COMFORT OR TERROR? OR BOTH?

 When i read Psalms 139 there are so many feelings and thoughts that come to me. 

If i read it from the perspective of how awesome God is, and how loved and cared for and unique and special i am, then this Psalm is nothing but a comfort and an encouragement! He knows me. He sees me. He's in love with me. He created me. He planned things for me. I am not an accident. I am not a cosmic whim, or a result of some sort of random and bizarre process. I am not here without reason or purpose. I have been fearfully and wonderfully made. Someone took the time, care and love to think me up, design me, form me, spent time thinking of what was i going to look like, what my personality and character were going to be like, what things i would like, enjoy, thrive on, and put in me a void that only could be filled by encountering Him during my time here on earth and get to know the one who made me! My creator. Nothing about me is an accident, He didn't make a mistake, or overlooked anything about me. No, no mistakes at all. The world might think there's things wrong with me, or you, and they might look at you and say you are a freak, an accident, weird, odd, ugly, dumb, and many other derogatory terms, but you can rest assured, those are all lies coming from our enemy, who hates God's creation and will do anything within his limited power to take God's masterpieces down tot he dark pit with him. 

So, when reading this Psalm, i can think of those things and be so encouraged. 

But there's another way to think about it when i read it, specially some parts that speak to the beauty of God being sovereign and all knowing and all present. 

And this is what i am talking about. Right away David says "Oh God, you have searched me and known me". This right here is both an awesome and scary thought. And what comes next makes it even more serious. Not only God has searched me, dug deep through my everything, and known me, but he keeps going saying "...you perceive my thoughts from afar...". This makes my heart tremble in a humble way. Whatever comes and is on my mind at any given time, He knows!!! So, when i think that whatever i am thinking is harmless because no one can know and see, i am very mistaken. The very person we should be afraid of knowing our thoughts knows them all. When you're lusting after something, whether a person or things, when you are bitter and have hating thoughts towards someone, when you lied and know you did, when you have evil intentions, and scheme cheating and deceiving things, God sees it all! There's nothing hidden from Him. Crazy! So, how is our thought life? How are our souls?

Keeps going..."You discern my going out and my lying down;

    you are familiar with all my ways.
4 Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely."

When we are trying o be sneaky, when you think your spouse or children are not watching, He is. He knows ALL of our ways! Even what you are going to say, He knows it already. 

Is this a reason to fear God? YES!!! But the fear we ought to have before Him should not be a fear of punishment or a fear of rejection or disappointment, but a humble and loving fear. A fear of hurting and letting Him down. A fear of rejecting His love, of taking it for granted, dragging Jesus' sacrifice through the mud, dishonoring the greatest display of love in history, and throwing His love and sacrifice up in His face. This fear should be greater than the fear we have of things here on earth. We fear the police because we know punishment is coming. We fear justice because we know when we break the law there will be consequences. And we fear these things rightly. But there's a greater law and punishment above these earthly things. The possibility to spend our eternity without meeting and being with our Creator, with our lover, Savior, friend, Father, bridegroom. God sees us as His bride, and to ignore Him and go our own way, it is rejecting the greatest love we could ever know. 

And the fear is a fear based on love, not on punishment. Yes, there's punishment for breaking the law, but He has already, out of love, the forgiveness needed to escape the punishment. Why wouldn't we reverently humble ourselves and pledge our love to this God that has gone way out of His way to provide a way for us to be with Him? And this is grace. He did it in spite of our sin. So that we wouldn't live in sin anymore! He cleansed us! Why would we go back to the mud pit and get dirty and filthy again?

And the Psalm keeps going with so many amazing thoughts and words that should make us wonder and be in awe of this amazing God. But for now, I will leave it there. Think about it. Blessings!

WHO IS JESUS?

As i sit here i am pondering and going around in my mind with this question. Who is Jesus? Why is he still being spoken and talked about today? Is he relevant? Does he matter? This season we all sing songs about him, put up decorations, make preparations for the season, some of us get ready to go to church the one time a year cause we feel guilty and maybe we also feel that Jesus will be happy or that we can maybe appease a whole year of focusing on everything else but Him. Maybe some of us come to ask for his blessing for the rest of the year, and we feel like sending Christmas cards with positive messages, hoping maybe to feel better about ourselves and the choices we've made throughout the year that have nothing to do with a personal relationship with Him.

So, i ask myself, what does His birth really mean to me? The verses that talk about Him coming to save us from our sins, to redeem us, to snatch us away from the powers of darkness into His kingdom of light, to cancel the debt that condemn us into an eternity without him, to forgive us, to give us new life and hope, to show us what life truly is all about.

Does that mean anything to me? His birth? Coming to earth to put on flesh and dwell among us? To come and suffer just like us? To experience life on our terms? That Him, the one and only true God, coming down to be born in a "shady" situation with a girl that got pregnant by divine intervention, to a normal average family, into a tough culture oppressed by another kingdom, to a hopeless people?

Does that mean anything to you?

Do we even feel the need to know Him? Are we aware of our need for forgiveness? Of everything he offers and did so that we wouldn't be condemned?

Do we even care? Or are we so caught up in all of our empty pursuits that we, now more than ever, could care less about having a relationship with Him? Heck, in fact, we don't even know what that means or how to go about it. We deem it somewhat important, but hey, who has the time? I have bills to pay, toys to buy, meaning to pursue, value to achieve through my own efforts, more money to make, more things to acquire, cause that is what makes me happy, what fills my heart, what gives me meaning? It doesn't matter that my marriage is falling apart, that i live a double life, that i lie, cover up and lie again just to keep the facade going.

I'm too busy doing life. I don't have time for Jesus and this whole church thing. Work, school, my social life, social media, my own escapes that i treat as idols, like sports, money, fame, popularity, social status (which comes by the way of how much i make, how much i have, where have i been to, toys i own).

I mean, how do you think God feels and thinks about sending his son Jesus to save us and us not even realizing and/or understanding what that cost Him and how much love he has poured out on us undeservingly?

Here we are, the object of His love and affection, turning around and saying, "thanks, but no thanks!"

WOW! Do you hear that? This is how many of us live today. Hey Jesus, it all sounds cool and great and heroic, but...no, thanks, i think i'm ok. I'll be alright. Don't really need that. Or you. I can manage. But hey, stay close though, i know you love me and you'll be there for me anytime i need you, so when I am in a pinch, make sure you stick around cause i might just then give you a shout.

This is exactly how a lot of us are living today. And so, as i sit here wondering about these things, i ask myself this?
What will it take for Jesus to become relevant in our lives? It's not that he is not relevant. He IS!

But, what will it take for us, his creation, his people, to wake up and realize our deep and desperate need of Him?

When will we see parents teaching our children again how to have a personal relationship with Him?
And i am the first one to confess that raising my teenagers in this age is so challenging and i have made so many mistakes and have hurt them so much that i have been repenting so much lately asking God to redeem the years and the so many times i have not focused on giving them the best thing i can give them, and that is the knowledge of how to pursue a personal and intimate relationship with Him.

Social media is killing us. It is killing our relationships. Our ability to interact and connect with other people personally, closely and meaningfully.

Empty pursuits are giving them the wrong message. Academics, sports achievements, climbing the ladder of success, a great job, etc. These are all good things, but they're not the source of meaning and worth and value. They're blessings. The only true living, true fulfillment and true worth we'll find in only one person. Jesus. That's why he came. That's why he's here.

Why is he not the most important thing in our lives? Why is he not the aim of all of our pursuits and efforts? Why is knowing Him not the ultimate goal of our lives? Why is where will be spending eternity not alarming? How can we be so numb? Apathetic? Unaware? Careless?

Who is to say we'll live forever? We won't. Our days are counted. We will one day face our creator and he'll only ask us one question. Did you believe in me? Believing is not saying "i believe". Or, what will we tell him when he asks that? Well, i went to church on christmas, and maybe easter. I tried to be good. I gave my kids a great education. I made sure they had a great job. I went to all of their games. I helped coach their team. I was a very positive member of the community. I gave to the poor. I was nice to people. I didn't drink too much. I didn't swear (except when i got hurt, i think), etc.

And he'll say "that's nice", but did you know me? it's not about the things you did. It's about what i did for you. Did you embrace my love? Did you rest in my provision? Did you love well? Did you honor me with your time? Finances? Relationships? Did you delight in my commands? Did you find joy in my words? Did you Were you satisfied with my provision? Did you tell others about my gift of love? Did you offer up your gifts to bring glory to my kingdom? Did you believe that by living for me you would be the most satisfied and fulfilled, therefore you forsook all empty pursuits to pursue me and my presence and my words and my commands? Did you believe that doing those things were the only way to find true joy, love, meaning and purpose?

Brothers and sisters, we need to reflect on these things. This time we're living on, this generation we are seeing grow, we are in great danger. Now more than ever the enemy is succeeding in numbing us and making us the greatest godless generation ever. And there's only one solution. Return to God. Fell His conviction and ask for a spirit of repentance and turn our hearts back to God.

There's no other way. Stop fooling yourself. And i'll do the same.

Otherwise, yeah, we can keep going on like this, but we know better. And if we don't do something about it, then we will have raised a generation that doesn't know God, and a godless generation, gosh, that's scary!!!

WHY THE CROSS?

So, as we are approaching easter, here are some thoughts I had concerning the cross and what it means to me. This is as far as looking at Scriptures and asking His Spirit to speak to me. What do you think?

WHY THE BLOOD?

Friday, March 2, 2018

9:35 AM

1 Corinthians 1:16-25

First of all, we need to understand one thing and one thing only. Our lives should be based, founded and established on one truth and one truth alone. And that is the GOESPEL truth.

The gospel is our true north. The gospel is our lifeline. The unaltered message of God throughout scripture. We were created in God's image for God's delight, we were given a purpose, and we were given life. WE chose to disobey and rebel, and that brought death, decay, and separation from the life source, God.

God provided a way for us to be rescued, delivered, redeemed, forgiven, acquitted, accepted, etc. in Jesus. His sacrifice, Him taking our place for the punishment, payment and justice that we deserved.

And after dying for us and taking our place, he defeated the power of death, of sin and of eternal damnation when he rose again, providing for us the righteous standing before the righteous judge, God. His wrath and justice were satisfied in Jesus for us. So now we have the righteousness of Jesus as our covering and dress, and therefore no longer enemies of God but accepted and adopted into His family. John 1:11-12

So, after we believe, embrace and Holy Spirit both as a guarantee of what is to come (salvation) and as our helper to enable us and empower us to live our lives in a manner worthy of the calling and purpose He has for us, which is to be His ambassadors, representatives and samples of His glory, love, freedom, joy, peace, rest, and abundant life!!!

So, His gift of freedom and forgiveness is not for us to have now license to sin.

He didn't come to just forgive our sins so that we can then feel like we can keep on sinning since all sins are forgiven.

He came to rescue us from the power that sin had over our lives, the power that sin has to enslave us and keep us in death and darkness.

He came to free us from the curse of sin. Sin keeps us in darkness and death. Sin cannot abide with holiness. Light with darkness. And since that was and is the main problem, sin, curse and death, Jesus frees us from this power in to a new life, a new hope, and a new beginning.

So, why keep on sinning? If we do, then we have not had the true conversion, the true transformation, the true surrender and conviction!!!

That is the "WHY THE CROSS?"

The cross is to reconcile, to be born again into a new life, new hope, to be brought from the kingdom of darkness in to the kingdom of light.

To be freed from the power of sin in our lives. No longer slaves. No longer bound. No longer under its power and curse!!!

So why are we still struggling? Why aren't we surrendering yet?

FOOD COURT SAMPLES - An excerpt from last week's message

1. Ephesians 4 Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. 2 Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love. 3 Make every effort to keep yourselves united in the Spirit, binding yourselves together with peace. 4 For there is one body and one Spirit, just as you have been called to one glorious hope for the future.

What is the church to be like?

Who is the church?

How is it meant to function?

What does God say about the church, its function, purpose and mission?

It is like a restaurant and we're the samples.

It's like a bakery and the smell of fresh bread is going out into the community and people are lured into, wooed into the smell and come to it.

Think about it that way. Like a good restaurant, that food smells so good, and then it makes you hungry. It awakens senses in you that make you think like "hmmm, that smells so good!!!"

Even if you already ate, it awakens your hunger and you appetite.

Or when you are at a mall and go through the food court and there are all these restaurants offering samples, you taste it and if it is good then you make your decision based on that.

We in the church are being taught, trained and equipped to be God's samples in the world.

When the people smell us, taste from our lives, our testimony, our experience and they see what God is doing, the peace, love, kindness, forgiveness, generosity, rest, etc. they will then become curious, it will wet their appetite and then we can tell them, "hey, if you like the sample, come in for the full meal…we have a special…all you can eat for free!!!"

But we cannot do that if we, the samples, are not tasty, yummy, well cooked and healthy. Imagine that we are samples but because of the way we live our lives and live out our spirituality, we look rotten, smell bad, undercooked (immature, judging, self-rigtheouss, etc.), moldy, cold, or just plain disgusting!!!

We ought to understand what our role is and how God wants us to live it out.

As samples of God's abundant life and forgiveness and hope, we ought to look appetizing to a needy world. They're hungry, but they're going after junk food. We have the meats!!! (ARBY's)

The church (as in the true representation of the body of Christ) is the restaurant where all this good food is available. It is the kingdom of God expressed here on earth. The church is to be the sample, the representation of what the kingdom of God looks like!

Righteousness, peace, joy in the Holy Ghost. That's the Kingdom of God!!!

So, a few questions about the church

We are to equip the saints

11 Now these are the gifts Christ gave to the church: the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, and the pastors and teachers. 12 Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. 13 This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.

14 Then we will no longer be immature like children. We won’t be tossed and blown about by every wind of new teaching. We will not be influenced when people try to trick us with lies so clever they sound like the truth. 15 Instead, we will speak the truth in love, growing in every way more and more like Christ, who is the head of his body, the church. 16 He makes the whole body fit together perfectly. As each part does its own special work, it helps the other parts grow, so that the whole body is healthy and growing and full of love.

We are to live out the kingdom of God through our everyday lives (individually in our everyday walk)

We are to live in community and fellowship together as a witness to the world (corporately as a body)

So, how do you see church?

What do you see your role in the church is?

How is who you are and who God made you to play a role in the equipping of the saints and the reaching out to others?

How we can make sure we're following God as we grow together?

If we're to make disciples and grow, how do you see that happening?

Programs? More Bible studies?

How about your part, your role?? Teaching? Leading Bible studies? Children? Youth? Music? Art? Media?

Community service?

Think about these things!!!!

Religion telling what to do - jesus teaching you who to be

Religion doing behavior modification - jesus transforming your heart - to change your desires and passions

Religion shaming us for our past - jesus redeeming us from it!

Organization wanting your money - God wanting your heart

Not turning a blind eye to the world but opening our eyes to the hope he wants to bring to it

Religion forcing you to follow rules - Jesus asking you to follow Him

Religion putting you into a mold - Jesus continually shaping and molding and forming you into who He designed you to be

Not a place, but people

Not a building, but a kingdom here on earth

Not controlling us but setting us free!

It is about righteousness, just not self-righteousness!

Not about denominations but putting Christ at the head of all things!

Not an exclusive club but an inclusive family

Not about a day of the week, but everyday of our lives

Not about proving yourself, but knowing the one who's been proved and who's approved us!

Not about getting all questions answered, but the freedom to ask them

Not about proving your point, but pointing to a Savior

WHAT IT REALLY MEANS TO BE SAVED!

What is salvation really about?

What does it really mean to be saved?

True transformation, salvation, belonging to God needs and ought to be a spiritual experience. It cannot be something external only. A change of behavior. Following a set of rules. Doing things that seem right for the purpose of attaining something. In this case, staying out of trouble, doing "godly and good things", behaving better than others, or following a set of laws and rules for the sake of earning salvation, justification or eternity in heaven

True salvation, true conversion, true transformation happens at the heart level. At the deepest part of who we are. At the core of our beings.

The question to ask of a Christian, whether a new believer or a veteran one is this…DOES HE HAVE MY HEART?

DOES HE OWN MY SOUL?

MY WILL?

MY EMOTIONS?

MY THOUGHTS?

DESIRES?

WANTS?

PASSIONS?

PLANS?

FUTURE?

Is my every thought filtered through the filter of His love, righteousness, desires, will, purposes, truth???

TRUE HOLINESS MEANS THAT WE HAVE HOLY THOUGHTS, MOTIVES, FEELINGS, ETC.

Is everything you do motivated by a passion to please Him? Otherwise nothing that we do, accomplish or attain is acceptable to Him.

We cannot obtain, attain, or earn God's approval by our own means ever!!! Striving, trying, working hard at being good will never get us anywhere!

As we grow into maturity in Christ, we ought to be transformed in our desires, wants, and passions!

Whenever anything stands in competition with your enjoyment of Him and the relationship we have with Him, we should reject it and even hate it!

THE MEASURE OF YOUR SURRENDER GOES HAND IN HAND WITH THE MEASURE OF YOUR FAITH AND BUYOUT IN TO WHO HE SAYS HE IS AND WHAT HE'S DONE AND PROMISED!!!

SO, WE CANNOT EVEN BEGIN TO THINK ABOUT ETERNITY, CHRISTIANITY OR HOLINESS BEFORE WE OWN OUR FAITH AND ARE FULLY CONVINCED ABOUT IT!

AND AS CHRISTIANS, OUR CALLING, PRIVILEGE AND OUR GIFT IS TO GROW INTO THE FULL MEASURE OF MATURITY IN CHRIST!!!

WE CANNOT STAY AS A BABY. WE HAVE BEEN BORN AGAIN. BUT A BABY IS BORN AND GROWS. HE GRADUATES INTO NEW STAGES AS HE GROWS AN DEVELOPS.

CAN YOU IMAGINE A BABY GROWING UP BUT NEVER LEARNING HOW TO TALK? OR WALK? OR GO POTTY?

OR THAT NEEDS TO BE SPOON-FED ALL THE TIME, EVEN WHEN THEY'RE TEENAGERS OR ADULTS?

HOW ODD AND WRONG WOULD THAT BE?

IT'S THE SAME WITH US AS CHRSITIANS. WE OUGHT TO GROW UP, MATURE AND LEARN AS WE MOVE ALONG IN OUR SPIRITUAL LIVES!!!

LIVING BY THE SPIRIT, BEING IN CHRIST!!! THIS IS WHAT IT MEANS.

ROMANS 8:1-17 LIVING BY THE SPIRIT! ONLY THIS WAY!!!

TEACHING BY MODELING - TRUE DISCIPLESHIP

We don't learn best by just studying or researching or burying our noses in books.

We learn by observing, by imitating, by doing, by doing alongside, by watching and then trying.

This is the way one learns about life, God, relationships, finances, jobs, marriage, sports, nature, science, etc.

We can study all we want, but if we never do it, see someone else do it, try it ourselves, put our hands to it, watch someone else do it and learning by observing and putting it into practice, then we are just a bunch of learned people, but not truly doers and practitioners of whatever it is that we claim to have knowledge of.

This is the way Jesus taught and things were taught back then.

To truly become a disciple, a follower, they needed to become like the Rabbi!

To be covered in their rabbi's dust. To be walking so close to the Rabbi that whatever they smelled, got dirty with, ate, felt, wherever they slept, however they responded to things, reacted to challenges, situations, events, etc. the disciples imitated.

As adults, as parents, we need to realize that this generation is the "NOW" generation. This is the generation that is inheriting the world, the church and society in general.

What are we investing in in their lives? What values, principles, foundation are we helping them lay for the near future? Will the tools we give them help them build their lives on the rock?

Or will they build their lives/houses on passing things, things that don't last, that won't help them and support them when things get hard?

What are we modeling for them/ How are they going to make God a priority in their lives? Are we communicating that to them? Are we showing them and modeling that to them?

How will they learn about prayer, worship, the word of God, the intimacy and relationship with Jesus through the Holy Spirit, and the H.S. role in their lives today, salvation, etc?

SOMEBODY HELP!!!

So, as sit here this morning, after attending my turbo group (a small group of men that meet every Tuesday @ 6am), i am still thinking of some of the things we were discussing during our meeting time.
And we were talking about men being the leaders in our homes, the priests, the ones that are guiding and leading our families. And the discussion turned into talking about our culture, society, and what it is doing to our families and lives altogether.

This is what i mean.

I hear this all the time, and i'm included as well.
"I'm so busy! It's so busy! Life is crazy busy! I don't have time! I feel like a chicken running with the head cut off! I'm going in a 1000 directions all day everyday! Sorry, i can't, i'm too busy...next time?
Rain check? I'm running my kids to this practice, and this other practice, and this tournament, and this summer camp, and this league, and, and, and..." It never stops.

We're so busy we have no time for anything, except that which is priority to us.
We allocate our time, effort, resources, energy and commitment to that which is priority to us.

When i titled this blog "somebody help!" i was thinking of the cry of our lives for something or someone to help us slow down cause we realize that truly, our lives are out of control. We have busy schedules and we are great at staying busy, producing results, performing great and looking amazing by the way our schedules are. We are in a race that says "go, go, go, perform, produce, look busy, get involved in everything, sign up for everything, because that's what makes someone successful. It makes us look good, important, and it gives us a sense of significance and meaning.

But there's a huge trap in this, and the trap is to keep us so busy, occupied, and on the go so that we don't slow down and have the time to sit and listen to God speaking to us, cause most of the time, that is the place where he speaks to us at.
Quietness. Solitude. In the secret.

We've fallen into the trap of thinking that a busy schedule means we're successful. That we're accomplished. That we are important.

But deep inside we know that it is all empty. At the end of the day no matter how many things we have accomplished, we still feel empty, void, tired, exhausted and weary of starting all over again next day. I have felt that way.

But here's a nugget of truth for us today...NO ONE IS PUTTING A GUN TO OUR HEADS TO STAY BUSY OR GET BUSY!
WE HAVE A CHOICE.

We don't have to sign up for everything. We don't need to teach our kids the way of the world as it is right now. This is what the world is teaching our kids. Do, perform, accomplish, sign up, get involved, push stronger, run faster, try harder, etc, etc, etc. And we are teaching our kids that it is never enough. And so they're living with this constant pressure where they never feel like they're enough.

And this is causing hurt and pain in their lives, creating an identity that tells them that in order for them to be successful they need to perform and accomplish.

But that is not what God tells us. That is not how he created us and what he made us for.

He made us to live our lives as an overflow of our relationship with him.

To abide in Him, to quiet down, to listen, to separate time to be in his presence. To slow down enough to allow our hearts to connect with him.

Yes, there's life happening out there, and we are part of this world and society, but we cannot let society dictate to us how we should live our lives. God needs to have the ultimate say.

So, next time you're too busy for God, His presence, or even attending church, remember this...what is the priority in your life and your family's life?
What legacy are you trying to leave with your kids? To be a performer? A great athlete?
Or to know Jesus and the plans and purpose he has for our lives?

Going to church should never be a chore, a burden, and certainly not a mandatory rule.

But is should be a time where as a family, after a crazy week of activities, we all come together to remember who is our priority, who is our leader, our Father and lover, and to refocus and re-prioritize our lives. To remember, if we have surrender our lives to him, who is in control and what really matters.

Everything in this life will pass away. Sports, jobs, academics, accomplishments, etc. Only one thing will remain after all this is gone...our hearts and souls. We are eternal beings.

So, let's refocus and redirect our lives today. What are we living for???