What is a Christian?

O.K. ...let's talk about being a Christian. What does that even mean? Yeah, we get the whole heaven, hell, fire, and damnation stuff. But what about now? What does it mean to be and live as a Christian now...before I die? It means I am flesh and spirit. We have God, angels, Christians, and the lost. Each is different. I have my human body and soul, but I also have the Spirit of God in me which gives me power. What power? The power to love, to have compassion, to forgive, to be gentle and kind. I also have the gift of constant peace. I may not acknowledge this gift all the time, but it is always available to me. The lost have not yet received the Spirit of God into their very being. It is available for all to receive, but all have not yet received. The lost are in constant pursuit of the same things the saved have...happiness, joy, contentment. The lost cannot sustain these things on their own, because they come from God.  The lost stay frustrated, somewhat disappointed, never quite satisfied. Am I not speaking truth?

Being a Christian is not about being better than anyone else, because we are all a mess. Beimg a Christian is about tbeing different. We are not like anything else in creation. As a result, our lives should reflect that difference. That is what it means to glorify God. The lost should desire what I have. What do I have? God in me.

I have lived much longer without God than with Him. As a result, I know...have proof...there is evidence of the truth I speak. Hocus pocus? No. Supernatural? Without question...yes!
  

Settling in the Spirit

Learning to live by faith is a journey. It is a process. You do not become a believer and heart and soul lover of Jesus and poof...become spiritually mature. You also don't JUST attend church and...poof find yourself full of faith. Learning to live in faith is like navigating in your home when it is completely dark. The first time you took a step in your new home, in the dark, you were very tentative. You took small steps and eased through and around obstacles. Sometimes you avoided the obstacle and sometimes you broke your toe. Another night comes, you wake up, and you have a choice. You can just stay in bed (and probably be miserable because the whole reason you are awake is because you need to pee), or you can get up and do what you are feeling led to do. After several late night ventures, you can probably walk around your home in the dark at a normal pace. Eventually, it does not matter if it is day or night, you are so familiar in your surroundings and trusting of where the obstacles are and how to avoid them, you can move around just as well in the night as you do in the day.

Faith is the same way. In the beginning of your journey, you receive a lot of information in your head...who Jesus is, how He lived, why He died. That info, because it came to you from God's Word, begins to seep into your heart and change you. As the change begins, the Holy Spirit, the one Jesus left behind to be our helper, begins to lead. At first, you are careful...unsure...wanting to believe but not sure someone hasn't moved an end table on you. But God is faithful, true, loving, and patient. He gives you signs. He affirms your faith steps. He gives you results that are answers and assurances and proof that He is here...right here...right now.

As your faith grows and you begin to be comfortable in your walk, you settle in the Spirit. Questions are replaced by acceptance and thinking is replaced by believing. You can be content, be joyful, be full of praise and worship to the Father because He is present...oh so present. He is our loving Father who created us and gave us a way to relationship with Him. He gave us Jesus to walk in truth in a form we can see and relate to. He left us the Holy Spirit to fill us with peace, love, mercy, grace, and be the guide we need.

The key to settling in the Spirit is His Word. You can own your dream car...shiny,polished,and with an engine that purrs. But it won't do anything without the key. Same thing with your life of faith. It begins when the Word comes alive in You. As the verses wrap themselves around your very DNA, your faith engine begins. Have faith. Stay the course of the Word. It will lead to the ride of your life. Along the way you will settle, cruise, steer with one finger. The Spirit is..can be...behind the wheel. Settle in. Enjoy the ride!

Living in Faith

God is...well how do we describe God? God is a higher power, a force, the unseen, grace, mercy...God is love.

To really live in faith you have to get out of your head and live from your heart and soul. Your mind, while powerful and fascinating, is all about limits. Your mind is your pause and rewind button, but real living doesn't come from shutting down or living in yesterday.

What does living in faith really mean? It means that you believe (and live as you believe) God can alter your world...your life. Living in faith is all about knowing that the chain, or should I say crash, of events that is called free will can be changed by the hand of God. Have you ever forgiven? Have you ever loved? Have you ever been delievered? Have you ever been healed? Have you ever been rescued? Have you ever been saved? Have you ever seen a situation turn around? If you are living in faith, well you have said yes to these questions.

Oh, we say God is good and He has plans to prosper us, but do we live like it? In the face of trouble, do we take a deep breath, kick back and relax and say, "This one's all on you God"? God moves on behalf of HIS people...notice I didn't say people...I said His people...those of us who are walking with Him in obedience. Now keep in mind anyone can have that personal relationship with God, but some reject it. God knows those who truly love Him and live for Him, and God will absolutely move mountains for you, friend.

I never really understood the mustard seed verse until I started to understand faith (and I'm at the tip of the mountain {pardon the pun LOL} when it comes to faith). I always read that passage and thought Jesus was telling them they didn't have enough belief {head/mind} to unleash the kind of super-natural power it takes to move mountains. Sometimes I even wondered if the "move mountains" was not just a figure of  speech.

No. no, no. Having faith to move mountains comes straight from the heart and soul. If I am living for God...if I am living to love Him and love others, if I am living out of the same love and example Jesus set...you better believe God is going to move every mountain in my way. When I say every mountain, I mean every mountain...struggles, hardships, hangups, people, and the Himalayas if they are in my way to becoming more mature in faith. I have a message for God, from God, and He will change life to let me express it. He'll change life because He loves us.

Now I want you to really think and pray abount faith, because as you get some holy revelation, it ought to change how you're living life. Fear and anxiety? No need. Despair? No way. That I can't do it mentality? God never wanted you to...He wants to do it through you.

What are you believing God for? I don't mean...what are you praying for, holding your breath, and then letting your mind come up with Plan B. I mean what do you want in life that will allow you to live with the blessings God wanted for you all along? Ask it. Believe it. Start living your life like you will receive it.

Nowhere does it say Christianity is boring or quiet. Yes, we do have heaven to look forward to. But, I'm going to live for some of my blessings right now...today...right in the middle of this crazy world I'm going to have a holy party.

Sound lovely? It is!

Adoration

We were created to adore. We were created to get totally absorbed, fall head over heels, be dazed and confused, go all in...in love with our Savior.

Along the way we sometimes go astray...especially in our culture where the more the better reigns. We adore our families, we adore our friends, we adore our jobs, we adore our hobbies, we adore our free time, we adore our margaritas, we adore chocolate, we adore what we can smoke-snort-shoot up.We adore sexual relationships that were never meant to be.

We adore so many things. So why are there so many who are empty, anxious, depressed, looking up and thinking there has to be more than this?

There is only one thing we can adore...are supposed to adore...that will lead to fullfillment instead of pain. We are to adore Jesus Christ. He is the ONLY thing that ever walked this planet that we can adore and be safe. Jesus does not lie. He does not run. He does not lead us astray. He does not love us for selfish reasons. He does not use us for self-promotion. Jesus loves to love because He is love.

It is O.K. to take the cover off your heart. It is O.K. to be dependent. It is O.K. to trust, to feel, to commit, to surrender, to be saved by the one and only thing that will never hurt you. You may have been hurt by people, but not by the Savior.

Let loose, breathe, have faith, have hope...all for His glory...all for His delight.

We were made to adore Him.

3D

We look at T.V. screens - flat. We look at cell phone screens - flat. We stare at computer monitors - flat. We do a lot of living in a one dimensional world, and we feel, well - flat.

God created a 3D world. There are galaxies, stars, planets, water, creatures, people. Everything in creation has motion. It moves, connects, flows out, returns. Our lives should look that way. We should be bonding with those around us. Our listening skills should have power and affect. Our love should go out, move, and the blessings return. Our tears need to be wiped. This morning's sirens need prayer. The hungry need fed. The sick need healing. The bored need to be entertained. The heavy in heart need to laugh. Our emotions need to twist, turn, and fold.

You can't be a part of these things if your life is flat because you're only living for yourself. God intended on 3D living: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Your loving God created you and is in control. Jesus Christ came and showed us how to live, laugh, love, weep, and sacrifice. The Holy Spirit indwelled Jesus, and the Holy Spirit lives in us who believe and call on His name. You can put on the glasses of the world and trick your mind into thinking your living, but when you take those glasses off the screen of your life is flat again. Or, you can believe in God, cry out for the salvation of Jesus Christ, and receive the Holy Spirit into your heart and soul.

3D
Father, Son, Spirit
Faith, Hope, Charity
Love, Mercy, Grace
Confession,Repentance,Redemption

...

Exciting Times to be a Disciple for Jesus

I don't believe there has been a more exciting time to be a disciple for Jesus Christ than right now. Some look at the world and think things are terrible. I hear comments like, "I wouldn't want to raise a child today." Look around. It is terrible. The Palestinians are STILL trying to take over Jerusalem. The Muslims are trying to worship at Ground Zero. The U.S. Is trying to resist big govt taking over little govt.

BUT here is the Good News: there is hope! It's good that those with only a worldly belief system are getting tired of feeling empty. It is good that people who have been in church all their lives are lookng for relationship rather than religion. It is good that small govt will force charity back into play. I mean...I can pay it forward just fine when the govt doesn't take half and tell me what to do with the second half.

Right now there is world wide tension...the feeling that a shift is taking place. People are wondering how did we get here and how do we get out. People are looking...looking. What better time to find hope in Jesus Christ? What better time to be filled with the Holy Spirit? What better time for revival? What better time for true worship of a Holy God whose great compassion still loves His wayward child? What better time to be a prodigal daughter?

Jesus said...love, forgive, have compassion, take care of those in need. How refreshing in a world that has been ripped off, hacked, molested, robbed, and lied to? These are amazing times because people want to take their masks off and get real. We have every means in the world to communicate who we are, where we've been, and how Jesus changed us...is changing us.

Raise your hands. Raise your voices. There has never been a more exciting time to be a disciple!

Are You Full?

Do you ever get sucked up in the religion game...wondering who is right and who is wrong? Do you wonder if one group has it figured out better than the rest? Do you go through the motions to cover the bases? Do you listen to others talk about God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit and feel empty - feel like their words are all for show? READ EPHESIANS CH.3! If ever there was a passage to explain what it meant to bring salvation to the world, to live life to the fullest, to be saved...this chapter is it! The Bible is crystal clear on Israel's favor with God. They have been through so much together and every world event, current event, and headline ticker is telling their redemption story. However, in Ephesians Ch.3, Paul beautifully shows us that we also are in God's favor. Jesus came for us. We have our own redemption story in the cross, and not just Jesus' death on the cross, but His life thereafter. His resurrection story is our fullness in Christ. I literally remember what life was like without Jesus - a rat race full of anxiety and disappointments that Paxil only took the edge off of. Everyone's story is different, but my life before Jesus and after is as different as night and day. I have my own personal B.C./A.D. timeline that is the perfect before/after makeover shot.

Jesus not only offers us non-Israeli's eternity, He also brings us fullness in Him right now. Living is being so full you weep or so full you laugh out loud. Being full is going through a crisis and not loosing faith. Being full is loving when the old you wants to hate, and walking away when you know revenge could be yours. Being full is resting in the middle of chaos...being still and knowing He is God.

We are full of His Spirit. We are full of His word. We are full of grace. We are full of His love. I am full of redemption and salvation and a power that is bigger and stronger than anything here on earth. I am full of praise for Him. I am full with a desire to worship.

Jesus longs for you to be in an intimate relationship with Him...to know Him...to never question His presence. You can do a lot of religious stuff, but you can only be full by the presence of the Holy Spirit in your very being.

Has He taken up with You?

Are you full?

Do You Know the Truth?

Truth is absolute and pure. It is what it is. Hot is hot...truth. Cold is cold...truth. There is a world that wants you to believe truth is hard to see. A world that wants you to think truth is hard to find. The world says you need an advocate, but they define the advocate. Maybe you need someone to tell you how to eat. Maybe you need someone to tell you how to spend your money. Maybe you need someone to tell you how to deal with the brokenness of your family.

What the world has to offer is people to give you their opinions. What they think is truth...what they think is right and wrong. The world says your belief system is fine, even if your belief system is to believe nothing. The world says any relationship is appropriate. The world says have sex. Exploit it. Show it off. Do it everywhere with anyone. The world says it is O.K. for you to like people who are like you and to oppose people who are different. The world says drink it. Snort it. Shoot it up. The world says abuse the system, because the system owes you. The world is chaos, confusion...the world is lost.

There is an alternative. Another truth. This truth is not confused. This truth does not rush. This truth's timing is always on schedule. There is a word that tells you love, but love appropriately. Make love, but not when it hurts someone. There is a word who says live life. Live it to the fullest, but don't snort it, drink it, shoot it up. There is a truth that says love and forgive, but that doesn't entail saying you are right when you are wrong.

There is a truth that saves. There is a truth that is life. There is a truth that will lift you out of despair, pain, darkness. Do you know truth? Do you want truth.

The word became man...became flesh to show us the Way. There is truth. Do you know truth? He has a name...only one name. He is not Buddha, Muhammad, Oprah, money, over-indulgence.

There is only one name for truth. His name is Jesus. He came to save you, to include you in God's kingdom. Jesus came to go against the world, to be counter-cultural, to be radical. He is gentle, yet strong. He is humble, yet all powerful. You can step out of darkness and into the light. Call His name. Praise Him. Pray to Him. Love Him, and be loved by Him.

There is truth. His name is Jesus.

Every Chance

When you open your eyes, it is a chance. When you breathe in, it is a chance. Every time it's not cancer, every time the car doesn't hit you, every time the doctor says it is fine, every time you punch the clock, every time you go to dinner, every time you have the opportunity to give, every time a sign-up sheet is placed in the foyer...

Every time...

Every time...

Your day is filled with opportunities. God is giving you life. Jesus saved you to live. Who are you living for? Are you living for you? Are you living for your spouse...your children? Are you living for your job? Are you living to be known? Are you living to be pretty?

Or, are you living so that others see Jesus in you? He is either your number one, or He is not. He either is your first priority, or He is not. You either read your Bible every day and spend time with the Word Made Flesh or you don't. You either are forgiving, or your not. You either loved your enemy today or you didn't.

Jesus came to save you. Jesus came so that you may have life, and have it to the full. Jesus came so that your sins could be washed away...so they wouldn't stay with you forever...so they wouldn't weigh you down and press you all the way to the floor. Jesus came to lift you up, to clothe you in beauty, to put a crown on your head, to fill you with compassion, to show you love.

Is He your heart's desire, or isn't He. Why did God open your eyes this morning? TO LOVE HIS SON!

What are you doing with every chance you've been given?

Big News...Good News

Oh, I get it! I get it! I get it! I read things...like Titus 2...that says be gentle, be submissive, be loving. Well, that's pretty, but I don't really want to be gentle. In fact, I don't believe God made me gentle. So, how can I be obebient to the Word and answer His calling???

J-E-S-U-S!!!

I am about to just bust! Jesus did not back down. He didn't manipualte, coax, coerce, or twist. He stood His ground. He never backed up! He said what needed to be said, and did what God called Him to do, BUT He did it gently and in love. He reached out. He cared for others. He cried. BUT He never watered it down.

That's why Jesus stood out from the world. In order to accomplish His purpose, He did not buy anyone off. He didn't lie. He didn't tell people what they wanted to hear. At the same time though, He reached for them. He led by example. He accomplished it all gently, in the greatest act of submission, in love.

The world lies. The world demands power. The world brainwashes. Jesus lived the Word in love. Oh, I get it!!! I may not be gentle, but my love can be!!!!

Oh, my God, my Savior, I am desperate for YOU!!!

Gifts

Salvation, surrender, confession, reconciliation, repentance...We have a lot of terms, for a lot of things, that we just haven't unwrapped. We have these concepts all wrapped up in Bible school, revival, Holy Spirit gift-wrap. We see they are gifts, but are we going to unwrap them to see what in the world is in the box? Are we just going to leave the pretty package on the table, or are we going to unwrap it, identify it, love it, and use it?

Salvation is the gift of acceptance. It is the here I AM, here is what I AM about, here is what I have to offer gift from God - eternal life. We simply get to open this gift (by the way, God has to give it to you before you can open it)and decide if we're going to keep it.

Surrender is the gift to change your life while you are still here on earth. Surrender is the gift to prioritizing. Are you going to live with you as #1 in your life, or is your relationship with God going to be the absolute #1? This gift includes batteries...a power source...tools and equipment to live a surrendered life. In this package, God gives understanding, revelation, and surrendered friends. Accepting this gift means God gave you the whole gift set. He gave you the Let's Do It in the Here and Now and Not Wait on Eternity gift set.

Next, you are on to some bonus gifts: repentence-in case you break your gift, which is fellowship, and need to return; reconciliation so you can have God in the here and now through grace and love.

The prayer says - let Your will be done, let Your kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven. That is the gift. It's not just...do you want to go to heaven when you die...it is - do you want a piece of heaven right now?

Accept the gifts. Open them. Love them. Use them. Share them.

Who is Winning at Tug-of-War?

People say, "I can pray at home. In fact, my prayer time is better by myself instead of with a bunch of hypocrites. I can talk to God anywhere - anytime. I don't need churh to talk to God. I can take a walk, sit in a tree, or fish and feel just as close to God."

First of all, it is 110 degrees right now. So please don't even try to tell me you are taking praise and worship nature walks! More importantly though, you don't go to church just to pray. You really can pray right by yourself. You go to church to be encouraged, be spiritually fed, and to put your spiritual gift to work so that God can accomplish through you what He created you for in the first place. He didn't create you to watch 4 hours of T.V. a day.He didn't create you to shop until you drop. He didn't create you to mow, bushhog, and landscape away. Some of these activities may be part of your life, but they shouldn't be your life. God should be your life.

Church is where you go to do life. The body are the people to laugh with, cry with, eat with, pray with, praise with, and serve with. See, if you aren't in the body, you don't have your anchor, and let's face it...you're already playing tug-of-war in a pit with an unfair slope. Our culture says to do what makes you happy, take care of #1, let someone else help-you've done enough. If we aren't careful, we'll feel ourselves slip in tug-of-war. We'll start to loosen the grip on the rope. We'll start to point our feet forward so the opponent can slide us over, because maybe it is better on the other side.

The devil, evil itself, would like nothing better than to see you out of the body. He loves to hear, "Well, I can just pray at home." He loves it because he knows he can win against you. He just can't win against the church when the body of Christ is your anchor. God didn't say we couldn't be a one man island, He said we shouldn't. God gave us the church as the perfect platform to do life.

You can tell yourself all you want that CNN, FOX, and The Bachelorette have life all figured out. You can try to tell yourself you are better off without a bunch of hypocrites (aka sinners-we are all sinners thus hypocrites at some point). However, don't be shocked when life seems harder than that hypocrite in church. Don't be surprised when you go through a crisis, and it is that hypocrite in church who is there for you. Don't be shocked when you lose the tug-of-war and discover life like it seems on T.V. is pointless, ridiculous, and depressing.

Some days I am the encourager. Some days I need to be encouraged. That's why I go to church...and oh yeah, I don't like to lose at tug-of-war either!

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.