So I've been reading a lot of OT for my deVo time as of late, but about a week ago I decided to mix it up a bit so I read a gospel (fyi, fell in love with the gospel of Luke) and then felt compelled to read Corinthians.
For those of you who haven't spent a FATTY amount of time with me, I don't have the greatest memory. Hanna, the hottest chick on the planet, always reminds me that she loves telling stories to me... I ask why and she replies something along the line, "Because you never remember them and I get to tell you the same story over and over again."
Anyways, I've read through the entire NT and majority of the OT yet I love to re-read the same books because I have a bad memory. I started reading through Corinthians and while I was reading in chapter 14 (when I read through Corinthians, I always read 12-14 as one chap), a HUGE thought came to mind...
"GOD LOVES COMMUNITY SO MUCH!!!!"
It may seem like Paul opened up a can on the church of Corinth telling them to repent, directing their ways, setting these high standards yet encouraging them, but there's a reason... story time!
I used to be a leader for Gig Harbor Young Life for almost six years. Young Life has a rad structure for reaching the lost youth, but the thing that got to me most was the leaders. I'd say 60% of the leaders were students. I do support student leaders, but what I don't support is student leaders given so much freedom with their...sheep when that leader isn't being discipled nor even being held accountable. After a good chunk of time goes by, that leader flakes out (even ditches their faith) and says this statement that I've heard over and over again.... Christianity requires so much and I'm not down for that.
Now here's my point... God loves community so much that He sent Jesus to die for our sins. Okay... good. Jesus dies, appoints apostles like Paul, and ascends in to heaven. Paul, through the promised Holy Spirit, plants churches and writes letters to those churches encouraging, yet setting high standards.
Yes, high standards may be discouraging at times, but imagine if the standards were set at a comfortable level. The church would've/would be in sin like crazy! And these high standards are NOT written in the bible to discourage us or condemn us.... God loves His people SO MUCH He sent His only son to die for our sins and calls us to a higher standard than the world.... why you ask? So that we can be a bunch of studs and studdettes ready to rock the world and function at a high standard in and as the body of Christ. People forget that we are now the body of Christ! And as the body of Christ, we must learn how to function at a higher, more holy level than the world not to boast about ourselves or condemn...so that we can be lights to world to draw them to the cross.
DO YOU REALIZE HOW MUCH GOD LOVES COMMUNITY WITHIN THE BODY? I now understand why love is greatest "law" to practice. God wants the best for each one of us because He loves us SO FREAKIN much.... and Jesus loves us so much that he died for us.... and Paul loved the church of Corinth so much that he laid out a higher standard so that Corinth would function as followers of Jesus, not as "Christians"...and that's where we come in. Let's get freakin serious about our faith and read our bibles and fellowship in community that will grow us... for the bible says "bad company corrupts good character"... AND after dying to ourselves and living in Christ daily, we can then function as the church that God desires so that we can love the world and win some lost souls, ya know!!!!!
I love you guys so much! The end of our time here on earth will happen in the blink of an eye and no one really knows when Jesus will come again, but who cares about knowing when he will return... we're living right now so let's LIVE in and through CHRIST.
Tuesday, October 13, 2009
Monday, August 3, 2009
the enemy is an idiot!!
There's something about the enemy that just makes me laugh. To me, he's an O'Doyle- one of the big kids who likes to pick on those who are weaker than him. As most of you know, I'm getting married in like ten days or something crazy like that. The past month, I've been getting mad attacks from the enemy. Attacks like me getting sick, being impatient with Hanna for no good reason, lustful temptations, or whatever.
I used to struggle hard core with lust, but I'm a free man. I can confidently say to you that in Christ there is freedom and it's by his power we can be set free. So if you're struggling with that, confess, make the decision to fully change, believe, and live in that freedom. It's that simple. Don't over do freedom, just live it. That's a good one! I'm going to keep it.
"Don't over do freedom, just live it."
Anyways, it was a couple weekends ago and I was working the closing shift on Saturday night. FYI, I work Valet at the nearby Casino. Saturday nights are always filled with lonely girls who are masters at getting their acceptance by the wrong crowd.
By the time I got home around 3:10am, I was super tired and was ready to go to bed. That's when lustful temptations started to press on me. I was so tired and when I'm exhausted like I was, I get a bit... emotional, but I think of it more as passionate, if you know what I mean. So, at the top of my lungs, I yelled out at the enemy to stop the temptations in the name of our Savior, but that didn't stop him. So I decided to just sleep it away. Within seconds after turning off the lights in my room, I hear from the Holy Spirit... Romans 12:6. At that moment, I felt in my heart that God has placed ammunition in my heart to defeat the enemy's attacks. I thanked God for speaking in my life and decided to close my eyes and rest. Being the idiot that I am, I decided to read that verse when I woke up. A couple minutes passed and again, I heard from the Holy Spirit, but this time I heard, Romans 6:12. I swear he was confused at first :)
This time was different when God spoke to me. This time He commanded that I'd turn my lamp on and read Romans 6:12. I thought to myself, it's time to listen or I'm never going to sleep. I turned my lamp on, grabbed my bible next to my bed, and flipped open to Romans 6:12. Now keep in mind that this verse isn't one I've intentionally memorized and it's been over a year since I've even read that verse.
I searched for that verse with my chink eyes and read...
"Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires."
ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!? The enemy was trying to spread tares in the perfectly good harvest the Holy Spirit has grown in my heart. I then laughed in the enemy's face because I thought I was the idiot for not reading that verse, but really, he's the big idiot around here.
Can you see it now? Starring on the Big Loser...... Lucy, the enemy! Okay... I'm done now. :)
I love you all and would love to read/hear victory stories that you've experienced! It's so exciting to hear stories of the Lord winning and our enemy getting his can.
I used to struggle hard core with lust, but I'm a free man. I can confidently say to you that in Christ there is freedom and it's by his power we can be set free. So if you're struggling with that, confess, make the decision to fully change, believe, and live in that freedom. It's that simple. Don't over do freedom, just live it. That's a good one! I'm going to keep it.
"Don't over do freedom, just live it."
Anyways, it was a couple weekends ago and I was working the closing shift on Saturday night. FYI, I work Valet at the nearby Casino. Saturday nights are always filled with lonely girls who are masters at getting their acceptance by the wrong crowd.
By the time I got home around 3:10am, I was super tired and was ready to go to bed. That's when lustful temptations started to press on me. I was so tired and when I'm exhausted like I was, I get a bit... emotional, but I think of it more as passionate, if you know what I mean. So, at the top of my lungs, I yelled out at the enemy to stop the temptations in the name of our Savior, but that didn't stop him. So I decided to just sleep it away. Within seconds after turning off the lights in my room, I hear from the Holy Spirit... Romans 12:6. At that moment, I felt in my heart that God has placed ammunition in my heart to defeat the enemy's attacks. I thanked God for speaking in my life and decided to close my eyes and rest. Being the idiot that I am, I decided to read that verse when I woke up. A couple minutes passed and again, I heard from the Holy Spirit, but this time I heard, Romans 6:12. I swear he was confused at first :)
This time was different when God spoke to me. This time He commanded that I'd turn my lamp on and read Romans 6:12. I thought to myself, it's time to listen or I'm never going to sleep. I turned my lamp on, grabbed my bible next to my bed, and flipped open to Romans 6:12. Now keep in mind that this verse isn't one I've intentionally memorized and it's been over a year since I've even read that verse.
I searched for that verse with my chink eyes and read...
"Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires."
ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!? The enemy was trying to spread tares in the perfectly good harvest the Holy Spirit has grown in my heart. I then laughed in the enemy's face because I thought I was the idiot for not reading that verse, but really, he's the big idiot around here.
Can you see it now? Starring on the Big Loser...... Lucy, the enemy! Okay... I'm done now. :)
I love you all and would love to read/hear victory stories that you've experienced! It's so exciting to hear stories of the Lord winning and our enemy getting his can.
Friday, July 3, 2009
MY GLORIOUS REFLECTION
I love my new identity. From when I was birthed from my mother's "garage" to this very day, I have had two identities; my dead self to my current life-filled self.
I hear all the time from people statements like...
"I wish I didn't have to be this way anymore..."
"I want to be more like that person..."
Whatever it is, there is a deep, deep heart cry within people that wishes to be different. And that difference Paul understood... that difference, Jesus strongly understood. He not only understood it, he created the difference.
From when I was an infant until I was nineteen years old, I was dead. I didn't go to church as a child (much) and I really never heard the gospel throughout those days. My early teenage years was filled with disobedience and a sexually immoral lifestyle. Later I came to know of Christ and accepted him in to my life, but lived a carnal lifestyle (accepted Jesus as my Savior, but lived in the shadows of my past sin).
The Spirit created in me my new identity, which I have been living in for nearly four years. I was in Romania and was sick of struggling with sexually-immoral sin. I was sitting on a bench outside the church that I helped build, surrounded by the aroma and singing of Romanian farm life, and the everyday Romanian dialect that echoed for hundreds of feet, which consisted of children's voices and lost parents fighting about who knows what.
From that day forward, I was freed from my past sin. God partnered with the Holy Spirit to empower me to break free! Just as Paul writes in chapter three of Corinthians... "For the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of Lord is, there is freedom." The beauty of this verse is the context. Paul, in his extravagent wisdom, uses the illustration of the old convent (the law) and new covenant (santification from Jesus)....
"He has made us competent as ministers of a new convenant- not of the letter (aka. the law) but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."
AHHH!!! Life is calling me so I'm going to end with this...
Life is hard. There is no promise that life will be easy when following Jesus. In fact, I believe there is more of a promise that life will be harder when following Jesus. But with the empowerment of the Spirit, life on earth becomes easier, more rewarding, and full of love. For Paul finishes chapter three of 2 Cor with...
"And we, who with unveiled faces ALL REFLECT the LORD'S GLORY, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." (v.18)
As we follow Jesus, endure hardships with the glory of the Lord, we ALL reflect His glory to the world. We all have access to a new identity and that identity is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit's Glory.
I hear all the time from people statements like...
"I wish I didn't have to be this way anymore..."
"I want to be more like that person..."
Whatever it is, there is a deep, deep heart cry within people that wishes to be different. And that difference Paul understood... that difference, Jesus strongly understood. He not only understood it, he created the difference.
From when I was an infant until I was nineteen years old, I was dead. I didn't go to church as a child (much) and I really never heard the gospel throughout those days. My early teenage years was filled with disobedience and a sexually immoral lifestyle. Later I came to know of Christ and accepted him in to my life, but lived a carnal lifestyle (accepted Jesus as my Savior, but lived in the shadows of my past sin).
The Spirit created in me my new identity, which I have been living in for nearly four years. I was in Romania and was sick of struggling with sexually-immoral sin. I was sitting on a bench outside the church that I helped build, surrounded by the aroma and singing of Romanian farm life, and the everyday Romanian dialect that echoed for hundreds of feet, which consisted of children's voices and lost parents fighting about who knows what.
From that day forward, I was freed from my past sin. God partnered with the Holy Spirit to empower me to break free! Just as Paul writes in chapter three of Corinthians... "For the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of Lord is, there is freedom." The beauty of this verse is the context. Paul, in his extravagent wisdom, uses the illustration of the old convent (the law) and new covenant (santification from Jesus)....
"He has made us competent as ministers of a new convenant- not of the letter (aka. the law) but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life."
AHHH!!! Life is calling me so I'm going to end with this...
Life is hard. There is no promise that life will be easy when following Jesus. In fact, I believe there is more of a promise that life will be harder when following Jesus. But with the empowerment of the Spirit, life on earth becomes easier, more rewarding, and full of love. For Paul finishes chapter three of 2 Cor with...
"And we, who with unveiled faces ALL REFLECT the LORD'S GLORY, are being transformed into his likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit." (v.18)
As we follow Jesus, endure hardships with the glory of the Lord, we ALL reflect His glory to the world. We all have access to a new identity and that identity is the Father, the Son, and the Spirit's Glory.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
I WANT TO BE DONE HIBERNATING!!
It's getting crazy super gorgeous up in Western WA as of late. I'm so thankful for this rad sunshine and heat, but it brings out some sort of lack of fulfillment. I would say that most people are like bears. :) Bears go in to hibernation for a season of time and then, they go back in the world doing crazy bear stuff. I think that people in WA similarly "hibernate" during the Winter time, but when Summer approaches, everyone starts getting stoked about life and desires to be in community... ya know, just chillin' with friends at the beach or in the back yard cooking up some BBQ.
I am someone who has been a part of a community for my entire life and it's been really, sort of easy for me to connect to people. But since I've moved, I feel that I have been taken hostage from a community. Father God has created each of us to long for community, and I'm positive He's created me that way... just ten times more intense then others.
I've recently started Youth Pastoring in a church that is filled with two groups, the toddlers and oldies. Besides the two main age-groups, there are maybe one handful of kids that are of "youth group" age, and Hanna and I complete the Young Adults.
I love the church family I've been a part of lately, but I have never had such a difficult time connecting to people. I believe this is the case because the cultural personalities of my church family, whom have been influenced by this city, have created a "speed bump" in my ability to connect. I've been told dozens of times by dozens of people that I have a gift of relating to all sorts of people and I praise the Lord for the people that have helped me realize that gift. But the Lord has truly placed me in a city that I do not know how to reach the lost or even connect to His people.
I think of the Apostle Paul and the amount of time he spent evangelizing in different cities. I'm sure that some cities just fell in love with Christ instantly, while others took forever to grasp the concept of relationship with Christ. But to go beyond each city understanding and believing in Christ, Paul had to first learn how to be culturally sensitive to those cities with the gospel message. I believe that God has placed me here in North Kitsap to endure trials and hardships so that I can grow in the knowledge and power of the Lord.
The coffee shop is closing now so I'll close with...
Hebrews 12:1, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perserverance the race marked out for each of us."
As I said before and I truly believe with my entire heart, the Holy Spirit is fully active and aware that without His power and the death of Christ, we, "cloud of witnesses," wouldn't be able to be unite in spirit and mind.
We are drawn in to and made for community... to be surrounded by a "great cloud of witnesses!" And although I feel like a bear who's prematurely woken from hibernation, I have to find a way out of the hindersom quicksand and continue to run, and run, and keep running the race that God has placed me in.
I love you all. The Lord is good and wants us to run with perservance the race we each have been placed in, whether that's working in a cubicle 40 hrs a week, or going to school and volunteering as a youth leader at a church.... God loves us so much and He wants to hear our heart's cry because He will never put us in a situation that we can't handle. AND He wants to be our Savior over and over and over and over and over again so that we, His cloud of witnesses, will continually rest in Him and sing out at the top of our lungs...
"Hallelujah!"
I am someone who has been a part of a community for my entire life and it's been really, sort of easy for me to connect to people. But since I've moved, I feel that I have been taken hostage from a community. Father God has created each of us to long for community, and I'm positive He's created me that way... just ten times more intense then others.
I've recently started Youth Pastoring in a church that is filled with two groups, the toddlers and oldies. Besides the two main age-groups, there are maybe one handful of kids that are of "youth group" age, and Hanna and I complete the Young Adults.
I love the church family I've been a part of lately, but I have never had such a difficult time connecting to people. I believe this is the case because the cultural personalities of my church family, whom have been influenced by this city, have created a "speed bump" in my ability to connect. I've been told dozens of times by dozens of people that I have a gift of relating to all sorts of people and I praise the Lord for the people that have helped me realize that gift. But the Lord has truly placed me in a city that I do not know how to reach the lost or even connect to His people.
I think of the Apostle Paul and the amount of time he spent evangelizing in different cities. I'm sure that some cities just fell in love with Christ instantly, while others took forever to grasp the concept of relationship with Christ. But to go beyond each city understanding and believing in Christ, Paul had to first learn how to be culturally sensitive to those cities with the gospel message. I believe that God has placed me here in North Kitsap to endure trials and hardships so that I can grow in the knowledge and power of the Lord.
The coffee shop is closing now so I'll close with...
Hebrews 12:1, "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles, and let us run with perserverance the race marked out for each of us."
As I said before and I truly believe with my entire heart, the Holy Spirit is fully active and aware that without His power and the death of Christ, we, "cloud of witnesses," wouldn't be able to be unite in spirit and mind.
We are drawn in to and made for community... to be surrounded by a "great cloud of witnesses!" And although I feel like a bear who's prematurely woken from hibernation, I have to find a way out of the hindersom quicksand and continue to run, and run, and keep running the race that God has placed me in.
I love you all. The Lord is good and wants us to run with perservance the race we each have been placed in, whether that's working in a cubicle 40 hrs a week, or going to school and volunteering as a youth leader at a church.... God loves us so much and He wants to hear our heart's cry because He will never put us in a situation that we can't handle. AND He wants to be our Savior over and over and over and over and over again so that we, His cloud of witnesses, will continually rest in Him and sing out at the top of our lungs...
"Hallelujah!"
Friday, May 8, 2009
GOD & MARRIAGE
So Hanna and I watched Fireproof. Probably some of the worst acting I've seen since the 80's. Of course there were some amazing actors in the 80's, but most of the movies, especially comedic movies, seemed to focus on one liners or the big messsage. The first fifteen-twenty minutes of Fireproof seemed especially horrible for some reason.
I think the movies released in the 80's were given so much grace when watched, while the exact opposite happens these days. Even though I have no idea if there is any validity in that statement, I just assume there was because some people were truly pleased with the movies from the 80's. And that is why I believe there was much more grace for the movies back then.
I think that people had to have a mentality of grace because they would end up being extremely (and wrongly, in my opinion) critical. Now-a-days with the many critics, if a movie is horrible in the first fifteen minutes, they'll turn it off or walk out. That criticalness is similar to the music industry.
From about the ages of seventeen to twenty, I was set on pursuing to be a well-known artist. I released two CD's by the time I was twenty, averaged two shows every weekend for over a year, and attended workshops that only striving, hopeful local artists attended.
At the last workshop that I attended in Seattle, there was a statement that completely caught me off guard. A top recruiting agent from Columbia Records said something along the lines, "Ninety-five percent of songs with an intro of strictly music (w/o vocals) that lasts over twenty seconds, we throw out." I was caught off guard because I don't think that I recorded one song that the lyrics started before thirty seconds! HA.
It's obvious that Record companies are extremely critical. Similar to todays movie watchers, they also "throw out" a movie if the acting/story line/filming/CG/etc. is not up to par in the first twenty minutes.
With a graceful attitude, I think that we can be tolerable of any movie. Hanna and I got through the first twenty minutes and I am so thankful for that because Fireproof is actually a beautiful movie. It hit home for me.
Personal synopsis: A couple that are semi-newlyweds (not really) are in an unhealthy marriage driven by selfish motives/actions, rather than selfless motives/actions. They find themselves on the verge of divorce when the husband's father challenges him to the "Love Dare" for fourty days. After the husband accepts and faithfully carries out the Love Dare, he meets God, finds conviction, and desperately fights for his marriage. Watch the movie for the rest.
The Love Dare is freaking beautiful! It helped the main character find, devote his life to, and passionately love God. God has created with me with a tender, sensitive, and humble heart where I find myself tearing/sometimes sobbing at movies that are done well. As I watched this movie portray God changing the hearts of this couple and witnessing the power of God in their lives, it made me LIGHTLY sob. HA! It was serioulsly beautiful and I think they did a great job of showing the power of the gospel in a culturally relevant way.
In conclusion, what hit for me was the script at the end of the movie. It resonated so much with my own heart and desire for my future marriage. And future marriage is coming in THREE MONTHS!!!
Thanks for reading. I usually don't like reading or writing critiques, but I do love God and marriage and that just happens to be what Fireproof is all about.
I love you all.
I think the movies released in the 80's were given so much grace when watched, while the exact opposite happens these days. Even though I have no idea if there is any validity in that statement, I just assume there was because some people were truly pleased with the movies from the 80's. And that is why I believe there was much more grace for the movies back then.
I think that people had to have a mentality of grace because they would end up being extremely (and wrongly, in my opinion) critical. Now-a-days with the many critics, if a movie is horrible in the first fifteen minutes, they'll turn it off or walk out. That criticalness is similar to the music industry.
From about the ages of seventeen to twenty, I was set on pursuing to be a well-known artist. I released two CD's by the time I was twenty, averaged two shows every weekend for over a year, and attended workshops that only striving, hopeful local artists attended.
At the last workshop that I attended in Seattle, there was a statement that completely caught me off guard. A top recruiting agent from Columbia Records said something along the lines, "Ninety-five percent of songs with an intro of strictly music (w/o vocals) that lasts over twenty seconds, we throw out." I was caught off guard because I don't think that I recorded one song that the lyrics started before thirty seconds! HA.
It's obvious that Record companies are extremely critical. Similar to todays movie watchers, they also "throw out" a movie if the acting/story line/filming/CG/etc. is not up to par in the first twenty minutes.
With a graceful attitude, I think that we can be tolerable of any movie. Hanna and I got through the first twenty minutes and I am so thankful for that because Fireproof is actually a beautiful movie. It hit home for me.
Personal synopsis: A couple that are semi-newlyweds (not really) are in an unhealthy marriage driven by selfish motives/actions, rather than selfless motives/actions. They find themselves on the verge of divorce when the husband's father challenges him to the "Love Dare" for fourty days. After the husband accepts and faithfully carries out the Love Dare, he meets God, finds conviction, and desperately fights for his marriage. Watch the movie for the rest.
The Love Dare is freaking beautiful! It helped the main character find, devote his life to, and passionately love God. God has created with me with a tender, sensitive, and humble heart where I find myself tearing/sometimes sobbing at movies that are done well. As I watched this movie portray God changing the hearts of this couple and witnessing the power of God in their lives, it made me LIGHTLY sob. HA! It was serioulsly beautiful and I think they did a great job of showing the power of the gospel in a culturally relevant way.
In conclusion, what hit for me was the script at the end of the movie. It resonated so much with my own heart and desire for my future marriage. And future marriage is coming in THREE MONTHS!!!
Thanks for reading. I usually don't like reading or writing critiques, but I do love God and marriage and that just happens to be what Fireproof is all about.
I love you all.
(4) Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.
(5) Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have because God has said, "Never I will leave you, never I will forsake you."
-- Hebrews 13
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Hungry & Desperate
I'm desperate.
I've been desperate for a while now... desperate to go deep.
I guess what I really am is hungry.
Well, I'm hungry and desperate. Yes. I am hungry and desperate.
I hunger so much for the Lord every day. I feel like a meth addict in my garage throwing empty paint cans, misplaced tools and empty candy bar wrappers out of my way as I wrestle through my junk in search of the proper things to get my fix. I want to be drunk on the Spirit. I love when I get in that state of fulfillment.
I usually find myself drunk off the Spirit after a worship night. After being completely surrendered and passionately and deeply seeking the Lord, I find myself drunk. It's beautiful.
Unfortunately, I do have a block of my life where I got drunk off alcohol. It was a dumb time of my life, but I am thankful that the Holy Spirit has empowered me to break away from that generational curse.
The drunk state that I'd get in from alcohol was totally WEAK compared to the state of fulfillment ("drunk-ness") that I'd get in after a night of worship. There's honestly no feeling in this world that I have felt like being overwhelmed by and in the Lord our God.
That probably is why I have been desperate. I am desperate for an atmosphere to get drunk off the Lord. Just like man-made narcotics that exist to get us intoxicated or high and cause us to get jittery and whatever happens when we don't get our fix for a while, I am desperate for that. I don't like the term fix though. To me, there is some negative cognitation attached to fix. I like to think of it more like fill. I'm desperate for that fill.
I'm desperate for a group of others who desire to ooze Jesus to the world. I'm desperate for an atmosphere that is filled with fellow Believers who hunger for the trinitarian God-Father, Spirit & Son. I am desperate for that.
I want to constantly be talking about Him... singing to Him... resting in Him... loving in Him.
I love holidays, especially holidays that celebrate Jesus. What I don't like is that the fire burns out in people a few days (it'd be a stretch to say a few weeks) after we celebrate those holidays. Jesus asks for our lives. Jesus asks for our hearts and minds. Not just a few weeks and that few weeks includes every Sunday of the year- assuming that we give our hearts and minds to our Savior every week.
I'm going to stop with that because my goal is to definitely stray from legalism and I have no desire, at the moment, to preach about the complacency among Christians. I am simply just hungry and desperate for the Lord. I do feel a tug on my heart by God the Holy Spirit that something big is going to happen in the Puget Sound (Tacoma to Poulsbo). That is probably why my hunger to go deep is so strong lately.
In this place of my life, I'm going to just learn from what Jesus said, and rest and wait upon the Lord, constantly seeking to be filled and a power to reign upon us.
"And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high" - Luke 24:49 (KJV)
Lord God, you said ask and ye shall receive. My prayer oh Great God is that You would send fire to fall down amongst us. Lord, that you would see the stirring of your people throughout the Puget Sound begging for more. Jesus, send your Holy Spirit to reign down upon this sinful area to empower your people so that we can be lights to our world so that those who oppose will no longer oppose... that those who resist will no longer resist... that those who run will no longer run... that they will turn to and praise you, whom is rightfully seated at the right hand of the Father. I love you Lord Jesus. Amen.
I've been desperate for a while now... desperate to go deep.
I guess what I really am is hungry.
Well, I'm hungry and desperate. Yes. I am hungry and desperate.
I hunger so much for the Lord every day. I feel like a meth addict in my garage throwing empty paint cans, misplaced tools and empty candy bar wrappers out of my way as I wrestle through my junk in search of the proper things to get my fix. I want to be drunk on the Spirit. I love when I get in that state of fulfillment.
I usually find myself drunk off the Spirit after a worship night. After being completely surrendered and passionately and deeply seeking the Lord, I find myself drunk. It's beautiful.
Unfortunately, I do have a block of my life where I got drunk off alcohol. It was a dumb time of my life, but I am thankful that the Holy Spirit has empowered me to break away from that generational curse.
The drunk state that I'd get in from alcohol was totally WEAK compared to the state of fulfillment ("drunk-ness") that I'd get in after a night of worship. There's honestly no feeling in this world that I have felt like being overwhelmed by and in the Lord our God.
That probably is why I have been desperate. I am desperate for an atmosphere to get drunk off the Lord. Just like man-made narcotics that exist to get us intoxicated or high and cause us to get jittery and whatever happens when we don't get our fix for a while, I am desperate for that. I don't like the term fix though. To me, there is some negative cognitation attached to fix. I like to think of it more like fill. I'm desperate for that fill.
I'm desperate for a group of others who desire to ooze Jesus to the world. I'm desperate for an atmosphere that is filled with fellow Believers who hunger for the trinitarian God-Father, Spirit & Son. I am desperate for that.
I want to constantly be talking about Him... singing to Him... resting in Him... loving in Him.
I love holidays, especially holidays that celebrate Jesus. What I don't like is that the fire burns out in people a few days (it'd be a stretch to say a few weeks) after we celebrate those holidays. Jesus asks for our lives. Jesus asks for our hearts and minds. Not just a few weeks and that few weeks includes every Sunday of the year- assuming that we give our hearts and minds to our Savior every week.
I'm going to stop with that because my goal is to definitely stray from legalism and I have no desire, at the moment, to preach about the complacency among Christians. I am simply just hungry and desperate for the Lord. I do feel a tug on my heart by God the Holy Spirit that something big is going to happen in the Puget Sound (Tacoma to Poulsbo). That is probably why my hunger to go deep is so strong lately.
In this place of my life, I'm going to just learn from what Jesus said, and rest and wait upon the Lord, constantly seeking to be filled and a power to reign upon us.
"And behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high" - Luke 24:49 (KJV)
Lord God, you said ask and ye shall receive. My prayer oh Great God is that You would send fire to fall down amongst us. Lord, that you would see the stirring of your people throughout the Puget Sound begging for more. Jesus, send your Holy Spirit to reign down upon this sinful area to empower your people so that we can be lights to our world so that those who oppose will no longer oppose... that those who resist will no longer resist... that those who run will no longer run... that they will turn to and praise you, whom is rightfully seated at the right hand of the Father. I love you Lord Jesus. Amen.
Friday, April 17, 2009
First Monumental Step
Last weekend was the beginning and end to my first monumental step, in my opinion. Well, it was more of a get a head start and leap, rather than a step.
As you all know, I am engaged/married withOUT the benefits (that's an entire blog on its own). I am in the works of being the Youth Pastor at my future Father-in-Law's church. His wife, my fiance's ma goes back and forth between... youth pastor and youth leader so I've decided to tell people that I am this... I was thinking of calling myself a Youth Pader, but people can not see/nor will they understand that I combined Pastor & Leader so they will think of Youth Patter instead of Youth Pader. Ip-so-fact-o, that would destroy my ministry career like Jesus is going to open a can on Satan & Hades. To conclude this extremely random note, I tell people that I am the Youth Leastor at Living Hope Church in Indianola, WA. (I'm probably going to write that on my applications for Pastoral positions after I've graduated from Bible College). So back to my first monumental, get a head start and leap, rather than a step....
I'm the official Youth Leastor at Living Hope Church in Indianola, WA working under my future parents-in-law. Indianola is a beautiful hippie town with an enormous dock that that extends at least a couple hundred of feet above the Puget Sound, extremely far from civilization and celebrates New Years Eve with a polar bear swim ... old and young, man and women, some nude, some not. PERFECT! Because I have agreed to this amazing Youth Leastor position, I had a make my monumental, get a head start and leap, rather than a step. I officially moved out of my parents house into another place and never will reside at their house again for the rest of life. I have lived out my parents house before. I lived in an apartment for a year and a half with a buddy of mine, been on several mission trips for a few months, and lived in the dorms. But! I have always had a room at my parent's house waiting for me and in that room was my stuff. Now, it is not that way. I have moved entirely from my rent's house with the entirety of my stuff.
To some this may not be as big of deal, but to me, it's my first monumental, get head start and leap. Why that obnoxious saying instead of a 'step?' In my opinion, taking a step is much easier then having to do something that requires you to get a head start and leap for it. So, today is Friday, April 17th. Just shy of four months I will be getting married and would have to make the move that I did last weekend. But it is finished and now, I will be awaiting the day that Hanna and I will have a house to live in with all my stuff, all her stuff, and our own junk combined.
The one hour move from Gig Harbor to Poulsbo is over, hallelujah! I am reaping the second hand smoke from the fire, but soon clear skies will be here. I know it. I believe it. I freakin' love it! I've taken my first monumental, get a head start and leap and now patiently wait for the day to take my next monumental step, which will getting married and living with the most gorgeous girl.
As you all know, I am engaged/married withOUT the benefits (that's an entire blog on its own). I am in the works of being the Youth Pastor at my future Father-in-Law's church. His wife, my fiance's ma goes back and forth between... youth pastor and youth leader so I've decided to tell people that I am this... I was thinking of calling myself a Youth Pader, but people can not see/nor will they understand that I combined Pastor & Leader so they will think of Youth Patter instead of Youth Pader. Ip-so-fact-o, that would destroy my ministry career like Jesus is going to open a can on Satan & Hades. To conclude this extremely random note, I tell people that I am the Youth Leastor at Living Hope Church in Indianola, WA. (I'm probably going to write that on my applications for Pastoral positions after I've graduated from Bible College). So back to my first monumental, get a head start and leap, rather than a step....
I'm the official Youth Leastor at Living Hope Church in Indianola, WA working under my future parents-in-law. Indianola is a beautiful hippie town with an enormous dock that that extends at least a couple hundred of feet above the Puget Sound, extremely far from civilization and celebrates New Years Eve with a polar bear swim ... old and young, man and women, some nude, some not. PERFECT! Because I have agreed to this amazing Youth Leastor position, I had a make my monumental, get a head start and leap, rather than a step. I officially moved out of my parents house into another place and never will reside at their house again for the rest of life. I have lived out my parents house before. I lived in an apartment for a year and a half with a buddy of mine, been on several mission trips for a few months, and lived in the dorms. But! I have always had a room at my parent's house waiting for me and in that room was my stuff. Now, it is not that way. I have moved entirely from my rent's house with the entirety of my stuff.
To some this may not be as big of deal, but to me, it's my first monumental, get head start and leap. Why that obnoxious saying instead of a 'step?' In my opinion, taking a step is much easier then having to do something that requires you to get a head start and leap for it. So, today is Friday, April 17th. Just shy of four months I will be getting married and would have to make the move that I did last weekend. But it is finished and now, I will be awaiting the day that Hanna and I will have a house to live in with all my stuff, all her stuff, and our own junk combined.
The one hour move from Gig Harbor to Poulsbo is over, hallelujah! I am reaping the second hand smoke from the fire, but soon clear skies will be here. I know it. I believe it. I freakin' love it! I've taken my first monumental, get a head start and leap and now patiently wait for the day to take my next monumental step, which will getting married and living with the most gorgeous girl.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
The Engaged Life - Part Two
It was a couple weeks ago when I started this two-part blog. The big celebration a couple weeks ago was Hanna and I celebrating our seventh month of being engaged. Now... the big celebration of ours is that we have four months til' the day we say, "I do!" Our good God continues to send many blessings our way and I constantly praise Him. What an awesome God!
This blog was inspired by a lecture that I sat through spoken by my lovely.... fiance. :) We were were talking about life and some specifics, which I don't quite remember what they were. Hanna happened to bring up the fact that the man/husband is the one who is called to sacrifice, not the woman/wife. And as simple as that statement was, it remains to be one of the wisest things I have heard in a while.
Now let's go to scripture, yea?
Ephesians 2:22 says, "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord." And Ephesians 2:25 reads, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her." Both the wife and the husband have perfect examples of how they should be, and that perfect example was shown by the Word.
Wives, according to the verses 22-24 and interpretations by most, are to model their submission to their husband after the church submits themselves to Jesus. I understand that model and do like that, but I prefer the model of submission to Father God that Jesus set for us. The church, the body of believers in Corinth, Ephesus, and so on to the actual establishment of the church in Acts, DID submit to Christ, but they were sinful and flawed. Unlike the church, Jesus is not sinful and flawed. He was submissive "as to the Lord."
EPHESIANS 5:25!!!!
So there's this story about a damsel in distress. Whether we have heard the original story about the damsel in distress or have seen any major motion-picture (specifically romantic-comedy or drama) revolving around the theme of a woman 'in distress' waiting to be 'rescued' by the 'prince.' I personally have never heard the original story, but whether we have heard it, watched a romantic comedy, or simply grew up in a community where families are valued, I think that in men, especially every man of Christ, this idea of being the mighty prince/rescuer is something we all desire.
I remember, before I met Hanna, watching movies where the "rescuer" became like the Hulk and was unstopable, and thinking how lame and repetitive these movies were getting. But since I've been rescuing Hanna, there have been many times when I became like the Hulk myself. I remember many times while I was half way done with a long distance run and I was getting extremely tired or thought I couldn't make it, I would think to myself that Hanna was in trouble and I needed to rescue her. It's amazing how God built us men that way. I don't think that drive is limited to gender, but according to Ephesians 2:25, men are to "love our wives as Christ loved the church, and gave himself for her." So, the church was rescued by a good fight and a sacrifice by our rescuer.
So Hanna, at the will of the Spirit, said that men are the ones called who to sacrifice, not women, and men shouldn't expect anything in return. She told me that a while ago and I looked up Ephesians 2:25 in the Message (a different translation) and this is how I was confirmed that Hanna was at the will of the Spirit.
The Message... Ephesians 5:25 reads, "Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church- a love marked by giving, not getting..."
ARE YOU KIDDING!?!? How beautiful is that!? Spoken to by the Lord God through Hanna, I realized that we, men of Christ, really have a task. Whether married, engaged, in a relationship, or single, we should start practicing being selfless and I believe that out of our selflessness, "a love marked by giving, not getting" will be start to produce. I wish that I realized how important Paul's words of living a selfless life really are. Even though I missed the band wagon to 'a love marked by giving, not getting,' I've been on the train of being the rescuer, but not I'm currently cruising toward being a selfless prince.
I'll continue with Part Two to conclude my two thoughts I've been thinking about for many days and many hours.
Short recap... the idea of spiritual warfare amongst an engaged/married couple (Part One) and the truth and relevance of Ephesians 5... I believe around 22 to the near end (Part Two).
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Part Two - Damsel in Dis... A Selfless Prince
I really just want to start by thanking those who have been a part of my blogging experience. After writing Part One of this duo, I fully understand why the Pastor/Professor/Friend who "intimidated, yet inspires" me suggested if we truly are called to ministry and plan on pursuing that, we should consider opening a blog. Love you all!
This blog was inspired by a lecture that I sat through spoken by my lovely.... fiance. :) We were were talking about life and some specifics, which I don't quite remember what they were. Hanna happened to bring up the fact that the man/husband is the one who is called to sacrifice, not the woman/wife. And as simple as that statement was, it remains to be one of the wisest things I have heard in a while.
Now let's go to scripture, yea?
Ephesians 2:22 says, "Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord." And Ephesians 2:25 reads, "Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself for her." Both the wife and the husband have perfect examples of how they should be, and that perfect example was shown by the Word.
Wives, according to the verses 22-24 and interpretations by most, are to model their submission to their husband after the church submits themselves to Jesus. I understand that model and do like that, but I prefer the model of submission to Father God that Jesus set for us. The church, the body of believers in Corinth, Ephesus, and so on to the actual establishment of the church in Acts, DID submit to Christ, but they were sinful and flawed. Unlike the church, Jesus is not sinful and flawed. He was submissive "as to the Lord."
EPHESIANS 5:25!!!!
So there's this story about a damsel in distress. Whether we have heard the original story about the damsel in distress or have seen any major motion-picture (specifically romantic-comedy or drama) revolving around the theme of a woman 'in distress' waiting to be 'rescued' by the 'prince.' I personally have never heard the original story, but whether we have heard it, watched a romantic comedy, or simply grew up in a community where families are valued, I think that in men, especially every man of Christ, this idea of being the mighty prince/rescuer is something we all desire.
I remember, before I met Hanna, watching movies where the "rescuer" became like the Hulk and was unstopable, and thinking how lame and repetitive these movies were getting. But since I've been rescuing Hanna, there have been many times when I became like the Hulk myself. I remember many times while I was half way done with a long distance run and I was getting extremely tired or thought I couldn't make it, I would think to myself that Hanna was in trouble and I needed to rescue her. It's amazing how God built us men that way. I don't think that drive is limited to gender, but according to Ephesians 2:25, men are to "love our wives as Christ loved the church, and gave himself for her." So, the church was rescued by a good fight and a sacrifice by our rescuer.
So Hanna, at the will of the Spirit, said that men are the ones called who to sacrifice, not women, and men shouldn't expect anything in return. She told me that a while ago and I looked up Ephesians 2:25 in the Message (a different translation) and this is how I was confirmed that Hanna was at the will of the Spirit.
The Message... Ephesians 5:25 reads, "Husbands, go all out in your love for your wives, exactly as Christ did for the church- a love marked by giving, not getting..."
ARE YOU KIDDING!?!? How beautiful is that!? Spoken to by the Lord God through Hanna, I realized that we, men of Christ, really have a task. Whether married, engaged, in a relationship, or single, we should start practicing being selfless and I believe that out of our selflessness, "a love marked by giving, not getting" will be start to produce. I wish that I realized how important Paul's words of living a selfless life really are. Even though I missed the band wagon to 'a love marked by giving, not getting,' I've been on the train of being the rescuer, but not I'm currently cruising toward being a selfless prince.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
The Engaged Life - Part One
This week, Hanna and I celebrated our seventh month of being engaged. Yes-sir-e, exactly seven months ago, Hanna said yes to the big question. God has taught me so much during this time, yet I have tons to learn. God has blessed me incredibly since then, yet I believe there will be more blessings to come. Some things are simply beautiful and so amazing that I question, why do I deserve them? In contrast, there are things that happen that are difficult that I question, why me?
A couple thoughts that I have drowned myself in and thought many hours upon is the idea of spiritual warfare amongst an engaged/married couple (Part One) and the truth and relevance of Ephesians 5... I believe around 22 to the near end (Part Two).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Spiritual warfare is so interesting to me. It's as if when I first gave my life to Christ, God's Spirit was covering my eyes like a parent covering their child's eyes during the scary part of a movie. But eventually the parent doesn't cover their child's eyes because that child is "mature" enough for whatever reason. And that is an illustration of the Holy Spirit unveiling the existence of spiritual warfare to me.
As I have defined in previous blogs, spiritual warfare is simply anything that is not of God. Spiritual warfare is something that was around since the beginning of our parents, Adam & Eve. We all know where I'm going with this and that's to the fall of mankind. If I take this story and look at it broadly, everything that is good (of God), I'll call God's Creation. And everything that is not of God, I'll call Spiritual Warfare. So from the beginning of Genesis, the heavens and the earth is God's Creation. The creation of Adam and Eve is God's Creation. The tree of knowledge is God's Creation. The serpent is Spiritual Warfare. And to the obvious, Eve being tempted and eating from the tree is Spiritual Warfare. God is the Creator of marriage, but God did not create sin.
According to my definition, everything that is not of God is spiritual warfare. We all know that God has never sinned, nor did He create it. So does that mean that spiritual warfare is sin, or sin is spiritual warfare? I don't think spiritual warfare is sin or that sin is spiritual warfare. I think that sin can be a result of spiritual warfare, or spiritual warfare can lead to sin. God gave Adam and his wife free will. After the first case of spiritual warfare, Adam's wife chose to sin. The idea of spiritual warfare leading to sin is something that Hanna and I have battled with just like Adam and his wife Eve did. I don't know how Adam and Eve dealt with spiritual warfare and sinning as the first married couple, but Hanna and I have found a solution for us.
I believe that this solution is something that is applicable for anyone, engaged/married or not. Hanna and I recently decided that whenever we hang out, we will pray together uniting us as one spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ. There is power, no matter if you're married or not, coming against Spiritual Warfare in the name of Jesus Christ. There is power in claiming the blood of Jesus Christ, which has covered us and our sin. And their is power in proclaiming that on behalf of our testimony, we are children of the Living God. As the body of Christ, we are left with a choice and that choice is God's Creation or Spiritual Warfare.
A couple thoughts that I have drowned myself in and thought many hours upon is the idea of spiritual warfare amongst an engaged/married couple (Part One) and the truth and relevance of Ephesians 5... I believe around 22 to the near end (Part Two).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------Part One - God's Creation or Spiritual Warfare
Spiritual warfare is so interesting to me. It's as if when I first gave my life to Christ, God's Spirit was covering my eyes like a parent covering their child's eyes during the scary part of a movie. But eventually the parent doesn't cover their child's eyes because that child is "mature" enough for whatever reason. And that is an illustration of the Holy Spirit unveiling the existence of spiritual warfare to me.
As I have defined in previous blogs, spiritual warfare is simply anything that is not of God. Spiritual warfare is something that was around since the beginning of our parents, Adam & Eve. We all know where I'm going with this and that's to the fall of mankind. If I take this story and look at it broadly, everything that is good (of God), I'll call God's Creation. And everything that is not of God, I'll call Spiritual Warfare. So from the beginning of Genesis, the heavens and the earth is God's Creation. The creation of Adam and Eve is God's Creation. The tree of knowledge is God's Creation. The serpent is Spiritual Warfare. And to the obvious, Eve being tempted and eating from the tree is Spiritual Warfare. God is the Creator of marriage, but God did not create sin.
According to my definition, everything that is not of God is spiritual warfare. We all know that God has never sinned, nor did He create it. So does that mean that spiritual warfare is sin, or sin is spiritual warfare? I don't think spiritual warfare is sin or that sin is spiritual warfare. I think that sin can be a result of spiritual warfare, or spiritual warfare can lead to sin. God gave Adam and his wife free will. After the first case of spiritual warfare, Adam's wife chose to sin. The idea of spiritual warfare leading to sin is something that Hanna and I have battled with just like Adam and his wife Eve did. I don't know how Adam and Eve dealt with spiritual warfare and sinning as the first married couple, but Hanna and I have found a solution for us.
I believe that this solution is something that is applicable for anyone, engaged/married or not. Hanna and I recently decided that whenever we hang out, we will pray together uniting us as one spirit, in the name of Jesus Christ. There is power, no matter if you're married or not, coming against Spiritual Warfare in the name of Jesus Christ. There is power in claiming the blood of Jesus Christ, which has covered us and our sin. And their is power in proclaiming that on behalf of our testimony, we are children of the Living God. As the body of Christ, we are left with a choice and that choice is God's Creation or Spiritual Warfare.
Friday, January 30, 2009
Spiiiiiiiiritual Warfare!
Open up the doors and let the music play
Let the streets resound with singing
Songs that bring Your hope
Songs that bring Your joy
Dancers who dance upon injustice
Do you feel the darkness tremble
When all the saints join in one song
And all the streams flow as one river
To wash away our brokenness
Songs that bring Your hope
Songs that bring Your joy
Dancers who dance upon injustice
Do you feel the darkness tremble
When all the saints join in one song
And all the streams flow as one river
To wash away our brokenness
Open up the doors and let the music play... Let the streets resound with singing!!! Wow! I never realized the beauty and importance of those lyrics until I spoke with a friend from Life Pacific College. He and I got some coffee one day and just soaked in each others spiritual "steak," and that day he shared a vision with me which I then payed it forward. I wont share his entire vision, but I will share his statement that relates to this blentry (blog entry... (c) Joey Salas, 2009).
He said (paraphrase) that he wishes that we, a body of Christ, would wake up, not get too strung up about the perfect structure for recruiting more students and so fourth, but that we would get.... "strung up" about having our campus chapel imitate the tent of meeting in the OT (God's presence would chill over the tent for forty days-forty nights and that entire time, people would praise and worship God). And that alone would draw people near.
What a blessing!!!! To be so close to at least some sort of physical contact with the Holy, Powerful God. What a blessing that is.... right?
I attended church this past Sunday (1/25/09) and I was so excited to be there. It was my first time there in a few months and I was so stoked to see the significant growth of the church. In fact, the church was so packed that a few others and I was asked, by an usher, for the first time in my experience to scoot the boot down a couple seats so that we could accommodate another family to sit down. Seriously so amazing!
As the worship continued second after second, I continued, second after second, to humble myself before the Lord so that my spirit would be sensitive to the Spirit, which then I would be able to worship at the throne.
Second song came and I was gone... "Our God is mighty to save, He is mighty to save..." Man! The worship band was kickin' it that day... together, sounding good, sounding loud. That song ended and we were asked to sit down. I don't like sitting and standing and sitting and standing because it reminds me too much of Catholic service. That's an entire new blentry on its own. Anyways, the worship band started playing the third song and I started looking around due to the intense pilates exercise. I was truly thrown off because I was seriously so stoked about the number of people at that service, but also, I was just people watching.
Here we go... I asked Churck Norris to give you all a swift kick in the face. As I was people watching during worship, that's when it dawned on me
But on a separate subject (sort of related)... I've always been kind of at a pickle with worship. I think if we're truly in submission to the Spirit, we would automatically praise and worship ecstatically. That could either be dancing, hands up, kneeling, lying, or resting. I'm not the judge of people's passion and authenticity during worship, but as King David worshiped, there was dancing and rejoicing. In Samuel, soldiers were sent to kill David. The soldiers found David worshiping (I'm assuming with others) and the soldiers started praising the Lord.
I'll end with this thought. There is numbness during worship and charismatic worship. I agree that what matters is the heart and I believe that one CAN worship in all circumstances (dancing to laying down in complete silence). But from personal experience and talking to others about worshiping in complete silence, if someone is truly pressing into the heart of Jesus and submitted to the work of the Spirit, we will be drawn to worship in other ways just as David worshiped Father God.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Rest
My heart is in motion.
Complete, yet searching.
Perfectly created with a set of desires/emotions like no other.
Pursuing only God knows what.
My heart constantly turns... empowered with His righteousness... eager for the end...
In pursuit for the end... not for an ending, but for life.
I believe. I follow. I submit.
Broken, I live for Him.
Blessings continue to come.
They come like children skipping in a rain storm;
Consecutive drops drenching every inch of their body.
Trials also arise.
I pray for my guard to always be up
Because the second my guard falls, the enemy will attempt to destroy.
But I do not tremble at the feet of a trial.
For I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
My heart is in motion.
Constantly turning...
Rejoicing...
Hurting...
Complete.
For as I am made in Christ Jesus, it is in Him that my heart can rest.
ἐλπίς
This year so far has been a rough season of my life. Yea, "rough" tends to have a negative connotation, but I enjoy a season of life that is "rough." In my opinion, rough is a season that can quickly be adjusted. Back to what I was saying...
Until recently, I felt like I was at a two hundred mile, constant pace. I was not going through the motions. I was playing catch up. Life felt like that because of God's calling in my life. Since finals in Spring at OC, things went crazy. I went to East Asia for six weeks... applied (while in EA) and was accepted to Life Pacific.... proposed and got engaged to Hanna (after returning from EA)... left to Life Pacific for Bible College... and homework, homework, homework.
~ Just a normal day in East Asia chillaxin with my best friend, Jackie Chan.
~ Broomball during Welcome Weekend (?) at Life Pacific. F3 OWNS!!!!
But thanks be to God for sending His Spirit to touch my heart tonight, for the blessings in my life (Life, Family & Friends, Hanna, etc.), and the HOPE we have in JESUS.
In Romans 5:1-8, Paul writes about hope, our character, and Jesus. In the beginning, Paul writes that having justified faith through Christ, we have peace with God because of Christ. Paul then tells us to rejoice in our sufferings because suffering produces perseverance that leads to character, which ends in hope.
The original meaning of hope that Paul is using here is to have a heart and mind that is worshipful in the midst of suffering. Apostle Paul was a great example of living in hope throughout the New Testament.
Did you think to yourself that, "wow, that was a random, side note also?" Well, there's importance in understand the meaning of the hope that Paul is referring to, but that was a side note.
Paul didn't go off on a random, small bunny trail like I mentioned earlier. Paul was simply saying that because of what Jesus did for us (5:6-8), we must put our hope in Him. Hope wont bring shame. Hope, by the aide of the Holy Spirit, will lead us to the throne. And after reading these verses, the Holy Spirit tugged on my heart and said, "Son, this season you need to put your hope (worship in the midst of suffering) in Christ."
"… but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." – Romans 5:3-4, NIVTop of staircase = Sex?
I was reading my previous blog and while reading it, I started to think about other scriptures engraved in my memory that were related like Galatians 5:22 or 2 Peter 1:5-7. The scripture that I focused on last blog was Romans 5:3-4, which says, "… but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." – Romans 5:3-4, NIV.
I eventually ended up with this thought. I wonder if God really likes cake or the idea of it. Paul writes in other letters using this "cake structure" like Galatians 5:22, 2 Peter 1:5-7, and a few other places.
Now God's form is not structured, but I do believe that God's work can be some-what structured. For example, the book of Leviticus is very structured. God commanding Abraham to sacrifice Issac includes some sort of structure amidst the sacrificial process. Another example is the book of Revelation. When Jesus has completed his second-coming, those who will be saved will be working in a city and praising God. There will be structure to the work that will be in Heaven. And there will possibly be structure with our worship to God.
Although I really like the idea of cake, a staircase seems to be a more appropriate fit to this epiphany of mine. I believe that if we want to be more like Jesus, we have to understand the structure and importance of staircases.
Another example is in Genesis 11- man built a tower streaming up high to the heavens. I imagine that there would be some sort of "staircase" on that tower. And like I wrote earlier, Paul writes using a "staircase" type of structure for certain verses like the fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22, 2 Pet. 1:5-7) or hope (Romans 5). For some odd reason I really get fired up with these verses. Perhaps it is because of my history as a wrestler and understanding the feeling of being victorious and knowing that I have fought well to the top. Who knows...
I remember watching a weird, romantic comedy with Jack Nicholson a couple years ago. I don't remember the name of the movie, which is probably good because I don't think it is a good enough recommendation. Anyways, in this movie, Jack plays a character who is married/dating, and at an old age, he wants to continue having sex with his wife/girlfriend. But he's so old that he could have a heart attack during their "multiplication" time. I forget who the character is in the movie, but I believe that a doctor is there to help the man (Jack) get healthy so that he can have sexy-sexy with his wife/girlfriend. The epic scene is the doctor brings Jack to a staircase on the beach. The doctor then challenges Jack... If He could run up the staircase without falling over and dying, that would affirm that he is physically capable of having sex again.
Hebrews 12:1, the author writes about running a race so that we can persevere. For Jack Nicholson's character, in order to persevere to have sex, he needed to run up the stairs. I believe that there is a "staircase" theme intertwined in the verses above. And I believe for us, through the power of the Holy Spirit, we must persevere with our every day faith so that we can live righteous, holy lives. We must run up the stairs, win our race in partnership with the Holy Ghost, and humbly rest in our godliness.
Friday, January 2, 2009
Our Savior Speaks
To me, hearing God speak is like an Etch A Sketch.
If you are wise, careful, obedient to not shake and "break," you will have a clear result.
If you manipulate the toy, put your own "twists," are not careful with it, your final result will be nothing but a blob of confusion.
God gave me an Etch A Sketch (predicament) about a month ago. He told to me shake away all the blur (pray) to get a blank picture.... Then, I was to carefully hold the Etch A Sketch (be patient and obedient), while He twisted the nobs to create a visual masterpiece. After He finished, I was to show everyone His creation (actively and obediently pursue His message).
March 4th, God "sketched" a masterpiece into my "Etch A Sketch;" my life. He has never spoken so clearly to me.
God provides purpose. God gives grace. Our Savior speaks.
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