"To the pure, all things are pure, but to those who are corrupted and do not believe, nothing is pure." Titus 1:15
More than anything, I think Paul wasn't talking about food or clothing or music or even our choice of entertainment (that's not to say he wasn't, though). I think he was reaffirming his words from a previous letter to the Corinthians: "So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view (because our vantage point has changed!). Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone and the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:16-17) Then, for we who are pure by the blood of Jesus (for there is no other way to be pure/purified), should no longer regard any other human being anything less than who God has created them to be. This is the beauty of being in Christ in regards to the world: we can see who they are created to be because of the Father's heart. And His heart isn't so far and aloft from us that we have to have some "enlightened spiritual experience" to get a glimpse of it. Simply by reading His word are we able to get a huge glimpse of His heart for His beloved children. Don't you know that people are not defined by their mistakes? Nor are they the product of their failures. Too often are things said like "you're dirty", "slut", "punk" etc are spoken over broken people that those words just reaffirm their brokenness. Do they need the reminder of the filth that they're in? My friends, when you speak those things, you're robbing them of a life-giving opportunity for them. Have you not read John 8 when Jesus says to the woman caught in adultery, "I do not condemn you, now go leave your life of sin?" Have you forgotten that? Why are we so quick to pick up the stones of condemnation when we ourselves deserve to be condemned for our wrongs as well? After all, all sin is sin. There is no level of extreme; no big sin, little sin. In God's eyes, it's all the same; it separates us from Him. And it all cost Him the same price: His Son. "To the pure all things are pure" is a beautiful truth that often times we get so terribly wrong. Don't misjudge my heart here, I'm guilty of it too and I'm not gonna throw the gavel on you, I'm in no place to do that, only God is. Yet, we should take a long look into God's 66 book love letter to us; we need a better understanding of God's heart for His children. Yes, God loves us; even more so, He likes us! He enjoys and delights in us. The greatest truths are for us, so easily accessed, and they need to be shared and not confined within four walls of a church.
My point: understand that the ground is level at the foot of the cross. There is One exalted: Jesus. You are no greater than the hobo who sits on the corner who's ignored by everyone and you're no worse than the Pope or the President of the United States. To God, we're all His children and He loves us all the same.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
My Heart
You know, at heart level, I am a very sentimental guy. I love the conversations that reveal who you are and not just the nonsensical ones where nothing makes sense. I truly enjoy investing into people. There's always a part of me that desperately yearns for more in relationships. And why not? I practically invest all that I am into them to some degree only for the hope to see life being reaped out of their lives as well. Then I turn to myself, something that I still learn and grow in, is loving myself as I love others. "Love your neighbor as you love yourself" says my Savior. I suppose in that aspect, in my whole life, I've been unbalanced in that. My love for people had always been greater than for myself, I wasn't really ever a fan of me. Now, honestly, I can say that I'm a fan. I like myself. Thanks to the healing love of Jesus Christ and His ministry towards my heart, I can seriously say that I like myself. And you know, since I left Medford to come back home to La Grande (I spent a year at a school of discipleship for those of you that don't know that), those well meaning people who have called me Knappy, just because that's how they know me, has caught me off guard. It strikes me because, well, I'm Jordan now. "Knappy" is an old identity, an old identity that isn't entirely Biblical. In the sense of knowing scriptures, I'm a scholar. In the sense of knowing spiritual truth that many don't even fathom because their pursuit of God is limited only to the weekly Sunday attendance. In regards to self, though, I was the executioner, the judge. Over myself, I held a list of my mistakes, I was able to tell you each of my mistakes and the day I did. Doesn't love say it "keeps no record of wrongs?" Was I like a person who James describes as "double minded, unstable in all that he does?" That was me! Until one immaculate and painful day that Christ revealed the death I was bringing to my life, until He lovingly showed me what kind of hate I was spewing over my life. I mean, how can I say I love Jesus, and love others, yet unable to love myself? Wouldn't that be the terrible "H" word hypocrisy? Isn't that the worst thing one could be? Say one thing, and do another. Yikes. But now... no. Now, you are reading the words of a changed MAN. A man who can see the good in me, who can see why people enjoy being around me. I can see why people had the audacity to invest in such a broken man, because they saw the glimmer of light that was within me. They saw with the eyes of Christ, not of the flesh. "So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" To those of you who lived those words and breathed those words over my life, I can't possibly thank you enough, yet I'm going to thank you. So, "Thank you!" I'm sure you know who you are anyway, if you take a minute to see what you've really done for my life, in how you've loved me, in how you were Christ to me in some times. There are far to many to number, yet your investment will reap a mighty harvest, and for that investment, Christ will reward you.
Now... for you who are in that prison that I was in. I have some words for you. Yet, don't be afraid, for they are the words that have washed over me so many times and have stilled my heart countless times. "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death... Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written 'For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' NO! In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, NOR ANYTHING ELSE IN ALL CREATION (can you think of anything outside of creation? Well.. God... but He loves you! =D), will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:1,2; 35-39. That condemnation thing? No more, if you're condemning yourself, you're not living as Christ is in you; no bueno =(. How about your feeling of not being worthy? Christ has made you worthy by His sacrifice on the Christ! And besides, it is no longer you who live, but Christ who lives in you. Stop living in the mind set that God is the punisher, that He will kick you while you're down because you're a filthy sinner. We are not sinners in the hands of an angry god; no we are children in the arms of a loving Father. Don't let the view of yourself, how you feel about yourself "dictate" how worthy you are in Christ. In Christ, who is your true identity, has made you more than worthy. Look through the eyes of Jesus at yourself. Look at the furious, amazing, powerful, unending love He has for you. Oh, how He loves us.
Now... for you who are in that prison that I was in. I have some words for you. Yet, don't be afraid, for they are the words that have washed over me so many times and have stilled my heart countless times. "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death... Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written 'For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.' NO! In all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, NOR ANYTHING ELSE IN ALL CREATION (can you think of anything outside of creation? Well.. God... but He loves you! =D), will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord." Romans 8:1,2; 35-39. That condemnation thing? No more, if you're condemning yourself, you're not living as Christ is in you; no bueno =(. How about your feeling of not being worthy? Christ has made you worthy by His sacrifice on the Christ! And besides, it is no longer you who live, but Christ who lives in you. Stop living in the mind set that God is the punisher, that He will kick you while you're down because you're a filthy sinner. We are not sinners in the hands of an angry god; no we are children in the arms of a loving Father. Don't let the view of yourself, how you feel about yourself "dictate" how worthy you are in Christ. In Christ, who is your true identity, has made you more than worthy. Look through the eyes of Jesus at yourself. Look at the furious, amazing, powerful, unending love He has for you. Oh, how He loves us.
Sunday, June 19, 2011
Faithful; Life
Proverbs 3:3 "Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart"
The whole book of Proverbs has multiple little nuggets of wisdem or things to think about that can change your world. Proverbs 3:3 is nothing short of one of them. The two greatest things man can attain is love and faithfulness. (Faith in Christ is perhaps the greatest man has for himself.) You can't have one without the other. Because you love someone, in turn, you will be faithful to that person. Be it in a marriage, a relationship, or friendship, because you love the person you will be faithful. And because you're faithful, it shows that you love them. Christ is our perfect example for us. He was faithful to the end while on this earth. I'm sure He had the opportunity to leave us, after all he had the fullness of God inside of Him while still being totally human. Christ was faithful to the point of death on the cross; not because of any sort of obligation toward us (He never has owed us anything), but rather out of His great love for us He'd rather die Himself than for us to die in our sin. And even now, before He ascended into heaven, He promised that He would be with us to the very end of the age. He's remained faithful in that promise toward us since the beginning. God's been walking with man since Adam and He will continue to do so into eternity. His promises are lasting and never once have been broken.
So often, we are deserted, so many times are we left on our own by other people. No human is ever constantly with us, has every promise that a human made to you been fulfilled? No? There have been broken promises? Do you want to know Someone who keeps all of His promises? Do you need Someone who you need to be there all the time? Can I just point you to Jesus? Can't you see that all that I write is pointed towards Christ and not myself? None of this matters if it's not pointed towards the One who deserves all glory and is worthy of it all. Never has He left me, never has He forsaken me. And can I tell you that throughout all scripture, I have never seen a moment when God was not walking with man in some fashion. If you're looking for someone to be faithful, look nowhere else than Christ.
He is faithful to the point of death.
__________________________________________
Our understanding of life is about as great as an ant's understanding of how big Mt. Everest really is: not even close. So why would we want to rely on our finite little minds instead of the infinitely eternal mind of God? Is it because we don't fully understand God and we more or less understand ourselves and prefer the things that we can wrap our minds around? Perhaps. We do prefer to know things and have control over life because we don't enjoy unexpected events to take place in our lives. So as far as it kind of "makes sense" as to why we prefer to lean on our own understanding, it does. God's vantage point to see what's going to happen is infinitely greater than ours. We can see within perhaps the next thirty seconds but God is able to see into eternity. 30 seconds or eternity; which one is more appealing to us? God won't tell us everything that will happen, but will reveal His good and perfect will to us as we walk with Him. We need to walk by faith knowing that He's got what is best for us. Let us follow our Good Shepherd who knows the way. "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart"
The whole book of Proverbs has multiple little nuggets of wisdem or things to think about that can change your world. Proverbs 3:3 is nothing short of one of them. The two greatest things man can attain is love and faithfulness. (Faith in Christ is perhaps the greatest man has for himself.) You can't have one without the other. Because you love someone, in turn, you will be faithful to that person. Be it in a marriage, a relationship, or friendship, because you love the person you will be faithful. And because you're faithful, it shows that you love them. Christ is our perfect example for us. He was faithful to the end while on this earth. I'm sure He had the opportunity to leave us, after all he had the fullness of God inside of Him while still being totally human. Christ was faithful to the point of death on the cross; not because of any sort of obligation toward us (He never has owed us anything), but rather out of His great love for us He'd rather die Himself than for us to die in our sin. And even now, before He ascended into heaven, He promised that He would be with us to the very end of the age. He's remained faithful in that promise toward us since the beginning. God's been walking with man since Adam and He will continue to do so into eternity. His promises are lasting and never once have been broken.
So often, we are deserted, so many times are we left on our own by other people. No human is ever constantly with us, has every promise that a human made to you been fulfilled? No? There have been broken promises? Do you want to know Someone who keeps all of His promises? Do you need Someone who you need to be there all the time? Can I just point you to Jesus? Can't you see that all that I write is pointed towards Christ and not myself? None of this matters if it's not pointed towards the One who deserves all glory and is worthy of it all. Never has He left me, never has He forsaken me. And can I tell you that throughout all scripture, I have never seen a moment when God was not walking with man in some fashion. If you're looking for someone to be faithful, look nowhere else than Christ.
He is faithful to the point of death.
__________________________________________
Our understanding of life is about as great as an ant's understanding of how big Mt. Everest really is: not even close. So why would we want to rely on our finite little minds instead of the infinitely eternal mind of God? Is it because we don't fully understand God and we more or less understand ourselves and prefer the things that we can wrap our minds around? Perhaps. We do prefer to know things and have control over life because we don't enjoy unexpected events to take place in our lives. So as far as it kind of "makes sense" as to why we prefer to lean on our own understanding, it does. God's vantage point to see what's going to happen is infinitely greater than ours. We can see within perhaps the next thirty seconds but God is able to see into eternity. 30 seconds or eternity; which one is more appealing to us? God won't tell us everything that will happen, but will reveal His good and perfect will to us as we walk with Him. We need to walk by faith knowing that He's got what is best for us. Let us follow our Good Shepherd who knows the way. "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight." Proverbs 3:5-6
Walking Up The Mountain
As you read, replace my name with yours.
I ascend to the Mountan to be with my Jesus.
At the start of my journey it's not very steep and it feels like a really, really casual jaunt up the Mountain. Further and further I go there are a few patches where it gets steeper and there are small abostacles. Once I got to about a quarter of the way up, I'm noticing that this won't be some casual journey; by now I have scraped knees, my arms are cut and my clothes have gooten dirty and ripped. And once I reach the halfway point and thoughts begin to cloud my mind about where I should continue going or back down, this climb is far more than I expected. Jesus is calling me up saying, "You can do this! I believe in you!" And yet another voice is callling, "You're too weak for this, back down-- Jesus doesn't really want you up there with Him." (ooohhh little does that deciever know...) Suddenly Jesus burst into the scene, "Jordan, I will make the journey with you. We will share in this climb." I agree with a great sigh of relief, I knew I couldn't do this alone. We walk on further and by now we're close to 90% to the top and Jesus turns to me and says, "Jordan, did you in your wildest dreams think it would be easy to climb this?" Immediately I reply, "Ya know... at first I did, but just before the halfway point I wanted to give up. I realized that this journey was bigger than I was. I couldn't do it alone, Jesus. Thank You for coming with me." Jesus replied almost instantly saying, " That's exactly why I came down to be with you and share in the struggle of this climb. You see, Jordan, I believed that you could do this. There was nothing that was given to you that was too hard for you. And once you started to believe that it was going to be too hard. You see, My son, many people have taken this climb just like you have. Some of them quit because they thought it would be too costly. But you counted your costs and saw that it was more valuable to be with Me than have all the riches in the world. You decided to walk this with me because you knew it was too difficult for you alone, you realized that in your weakness my strength is made perfect. None of this was up to Me, My child, I chose to come and help you and I left it up to you to choose to accept my invitation."
And once we made it to the very top, Jesus turned to me, took ahold of my shoulders and said, "Well done good and faithful servant. You discovered you needed a Savior and that you couldn't make this climb alone. You have done well, and if you didn't notice, I was truly walking with you since the beginning but I his that from you so that you may develop in yourself the truth that you needed Me to make the climb. Now come, Jordan, let us share in the joys of eternal paradise forever!"
I understand that this seems like it's for me...it's not. This word came to me from my Jesus tonight and He told me you all still need the reminder that Jesus is walking this life with you. He knows the struggles, in fact He is always right by your side.
I ascend to the Mountan to be with my Jesus.
At the start of my journey it's not very steep and it feels like a really, really casual jaunt up the Mountain. Further and further I go there are a few patches where it gets steeper and there are small abostacles. Once I got to about a quarter of the way up, I'm noticing that this won't be some casual journey; by now I have scraped knees, my arms are cut and my clothes have gooten dirty and ripped. And once I reach the halfway point and thoughts begin to cloud my mind about where I should continue going or back down, this climb is far more than I expected. Jesus is calling me up saying, "You can do this! I believe in you!" And yet another voice is callling, "You're too weak for this, back down-- Jesus doesn't really want you up there with Him." (ooohhh little does that deciever know...) Suddenly Jesus burst into the scene, "Jordan, I will make the journey with you. We will share in this climb." I agree with a great sigh of relief, I knew I couldn't do this alone. We walk on further and by now we're close to 90% to the top and Jesus turns to me and says, "Jordan, did you in your wildest dreams think it would be easy to climb this?" Immediately I reply, "Ya know... at first I did, but just before the halfway point I wanted to give up. I realized that this journey was bigger than I was. I couldn't do it alone, Jesus. Thank You for coming with me." Jesus replied almost instantly saying, " That's exactly why I came down to be with you and share in the struggle of this climb. You see, Jordan, I believed that you could do this. There was nothing that was given to you that was too hard for you. And once you started to believe that it was going to be too hard. You see, My son, many people have taken this climb just like you have. Some of them quit because they thought it would be too costly. But you counted your costs and saw that it was more valuable to be with Me than have all the riches in the world. You decided to walk this with me because you knew it was too difficult for you alone, you realized that in your weakness my strength is made perfect. None of this was up to Me, My child, I chose to come and help you and I left it up to you to choose to accept my invitation."
And once we made it to the very top, Jesus turned to me, took ahold of my shoulders and said, "Well done good and faithful servant. You discovered you needed a Savior and that you couldn't make this climb alone. You have done well, and if you didn't notice, I was truly walking with you since the beginning but I his that from you so that you may develop in yourself the truth that you needed Me to make the climb. Now come, Jordan, let us share in the joys of eternal paradise forever!"
I understand that this seems like it's for me...it's not. This word came to me from my Jesus tonight and He told me you all still need the reminder that Jesus is walking this life with you. He knows the struggles, in fact He is always right by your side.
Shown the Way
Psalm 46:1-3,7 "God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, and the mountains quake with their surging... The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress."
-There is something that has to be realized about humans: we're weak and we are frail creatures. Though we try to combine our man-power to make huge buildings, even redirect rivers, when it comes to personal struggles and tragedies, failures and mistakes, we can't keep our heads above water. I don't know why, but we as humans tend to think we're strong enough that we can last without help. That is futile and that folly will kill us. When God created us, He made us a thing that yearns for more, yearns for help and yearns for peace. Before The Fall, we had that; before sin was rampant, we had all those things. But because sin in its essence is the seperation from God, and we aren't in that perfect union with Him, we have to come to a conclusion: We are unable to do it on our own, we have that built in need for a helper that we are unable to truly without. This isn't to say that we're unable to survive in the wilerness or something to that extent, I'm talking about the hard stuff: the loss of a loved one (or many in a short period of time), being diagnosed with a terminal illness, the lack of purpose in life and just going through the motions, and last but not least, no peace. Not world peace, but the kind of peace that is in the midst of a storm. The kind of peace that even though your entire world is crumbling around you, that you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God has everything under control even though you cannot see past the end of your nose. It's the "walking by faith" feeling. And not blind faith, in the least. It's the kind of faith that tells you, even though you have no clue, but God does and you will follow Him even though you cannot see.
-We humans, if we don't have a leader who knows the way, are lost in ourselves. And indeed no one man knows the way, correct? That is, at least unless we are given help and are directed in the right direction. And indeed, we have been shown the way. That was Jesus who came and showed us the way. he knew that because of the sin we've committed in our lives and being seperated from God. He knew that our little finite minds could never know the way to eternal life with the King. After all, the leading religious leaders at the time thought it was all about the appearance of the man and not the heart of the man. If your heart belongs in the hands of the King and has been washed clean by the blood of the Lamb, then and only then, will you have eternal life with the King. Jesus came to show the Way. And there is only one way to the King: through Jesus Christ. "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6) Why else would Jesus make such a radical claim unless He we telling the truth and we really do need to be shown the way. And shouldn't we be grateful? We were so lost in our own way that we didn't even know we were lost! Convinced that we weren't lost, we were burning down a trail of destruction. The sort of destruction that kills the heart and rids the life of joy. The sort of trail that eliminates hope in our heart and we can't imagine what peace even feels like.
-And so, rather than watching His children perish in their own sin, Jesus came down to become the sin for us and put to death the record of our mistakes and to set us free. And what do we have to do on our part? The easy stuff. All we have to do is give our lives over to the King who died for us to show us the Way, Truth and Life. The one who showed up there's more to life than that lived for self. To show us that there truly is peace to be found. Though we were lost in our own ways, Christ stepped down our of heaven to show us the way. He traded His limitless reach for the limited reach of an arm. He traded instant travel to anywhere, to being limited to how far legs can carry Him. Through His life here on earth and his resurrection, He showed us that death is not the end, but merely just the beginning of true living.
-There is something that has to be realized about humans: we're weak and we are frail creatures. Though we try to combine our man-power to make huge buildings, even redirect rivers, when it comes to personal struggles and tragedies, failures and mistakes, we can't keep our heads above water. I don't know why, but we as humans tend to think we're strong enough that we can last without help. That is futile and that folly will kill us. When God created us, He made us a thing that yearns for more, yearns for help and yearns for peace. Before The Fall, we had that; before sin was rampant, we had all those things. But because sin in its essence is the seperation from God, and we aren't in that perfect union with Him, we have to come to a conclusion: We are unable to do it on our own, we have that built in need for a helper that we are unable to truly without. This isn't to say that we're unable to survive in the wilerness or something to that extent, I'm talking about the hard stuff: the loss of a loved one (or many in a short period of time), being diagnosed with a terminal illness, the lack of purpose in life and just going through the motions, and last but not least, no peace. Not world peace, but the kind of peace that is in the midst of a storm. The kind of peace that even though your entire world is crumbling around you, that you know beyond a shadow of a doubt that God has everything under control even though you cannot see past the end of your nose. It's the "walking by faith" feeling. And not blind faith, in the least. It's the kind of faith that tells you, even though you have no clue, but God does and you will follow Him even though you cannot see.
-We humans, if we don't have a leader who knows the way, are lost in ourselves. And indeed no one man knows the way, correct? That is, at least unless we are given help and are directed in the right direction. And indeed, we have been shown the way. That was Jesus who came and showed us the way. he knew that because of the sin we've committed in our lives and being seperated from God. He knew that our little finite minds could never know the way to eternal life with the King. After all, the leading religious leaders at the time thought it was all about the appearance of the man and not the heart of the man. If your heart belongs in the hands of the King and has been washed clean by the blood of the Lamb, then and only then, will you have eternal life with the King. Jesus came to show the Way. And there is only one way to the King: through Jesus Christ. "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." (John 14:6) Why else would Jesus make such a radical claim unless He we telling the truth and we really do need to be shown the way. And shouldn't we be grateful? We were so lost in our own way that we didn't even know we were lost! Convinced that we weren't lost, we were burning down a trail of destruction. The sort of destruction that kills the heart and rids the life of joy. The sort of trail that eliminates hope in our heart and we can't imagine what peace even feels like.
-And so, rather than watching His children perish in their own sin, Jesus came down to become the sin for us and put to death the record of our mistakes and to set us free. And what do we have to do on our part? The easy stuff. All we have to do is give our lives over to the King who died for us to show us the Way, Truth and Life. The one who showed up there's more to life than that lived for self. To show us that there truly is peace to be found. Though we were lost in our own ways, Christ stepped down our of heaven to show us the way. He traded His limitless reach for the limited reach of an arm. He traded instant travel to anywhere, to being limited to how far legs can carry Him. Through His life here on earth and his resurrection, He showed us that death is not the end, but merely just the beginning of true living.
Perspective Shift
Mark 4:35-41
"That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, 'Let us go over to the other side.' Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, 'Teacher, don't you care if we drown?' He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, 'Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?' They were terrified and asked each other, Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!'"
When you read these words, I pray that God would penetrate your hearts and that you would grab onto what He is giving you tonight.
And let's face it, life has its rough patches, life isn't all hunky dory. Jesus told us that "in this world, you will have trouble." But then He follows with this amazing statement: "But take heart! I have overcome the world." I acknowledge with you that life is hard sometimes, and I won't say "boo hoo get over it." That's not what these words are for. I want you to see that sometimes there needs to be a perspective shift in our lives; sometimes it's incredibly necessary to shift our gaze. The disciples were freaking out, they were like, "Jesus!! What the heck?! Did you call us only to kill us?" Legitimately, they were terrified, this was no spring rain storm. It was a furious squall. But what Jesus says causes my heart to stir and even to stop and be still. "Peace, be still!... Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt? Do you still have little faith?" Jesus wasn't condemning His disciples but was rather asking them, "Don't you know that I have everything under control?" I wish to convey to you this very message: In the face of all of the chaos and the storms of life, God wants you to know that He is in control; everything comes to your doorstep has had to bow its knee to the Father. He has a purpose in the storms and in the peace of life.
Four years ago, February 24, 2007 I went to this amazing conference called Acquire the Fire. It was in a time of my life that God began to really spark a fire in my heart, to have a passion for Him and His purposes on this earth. But something else was happening to my world while I was there. On the night of the 24th, my grandmother passed away. Talk about something to begin a storm, eh? Not only that, though, my other grandma (my father's mother) passed away five weeks later. It was such a stinkin' rough time in my life. At first, I was like, "God why?! Why do I have to go through all of this? I don't understand!" But God has an amazing way of meeting me in the midst of my storms (and even so, in the storms of your lives as well). The following Wednesday, I was walking home from school and I couldn't even feel the cold air that was blowing that day, I wasn't in a good place. However, I was listening to a song called "The Last Night" by Skillet and immediately as the lyrics "I will wrap you in My arms and never let go" I felt God's arms wrap around me and say "It's all gonna be okay." It was in that moment that His peace and His love had begin to minister to my heart.
You see, from every situation that may be a storm in our lives, God cares so much for us to know that He has everything under control. I'm sure you've heard or seen the nice quote of "Don't tell God how big your storm is, tell the storm how big your God is." As pat answer that might be, it's so freakin essential to our lives! Sometimes we lose focus on which really is in control, the storm or its Maker. "I lift my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth," says Psalm 121. I can't tell you how many times I've lost focus and have focused far too much on the storm of my life, no matter how large or small it might be. And it's in those times that I have the least amount of peace in my life; what's the point in focusing on the thing that is shaking up my peace instead of on the One who gives me peace that surpasses all understanding? Sometimes we have to remember which is in control, the storm or its Maker. I'm here to tell you that God is always, always, always, always, ALWAYS in control! There has never been a moment when His sovereignty has been compromised. Ever. Listen to my heart: I'm not condemning you for losing focus, that happens to all of us. What I want for you, and me, to learn is that when there are storms going on, we need to "lift our eyes to the hills" because we find out where our help comes from: God! Our heavenly Father! The One who loves us with such a deep passion that He stepped down out of heaven to feel the pains we feel, to feel the same hurts so that we may have a high priest that we can relate to. Jesus tells us that it's okay to feel the pain, that it's okay to feel the hurt, JUST DON'T LET THE HURT AND THE PAIN BE YOUR FOCUS! THAT WILL GET YOU NOWHERE! We have a friend who sticks closer than a brother; Jesus never leaves our side. I pray that in whatever storm that may be flooding your life right now, that you will not look at the storm and see it as all that you know, but rather look to God! He has it all under control. Remember: everything that has come across you in your life has had to bow its knee to the Father. What comes across your life, He knows you can handle, but ONLY in His strength. That's the thing, if we were able to stand the test on our own, then we wouldn't need a Savior. Jesus knew that we needed Him. And nothing happens arbitrarily in our lives, EVERYTHING has a purpose. I pray that you will begin to see that God is in control every single second. And even though your storm may be screaming in your face, look unto the face of Jesus and know that He has everything under control. Hear His voice say to you, "It's all gonna be okay."
"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:14-16
"That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, 'Let us go over to the other side.' Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, 'Teacher, don't you care if we drown?' He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, 'Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?' They were terrified and asked each other, Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!'"
When you read these words, I pray that God would penetrate your hearts and that you would grab onto what He is giving you tonight.
And let's face it, life has its rough patches, life isn't all hunky dory. Jesus told us that "in this world, you will have trouble." But then He follows with this amazing statement: "But take heart! I have overcome the world." I acknowledge with you that life is hard sometimes, and I won't say "boo hoo get over it." That's not what these words are for. I want you to see that sometimes there needs to be a perspective shift in our lives; sometimes it's incredibly necessary to shift our gaze. The disciples were freaking out, they were like, "Jesus!! What the heck?! Did you call us only to kill us?" Legitimately, they were terrified, this was no spring rain storm. It was a furious squall. But what Jesus says causes my heart to stir and even to stop and be still. "Peace, be still!... Oh you of little faith, why did you doubt? Do you still have little faith?" Jesus wasn't condemning His disciples but was rather asking them, "Don't you know that I have everything under control?" I wish to convey to you this very message: In the face of all of the chaos and the storms of life, God wants you to know that He is in control; everything comes to your doorstep has had to bow its knee to the Father. He has a purpose in the storms and in the peace of life.
Four years ago, February 24, 2007 I went to this amazing conference called Acquire the Fire. It was in a time of my life that God began to really spark a fire in my heart, to have a passion for Him and His purposes on this earth. But something else was happening to my world while I was there. On the night of the 24th, my grandmother passed away. Talk about something to begin a storm, eh? Not only that, though, my other grandma (my father's mother) passed away five weeks later. It was such a stinkin' rough time in my life. At first, I was like, "God why?! Why do I have to go through all of this? I don't understand!" But God has an amazing way of meeting me in the midst of my storms (and even so, in the storms of your lives as well). The following Wednesday, I was walking home from school and I couldn't even feel the cold air that was blowing that day, I wasn't in a good place. However, I was listening to a song called "The Last Night" by Skillet and immediately as the lyrics "I will wrap you in My arms and never let go" I felt God's arms wrap around me and say "It's all gonna be okay." It was in that moment that His peace and His love had begin to minister to my heart.
You see, from every situation that may be a storm in our lives, God cares so much for us to know that He has everything under control. I'm sure you've heard or seen the nice quote of "Don't tell God how big your storm is, tell the storm how big your God is." As pat answer that might be, it's so freakin essential to our lives! Sometimes we lose focus on which really is in control, the storm or its Maker. "I lift my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth," says Psalm 121. I can't tell you how many times I've lost focus and have focused far too much on the storm of my life, no matter how large or small it might be. And it's in those times that I have the least amount of peace in my life; what's the point in focusing on the thing that is shaking up my peace instead of on the One who gives me peace that surpasses all understanding? Sometimes we have to remember which is in control, the storm or its Maker. I'm here to tell you that God is always, always, always, always, ALWAYS in control! There has never been a moment when His sovereignty has been compromised. Ever. Listen to my heart: I'm not condemning you for losing focus, that happens to all of us. What I want for you, and me, to learn is that when there are storms going on, we need to "lift our eyes to the hills" because we find out where our help comes from: God! Our heavenly Father! The One who loves us with such a deep passion that He stepped down out of heaven to feel the pains we feel, to feel the same hurts so that we may have a high priest that we can relate to. Jesus tells us that it's okay to feel the pain, that it's okay to feel the hurt, JUST DON'T LET THE HURT AND THE PAIN BE YOUR FOCUS! THAT WILL GET YOU NOWHERE! We have a friend who sticks closer than a brother; Jesus never leaves our side. I pray that in whatever storm that may be flooding your life right now, that you will not look at the storm and see it as all that you know, but rather look to God! He has it all under control. Remember: everything that has come across you in your life has had to bow its knee to the Father. What comes across your life, He knows you can handle, but ONLY in His strength. That's the thing, if we were able to stand the test on our own, then we wouldn't need a Savior. Jesus knew that we needed Him. And nothing happens arbitrarily in our lives, EVERYTHING has a purpose. I pray that you will begin to see that God is in control every single second. And even though your storm may be screaming in your face, look unto the face of Jesus and know that He has everything under control. Hear His voice say to you, "It's all gonna be okay."
"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin. Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." Hebrews 4:14-16
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