Opportunities for Victory

When I consider the variety of challenges I may face on any given day, my flesh is often ready to tremble at the sight of their approach. The weakness of my humanity is constantly nagging my spirit; pointing out all the reasons why I should fail with epic proportions. In addition to all this I'm plagued with accusations of all my frailty and failures of the past by the crooked tongue of my adversary-the devil!

Yet... I am victorious because my Savior has already won! What then is there to bring against me? Afterall, "if God is for me then who can be against me?" (Rom 8:31).

The Valleys of Shaddow

There are days when I wonder if I will be able to last through the challenges I face day after day. Then suddenly I am reminded of the reality that I cannot last them... in fact the only reason I have managed to last this long is because of God's abundant mercy and grace at work in my life. Who am I without my Lord? I am nothing without Him; nay I do not exist without His will for me to be anything at all!

Something for us to think about as the craziest time of year is upon us: today is just as much a part of the plans He has for us as yesterday and the day before. Why should I fret because of my trivial limited perspective? God is God afterall and I am not. That is assurance enough for me. May the name of the Lord be praised in the good times as well as the bad. Hallelujah!

Legitimate Witness

The dictionary defines a witness as one who (1) attests to a fact or event; (2)who gives evidence; (3) confirms facts of the past to have taken place; (4) who has personal knowledge of something; (5) public affirmation by word or example. (see Merriam-Webster's)

According to our understanding of this term's etymology, the term "witness" as it is described in the New Testament refers to those who bear evident proof of their knowledge by their modeling of convictions their faith has in-fact transformed in their inner being.

For instance, if a witness were to claim that a certain company's products contain deadly poison in their bottled beverage products. It would appear consistent that this witness would not purchase or drink any product manufactured by this company if their claims were something they have actually witnessed. Otherwise, they would be considered a 'false witness'; destroying their credibility to the public and the courts.

For those who bear the name "Christian", whom are as Christ presents to the world as his witnesses (Acts 1:8), these should understand that in order to 'witness' of whom Christ is to the world, they must believe and model in their knowledge of the person and teachings of Christ.

Why then do we entertain ourselves with trivial and misplaced worldly desires? Why do we pretend to represent our Holy maker while we live unholy lives? Why do we waste the precious life we have on amusements and fleshly pleasure while we neglect our spiritual duties to pray, fast, serve and witness the gospel to every soul as if God has in-fact called them unto salvation? Where is our 'witness' of Christ?

How are we to convince the courts of the world that our witness is true of Christ if we indulge in the sinful appetites of all that is diametrically opposed to everything that we hold to be consistent in the identity of Christ?

When we only pretend to bear witness of the truth, while still holding on to all our idolatries, we are blasphemies to Christ; because we fail to represent him in his true identity to those who must see him as their hope of salvation.

If you claim to be saved, ask yourself, how am I offering evidence of my salvation to the world. I pray this blog is a challenge to wear your Christian Faith publicly without fear and shame.

Imposters?

Have you ever thought about the possibility that those who claim to have faith in Christ...

... those who attend church regularly...
... who lift their hands in worship...
... who carry and read their bibles even in public...

... that when they are called to account for sin and become offended at you...

... they may in-fact be deceived in their knowledge of who Christ is.

... and may be in danger of worshiping a god they've created rather than the Almighty.

Could it be that many who attend services and are very much involved in our churches today may be the goats Jesus talked about in Matthew 25:31-46? These "christians" (lowercase intentional) have a shallow understanding of grace, and they become hostile when the Word of God exposes sin in their lives and so they respond by manifesting the evil that still inhabits the center of their soul.

Where is the new birth which Jesus talks about (John 3:16)? Where is the living sacrifice of transformation as Paul talks about in Romans 12:1-2? or the new man/creation that has left the old way of life? Where is the proof of purchase? What evidence is there in this person's heart, soul, mind and strength that there is genuine love for Christ???

I confess that I've struggled with the flesh just like anyone else, but I've come to learn something incredible this past year... as though I finally stepped into adulthood of my faith in Christ. Until I am willing to crucify the flesh and die to the old man, my salvation is nothing more than standing at the gate of eternal life... window shopping!

Christianity is not merely a 'good idea' or some charitable philosophy. Christianity is embracing faith in its fullness... leaving behind the trivial cares and concerns of the world; finally able to see the full value that anything less than total abandonment of self is to remain lost in the power of sin and separation from the Lord God Almighty.

My friends, I pray you are not an imposter... I pray that you feel the serrated blade of God's truth cut you deep in your soul to know that your games with sin will cost you eternity if you die in it. Let your conviction lead you to repentance and embrace SALVATION, so that you may discover eternal life... and begin living the life God has been so desperate to give you.

Growing Up

The other day I tuned into a conversation held between two young girls over the matter of which color baby-doll dress was "better" between the two of them. Their disagreement could not be resolved and so they parted ways in tears over the issue.

One may say that in a matter of time, these issues will resolve themselves as the girls grow up into maturity. However, is maturity merely a matter of time? Or is it something greater, perhaps having to do with experience, mentality, emotions, psyche... or even spirit? What determines the process of maturity in the human context?

As a matter of fact, people do not always mature and know how to settle their differences... even within the circle of those who put their faith in the same Lord and Maker of all. Paul addresses the believers of the Corinthian church in 1 Cor. 1:10-17 on the matter of divisions, saying "One of you says, 'I follow Paul'; another, 'I follow Apollos'; another, 'I follow Cephas'; still another, 'I follow Christ'" (v12).

Tragically, because of our limitations as a creature marred by sin and cursed since the Fall, we see but with a fixed lens of comprehension even when it comes to the Holy Scriptures; thus dividing the body of Christ by countless denominations and divisions which has consequently affected our ability to unite under the prevailing banner of Truth by the same Lord of all.

I believe, that however difficult it may appear, it is indeed possible to settle our differences and see past our limitations for the sake of serving Christ with pure heart. Perhaps then the ages would not linger in the propagation of the gospel message to reach every tribe and tongue!

Why Fishermen?

In Matthew 4:13-22 we read of the calling of Jesus' first disciples, Peter, Andrew, James and John who were mere fishermen. For the entirety of his ministry, these men were among the inner circle of trust to Jesus; experiencing first hand the power and wisdom of God in human flesh; a special revelation unlike any prophet's experience in the history of humanity.

In Acts 4:8-13, we read these same fishermen, namely Peter and John, were filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the wisdom of God before the Sanhedrin who were masters of the books of God's Law. The scholars and theologians were confounded by the apostles' words; concluding this could only be explained from their having been taught by Jesus.

Now if scholars and theologians who dedicated their lives since childhood to the study and memorization of God's law were bewildered by the seemingly uneducated followers of Christ, why do we find our ministers today criticized for having no formal education? After-all, what trophies did Peter and John present but Christ as their Savior?!

I bring this up only because I feel we are becoming a society that secretly desires the praise of men rather than God. When in-fact Truth, no matter the merit or title of the spokesman presenting it, remains Truth just the same as long as it is delivered by the leading of the Holy Spirit.

Does Truth depend today upon our citing scholars of commentaries and professionals in order for the message to have credibility? Or have we forgotten the True Source from which God's power is made available to us? Without the Holy Spirit, we present the Scriptures in an absence of anointing which remains powerless and ineffective, contributing to the ever-spreading cancer of ungodliness in this nation.

My friends, we need more fishermen.

Having The Proper Fuel

I remember a time when I was young, ever-anxious to offer help to my father in order to prove to him that I was useful. One day, I remember helping him with the riding lawn-mower and it needed fuel. So I went over to the other side of the garage and grabbed a can of "fuel".

When I handed it over to my father I remember him telling me this is not "the right fuel" for this machine. He said, "it needs a special fuel" in order for the machine to run properly. Even though I was too young to understand at the time, a lesson had begun for me that day that not all machines take the same kind of fuel.

When we apply this principle to our spirit, the same truth is at work. Far too often humanity tries to live life by an improper fuel. The reason we all too often fail to thrive in our spiritual walk has much to do with trying to run on "the wrong fuel". In fact, the only proper way to live life spiritually is to allow God's Holy Spirit to indwell and have authority to properly govern our lives. Much of the problem with our inability to see or understand how to live our lives has much to do with trying to do things in our own strength and willpower. If we try to apply biblical principles and live "the Christian life" without the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, we will repeatedly fail to live life as our Heavenly Creator intended it to be. In-fact, to live our lives by the insistence of our own willpower and strength is to reject God entirely and claim our own power to be greater than that of God's.

John 15:5 reads, "I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing."

If we have the desire to do and live as God has designed our lives to be, we must trust and believe that He and He alone is the proper fuel for our lives. You wouldn't put milk in your car's gas tank would you? Why try to live your life without the power of the Holy Spirit?

Perspective Thinking

As the ladybug stranded on a piece of drift wood lost upon the waves of the pacific, are we in our understanding of the infinite beyond of The Almighty God. We cannot fathom the depths and the reaches of the planet we belong to, let alone reason among one another the grand scheme of purpose to which we are here. Life is but a blink upon the endless sea of all existence; a lesser fraction than can ever be made divisible, we are so small and yet we cannot seem to perceive just how small we are compared to the infinite "mysterium tremendum" of the Almighty!

We think we know. We have the audacity to claim knowledge for ourselves. We crave wealth, power, and understanding yet we remain oh so ignorant to the endless perfection of our Holy Creator, the One and Only God. He who is beyond the capacity to know, is HOLY, He is Beyond, He is Further, Greater, MORE than MORE than... and we are powerless, weak, fragile, shattered, broken and helpless. Were it not for His will, we would cease to be, nay we would never be...

Such is the perspective we must hold to know how we must praise the Living God; to appreciate in our helplessly finite ability the LORD who is our Creator, Master, Deliverer, Savior, Fortress, Strength and oh how words simply fail us to describe He Who is so Holy!!! How can we do anything but worship Him? Praise Him? Honor Him? and Live for Him?

...yet... we betray Him... I weep for the loss of words for all creation...

Beyond the Telescope

Up until the 17th century the entire world perceived the planet to be a flattened-circular disc that hung in space at the center of the universe. So great was this scheme of thought that people of all nations feared to sail beyond any charted waters by the fear of falling off the edge of the world into oblivion.

Today, this view is not only obsolete, but anyone who assumes the idea to be true would be counted mad. The fathers of astronomy and modern science have provided humanity with an eye of perspective to the world; offering us proof that fearful ignorance does nothing but prohibit progress and condemn credible curiosity.

With Truth to be something far beyond the limits of our human understanding, are we fearful of exploring beyond the waters of uncharted territory when it comes to the Bible? Have we made our religious doctrines a map of a conclusively flat world of Christian thought; accusing the perspectives of our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to be heresy?

With the many added historical perspectives of theology, the Church today has so much more to appreciate beyond a narrow scope of mere ignorant fear; pursuing heaven in a more brilliant light than ever before. However, we ought always to hold the Holy Spirit close when applying finite human conception to an infinitely perfect God.

If It All Burned Tomorrow

Have you ever considered how you would live your life if you knew the precise day, hour and minute you would die? Honestly, think about it for a minute. Now consider how you would view life if you knew on that same day the world would be destroyed and everything else along with it. What within the world would matter to you? What would truly matter in the scope of eternity?

Today, we are persistently bombarded with materialism; targeted by the narrow-minded scope of a superficial world that believes it is all that matters. It denies eternity, and believes everything of worth is determined by what we make in the short lives we live on earth. When we turn on the television and watch commercials make their vain attempts to convince us to buy products we don't need, with money we don't have, to impress people we don't even like, suddenly our lives appear as small as they really are.

The point is, we ought to consider what really matters in our lives. What do we do with our time and resources that work to benefit us on the timetables of eternity? In Matthew 6:19 & 20, Jesus tells us, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal." Think about eternity, think about what we could be doing with our short lives today, to benefit us beyond the short flash of time we have on earth.

Worth More than Sand

At over 3,630,000 square miles of endless sands and uninhabitable wilderness, close to the surface area of Europe or the United States, the Sahara desert (or Great Desert) is the largest dry climate desert in he entire world. If a single grain of sand were removed from this perpetual wasteland, it would be impossible to account for its disappearance; the human capacity to exercise such knowledge is restricted by its own finite condition.

But God knows.

And as the sands of the Sahara are countless to the human eye, every mortal life of the past, present and future have been created, known and loved by the omniscient Author of existence. Nothing is a mystery to the Lord God Almighty; we are worth far more than mere grains of sand in the Sahara. We are God's children, intended for the purpose and pleasure of His will; whom He loved enough to become flesh and blood to die for the sake of our redemption. How truly great is our God.

Iron Sharpens Iron

A sword will naturally wear when used often in battles; dulling the edge as it cuts through weapons, armor, flesh and bone. Similarly, a blade will become blunt and dull if used merely to smash objects for no good reason at all. In both circumstances, the blade's purpose is made sound if used and cared for properly. After all, when the time for battle comes, one's blade should be made ready for war.


"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another" (Proverbs 27:17) or in my case today, a God fearing woman sharpened my sights on something I failed to see for myself. Were it not for her boldness to approach God intently with prayer and confront me with the truth, the iron of my soul would have otherwise remained blunt and ineffective for the throes of war.

Fortunately, strong Christian community serves much like an armory for repairing and preparing weapons and armor for the war on spiritual darkness. I thank the LORD that my sister in Christ was able to see the weakness in my spiritual armor today and was willing to point out the defects in my defenses so that I might tend to them before marching into battle to face the enemy. Thank you Lord for my sister, thank you Lord for the Church!

Beauty Among Thorns

The rose is among the most popular of floral expressions in love. Its crimson petals appear to cradle the beauty of love in a way that no other flower can. Its long stem reflects the promise love offers as it stretches, in hyperbole, beyond the pitiful efforts of all the other garden blossoms. Yet among this bountiful expressive passion of a flower there stays its robe of thorns; a picture to prove beauty on earth is all but perfect.

Each day is as a rose with its thorny charm, potentially perfect were it not for the curse of sin we experience in so many ways. Still, among the thorns we learn to appreciate the beauty that we behold of the rose.

Today I learned through some uncomfortable issues that there is still beauty in the hurt we feel; teaching us to turn to God in our discomfort for peace. In reaching out to our LORD we can discover beauty even among the thorns as we receive the peace that surpasses all understanding (Philippians 4:7)! In the end, the thorns are all part of the same beauty of the rose. Praise you Lord when we face trials because we know that the testing of our faith develops perseverance (James 1:2-3).

Evil meant for Good?

In Genesis 50:20 we read of Joseph's conclusion over his life of misery ending in a greater good. Today I thought about how so many things which appear to be wrong or evil in our lives, are pieces of something which benefit us for a greater good.

Today someone did something selfish, thereby forcing me to be considerably delayed. In all the time I could have spent complaining about the selfishness of this person, I had time to consider his actions as a flag to pray for him. Whats more, God revealed to me that the amount of time I had to wait for the situation to resolve itself, I may have in-fact been protected from finding myself in a horrible traffic accident. Whats more, I found a great opportunity to minister to the children who were in my company about the beauty of patience and how God sometimes tests us to see where our faith lies in Him.

So, in the end what might have been a small act of evil, had consequently produced a multiplied opportunity and blessing of good. Only a God as Great as the LORD can reveal such hidden beauty in the tragedies of our everyday lives.