rebellion). At the heart of this story is a heart that I believe went wrong way before the Lord came to Jonah….because wether we want to admit it or not: a heart that knows God is good and yet seeks to not live with an attitude and life that exemplifies such proves the persons heart became calloused at some point in time.
In the book of James, chapter 1 leading up to verse 14 we are warned of the difference between a person who has a pure heart before the Lord and genuinely understands what it means to follow Christ faithfully verses someone who still wishes to chase after their own selfish desires. We are then warned in verse 15 of the ultimate implications of our prideful selves, “Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death”. This is not a pretty picture of mankind….but….nor is it a bad picture of mankind. You see…
Something was stirring in the heart of Jonah before the Lord asked him to go to Ninevah, we know this because even after he did what the Lord was asking him, he responded to God like he did in the beginning of chapter 4, “for I knew that you are a gracious God….” Jonah knew the heart of God towards these people, yet chose an attitude of bitterness and anger over an attitude of joy and compassion for the people of Ninevah. Something obviously grabbed hold of Jonah’s heart before he even stepped into the boat. I read this story and I must stop and ask myself….
What have I let grab ahold of my heart before the Lord asks me to step into the boat He has called me to get on?
Cause the reality of things is this: what we bring with us is just as detrimental as what we pick up along the way. We don’t know the full back drop of Jonah’s life before he hops on that boat but what we do know is that something must have gone wrong long before God called Him to Ninevah.
I have to stop and interject myself into this story because if I fail to do so….I fail to miss out on the beauty of grace I believe God wants to communicate to us through Jonah but first we must understand….bitterness is ugly.
Bitterness is ugly.
Bitterness is not only ugly it is also most often hard to trace.
Bitterness loves to be suppressed.
Bitterness not only loves to hide, it breeds anger.
Bitterness breeds anger.
Bitterness will hold us hostage and turn us into victims instead of victors.
Ultimately, bitterness is a result of our lack of faith and trust in God’s ultimate purpose, plan and provision.
You see friends. Jonah knew exactly what God would do once he got to Ninevah and proclaimed the truth: “That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God….” He knew that God would show mercy on the people and ultimately use him to restore the land to a place of righteousness. He knew God’s heart towards repentant people. He knew that God’s love is never far enough away to not reach one single person. Yet…..somehow Jonah’s heart was not in the right place long before this conversation with God in chapter 4. We know this because of how he responded: “therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live”. This is a huge red flag. Something is going on deep in the heart of Jonah and although we don’t know with absolute certainty what it is, I believe we are left to search out the truth of the matter for a better, bigger picture to be seen: God’s grace.
Bitterness is sneaky. It is not a vibrant, loud, obvious - blood craving criminal. It does its job best when it can convince us to abandon the truth we know will set us free. Bitterness comes when we fail to identify that we have become unthankful with our circumstances, and have instead placed our own wishes, desires and plans before the sovereignty of God. Look at what Paul had to say in Philippians 4:11-12: “I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. 12 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.”
We have no need to fear anything if we have truthfully placed our cares in His hands and if we wanted to be really honest with ourselves we would look at this verse and paraphrase what Paul is saying like this: I am not saying this because I am in need, because truthfully speaking, to follow Christ and to have Christ is really all I need.
Bitterness comes when we embrace discontentment over the perfected will of God being working out in all circumstances.
Looking at this story of Jonah we see that he was not in fact content with the will of God being accomplished. Even despite him knowing what God was going to do. Maybe Jonah thought that there was a better way for God to go about how He accomplished His will among the people of Ninevah? We don’t know this with absolute certainty, but we can clearly see in Jonah’s attitude that his heart was no in the wrong place…. so much so that he would have rather died? How did Jonah become this way? Where did things go wrong? I am convinced of this….
Long before the first chapter of this story was penned for us to read and glean from. Long before we were able to peer into Jonah’s life there was something far more encompassing, far more stretching and far more glorious to take hold of than the consequences of disobedience was the remarkable, transforming, miraculous power of GRACE. I don’t know about you but my knees buckle and my body begins to come alive more and more when I realize just how present God’s grace is within this story.
Yeah. Jonah messed up. Big time. Yeah. He failed to be content in ALL circumstances. Why else would he have problems with the way God handled things? Shouldn’t he trust that if it’s in Gods hands that it’s going to be taken care of in the best way possible? The obvious answer is yes, but the bigger answer is: Jonah is us and the larger implication of this story is this:
Everything about this story is ultimately not about Jonah.
In fact. With all the stories in the bible, it’s not about the individual, it’s about us. It’s about humanity. It’s about our desperate need for the redemptive power and grace of God to not only be recognized in earth, but be allowed to work in our own lives. Because wether we want God’s grace or not….wether we feel like we deserve it…..we need it and we need it badly.
The story of Jonah is a picture of the gracious nature of God’s heart towards humanity. I mean after all, wasn’t the story of Jonah about him going to the people of Ninevah and asking them to repent of their wicked ways and pursue the ways of righteousness? And didn’t the people responded to his message and turn from their ways? They in fact did. Yet. Isn’t it quite daunting that the very same man who preached a message of repentance turned angry and bitter and wanted God to kill him when he should have looked at his own heart and saw that his sin was just as ugly and bad as theirs? This is huge and shows us that: a heart that knows God is good and yet seeks to not live with an attitude and life that exemplifies such proves the persons heart became calloused at some point in time.
I’m not entirely sure when Jonah’s heart lost sight of the goodness and grace of God but he did. I’m not sure why exactly that he got angry and bitter but he did. I’m not even entirely sure why he would feel so grave about what happened that he would want to die….but again….he did. So. I ask you to do what I’ve done with this story and ask yourself: In what ways have I become like Jonah? Dig deep, let your roots grow deep as you contemplate your need for God’s grace, and if you’ve thought you’ve reached the bottom, dig deeper. Cause the deeper we dig into the grace of God despite our humanity and fragility, the more we see our need for Him, the more we see just how marvelous, how far reaching, and redemptive the power of grace is. Blessings.
When Our Hope Becomes Bigger than Our Clarity
For many years I have sought after establishing myself in ways that I believed God had set out before me. Granted, like all….I made some…probably many decisions that held me back a little from the calling God had placed on my life. Over all though…I was moving forward towards what I believed God wanted my life to be about. For a few years it seemed as though I was merely skipping stones across water wishing many of life's events to change. I failed to realize at times that my hope was bigger than my clarity. I don’t know about you, but I owe much of who I am in life to the random strangers I have met that have impacted me, friends and family whom have loved and encouraged me and the Spirit of God whom guides my feet on the path of righteousness - but what I desire most in this life among many spiritual pursuits is a life of clarity. It’s a cliche’ thing so many Christians ask for prayer for but in a world of chaos and confusion I suppose it makes sense right?. The problem though is clarity always comes with a cost. The more clear we want things to be…the more the cost will be. It’s the clarity=cost principle.
Mountain tops. We all want to be on top of them, viewing our lives from the ultimate perspective but here’s the deal….
What happens when we get to the top of the mountain and we see from that lofty height all the things in life we’ve have accomplished and all the people we have met, all the faces that have impacted us and all the decisions that got us to where we are but….the picture is overwhelming and far from comforting? Everything looks great from a height, but it's down in the highways and the bi-ways that our perspective becomes more clear. Why? Because reality is what makes us come alive, the tangible clarity before our very eyes. I can't say I'm not guilty of this behavior because I am, but the reality is that many of us allow our vision to become our source of focus rather than the naked eye. We build our hopes on the goals and dreams we so feverishly seek to obtain, yet….in the midst of our race we often forget just how clear our perspective needs to be.
I am often reminded of the story where Peter stepped out onto the water as Jesus called him and the thoughts that might have been going through the other disciples heads. Here is the text.
Matthew 14: 22-33
22 Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. 23 And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, 24 but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. 25 And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. 26 But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. 27 But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”
28 And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” 29 He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” 32 And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. 33 And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.”
This story is rather unique for more reasons than just the obvious. It is more than apparent that Jesus planned on proving the hand of God by placing them in a position where they had to have total reliance on Him. It is also abundantly clear that the disciples had yet to grasp the marvelous nature of God when Jesus started walking towards them on the sea, “it is a ghost” - as they cried out in fear. Granted. I would have probably done the same….but probably the most important aspect to point out about this story is not the lack of faith Peter had….but the lack of faith the other disciples had. Here we have a scenario where a disciple decides to make a huge wager and ask that if it really was Jesus that he would call him out onto to the sea. Many people view this story as Peter’s faith being weak…but the reality….the true perspective we need to have on this story is that none of the other disciples decided to go, “oh hey….it really is Jesus and Peter really is walking on water….man…we could walk on water too if we just believed!” Instead….they stayed in the boat and did nothing. I look at this story ask myself, “who here is really in the wrong?” Was it really Peter or was it the other disciples? Peter was the only one to make a bold move. The others? The others simply watched in amazement and that was it. I believe that this story is less about Peter’s lack of faith, and more about the importance of our faith and the power and influence it can have in another persons life. Peter could have done a number of things….namely just asking that if it truly was Jesus that He just calm the winds and waters but instead….he took a different route. A route we would be wise to take.
Making our faith tangible and being willing to take risks so that others can see the faithfulness of God and in return be encouraged to carry out the Gospel with boldness was the example Christ laid before us.
We have to allow our clarity to become bigger than our hope because hope can only stretch so far, when we allow our gaze to become fixed on the abundantly clear vision that Christ is for us and not against us we can be sure that our hope is always clear. Our hope is in a person who also happens to be the God of creation - Jesus Christ. When our hope is bigger than our clarity we will always feel as though our trust is in vein but that is the brutality of Satan’s schemes, making us feel condemned for trusting in a source far greater than ourselves. In Christ we can never hope in vein, in Christ we will never find a more clearer picture to gaze upon. The more we gaze upon Him, the more we will find clarity in this life.
The question we have to ask ourselves then is this:
When we see Jesus for who He is and the life He is calling us to, how will we respond? Because the Gospel without a response is just a life full of hope and no clarity and the clearer Jesus becomes to us, the more we will respond.
Open Letter to the Church and the band “For Today”
PREFACE: This post was inspired by a recent incident that came about in the metal band “For Today”. I want to be very clear in saying that this post goes out to the church at large and is in no way a response that is directed solely towards the band itself. This words below have been stirred up and brought about due to many events within the Christian world that have occurred during recent months. Am I upset at what For Today has done? Absolutely, but more importantly I am taken off guard by the church at large. So, it is with a heavy heart and spirit of fervency I write this. ~~~~~~~~
Dear church, and For Today:
I care. The body of Christ cares. It's all a matter of the way in which we care about it though.
How we respond or don't respond to this matter is just as detrimental as the way in which the members of this band go about responding to the issue. There a few reasons why I believe it is important for us to not just shove these kinds of tragedies under the rug.
#1: The church is not known for justice, but it is we the body who should be responding to immorality and sinful behavior in such an empowering way that it displays Gods grace and enables people to respond to Gods goodness. To preach grace without justice is actually an injustice to the nature of Gods attributes. He is no more gracious than He is holy or omniscient, etc. As a church we cannot afford to say anymore: "we are all learning, yes this is wrong, but let's not make a big deal about it". This does not spur us all into righteousness, instead it accepts wrongful behavior and does not deal with the necessity and biblical president for accountability.
#2: When we choose to not place ourselves in the shoes of those whose lives have been affected in cases like this we fail to carry out 1 Cor 12:26 "If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together". We do not get to choose wether we want to suffer or not, the reality is that when one does, we all do. This is how the body of Christ is structured. We may not realize this but that is the reality of the family of God. There is then a question that is begged....do we grieve or turn a blind eye? The verse would also have to say: "....God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, 25 that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another". We see here that the words Jesus said in Matthew 22:36-39 are being repeated.
#3: Silence is never an option in the church when it comes to a member of the body being wronged. We see in Matthew 18:15-17: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. 16 But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. 17 If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector.” The church cannot stray away from this passage because to do so is to cripple the body from being in right fellowship with God. Instead….what many have done is taken Matthew 7:1-3 out of context and have used “judge not lest you be judged” as a ‘scapegoat’ in order to not deal with church discipline. I believe God is calling us to get a backbone and call things for what they are and to give grace where grace is due……but more importantly He is asking all of us to be the body and for us to help spur one another towards good works and righteousness.
Let us all pursue Jesus with humility. Let us be the church. Let us be the people this generation desperately needs.
In love, A brother in Christ.
Developing A Personal History With God
I believe we live in a culture that is afraid to ask questions because we fear the answer will not be what we “expected”, yet on the other hand we contradict ourselves because we often go and make choices that would validate the answers people often do give us. Not only do we find out what we assume will happen in fact does, but….the answers turns out to be more than we bargained for because:
We live in paradigm.
We have our own personal history with God. We make choices that make or break us. Choices that make us who we are. Often times we identify ourselves with what we’ve done or accomplished but there is a lot to say about ones personal relationship with Christ.
Scripture calls us to seek wise council and wisdom:
Proverbs 12:15
“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man listens to advice.”
Proverbs 11:14
“Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety.”
In the condition that we are in, and with the nature of sin, mankind does not want wise council. Rather, man would choose his own devices and follow the paths he/she has laid out for themselves. We’ve lost a very important proponent in Christianity - mentors. As a young teenager, and having three older brothers I grew up looking at their lives and saying/making mental notes for myself: “don’t do that, don’t do this….oh that was wise….that wasn’t so wise”. I thought I had a lot of “good life material” to work with, the problem was my heart did not understand the implications of the decisions I was making note of.
You see. It is one thing to grasp a concept, it is another thing to taste the reality of that truth. I am convinced more than ever that our beliefs in modern day religions and society are built more upon concept than actuality because of the lack of truth people have witnessed and experienced in their lives. This is an epidemic.
Everyone wants to be on the same page, yet we all come from such diverse backgrounds, as brothers and sisters in Christ we are trying to pull up our bootstraps and proclaim as a whole: “This Jesus, He is real, and He is worth giving our all for.” Yet. We are all stuck…
In our own paradigms.
We are all traversing around in a huge paradigm, trying to sort out if X decision is a good decision or bad decision, if X relationship is a bad relationship or a good relationship and as we do this there are countless souls do the same thing. We all live under one huge umbrella, yet…we carry around our own umbrella.
We must all at some point come out from beneath our own devices and be willing to take head the advice of those that seek to push us further towards the heart of Christ. In doing so I would like to take a moment to acknowledge my dear friend and mentor, Jeremiah Willis, who has provided me with countless questions and truth over the years that has spurred me on in my love for Jesus Christ. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for being a true brother and disciple. You’re encouragement continually causes me to run after Jesus.
With that said. Here are three truths I have observed over the years about developing a personal history with God in no particular order.
#1: Our personal history with Christ does not undermine our dependance upon His Spirit.
It seems throughout Christendom we have built schools of thoughts around the belief that decisions made in the past can validate decisions made in the future. Though this is true in some ways (given the circumstances) the problem with this belief is that it negates the dependance and need for communion with Christ on a daily basis. We do not assess all future decisions by examining the past.
James 4:13-14
“Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— 14 yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes.”
Throughout scripture we see God proclaim to His people that He is in the business of “newness”. Isaiah 43:19 “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
Jeremiah 31:31 “Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah”
There are more examples, and though it is important to understand the context of these passages the truth is at large - God wants to continually re-new and make anew. For what is a relationship without newness?
#2: When we develop a personal history with Christ, moments will come when we know we are grieving the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 4: 25-32
“Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you.”
Continued disobedience will lead to misery. I have never found this statement to be more true than when I ended a relationship that the Lord clearly did not want me to be in. As frail creatures we make excuses for our sins, we try to justify them to atone for our guilt but in all reality all we do is dig ourselves into a deeper and deeper pit of self loathing. We were not meant to carry the weight of the world on our shoulders but too often we believe the lies of the enemy and in return embrace a cycle of “hoping” our situation will get better when in actuality it won’t because we have abandoned the responsibility to submit the the prompting of the Holy Spirit. In this text the writer puts “grieving the Holy Spirit” within the same context of understanding our former nature before coming to Christ: “let the thief no longer steal….let no corrupt talk come out of your mouths……let all bitterness and weather and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice…” As we grow in our relationship with the Lord we begin to understand just how greatly the decisions we make could harm the fellowship we have with Christ. Many people in the Christian faith grow weary of the whole “I just have a peace about this….” - because to trust that assessment is to believe that we are fully convinced that the decision(s) we are about to make are done according to the will of God. Many may say that we can never know for “certain” the outcome of many of the decisions we will make, which, arguably - is absolutely true. The issue though is that the Holy Spirit can be grieved and we know this because when one becomes a believer their desires change and when ones desires have truly changed he or she will know if the Holy Spirit is being grieved. It is one thing to have a “peace” about a decision, it is a completely different thing to develop a personal history with God where we are continually pursuing His desire for our life verses trusting in a “peace” we have in the midst of a decision that is not always easily validated by the current fruit in our life. In other words, just because we have a peace about a decision, it does not automatically mean the decision is a right decision.
#3: As we develop a deeper personal history with God, we seek to build a better union and bond with the church body.
Wether we want to admit it or not, we need the church body like the air we breathe. We are told in scripture that one of the examples of how we will be seen as believers is by the love we have for one another.
John 13:35 “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."
To function as a disciple of Christ is to function as part of the body by embracing the body and engaging with the body. Too often I believe people are looking for an answer to a problem or situation that exists outside the realm of something tangible. We may be unaware of this many times, but I believe we so often overlook God using His people because well….too many of us have been burnt by people and they quote, “can’t be trusted”. This hurts the heart of God because He uses people to bring about His will on this earth. If we are growing in our relationship with the Lord than we will place an importance on the church body because we realize that communion and fellowship with the saints is an expression of the love God has poured out on us.
We may live in a paradigm but as we develop a personal history with God, everything about life and what goes on on this earth begins to make much more sense.
The Freedom We Have In Christ
“What we fear, we try to prevent through control, and what we love is allowed freedom so that it has room to grow” - Jonathan Welton
I believe there is nothing more satisfying. Nothing more freeing. Nothing more desirable. Nothing more captivating. Nothing more true. Nothing more comforting. Nothing more peaceful. Nothing more joyous. Nothing more glorious. Nothing more beautiful. Nothing more pure than a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ. Do you?
The question we have to ask ourselves then is, “if I truly believe this, then why am I so resistant to trading my pleasures for His?”
Out of all the words you have probably read so far from my blogs, this post is arguably the most important post because the mission of Christ was to come set us free. Galatians 5:1 “It was for freedom that Christ set us free; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery”
Within the body of this chapter Paul is addressing the Galations concerning the abuse of grace, the bondage of the law and reminding them of the importance of sticking to the true teachings of Jesus. In verses 13-14 he exclaims: “For you were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
Throughout scripture, and especially in the beginning of the Bible we see that the heart of God for His creation is that they live and dwell in the freedom He grants us. We see in Genesis that when mankind was created (male and female) they had all the freedom in the world and in Gods eyes that “it was very good” (Genesis 1:31). Everything God had created, and the realm in which He created it all in was done to His satisfaction, including the freedom mankind had, for “God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good” (again Genesis 1:31).
In a previous blog I touched on the topic of “surrender”. I stated: Those who truly receive what the Lord has to offer them truly surrender, and those who truly surrender have truly experienced the Lord and those who have truly experienced the Lord give. We will give from the abundance of our hearts according to what we have surrendered, for what we surrender is directly proportional to the amount of freedom we have experienced in Christ.
This is the crux of our new found freedom in Christ: Christ has set us free from the bondage of sin and He calls His yoke easy and His burden light (Matthew 11:30). The pursuit of Christ is never done in vein because He promises those who come to Him two things:
A: Matthew 7:7-8 “7 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.”
B: Proverbs 8:17 “I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.”
The beauty of the freedom we have in Christ is that He offers it daily to us through His son, because of our relationship with Him we can experience the power of His Spirit and the fruits of being one of His children as found in Galatians 5. The freedom of God is also always intentional and never ambiguously experienced because God is intentional.
Consider the verses from John 8:32-35, “So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, 32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 33 They answered him, “We are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say, ‘You will become free’?” 34 Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who practices sin is a slave to sin. 35 The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son remains forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed”.
For generations, and throughout the case of Christendom there have been questions such as, “can people loose their salvation? Is it possible for one to walk with Christ and then “walk away?” - what have you. And though the concerns may be phrased differently, Christ makes it known explicitly that the truth of Christ does not just set us free in our body (intellectually), but His truth also sets us free in our soul (spiritually). The Jews here in this passage asked Jesus, “we are offspring of Abraham and have never been enslaved to anyone. How is it that you say you will become free?” Jesus responds to them in verses 34 and 35 by making it clear that this “freedom” He was speaking of was in reference to the nature of man that identifies with Adam and that when God steps onto the scene in ones life and His Spirit resides inside ones hearts, the old nature of Adam, the slave to sin - no longer remains in the house forever, instead, the Holy Spirit of God does and He resides forever (2 Cor 5:17). This is the glorious exchange one partakes in once they taste the freedom Christ has to offer: The Son comes into the house, He sets one free out of the goodness of His heart, and because He has set that person free, that individual is free indeed.
Romans 6:6 - “For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body ruled by sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin”.
This does not mean that the old nature of man (Adam) won’t arise and try to gain residence once again in someones heart, nor does it mean that one won’t struggle with the issue of sin ever again, contrary to what some popular charismatic circles believe. For why would John admonish us with this piercing words in 1 John 3:9-10: “No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.”
John makes it clear that righteousness is practiced, and is a result of someone when they become a child of God, but, He also infers that it is possible for a believer to have a period of time in which they do struggle when striving after righteousness. The implication of this text is that the more we practice righteousness the more we prove that we have truly been born of God because no one who has been born of God make a practice of sinning.
The question then is: How much of Christ do we want to experience? Because we will not taste the goodness of God unless we continually strive to agree with our new nature and practice the truth of Gods word. When one does make a practice of righteousness, it is evident that he/she has tasted the freedom of the Lord. It is important for us to remember though: Everything we try to achieve in this Christian life that is done outside of the freedom we have in Christ is done in vein because we live from freedom not for freedom.
Again I say:
I believe there is nothing more satisfying. Nothing more freeing. Nothing more desirable. Nothing more captivating. Nothing more true. Nothing more comforting. Nothing more peaceful. Nothing more joyous. Nothing more glorious. Nothing more beautiful. Nothing more pure than a genuine relationship with Jesus Christ. Do you?
Found this gem today in my folder of keep sakes from over the years. Hand written lyrics from Josh Williams of @oceanistheory. Miss those guys. Easily in my top five of most inspirational bands. #RIP #GreatBand #GoodTunes #IndieMusic #IndieRock #InspirationalBand #GreatSongwriters #ComeBack
I never worry about action, but only about inaction
Winston Churchhill
Bring on that truth brother! Amen!
When Surrender Becomes Part of Our Character
Surrender.
This is a word that most people attach a negative connotation too. We don't always mean to do this but it just happens, it’s an instinct. We hear this word and we almost always think, “crap….no…..game over.” At least that is what our earthly lenses and hearts would have us think, the reality though?….the reality though is that the kingdom of God is backwards.
If you have been a believer for quite sometime you have probably heard the following verse Isaiah 55:8 quoted numerous times: “For my thoughts are nothing like your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the LORD.”
Though….what does that really mean when we examine the heart of what Isaiah is getting at? Consider the following verses.
“But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” - Matthew 5:39.
“So he told them this parable: 4 “What man of you, having a hundred sheep, if he has lost one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the open country, and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it? 5 And when he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders, rejoicing” - Luke 15:3-5.
“It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out” - Proverbs 25:2.
Do not resist the one who is evil….instead turn the other cheek? Forsake the ninety-nine and go after the one? God hides things for us? These are just some of the truths scripture lays out for believers - a little taste of the exhaustive principles showing us how Gods kingdom operates. Above all these principles though is the principle of surrender, for without surrender we don’t have access to the kingdom of Christ.
Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me” - Matthew 16:24.
At the center of the cross we find surrender. Jesus himself said, “Not My will, but Yours, be done”- Luke 22:42. It wasn’t that Jesus did not want to submit to the will of God, rather He was exclaiming, “if there is another way, could it be so? I would much rather there be another way, but if this is it…so be it” or as R.C Sproul puts it: “Father, if there’s any other way, all things being equal, I would rather not have to do it this way. What You have set before Me is more ghastly than I can contemplate. I’m entering into My grand passion and I’m terrified, but if this is what You want, this is what I’ll do. Not My will, but Your will, be done, because My will is to do Your will.” (see full blog here: http://www.ligonier.org/blog/if-it-be-your-will/ )
In Matthew 16, verses 13-20 we find Peters confession that Jesus is the Messiah, yet in his very next breathe (verses 21-23) we find him stuck in a paradox after Jesus foretells his death and resurrection. Granted the disciples were still coming into an understanding about what the kingdom of God was like but Jesus cleared the air when he stated: “24 Then Jesus told his disciples, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. 25 For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. 26 For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” - Matthew 16:24-26.
This is probably one of, if not, the most gut wrenching teachings Jesus has given to the disciples up until this point. Here Jesus has drawn a clear line in the sand between the law and life after the law. Here Jesus is stating that if we are to follow Him we are to a: not only forsake our ways of living, but b: we must also accept His way of life. For what would it profit us if we were to gain the whole world and yet loose our soul? It very ironic, yet very much like Christ to run into a situation where someone confession their devotion to the Lord, yet Christ follows up their confession with a gut wrenching truth. Yet: Christ had the audacity to make this claim because He knows that in order for us to live this life to it’s fullest, we must surrender to the notion that we have the ability to obtain in and of ourselves - life, and life abundantly (John 10:10).
The question then is how often we are willing to surrender ourselves to the Lord? Christ exclaimed,
“heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons, freely you received, freely give” - Matthew 10:8.
Over the years the church has grown increasingly weary of how people “experience the Lord”. Youth camps are typically frowned upon because of the huge “emotional highs”. Some even become disgruntled over the “me” or “I” centric nature of contemporary worship songs….but bottom line the foundation stands: Those who truly receive what the Lord has to offer them truly surrender, and those who truly surrender have truly experienced the Lord and those who have truly experienced the Lord give. We will give from the abundance of our hearts according to what we have surrendered, for what we surrender is directly proportional to the amount of freedom we have experienced in Christ.
When surrender becomes part of our character will will see the joy in trading our pleasures for His and the glorious riches we have in Christ Jesus!
It takes a moment of grieving to truly understand the comfort, power and realness of the Holy Spirit. Lest we block our hearts from being moved by the events of life and people around us
Clay Dukes
How do we sustain this move of God? This question comes from a wrong perspective that regards revival as something that resides in outer space and shows up occasionally either for no particular reason or in response to implementing the right formula. If we are to consider the question of sustainability, we must first recognize that our goal is to sustain ourselves as Normal Christians. Sustenance cannot be addressed apart from responsibility.
from the book "Normal Christianity" by Jonathan Welton pg. 33 & 34
Just received this text from my bud @dcnapier : "When you have a paper due in the morning and your computer decides to suck." #CollegeLife #LateNightPapers #CollegePapers #NoBueno #InItForTheLongHaul #HereComesBeastMode #ComputerProbs #Apple #HappensAtTheWorstTimes
How I desire to feel most mornings. Not quite there. But getting there. Bring it on. #MovieQuotes #Classic #EmperorsNewGroove #BewareOfTheGroove #LiveBoldly #Cartoons #Seattle #SeattleWA #SeattleWashington #GettingThere