Saltiness

So I talked to two different friends yesterday and they both were having issues with religion. The first is a couple that has attended a church for sometime and decided that they wanted to become members, when they attempted to join the church denied them because they are living together out of wedlock...so they then attempted to join another church here in town because they have attended bible studies there for a a while as well...not only were they denied at this organization as well, they were also told that they could never serve because they have lived together before marriage.

The second friend is one of the most amazing people I know and has the most amazing heart for the LORD. We have served together for years, and recently he has moved back to the area to plant a church and change a city for Jesus. This past week a local church in the city he is planting his ministry in had a meeting with all their people and stated that they could not serve in their church if they were going to help as volunteers with his ministry in the city. They had to choose one or the other...not just all change the city together.

In the first case, it is frustrating to me that in order to get saved all it requries is admitting that you are messed up and need help. Jesus never made anyone quit sinning to join his group...in fact he was surrounded by sinners, and prostitutes....so why is it that we think our "churches" should only be filled with "good" little christians while the ones who are struggling are left by the curb to fend for themselves.

In the secaond case, it breaks my heart that churches are so full of fear that they attack one another for doing good works instead of coming together united under Jesus and show the world what love really looks like. A spirit of religion has had a hold in our mentality for way to long. In both stories it is religion and control hiding under the name of Jesus to hurt and attack people. Maybe living togethe before marriage is wrong, but it is Holy Spirit's job to lead us to repentance, not a rule book...and if rebuilding homes for people with nothing in a small town is too much for another leader to handle, maybe he should look at his own heart, before attatcking anothers.

“You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled underfoot.
- Matthew 5:13 -

As christians we are suppose to LOVE others more than ourselves, and we are to be the flavor(salt) of God and love on the earth. If we loose our LOVE(saltiness) we are not good for anything. I ask us all today to examine our hearts and see if we are giving the world a true taste of Father God, or an unsalted version of religion...

GRACE!

Whats First?

What is the most important thing in your life? Who is the most important person in your life? Who do you trust? Most of us would say God as the answer to these questions, but in all truth most of the time He (God) is the afterthought of most our decisions. We tend to pursure a life that will give us the most pleasure and then thank God for it. But how many things in our lives are truly from Him? How many things did we just do and say Praise the Lord at the end of it? I want to encourage you and myself to truly seek the LORD on the things we pursue in our lives.

Check out how Jesus lays down the strategy for our lives in Matthew:

25 “Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 28 “And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. - Matthew 6:25-33 -

So whatever you want or need in life the key to getting it is to seek the God's Kingdom above all else. Dont worry about not having the coolest toys, or not being able to pay the bills. Give yourself fully to living a kingdom lifestyle and relying on the LORD and you will have more than you know what to do with!

GRACE!

No Eye Has Seen??

We have all heard, or read the verses in 1 Corinthians were Paul states:

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
and no mind has imagined
what God has prepared
for those who love him." (1 Corinthians 2:9)

Its an amazing scrpiture taken out of Isaiah 64, which speaks of the mystery and glory of our God...the problem we tend to run across is cutting the verse short and missing the AWESOMENESS that follows. Most people look forward to heaven like that is the place where all the worries and suffering will be taken away...That we can never understand God's ways here on the earth, but that as soon as we enter that realm we will suddenly understand His glory. This verse a lot of times is used at funerals to comfort the loved ones sufering loss, and to remind us that we have something to look forward to "In Heaven"....BUT, lets finish Pauls statement shall we??

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard,
and no mind has imagined
what God has prepared
for those who love him.”

But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us... (1 Corinthians 2:9-12)

WOW!! Paul starts off quoting Isaiah that No one can imagine or see the glory of God, but then hits us with the truth that God has revealed it all to us by His Spirit! That means that my eye can see Him..My Ear can hear Him..My mind can imagine and understand Him...all because I LOVE HIM!!

We don't have to wait until we die and enter heaven to see the glory of God...it is fully available to us everyday because of what Jesus did on the cross...that was the whole point! God's Spirit lives inside us and reveals the thoughts of God to us daily...we have full access to the throne room, so lets make the most of it on this side of eternity....why wait till Heaven to see God and know His ways when it is ours for the taking...Jesus gave us the keys to the kingdom...lets use em all!

GRACE!

Running...

What are you running after in this life? What are the things that motivate you and keep you getting out of bed every morning? In a world with limitless possibilities and choices...what path are you choosing to follow? I think of what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 9

You've all been to the stadium and seen the athletes race. Everyone runs; one wins. Run to win. All good athletes train hard. They do it for a gold medal that tarnishes and fades. You're after one that's gold eternally. (Message)

If the goal of our life is to inherit eternity, then how do we train to keep in the race...I want to win! Im sure you want to win! I have been thinking about professionals in every field and the sacrifices they make to be succesful. Football, Basketball, Soccer players work out and eat healthy...Singers take care of their vocies, and do vocal exercises...Chef's are always learning new recipes and trying new things....runners condition themselves all year to stay the best.

So the challenge is to stay in the race, and to stay running we need to be in shape....check out this verse:

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, 2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. 3 Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. - Hebrews 12:1-3 -

The goal is to choose to throw off everything that hinders (STOPS) us from running the race....Once you say yes to Jesus the only way to stop running is by choice. No one can knock you off the track, or the enemy wear you out. The choices we make daily keep us running..or slowly walking...or sitting down watching others run. What choices are you making? Are they helping you run, or slowing you down? Do the choices you make keep your spirit in shape to run? We were made to run the race hard after Jesus, and all of Heaven is cheering for us....So if your tired and weary....out of breath...fix your eyes on Jesus and remember who you run for and the prize of eternity thats your reward and KEEP RUNNING!

Qualified

I think sometimes we sit back and evalute all the good and negative things in our lives and weigh them in order to determine if we are "qualified" to lead others into a mighty move of God. On the weeks where I have daily devotion time and don't make too many mistakes I tend to feel more equipped to lead a generation into revival. Then there are those days where I feel like I am barley hanging on to the side of the "narrow" path and can't imagine leading anything. I trust that I am not the only one who goes through this cycle occasionaly. I was reading in Matthew the other day and this light hit me concerning being "qaulified" to change the world with Jesus...

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me," Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men." At once they left their nets and followed him.
Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him.
Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them. Large crowds from Galilee, the Decapolis, Jerusalem, Judea and the region across the Jordan followed him. - Matthew 4:18-25

Did you notice that there was nothing "special" or super "good" about these guys? They were just doing their daily work routine and Jesus calls them to follow Him and immediately they wittness revival breaking out, the sick being healed, demons being cast out, and the kingdom of Heaven preached. Huge crowds begin to surround Jesus, and these guys are in the middle of it...and the only "qualification" it required was to stop life as normal and follow Him. I want to encourage us today that we are all 100% qualified to move in signs, wonders, and lead this world into the greateast revival it has ever wittnessed the moment we lay down our "nets" and follow Jesus. The 12 disciples made several mistakes after they began to walk with Jesus...they wanted to call down fire on people(anger) stole money(Judas) denied they knew Christ(Peter) ran and hid instead of standing firm in their belief(Crucifixtion Day....and yet they are the ones that walked the closest to Jesus on earth, and they are the men and women of High Esteem that turned the entire world upside down. So no matter what struggles you are overcoming, or how great your week has been...since the day you layed down "life as normal" and began to follow Jesus, you have been and still are completely qualified to change this world...and you have all you need to do it! - GRACE-

And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. - Romans 8:28-30

Living By The Spirit

I have been thinking and studying this week about walking in the Spirit. Paul in the book of Galatians throws out this amazing sentence..."So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under law." What does it mean to live by the Spirit? How does a person live at all? We breathe, eat, sleep, excercise, play, dance...and so much more. So here is the challenge and amazing adventure opportunity we all have...To breathe, eat, sleep, dream, dance, play all by the Holy Spirit.

What would our lives look like if we let Holy Spirit move on and through us the way Jesus let Him. I think the time is now for a generation to fully submit to the Spirt's will just as Jesus did...He was able to change the entire world in 3 years of public ministry because He only did what the Father wanted Him to, and he lived FULLY by the Spirit. We all have the same ability to live FULLY by the Spirit, but it is our choice to give Him full control. Paul lays it out that if we live by the Spirit, we will overcome the sinful desires of our heart. That doesn't mean that the war inside us concerning the lust of our flesh will go away, but we will have victory over it. It's our choice of what side of ourselves we are going to feed...we can feed our Spirit, and grow in strength, or feed our sinful desires and become weaker in the Spirit. I encourage you this upcoming week to spend time in the presence of the LORD to feed and build up your Spirit...to ask Holy Sprirt to lead you and build character in you.

Think of a rainy day...if you walk with an umbrella then you will remain dry and have no trace of rain on you, but if you have no umbrella as you walk the rain will begin to soak through your clothes and if you stay in it long enough you will literally have water dripping off of your body. Let's remove whatever umbrella we are holding on to that is keeping the Spirit from soaking us. Only then will we begin to FULLY walk in and live by the Spirit and drip glory on all we encounter :)

GRACE!

Home In Love

So I got an encouraging email from a friend yesterday, and in it he encouraged me to to go on a new journey with the Lord of not working for Him, but walking with Him. It got me thinking of how sometimes, ( well most of the time), all us disciples of Jesus strive so hard to please Him and have a good performance here on planet earth. We spend our time, energy, and money on leadership training classes, new study guides, 12 step better christian programs, and so many other things that are suppose to keep our passion burning for Jesus. When in truth Jesus, already gave us the clear one step program to remain passionate and in love with Him. Check out John in the Message Bible:

I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can't produce a thing. - John 15:5

Then skip a few verses:

I've loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you'll remain intimately at home in my love. That's what I've done—kept my Father's commands and made myself at home in his love.
- John 15:9-10

Instead of trying to accomplish a great work on our own, we must abide in the Love of Christ. It's an amazing invitation from the Lord to make ourselves at home in His Love. So do this one thing with me this week...Instead of trying to accomplish some "great" work for the kingdom, lets focus on resting and abiding in the Love of the Father. Lets change our focus from changing the world to being great Sons & Daughters. Think about how we act when we are at home:

we are relaxed, take our shoes off, have no pressure to perfrom, we catch up on our favorite shows, waste hours on facebook, we sing out loud in the shower...WE ARE FREE!!!

This week lets just spend time at HOME in the love of Daddy. Be carefree, take your shoes off, hang out on facebook with Jesus...make our goal spending time with Him...and out of abiding in His love....We will all change the world naturally, the way Jesus did!

GRACE!