Have You Kept Your Appointment?

I am still convinced so-called Christian churches today have missed the boat on salvation. Even the Bible says many are lost. Somewhere we got side tracked and decided salvation was learning and believing. Someone tells us about God and Jesus and Jesus's life, and we think about it...maybe for a few minutes...maybe for a few years...and then we say, "O.K. I believe there is a God, and He sent His son, and He died on the cross for my sins. Yep, I've decided to believe all that happened."

Wham! You're saved! NOT. That was thinking and learning, while important is not salvation. You may learn about WWI. You may read about the battles. You may travel to a museum and see some stuff. You may even talk to someone who fought in WWI. You became educated and accepted what you learned as fact. That's good, but that doesn't mean YOU fought in WWI. Believing the war happened doesn't make you a soldier.

Same thing with salvation. You may know some Bible stories. You may be able to name some books in the Bible. Maybe you can even name them all. You may have watched some History Channel documentaries and said, "Wow, that Jesus really did walk the earth." That is processing information. That is not getting saved.

People don't save. You don't decide the when, where, or how. God does. Being saved means you had a special, supernatural, not captured on video appointment with God. God watched you, knew your heart, and said, "Let's see what she does with a moment of clarity. Let's see what she does with a little revelation. Let's see what she does with Holy." In that specific moment, you see the deeper meaning of God...not just what His plan is, but what it means. In that moment, you will either fall to your knees, weep, and say YES...yes I'm Yours...or you will brush the moment off as having an emotional day...or worse you may say I see, but I don't want it because I like my life like it is.

If you can't remember the specifics of your moment...the when, where, and what happened, I wonder did you play church, or have you been saved? You should be able to point to a calendar and say...right here...right here is when I got saved...right here is when God did something to me that I didnt/dont fully understand, but I responded...take me I'm Yours.
Have you had that moment? Please don't be misled by the world today. Yes, we have altar calls, but those altar calls are to carve out time for the moment. Those moments in church services don't make salvation...they make room for salvation. I mean we live in a time where we medicate so we can pay attention. The altar call is to focus your attention to see...is this when God may move, or is this when he or she will respond and say...Yes, I am Yours!!!

Did you keep your appointment? What did you say to God?

Last Days

Eschatology is the study of end times. Before something can be studied there has to be evidence of it. We certainly have evidence of end times in the Word of God. I don't care who you are or what you believe. If you read the Bible, study the Bible, there is so much history and prophecy it will blow your mind. A good bit of scripture has come to pass. You can read chapter by chapter and see historically how it came to be. There is, however, prophetic words unfolding today and soon to come.

People think end times or the last days are way down the road. Actually, end times began with the death and ascension of Jesus to heaven. So, we have been in the last days for quite some time.

Jesus will one day return to earth. Christians, well non-Christians too, refer to this event as the Second Coming. Prior to His coming will be terrible, terrible, terrible times. Even worse than what we are facing today. What are we facing today? We, my friends, are living in the times where one world order is being formed. We are living in days when Islam will take over under the guise of peace, order, and prosperity. We are living in the times of the establishment of one world currency (already having meetings about that), one world religion (ask your college professors if Islam is spreading across college campuses),and a one world leader. Watch and see if someone very well-spoken with promises of peace steps forward soon. Personally, I think Obama is just the warm-up.

All of this to say, after a terrible period of time, Jesus will return and reign with peace...total and complete peace on earth...the kingdom of God on earth...on earth as it is in heaven. Well...I do NOT have to wait until the Second Coming to have that peace. I can have peace in my life right now...today and tomorrow. I already accepted God's offer to be with Him instead of being separated from Him. I opted in instead of opting out. I have also decided to be in that group that lets God be part of all of my life now...not just during a church service. I find the more obedient to God I am, the more at peace I am within myself, my home, the church, the world.

I'm not going to wait until death to have what I can have right now...my peace, my Savior, my Comforter, Strong Tower. I'm all in...right now. "May the peace of God be with you all."

Empty or Full

I can absolutely remember the point in my life when I did not believe in God. I had been exposed to a good bit of religion, as a child and a young adult. Nothing will convince you quicker there is no God than religion! I had tried several things and lived very wordly when my brain findly took over any hope for my soul. My brain laid it out there. God...really? Someone-thing-person just poofed us into existence? All of creation just...ta da! I finally didn't buy it. I decided there was no God. We were born. Why? I had no idea, but as cells continue to split and grow so did the human cycle. We would live our life, die, and then be worm food. I was O.K. With that...very simple, scientific, practical. At that point in my life, not only had I reached hopelessness, I had accepted it. Whew! I was glad to have figured all that out and reached an intelligent conclusion. Now, I could just go through the motions of living, whatever that meant, and die.

That is all there is without God. Right? A schedule, an endless list of events...some good times...some bad times. Without God, there is really no one to please other than yourself or someone you hope to please you. With this philosophy, I experienced the greatest emptiness, pointlessness, despair,and anxiety. That was confusing to me. Why be anxious when there is no point to life?

Aaahhh...but there is a point...only one. The depressing thing about my new philosophy was that, well, it was depressing. But, why in the world was it depressing when it released me from any duty or expectation? L-O-V-E! There were people in my life whom I loved...a few I loved greatly. I didn't mind being worm food, but it made me sad to think that for others. Love also drove me to care, to hope in people, to want to live.

See, it is true God is love. He most certainly, absolutely, without question exists. God is the fullness of life. He is the point. He is the reason. With God, you still have what seems like and endless schedule, but you can enjoy those activities. You still live and die, but with a joy and a purpose. God fills you, when you invite Him in. When you decide to leap, to buy in, to step across the line of faith and believe even though you don't see. When that happens light replaces darkness; peace replaces anxiety; forgiveness replaces revenge; love for others replaces love of self.

God is a wave of love, a flood of purpose, a light in darkenss. God is reason instead of insanity, right instead of wrong, life instead of death. God doesn't just give life here, but also in another dimension...in a time and place without limits of the temporary here and now.

Pick up your cross and follow Him.

Corrective Lenses

I think, in the world today, we are more and more near-sighted. I hope I'm remebering correctly - near sighted means you see what is close-up. Well, our gadgets are getting smaller and smaller, which means screens are smaller and smaller. If you stop and think, how much time a day are you looking at a screen...computers, T.V.'S, cell phones, Ipads and pods, power points, even in church we see projected images. We are all squenched up trying to stare at what is right in front of us.

We wonder why we can't see God.

We miss moments to minister. We don't see those hurting around us. We are blind to the Way because we are near-sighted. Our vision is our focus. How can we focus on eternal, when we can't see beyond our out-stretched hand? How can we feel the pain today and give it up to the generations of tomorrow? Seriously, have you ever considered that what happens today will occur to address something huge in 200 years. Do you consider your life today is really the lead-up to Godly greatness in your great-great-great grandchild?

We are so near-sighted we can't move forward without stumbling, shuffling, groping along life with our eyes all squenched up unable to process what we cannot clearly see and taking baby steps all along the way.

What if we had corrective lenses? What if we could see things on an eternal calendar? What if our calling was crystal clear? What if the answers were really the writing on the wall...our living room wall...and we could see it? We are not God. We will only have limited understanding while in this life, but I believe we could be seeing a lot more clearly. The Holy Spirit is our corrective lens. It is our filter. It shifts the focus off ourselves to others. It reveals clear messages from God. It allows us to see scripture and understand. The Holy Spirit magnifies God in my life.

Sometimes when I'm reading, I leave the readers on the table and sit and squench. Instead of reaching over and putting them on, I just try to stare through the blur. I also live my life somewhat that way...not understanding, not knowing, losing my focus. Just as I should and can put on my readers, so should I slip on the Holy Spirit. Today, I will asK God for spiritual clarity, to see eternal things, to have a clear picture of what He wants from me today, to have total focus of His will. I pray the wordly things loose their appeal, beacause once we can really see...truly see...clearly see...worldly things we desire are ugly.

Lord, please give me eyes for only You.

What's Your Status?

We live in the age of social networking. Forget privacy. Privacy went out the window with the first Facebook account. We post everything about anything. Don't get me wrong. I'm am a FB girl, but I don't think you can track my every location and every mood swing by my status post. I am constantly surprised by what people will post, and I have come to the conclusion most teenagers have no fear of their parents. If they don't fear their parents, they certainly do not fear God. Parents are in your face, with the keyes to your car, and the money for your cell phone and gas. God you can't see, touch, or hear with human ears.So, please don't tell me kids who don't fear and respect their parents can have a healthy fear and respect for God.

Sorry, I digressed :) We should really reflect on our spiritual status. Am I a Christian (saved by grace and acceprance)? Have I given over to God everything I am, have, and feel? Have I only given God my chance at eternity, but kept the here on earth to myself? I think we focus a whole lot about getting to heaven, but how about the here and now? We don't have to wait until heaven to be with God. God has already told us in His Word and shown me personally that He will not forsake me. He is with me. God will guide me in relationships-who to be friends with/who to beware of. He will lead me to forgiveness. He will provide opportunities to minister, which is a specific event whereby God works through us. God will teach us how to surrender moment by moment. The Bible is a complete and wonderful story that shows us how it is done...how to be with God here and now and be with Him in a different way, a closer way in heaven.

What is your spiritual status? Are you all in now, or are you waiting for heaven to be all in?

Blessed to Be in the Buckle

There are 2 things most people, where I live, could honestly say. Number one, we are blessed-as a nation, state, and country we are blessed compared to most in the world. Number two, those who live in my community live smack dap in the buckle of the Bible belt. We have totally forgotten, missed, not realized how incredibly different this fact makes us compared to most everyone else. Unfortunaltey, I think we have taken these things so for granted, we don't allow where we live and who we are to impact us anymore. We're immune-turned off-disengaged. We've heard statistics, watched commercials about feeding starving children, heard about destruction and devastation from afar, to the point we are no longer moved. Yet, as Christians we need to be moving closer to God every day.

Right now, I could be leaving my tent, from under a blazing sun, in search for food and water to feed my starving children instead of sitting in bed, under the ceiling fan, on my Blackberry. Right now I could be shrouding my head and face getting ready to go to market while trying not to arouse the attention of any terrorist who lives in my community and is looking for any excuse to kill instead of thinking about my day in worship service and then spending the afternoon at a friend's pool. I could also live in a place where I have never heard of Jesus, or the Bible, or salvation. I could easily live in a city where we worship statues, burn incense, and wait on karma to work everything out.

I wonder how quick to say yes people are who have never heard the plan of salvation? Can you imagine the pure awe they must feel when hearing such a story for the first time? Here in the blessed buckle of the Bible belt, we have lost our awe, our fascination, the power and passion of the cross. We've heard it and heard it until we've stopped being consumed by it or overwhelmed by it. We need to truly be still and know He is God. In the stillness, we need to feel the power, awe, and overwhelming emotion of God's love for us. His love and grace save beyond our pain, hurts, disappointments.

We live in a community where we can freely proclaim His name from the street corners. Why aren't we?

Individuals in the Body

In Psalm 139:14 David praises God and says he is fearfully and wonderfully made...knit together by God...a wonderful work. Do you realize every single person on the planet is a fearfully, wonderfully made work by God? All of them...all of us. Yes, even the ones who get on your nerves or that you struggle to just dislike and not hate. Come on...you know who I mean. Each of us is a marvelous creation. Look at how different we are-not just in how we look, but also in our likes, dislikes, and behavior. God made us in His image, yet we are all so different His image will remain an unknown until we're in heaven.

Our culture, a.k.a. Satan's playground, tries to take away our individuality. It tries to say only certain things are beautiful. We try to look alike, talk alike, and like alike. That pressure to be someone we are not doesn't come from our Creator. God isn't into a trillion of us wearing the same lip gloss, same shirt, and same hairstyle. God is not into us being clones of someone we aren't. I don't believe God cares for wannabe behavior on any level. He is interested in who He made us to be.

If we aren't careful, we will wannabe Christian. It is one thing to look, watch, and study more mature Christians to see what they are about. It is an altogether different thing to think you have to become anyone other than You in order for God to love you. In fact, Jesus is the only person we are trying to become, and we are only trying to love like Him...not look like Him. In fact, the Bible says Jesus' looks were just plain, old ordinary. What a relief that He wasn't pretty!!! We can just focus on how He lived not how He looked. Wouldn't that be wonderful for our country today...to start addressing how we live instead of what E and People have to say about how we should look?

In a huge vastness of individuals, our common thread should be our love of God and each other. We can be tall, short, thin, fat, good hair, bad hair, no hair. None of that matters. We are all wonderfully made just like we are. The transformation...the makeover...should only be spiritual. It is a movement from miserable to peaceful...from death to life. That, my friends, is beautiful.

Supernatural

I guess it is just human nature to compare everything to ourselves. However, we are cheating ourselves out of fully experiencing God when we humanize Him. The Word tells us lots about the appearance and characteristics of God. We are made in His image. He is radiant. He is love, mercy, compassion, power... He is not;however, human.

In saying that we need to realize how powerful and supernatural the moment of salvation is...that moment when God offers us everything He has to offer, and we accept. I believe we have some misconceptions about the moment of salvation which has cheapened it and taken away its awe. First of all, it is a moment. I do not believe, from either personal experience or the Word, that the offer of salvation is an open door on a 24/7 basis. I also do not believe we decide the terms or the moment. Therefore, church or a worship service does not set the terms nor call the moment. God may use a church service (which is one of the reasons we should be in church), but God and God alone grants the moment.

The Word says He will only call each of us a certain number of times. We need to place that statement on billboards. Too many people think they'll do life their way, have all their fun, and then settle into God and church. How sad to think we are settling when we journey with God. Some...many...may have already told God no as many times as He will ask. Some may have already missed any opportunity at heaven.

The moment of salvation is the most powerful experience in our lives. How many other moments do you remember in such detail for 10, 20, 30, 60 years? I cannot stress to you enough it is a moment. You can date and time it. If you think salvation just comes to pass after a period of believing there is a God, you are only dealing with your brain. Salvation is extended by God. In a moment when your head, heart, and soul are all in one accord. Do you understand how huge that is? Do you realize the human-ness in us causes an almost constant struggle between what we feel, think, and do? Where do you think panic comes from? The Moment is freeze-framed in time where everything clicks, fits, makes sense. Your physical self will even experience physical reactions to your brush with Holy. Your heart accelerates. Your emotions break free. Your mind becomes the clearest it may ever be. In that moment of umderstanding, You have a choice. God, although supernatural, did not choose for Himself the role of puppet master. We must choose to either accept His gift of salvation or reject it.

Now don't think for one minute God is the only supernatural power at work. Satan works hard to oppose salvation. In your moment, Satan will try to force all kinds of untruths to be truths. I believe the biggest one is all the things we give up in order to be truly saved. You know...sin...all that fun activity that brings pain, despair, hangovers, wrecked relationships, emotional messes. Satan is hoping against all hopes you will say no to God.

We are cheating ourselves when we limit The Moment to an altar call and "Just As I Am" every Sunday morning. Right now...before the sun, before the summer heat, in the still and quiet of the morning, God is offering salvation to someone. Can you hear the angels hold their breath? Can you feel the stillness as eternity waits to receive another guest? Oh, the moment is so powerful.

Holy God, Ancient of Days, Savior, I love you too. Forgive me for making you human in my mind. Forgive me for not being in total and complete, fear-trembling awe of You all the time. I pray for yes's today. I pray for the Moment for many. I pray for truth, clarity, and the power of revelation. I pray for simple yes's that do not end the journey, but begin the faith walk until we are with You in heaven. Amen.