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???

RELIGION VS RELATIONSHIP

WHAT MATTERS MOST
RELIGION VS RELATIONSHIP

Wednesday, April 12, 2017

9:10 AM

In the end, what matters most is not what religion you belonged to, what church you went to, or what denomination you followed.

In the end, it doesn't matter how good you were, how many good works you did, how much trouble you abstained or stayed away from.

In the end what matters is "did you embrace Jesus, God, and all his truth?"  "Did you believe him, accepted his gift, and lived in the faith of Jesus, who loved you and gave himself for you?"

These are the things that matter. In the end the only thing that matters is whether you believed Him and lived according to that faith.

So, what's the purpose of religion? Why is there religion in the world? What does it mean? What is it?

And what's the aim of it? Why have religion?

And when we look at God, then, can we say that God wants us to have religion? Is his purpose for us to be affiliated with a certain denomination? Is that what he wants? What he delights in?

What's God's ultimate goal? His sole desire for us?

His purpose and desire is for relationship. So, if this is true, then religion doesn't matter. What matters then?

What matters is if we believe Him, believe His word, His character, His truth, and then live accordingly.

His word is our manual, our guidance, our wisdom. Through His spirit.

Our aim is to know him. To know we are known. To know what pleases Him. What he says about Himself and us.

How he wants us to live. Why he wants us to live His ways!!!

If we believe Him, then we will believe His promises. His words of wisdom. His guidance. We will trust Him.

With our relationships. Our feelings. Our emotions. Our future. We will embrace His plans.

We will desire what he desires. We will love what he loves. We will rest in His care. In his provision. We will let go of hurts. Pain. Doubts. Fears. Stress. Anxiety. Expectations of others.

We will stop trying to please others. To live for ourselves. To bow down to the world and its ways.

We will love eternity and our hope to come. We will hate evil. We will stay away from sin.

And all these things are the things that please Him, that he delights in. That he loves!

And these are the things that give us His life! His eternal life. A life that flows from our everyday trusting His saving power. His saving grace.

And will always be convinced of our need for Him. Our condition without him. Our sinful state. And our doomed and damned existence without Him.

We will believe His gospel. That apart form Him we cannot save ourselves. Our good works are like filthy rags. We cannot ever measure up to His standards.

And that is what religion teaches us, sadly. To work hard, to strive to be better for the sake of "gaining His approval or His acceptance". And we cannot do it. That is Satan's lie. To get us to try our hardest but out of a heart of guilt and shame and fear and not out of a heart of gratitude and love.

God will not take sacrifices. He does not delight in burnt offerings. That's all a lie!!!

Mark 7:1-23

Mark 7The Voice (VOICE)

7 Then the Pharisees returned to talk with Jesus, and with them came some of the scribes and scholars from Jerusalem.

Scribes and Scholars (seeing the disciples eating): 2 Your disciples are eating bread with defiled, unwashed hands.

3 Now you need to know that the Pharisees, and all Jews for that matter, held the tradition of their ancestors that hands must be washed before eating to avoid being ritually unclean. 4 Likewise, they washed when they returned from the market and followed similar purity teachings as well, from the washing of their food to the washing of their bowls, cups, and kettles.

Scribes and Pharisees: 5 Why don’t Your disciples follow the traditions passed down to us? Why do they eat their bread with defiled hands?

Jesus: 6 Isaiah prophesied wisely about your religious pretensions when he wrote,

    These people honor Me with words off their lips;

        meanwhile their hearts are far from Me.

7     Their worship is empty, void of true devotion.

        They teach a human commandment, memorized and practiced by rote.[a]

8 When you cling blindly to your own traditions [such as washing utensils and cups],[b] you completely miss God’s command. 9 Then, indeed, you have perfected setting aside God’s commands for the sake of your tradition. 10 Moses gave you God’s commandment: “Honor your father and your mother.”[c] And also, “If you curse your father or your mother, you will be put to death.”[d] 11 But you say to your aged parents, “I’ve decided that the support you were expecting from me will now be the holy offering set aside for God.” 12 After that he is not allowed to do anything for his parents. 13 Do you think God wants you to honor your traditions that you have passed down? This is only one of many places where you are blind. 14 (to the crowd that had gathered) Listen, all of you, to this teaching. I want you to understand. 15 There is nothing outside someone that can corrupt him. Only the things that come out of a person can corrupt him. [16 All who have ears to hear, let them listen.][e]

17 When they had come in from the road, His disciples asked Him what He meant by this teaching.

Jesus: 18 Do you mean you don’t understand this one either? Whatever goes into people from outside can’t defile them 19 because it doesn’t go into their hearts. Outside things go through their guts and back out, thus making all foods pure.[f]20 No, it’s what comes from within that corrupts. 21-22 It’s what grows out of the hearts of people that leads to corruption: evil thoughts, immoral sex, theft, murder, adultery, greed, wicked acts, treachery, sensuality, jealousy, slander, pride, and foolishness. 23 All of these come from within, and these are the sins that truly corrupt a person.

Jesus and the Pharisees. This is the greatest example. The Pharisees were so focused on man made religion and all the rudiments that they had come up with, that they completely missed the point of Jesus and His coming.

By obeying the law they proud themselves of their accomplishments. Self righteousness. They thought of themselves as better than others because they thought that their own "efforts and great sacrifices and deeds" made them better than everyone else. In fact, they added more things to the law in order to make themselves better.

But who did Jesus have the most trouble with? Them!!!

He said to them "I came to the ones who recognize and acknowledge that they're sick. Those who don't see it cannot be saved or healed".

HOW DOES SIN WORK?

You know, I have been thinking a lot about sin lately, because it seems that it is a topic that many of us are afraid of talking about, and I think it is because we are so afraid sometimes to deal with it, to face the truth that there's so much of it in our lives that has gone undealt with and ignored that it has made us numb and desensitized from its power and grip. And I know that in my life and my journey it has crept up on me so subtle and quietly that I have barely noticed it until it has claimed a grip on my life that it's hard to let go of and conquer. 

But I think it mostly because I have failed to stay alert, aware of where my worth and value come from, who my source for every need I have is, and have chosen to stay ignorant or turn a deaf ear and a blind eye for the sake of quick comfort and an easy escape that puts a bandaid on my problems instead of doing the hard work of looking into what the problem is, what God says about it and believing and trusting that what He offers me is better and can bring true healing and freedom to my life.

Sin is very sneaky, very subtle and very deceitful. It will bling, shine, entice, lure, woo, call out to us, seduce and trick us into thinking and believing it can give us the fix we need for the moment. 

That is what all the commercials advertising and media do to us. They show us all the great times we can have by being promiscuous, partying, drinking, doing drugs, cheating, lying, chasing after fame and fortune, getting rich, being successful, manipulating others, controlling, etc.

But they never show the consequences of those actions, where people end up after having cheated on their spouse, how kids are affected after a divorce due to financial stress, lying, cheating, anger, alcohol or drug related problems, selfishness and pride, etc. They never show people going to jail for drunk driving, murdering other innocent people because of a drunk driving accident, or because of bitterness in their hearts, anger issues, or girls being raped and abused due to sexual immorality and addiction, the porn industry, sex slavery, etc. 

But we don't like talking about those things, yet they affect our lives each and every day. Or racial issues. Or political intolerance or religious legalism or whatever you can think of. 

It affects us every day.

And as I have been thinking about this, I have been sharing with the youth @ IGNITE (our youth group) about what sin is, the effects of it in our lives, what God says about it, and what we need to know about it and our response to it and what God has done about it as well.

And we have been having some good discussions about it. One of the things that came up last time was that sin was defined as "missing the mark". And this means more than just missing the mark or not hitting the target. It means falling short of the standard. It means not making the cut. It means not being good enough. It means not making the team. Not measuring up. Coming up short in spite of our best efforts and attempts.

And as we are looking deeper into it this week, I found this verse that kinda clicked in my heart and mind today. 

It made so much sense. Do you want to know why we sin? Do you want to know how it works?

We think that maybe it is satan that is behind everything. WE like to blame our faults, our shortcomings, our messiness and brokenness on others. We like to think we are utterly helpless and lost, the victims of some grandiose but evil and malevolent and wicked plan. Ok, i grant you this. Satan is always trying to lure us and tempt us to do things that go contrary to God's heart and standards and His best for our lives. But he doesn't have the power to make us do anything. Now, God does has the power to make us do things, but he chooses not do impose His will and power over us, but instead makes all of this available if we so choose to accept it, receive and embrace it. But satan has no power. All he can do is tempt us, lure us and scam us. 

WE actually have to make a conscious decision, an intentional attempt at following those feelings or desires.

And here in the word of God we find it explained this way

It comes from James 

13 No one who is tempted should ever be confused and say that God is testing him. The One who created us is free from evil and can’t be tempted, so He doesn’t tempt anyone. 14-15 When a person is carried away with desire, lured by lust, and when desire becomes the focus and takes control, it gives birth to sin. When sin becomes fully grown, it produces death.

It says "when a person is CARRIED AWAY WITH DESIRE; LURED BY LUST; THEN DESIRE BECOMES THE FOCUS AND TAKES CONTROL, IT GIVES BIRTH TO SIN. AND SIN PRODUCES DEATH!!!"

So, very quickly, let's look at what He is telling us

1. God does not tempt us
2. A person is carried away with desire. We let ourselves feel these things deeply and strongly in us to the point of being carried away.
3. We are lured by lust. Lured means to be called upon, to be invited. It's an invitation. And the lust in us controls us.
4. Once we are carried away and lured by lust, then we completely loose focus, concentration, become distracted and this lost of focus and awareness rends us worthless and helpless to the situation, and we are then controlled by this desire that we no longer act with understanding and wisdom and knowledge. We are like animals. We are numbed down and dumbed down.
5. Then we give ourselves to these feelings and give birth to sin.
6. And then sin brings death to whatever areas of our lives it affects.

Easy, right?

I hope this helps you and me in some way, as we look at the truth of God's word and meditate upon it.

Have a blessed day, and together let's ask God to shine His light in those areas of our lives that we need Him to.

Honestly speaking

 The things i am seeing in my life right now are causing my heart to ache because these are things that have been dealt with in the past, and that i’ve grown more mature in, but they seem to be coming back in futile ways and I’ve been feeling sick about them, which in result make my heart feel very anxious, frustrated, irritated and angry, disappointed and defeated , which again, as a result they make me be restless, defensive and insecure.

These are patterns and/or cycles that can be devastating and can bring death and chaos to our lives and relationships. They make us begin to react to things in ways we don’t want to because we are distracted, allowing our emotions to dictate and rule over what we know it’s true, and that never brings life or healing or joy or peace.

It only brings darkness and death.

So, it also brings separation, disconnection, mistrust (as in my relationship with God and others), anger, discomfort, and the need and/or desire to look for quick fixes, to go to idols, to find a relief for our sorrow, and it makes us doubt God’s love and other’s love as well. We take everything as an attack, defensively cause we cannot discern the voices that are causing us to feel shame and guilt and torment from the voice that invites us to come to Him and abide in Him and experience His love and peace as he welcomes us into His presence.

How disturbing of a thought to think that we are not good enough for Him. It’s the most abhorring thought to God, that we will not believe that He has made us good enough, that His love is enough to make us whole, beautiful, accepted, wanted, valued, forgiven, etc.

How disturbing of a thought is to deny God of His love being received and embraced by those He intends to give it to because of mistrust and believing lies about who He is and His character.

It is but an insult and an offense to Him who so freely and unconditionally loves us.

It is like i tell my kids how i feel whenever i do something out of love for them and they don’t even notice it or acknowledge it. When they take it for granted because they are so absorbed in their own lives that they fail to see those things that are being offered and done in their favor out of love.

And how these things make the person that is doing them feel.

I tell them all the time that it hurts. That when everything within me does something out of sheer love for them and it goes unnoticed, it doesn’t mean I’ll stop doing it, but after a few of those things go unnoticed i began to feel hurt and wonder if they even care or realize they’re doing it.

But what God reveals to me today is that these things are meant to fill my heart, to communicate something to me about who i am, about how much i am loved, about my identity, about how someone feels about me, and how wanted and desired and loved I am. And how this love is meant to change me, to establish me, to give me a strong foundation, to transform me, to bring me peace and rest, and fulfill me!!!!

These are the things i need to be meditating on, when i am feeling down. To remember how loved I am, and allow this love to quiet my soul and give me rest, knowing that it is not what i do and what i can accomplish that makes me worthy and accepted before my Father, but who I am and how he sees me is what makes me acceptable in His presence. His love makes me whole!!!!

And that no matter what others say or do or not say or don't do, I can be confident that my worth and value come only from Him. He is the only source capable of filling me wholly!

CARE TO COMMENT?

trying to prove or disprove God based on our own wisdom and understanding is the most arrogant things ever.

You could say that then God is arrogant by trying to dictate what is true or not, but this is where the conflict is.

Trying to explain that the complexity of an atom, a cell, the human body, the miracle of conception and birth, or the seasons, or the growth of a plant, or the blooming of a flower, or whatever else you can think of about creation, and say that it happened all by chance, it takes more “faith and absolute craziness” than to actually believe that it all has a creator, that someone actually thought of that. 

And why? Because we boasts ourselves about our “great accomplishments and achievements” when we “create” something, and yet we are contradicting ourselves. What if we said that everything that humanity has accomplished actually happened by chance? 

It is like when God answered Job.

Who are we to think that we could debate God from within our own human limitations?

We are bound by time and space, our understanding is very limited and shallow and futile. 

Here we have a concept of a God who created everything, who made the sun and moon and stars and everything in the universe. If He’s true and real, then it makes sense that we cannot explain Him. 

If He’s not bound by space, by our own wisdom and by our own understanding, then of course we cannot make sense of injustice, or pain, or the future, or the present, or the human soul, or anything else. We are trying to understand it from our “human” wisdom. We are telling God that if it doesn’t make sense within our human wisdom then it must be false, or unreal, or fake, or far-fetched. 

But really? Is it really that way? 

Could it be that pain, sorrow, trouble, evil, injustice, and all the other things we think about and complain about and debate about trying to so arrogantly decide whether there’s a God or not, trying to disprove him actually make sense in “divine wisdom” realm?

Seriously, think about it. That is why is called faith. But you tell me it’s “foolish faith”.

But i say your faith is “foolish” as well cause honestly i think it takes “more guts about being stupid and wrong” to believe that it all happens by chance. I cannot begin to fathom the idea of believing this way. It is ludacris!!!

Go ahead and live this way if you want. It doesn’t bother me. But when you question my faith, I’m sorry to say that this is where the buck stops. 

Arguing about God and his existence is so futile. He either exists or not. But is he doesn’t then life truly is worthless and meaningless, so why live? 

There’s no true purpose. No true sense. It’s all happening by chance. So forget truth, love, justice, kindness, forgiveness, family, loyalty, peace, etc. It doesn’t exist either. They’re all relevant subjects, subjected to our own application of the “concept”. Whatever i think it’s true is what matters. 

But whenever it messes with your definition or concept of truth then we have a problem. Cause each one of these topics are relevant to each person. 

The way each of us interprets it then makes it real. 

Forget about God and an intelligent design with an intelligent operations manual and with guidance for living and breathing and loving and being loved. Forget about a life with purpose and with a system of right and wrong, blessings and curses, and with a promise of life in abundance.

THat’s too far fetched.

You believe the wind cause you feel it. But you can’t see it.

The trinity makes no sense, right? Cause we have the ultimate wisdom that allows us to judge and put on trial that entity which whether you believe it or not ultimately made us and has our lives in his hands.

We are putting God on trial based on our own broken, flawed and twisted judgement. GOOD LUCK!!!

Rejecting God or the concept of God comes more from a desire of rejecting everything he stands for based on my perception of how things should be an look like and make sense. Again, based in my own wisdom.

And we reject these things so that we can be entitled to live life our own way under our own rules and control, claiming that we can live with no regrets and no consequences. But we find this impossible, cause no matter how we “choose to live” we cannot escape conscience and guilt and shame and torment. Because they’re things wisely designed to point us back to God, to our need for fulfillment and peace and wholeness. Crazy, uh? WE are designed to be accountable and to belong!!!

Thoughts on life as we look at the new year!

We cannot make growth happen

We cannot produce anything.

We cannot make it rain

We cannot make the sun come up

We cannot make the soil be rich (maybe a little bit)

We cannot make a single plant grow. We simply can’t

Only God, only His power, His love, His life can bring life to anything.

Our lives, our everyday struggles, our challenges, our decisions, our choices, fears, doubts, pain, sorrow, joys, victories, these things

they’re all known by our creator, and he’s very aware of every single detail of our lives.

All we can do is get to a place of awareness in our lives that in fact, this Creator, this God, this Father, is indeed watching, listening, working and doing His work in the midst of it all, and in being aware of these truths, encourage others to pause, to think, to give time to our hearts and souls to stop from all our doing and recognize and realize these things, and it’s in the midst of this pausing, this stopping, that then we can hear, see, think and receive what hope, what life, what joy and love he offers.

We are constantly full of ourselves and everything that pertains to us. Our own goals, ideas, thoughts, dreams, visions, filters, world views, convictions, beliefs, ways of doing things, etc.

We are taught to be this way. Yet we know His spirit is constantly asking us, begging us, crying out to us to come to the place of rest, of quietness, of peace, of hush, of stillness. Why?

Because it is our own voices and the voices of the world and all the pursuits and the rat race that fill us, and there’s very little truth, very little life, hope, grace, joy, love and life in these voices. 

They’re all geared to make us selfish, enclosed, isolated, to hide, to hold back, to protect, to cover up, to excuse, to defend, to run away, to separate, to divide, etc.

These voices are meant to drain us, with the promise to fill us. 

They are meant to destroy us, to steal from us, to scam us, to kill us little by little.

But to slow down it means to surrender. To let go. To trust. To believe God. TO believe His truth. To risk. To gamble. To bet. 

So, we have a choice. Is there hope in the way we’re going? The way we are living? In the things we are pursuing? In the way we’re leading our lives?

Is there? Hope? Joy? Fulfillment? Life? Peace? Rest? Healing?