Getting Raw

Webster Defines the word Raw as: being in or nearly in the natural state : not processed or purified, not diluted or blended, unprepared or imperfectly prepared for use, not being in polished, finished, or processed form...

Wow! What if we came to God that way everyday..RAW. I know in my own life that there have been times that I feel guilty for not being all put together and polished. The enemy beats me down with accusations of not being a good example, or still having struggles in my life. The truth is that God desires us to be naked before Him. To not put on nice clean clothes of religion, but to come before Him RAW, unprepared, and imperfect. Because in the place of naked honesty we realize despite all our impurities Daddy loves us. That in our weakness His strength really is shown in us. When you look at the people Jesus ministerd to...not one of them had there stuff together...One woman was caught in the act of adultery and drug before Him naked, and what does He do? In her nakedness and unprepared state Jesus grants her mercy and hope and she becomes a disciple. (John 8:3-11)

The woman at the well was in adultery and had been divorced several times, yet Jesus goes out of His way to meet her, and set her free from guilt, and turns her into an evangelist that changes an entire city. (John 4)

The point is that I want to encourage you today to be honest before God. Be RAW before Him. Don't pretend to have all your junk together...be open with the struggles you are going through and the sins you are overcoming...Let the love of God pour over you in your weak un-polished state, and let the Grace of God encourgae you to overcome today. I leave you with this thought..here is what Jesus thinks about the whole issue of being RAW and honest before Him:

"Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: 'God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.'
"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'

"I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

- Luke 18:10-14

The World, Really?

The most taught scripture in Sunday Schools, Bible Clubs, and VBS's around the world has to be John 3:16. Every kid who attends church between the ages of 5 and 12 have learned this verse. Yet, it puzzles me that despite all the memorization very few people truly believe what it says...


This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn't go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. And why? Because of that person's failure to believe in the one-of-a-kind Son of God when introduced to him. - John 3:16-18 (The Message Version)

Does that really say that God loves the world? Because if it does that would be a pretty liberal statement. The truth is that God truly does love the world; so much that He gave His Son over to death and punishment for it. It seems like all we have done in Sunday Schools is taught kids the importance of memorizing scripture, but not imparting the revelation behind the words they are reading. We must take time to let the word develop in us and allow Holy Spirit to reveal truth to us. This verese makes is it so clear that God loves the world and made a way to have the world despite all the wickedness and sin. God sees past the sin and sees the treasure within every man woman and child on the planet. Sin isn't an issue for God becaus He dealt with the sin of the entire earth when He crushed His Son on Calvary.

Still so many voices out there that have grown up in churches all over the world memorizing scripture know John 3:16 by heart, yet they still proclaim that the world deserves judgement for it's sin and wickedness. They release prophetic words of doom and destruction and call it the discipline of God. When in truth Jesus took all punishment for the sins of the world. Every person on the planet is covered in the blood of Jesus...just not all of them know it yet. Beloved it's time we seek revelation on the way God loves the people of the world, and we share the message of hope and salvation. No more judgment talks and scaring people out of hell and into heaven. Lets preach love, and watch as the enter into a relationship with God through love and appreciation. Lets preach the truth of John 3:16

GRACE!!!

Good News

So I was thinking about how much God loves the world. He gave everything to have it, and He is still reachng out today. It's not like Jesus died, so that was God's one shot at gaining mankind. It was the price it took to make mankind available to Him again. We get to partner with God everyday to reach out to the world around us and share the good news with them that God has an open hand to them.

We were in Red Robin yesterday for lunch and this waiter kept walking past us. The Lord gave Krista a word for him, but since he was so busy she wrote it down as a note for him, and as we were leaving handed him the note. Nothing huge right? Just a simple note saying that God knew where he was and that he had an incredible destiny. Friends changing the world is that easy... to share the good news of God's love and grace with those we come in contact with everyday.

Jesus paid the ultimate price to gain this world that he loves desperatley. Lets partner with him today and share the good news of love to people that are hurting..look past all their sins, because thats what God does...Let us be a people that see people by their destiny and the true price that Jesus declared they are worth. No matter what they look like, or what sin they are in....lets share love and grace!

Power Instead Of Theology

When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power. - 1 Corinthians 2:1-5

Paul lays it out pretty clear here that we need not rely on our knowledge and ability to preach a good five point sermon to reach a people. We must like Paul forget everything that theology has taugt us and rely on nothing other than the truth that Jesus died for the sins of the world. I think sometimes we give Paul all this credit for being such a good theologian, yet Paul himself said that only relied on the message of God's grace and on the demonstrion of God's power. I don't belive that Paul would hold himself to the title of greatest apostle ever as so many in the church do. I believe that Paul would hold Jesus above himself, and encourage us to go for the same things he(Paul) did. We use paul as an example of how to be a great preahcer and church starter, yet Paul was just trying to follow the life example set by Christ to accomplish all his work. He knew nothing except Christ crucified. He was weak and fearful when he preached. He needed God to show up and move in power, or he knew his message was useless.

Paul was just like us...not a Super Apostle that had access to greater revelation than we do. I believe if we, like Paul, humble ourselves before the Lord and simply move in Love and Grace, then we too can have the same impact on the world. The first step is to admit we don't "know" enough and we can't preach good enough to change anything. We must rely on God alone, and we must cry out for a demonstration of His Power! If there are no signs and wonders following our mnistries, then we have to question what God we are really serving. Because the God of Jesus, and Paul always moved in Power. Theological preaching must end, and Love and Power Preaching must begin!

Tap Into The Invisible

Just sitting here with my daughter this morning drinking coffee and thinking of how great is is to be alive. The Lord has been speaking to me alot lately about little things. Little things can give us so much life, yet we rarely stop to notice them. Like having my daughter in my lap as I type. She loves and wants to be with me, kind of like Daddy God. He loves and wants to be with us. We have an open invitaion to sit in His lap daily and just let Him love on us.

There are a thousand little things God is doing each day on our behalf to let us know He loves us. We all woke up today, maybe not in the same situations, but the fact that we are still here proves He loves us and has not given up on any of us! Take time today to stop and smell the rose, so to speak. Ask Holy Spirit to reveal to you all the little things that scream of God's goodness all around you. Take full advantage of His love and Grace!

For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. Romans 1:20

Isn't that amazing that God's "invisible" qualities have been clearly seen. I urge you this week to tap into the invisible. God has surrounded us with His goodness, but it's up to us what we see. Do we focus on the negative situations and surroundings we find ourselves in at times, or do we tap in to the invisible realm and see all the little things of goodness God has covered our lives in.

GRACE!