Tag Archives: Christianity

What are you living for?

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Psalm 37:4

What are you living for? 

I like to people watch.  I’ve always done it.  I can’t help but be amazed that there are so many of us; and each one of us with our own life, our own thoughts and our own goals.  We are all so different but yet we are very similar at the same time.  We are all wired for purpose.  There is a deep desire in every one of us for our life to have meaning.  We have to feed this desire with something but what we end up feeding it with can vary extensively from one human to another.  Some live for their kids, some for their spouse, some for their jobs and some for themselves.   It’s easy to get caught up in pursuing a purpose in something and before you know it years have passed by.

I pursued music for years.  Over ten years of my life I lived for music.  I put so much time and energy towards being successful with music.   I had some good success and made it farther than many others do but the success left about as quickly as it came.  It was about that time that the Lord got my attention and I shifted my focus and began to live for God.  But what does living for God look like?

While I lived for music I did everything I could to achieve success so naturally when I started to live for God I was doing the same thing.   But as I got to know Him better I realized that it doesn’t work like that in the Kingdom of God.  Jesus doesn’t grade us by achievement.  This was a hard lesson for me to accept because after all I am an achiever.  I took my Clifton Strengths Finder test in college and there it was… “achiever” as my third top strength.   So here Jesus was saying, “It’s great that you’re an achiever.  I don’t want you to change who you are.  But my love for you has nothing to do with your achievements.”  It kinda messed with my head.  It took me quite some time to get it.  I think I’m still learning to get it.  And there’s some of you that need to learn to get it too.

God loves you regardless of what you accomplish in life.  Your purpose is not found in accomplishments.  Your purpose is not even found in ministry.  Your purpose is not found in serving others and your purpose is not found in evangelism.  Your calling is not to be a pastor, teacher, apostle or prophet.  Those things are great and I’m not saying we don’t need them.  What I’m saying is that your title and the way God decides to use you is not your purpose.  Your purpose is very, very simple…  Your purpose is simply to know Jesus.   Ministry is to be a bi-product of knowing Him.  It’s an after effect, but it blows my mind that so many make ministry their main thing so that they will minister before they will spend time with Jesus getting to know Him.

There’s a popular scripture that says, delight yourself in the Lord and He will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)

This doesn’t mean try really hard to memorize scripture, pray every day before dinner, stop using cuss words when I drop a heavy object on my foot, and put on a fake smile in front of other Christians—then my life will look delighted in the Lord.  And if I appear to be delighted in the Lord then He will give me that desire I’ve always had to [insert your dream of being successful here] and my life will finally have purpose.   No, I think what this verse really means is know the Lord and He will become your heart’s desire.

If you have truly delighted yourself in the Lord it’s because you have begun to know Him, and once you start knowing Him you cannot help but fall in love with Him.   He will become your heart’s desire.  Oh and one more thing…. He won’t relent until your whole heart is His.  His desire is to know you.  Please open your heart and let Him in.

Be Honest With Jesus

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I love the fact that the more I get to know the Lord, the more He releases me to be comfortable in my own skin. He teaches me how to be me. He helps me let go of others standards and perceptions of me. He tells me that He loves me for being me. There’s something very important I’ve come to learn from this. Jesus wants us to be honest with ourselves.

He ultimately knows me better than I know myself. He knows if I’m not being completely honest with myself—even when being completely honest with myself involves doubting Him. He would rather I be honest and face any doubts I may have instead of putting on “fake faith.” God is secure in who He is. Our doubts do not intimidate Him or make Him any less true. If we are not honest with our doubts then I think we halt ourselves from growing in faith. They will remain buried and hidden in a dark spiritual closet. We must bring them to the light.

Since I have come to Christ I have brought many doubts to Him and He has helped me to move past them turning doubts into faith and weaknesses into strength. It’s ok to be honest with yourself. Bring your doubts to the altar and lay them at His feet. Ask God to give you the gift of faith.

Lord I believe, help my unbelief! –Mark 9:24

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To the Believers

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To the believers,

You are of God, little children, and have overcome them [antichrist spirits], because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. -1 John 4:4

Sometimes we need to remind ourselves that Jesus said, “It is finished.” (John 19:30) not, “It will be finished.”

He also said, “I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) not, “I will overcome the world.”

Paul said, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.” (2 Cor 5:17) not, “If anyone is in Christ he will become a new creation.”

God is so much more powerful than Satan and his demons but sometimes we don’t act like this.  We walk around afraid of the enemy’s next attack.

It’s time to start believing what God says about you.  You have been redeemed and are completely forgiven and blameless in the eyes of God.  You have been set free from sin and given the gift of eternal life by the grace of God!  Jesus is equally yoked with you and is there to walk with you and give you comfort through every aspect of life.  God loves you more than you could ever understand! (Col 1:14, John 3:16, Rom 6:18, Matt 11:29, Eph 3:19)

Greater is He who is in you!  Believe it and walk in it.

These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. -1 John 5:13

The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all. Amen.

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You are so certain in your heart!

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“You are so certain in your heart—whether you can actually live that out sometimes or not—in your heart there is a strong yes!”

This prophetic word was spoken to me a while back and it has really stuck with me because I have come to realize that my heart is completely the Lord’s.  My heart knows God!  My heart has a personal relationship with Jesus.  It is my intellect I have to continually reason with.  My own understanding stirs doubts while trying to sort out the ways of an infinite Creator, but in my heart there is a strong yes!

It is an amazing place we go to when we trust the Lord with all our heart and lean not on our own understanding (Proverbs 3:5).  David was there when he wrote Psalm 131:

Lord, my heart is not haughty,
Nor my eyes lofty.
Neither do I concern myself with great matters,
Nor with things too profound for me.
Surely I have calmed and quieted my soul,
Like a weaned child with his mother;
Like a weaned child is my soul within me.
O Israel, hope in the Lord
From this time forth and forever. 

So now I pass this word on to you:

You are so certain in your heart! Though times have been tough, keep trusting in the Lord through this season.  He is bringing you into a new level of humility that will also bring you into a deeper revelation of His love, grace and peace! Keep leaning on the Lord and He will take you there.

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“If it’s not God worship God!”

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“If it’s God worship God, if it’s not God worship God!” – a six year old’s response to critics claiming supernatural signs to be demonic.

This quote got me thinking and I thought it was right on about the simplicity in Christ. Look to Jesus in all situations (whether or not we understand them) and have more faith in God’s ability to keep you than the enemy’s ability to deceive.

Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen. -Ephesians 3:20-21

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The Living Hope

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So I’ve been having a couple of grumpy, irritable days. Some of you may have caught a blog I had posted for a short time last night. I later realized it was really just a lot of complaining and I don’t want to spread negativity. I was mostly complaining about negativity on the web and in the world. I then realized I had fallen right into the trap of the enemy—spreading “the complaining virus”. That is the complete opposite purpose behind this blog! So needless to say—I deleted the post.

The fact is though, even as Christians we have our fair share of grumpy days. With me sometimes these moods seem to come out of nowhere as if to have no trigger at all, but I think it’s deeper than that. I think part of it is physical—I need to make sure I am eating, sleeping and exercising properly—and I think part of it is spiritual. In our walk with God I believe a lot of times God is doing “under the hood work” or what is sometimes called pruning. There can be things going on with our spirit that we are not intellectually aware of. Part of this can be from the muck and darkness of the world that invades my spiritual space as I’m out. But a very important lesson I’ve realized is that these “moods” will happen more often when I am not consistently finding alone time in the secret place with God. I have always been somewhat of an introversive person and my latest living situation gives me about zero chance of finding this alone time while at home.

Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. –Matthew 4:4

We’ve all heard the lesson before, but if we are not spending time alone with God and getting our dose of God’s word we will not be fully equipped—putting on the full armor of God (Eph 6:11)—to protect ourselves from the darkness in the world.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. –Ephesians 6:12

So today discerning that I had quenched myself of the Spirit I decided to go on a little walk and get some time alone with the Lord. I found a nice little park just a mile away that I had never been to before (that’s where the picture above is from). While lying next to a tree—just myself, my chihuahua and the Lord—I pulled out my Bible app and started reading 1 Peter.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. -1 Peter 1:3

A living hope!

That’s what I needed to hear! Sometimes we get so overwhelmed by what’s going on around us we forget that Jesus is alive and He desires for us to spend time with Him. Spending time with Him blesses us! It refreshes us like a cold glass of water on a hot day. But… not only does it help us, it blesses Him too. Jesus wants you to hang out with Him. It’s a win-win situation. I walked back from that park with a different perspective and in a much better mood.

So the next time you start feeling in a slump try spending some time with the living hope Himself. I promise you won’t regret it. He loves to bless His children!

Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears theLord. Psalm 128:4

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Without Jesus I can do nothing…

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“The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do…” –John 5:19

These words of Jesus are the perfect example of the biblical meekness and humility that God is calling us to in our relationship with Him.

Jesus said He can do NOTHING of Himself without the Father!

He then later told the disciples this:

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing. –John 15:5

I’m realizing that throughout my life I have done a lot of nothing! I have set out to do many things without God and though some of these things may be viewed as earthly successes none of them brought my life fulfillment. I walked without the Lord for over ten years of my adult life trying to accomplish “things” and pursuing dreams. You know what would happen after I reached a dream? I felt completely lost. It drove me to depression. Dreams of success by the world’s standards did not bring me one ounce of fulfillment.

After dedicating my life to the Lord things started to make more sense. The void I always felt was lifted and life had meaning to it for the first time since being a child. I’ve been realizing something lately though; I still do many things without God. I try to conquer sin without God, I try to minister without God, sometimes I even try to pray without God. I’m throwing in the towel on my self-efforts of “accomplishing God’s will.” We don’t accomplish God’s will; God does His will through us as He so chooses!

I have to pray more and ask the Helper (Holy Spirit) to help me more. I need more help than I thought. I need more God than I thought.

Without God many things are impossible. Without God I am depressed and hopeless. Without God I am a prisoner. Without God life is meaningless.

But…

With God all things are possible! (Matt 19:26)

With God I am filled with hope and joy! (Romans 15:13)

With God I am set free! (2 Cor 3:17)

With God I have purpose! (Jer 29:11)

Jesus said, “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.”

I always found this verse interesting because a truly meek person doesn’t want the earth, but that’s how God works. He raises up the humble and through them accomplishes exceedingly and abundantly more than we could ask or think. Let God’s love and presence completely over power you and consume your life. Ask God to ignite a spark in you that will develop into a full fire of passion for more of Him.

God is all I want.

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A Prodigal Comes Home

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The story is far too common. A child is brought up in faith but in the years of young adulthood a prodigal leaves home and abandons their Christian beliefs. I pray for this generation that God would keep those who are His close, and that He would encourage the mothers and fathers whose children have walked away from the faith to never stop praying. My mom prayed for me for over 15 years before the Lord answered, but He did answer! In His perfect timing He acts and brings those who are His home. I have posted my testimony here:

http://bythebloodofthelamb.com/2012/10/09/the-lost-sheep-a-testimony-of-salvation/

I hope it can be an encouragement to some of the mothers and fathers out there that are still praying for their prodigals to never lose hope and never stop praying!

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The Gift of Tears

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Jesus wept. –John 11:35

What are tears? Nobody knows exactly. They can’t be explained scientifically. Animals do not cry with tears, only humans. It is an amazing thing that clearly separates us from animals. I suppose the evolutionists would say, “One day as man evolved he started to cry and didn’t know why.” We still don’t know why we cry, but we do. Jesus cried too. The puritans used to pray for “the gift of tears.” Truly tears are a gift from God.

More than once I have been overwhelmed by His presence to the point of uncontrollable, powerful tears. Tears that to me made no intellectual sense at all. I couldn’t tell you the full reason behind my tears but I know that they were necessary. They were necessary to bring me to a closer communion with God. The tears were my spirit speaking for me.

It has been a while since I have cried in His presence and I honestly long for it. I wish for God to touch me in that way again. When the time is right the Spirit will bring me there, but for now He speaks in different ways. It is all I want—to hear Him. Not just to hear His audible voice, but to hear Him in many different ways. Sometimes to hear God all you have to do is stop trying so hard to listen. My God is not dead. He is very much alive and He speaks. He even speaks through me—which is a concept I really don’t understand or deserve—but I thank Him. Thank you Lord for being so good to us.

I am weary with my groaning;
All night I make my bed swim;
I drench my couch with my tears.
-Psalm 6:6

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Good Morning!

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ThroughtheLord’s mercies we are not consumed,
Because His compassions fail not.
They are new every morning;
Great is Your faithfulness.
-Lamentations 3:22-23

I love this verse and I’ve realized something else that is new about me—I love mornings! I have become a “morning person.” This was not always true and I think it has a lot to do with learning the character of God. Truly His compassions for me are new every morning. His compassions for you are new every morning. Every morning is a new beginning and every morning is a gift. Every morning is another day we can live to serve Jesus.

Many things can happen to us throughout the day but no matter what yesterday may have held for you, today is a new day! He loves you today! He wants to bless you with His presence today. His compassions are new for you today. His strength is made perfect in your weaknesses today. God is faithful in His promises today!

So good morning brothers and sisters in Christ. Believe His promises this morning for today is the day the Lord has made, and we will rejoice and be glad in it!

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