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I’m so tired of pretending… When I was young all I used to do was pretend. I would imagine fighting ninjas and dragons in my back yard. I pretended that I could move things with my mind, and sometimes I would even dream that I could. I was always so disappointed when I woke up and couldn’t make my alarm clock float. I want to say that when I got older I stopped pretending, but that’s not true… I started pretending in new ways…

Instead of pretending that I could tame a dragon, I began pretending like I had all of the answers and that I was in control. I began pretending to be a grownup. I began acting like I wasn’t afraid. But when it comes down to it, in all of it I was just doing what I did before. And like before, I was constantly disappointed in myself.

Christianity is supposed to set us free from these burdens of pretending… but somehow in our twisted nature we corrupt the things that are supposed to point us towards freedom.

There are several passages in the Bible that show that God is just as tired of us pretending as we are. One of the most prominant ones that comes to mind is in the beginning of the book of Isaiah. God’s people have become wicked and fallen into this game of make-believe-worship… They went through the motions pretending that everything was okay when it couldn’t be further from the truth.

God says to his people:

Quit your worship charades. I can’t stand your trivial religious games: Monthly conferences, weekly Sabbaths, special meetings— meetings, meetings, meetings—I can’t stand one more!
Meetings for this, meetings for that. I hate them! You’ve worn me out!
I’m sick of your religion, religion, religion, while you go right on sinning.
When you put on your next prayer-performance, I’ll be looking the other way.
No matter how long or loud or often you pray, I’ll not be listening.
And do you know why? Because you’ve been tearing people to pieces, and your hands are bloody. (Isaiah 1:14-15 The Message)

We do this, don’t we? We get caught up in our meetings, and our events, and our concerts, and our programs, our routine… We feel uneasy and at unrest. We are scared and worried, and we act like everything is okay. We close our eyes and pretend that the world around us is peachy keen while really its falling apart faster than we can tell. We pretend and go to God with smiles pasted on our faces and bookmarks in our Bibles that haven’t moved in months.

I read an account in the New Testament that granted a lot of insight into our continued pretending that God so detests. In the book of Acts it tells a story about Paul and Barnabas in the city Lystra. The two go to Lystra to flee persecution, and there come across a man who was born crippled and as Scripture says,”had never walked.” Paul sees that the man has the faith to be healed and walk for the first time ever. He looks intently at the man and says loudly, “Stand upright on your feet.” And in that moment he is healed and Scripture says he not only rose, but sprang up and began walking…

This miracle was a sign not only for the man but for the people of Lystra as well. However Scripture says that they immediately believed that Barnabas and Paul were the greek gods Zeus and Hermes, and then begin bringing oxen and garlands to the gates to sacrifice to the two men. And when Paul and Barnabas see the people completely missing the point, it breaks their hearts. The passage reads:

But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their garments and rushed out into the crowd crying out, “Men, why are you doing these things? We also are men, of like nature with you, and we bring you good news, that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and all that is in them.”

The apostles in anguish tear their robes and cry out the people…

When I read this I couldn’t help but think about how much we are creatures of habit. The people had spent their whole lives giving sacrifices to these false gods. When Paul and Barnabas come with a message of the true God who sacrificed his Son for them, they missed it and continued to sacrifice. They heard but they didn’t understand. They saw but they didn’t really perceive.

I think many of us can identify with this story, as the people of Lystra. We grow up our as kids pretending and then we get older and are told to fake it till we make it. We put on performances for our friends, for our families, for everyone, trying to be whatever it is that we think they want us to be. And then we wake up one day not sure of who we really are at all. THEN by the grace of God we hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We hear the message that proclaims freedom from all bondage. By the Gospel we are to be free from pretending all together. But like the people Lystra we fall back into our old ways. We begin pretending all over again. Now we pretend for our church, for our brothers and sisters in Christ, and for God… And as the passage in Isaiah reveals, God doesn’t like our pretending.

However, there is hope… there is always hope.

The passage in Isaiah goes on with God’s call to his people to turn from their wicked ways and seek to do good. God offers a word of great hope. “Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become white like wool.”

The NASB study bible note on this passage says that the phrase, “reason together,” means “to come to a legal decision.” There is no call for a compromise here; the people were to come to an agreement with God concerning the enormous gravity of their sin. God was not declaring His people innocent of wickedness, but He was prepared to pardon their sins if they would repent and turn to Him. God offers us that same forgiveness through Jesus. (The NKJV Study Bible. 2007 (Is 1:18). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson.)

God does not call them innocent… Rather he fully recognizes them as wicked, evil, and full of sin… and offers forgiveness.

God knows we are sinful. He knew we were sinful. And He knows we are going to continue to sin.

This last year of my life has been a tremendous learning experience for me. I have learned more about myself, about God, about family, about the true meaning of friendship, about work, and about growing up than I ever would have thought possible. And in all of this, I have learned a great lesson that seems simple, but is much harder to accept than most of us realize…

The beginning of the Gospel is our sin. The more we realize our own depravity, our own brokenness, our own inability to keep everything pretty, the more glorious and powerful the cross of Christ is in our lives. Somewhere along the line Satan tricked many of us into believing that we must be perfect because we have received the grace of God. One day this will be true, but only by the power of God upon the return of His Son.

The transformational power of the Christ comes in our ability to go to God as we are.

A lot has happened in this last year that has caused me to really be angry with God and in that I have faced great frustration because I tried to hide it. I pretended that everything was okay, and it wasn’t until I was completely honest with God that I felt freedom from that anger. God knew I was angry and every time I came to him pretending that I wasn’t, I was lying to Him…

There’s  a video by the skit guys that really helps me with this. In the video God is about to begin chiseling one of His children into a masterpiece and the guy laments, “God I’ve let you down so many times…” God responds, “No, you were never holding me up. I hold you up with my victorious righteous right hand, and don’t you forget it.”

With all of that said, I simply want to plead with you my brothers and sisters to stop pretending. God showed his love to us in that WHILE we were still sinners Christ died for us. God knows the depths of our sin which goes much deeper than we actually think, and loves us in spite of it.

Go to God, as you are and share with him what is on your heart. Are you sad? God will not fear your weakness, He made himself weak that He might sympathize with our weaknesses (Heb 4:15). Are you angry? God does not fear your wrath, rather He voluntarily took it upon the cross. Are you scared? Jesus tamed storms, commanded demons, and conquered death. He did so that you might believe.

The passage in Isaiah continues…

If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse and rebel, you shall be eaten by the sword; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.

God’s word promises that if we are willing and obedient to God he will give us a feast. If we rebel we will fall at our own hands…

My prayer is that you will no longer pretend, but find rest in the fact that God sees our sin and our guilt and offers us forgiveness in spite of it. God is good and His love knows no bounds. May you be yourself before the living God and get lost in that love.

Amen.

What do you long for?

When you find yourself in that brief moment where reality seems to stop spinning for just a second of clarity, what is it that you wish for? Do you long to be free, feeling the warm wind flow through your fingers out the window of a van on a cross country road trip? Do you long to rest, sipping hot tea wrapped in blankets in the shy glow coming from the fireplace? Do you long for love, a deep soul wrenching love that puts the fairy tales to shame and makes the poets envy? Do you long for truth, a certainty that there are answers to the questions that keep you awake as the world slumbers outside your window? I do.

There is a tragic hopelessness unfortunately found within humanity. We long so strongly for something that seems just out of our reach, and so often resign ourselves to an eternal state of pointless wandering. We spend our lives chasing what we think will give us freedom, rest, love, & truth only to be constantly disappointed.

In an attempt to justify this constant wandering or explain this constant disappointment, many of the world have come to believe that life is not about the destination, but about the journey within. According to this theory, we are supposed to run to whatever will give us just a taste of freedom, rest, a taste of love & truth. People influenced by this idea say things like, “I’m in love with being in love.” They run to whatever will provide the slightest of comforts for the briefest of moments, without considering how dangerous this idea can be.

The danger in this line of thinking can be seen in the desperate attempt to cure a loveless marriage by finding excitement in an outside affair. Families have been shattered, lives have been crushed, and children have been lost all for a moment of excitement… for a moment of pleasure… for the sake of the journey…

I cannot believe that the unsatisfying momentary pleasures of this broken life are the meaning of everything. There has to be something behind it all… and there is.

I think the essential problem with this “the journey is everything” theory is that in accepting it we mistake the vessel for its contents, and in turn the gift from its giver.

Romans 1 discusses what theologians call “natural revelation,” or the idea that God has revealed himself to the world through the world. Romans reads, “For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made.” According to this passage, from the beginning of time, we have seen glimpses of the glory of God, we have heard whispers of heavenly melodies, and we have felt brushes of God’s tender touch.

Paul in 1 Corinthians 13 compares these experiences of God’s glory to seeing dimly in a mirror. We live in a broken reality, where everything around us is only a mere shadow of what it was intended to be. However despite all of the brokenness there are moments when we just briefly catch the brilliance of God that Romans 1 refers to. We find it all over the place and in all kinds of things. Some people have seen it in the affection of a mother for her infant, others in the light breaking as the sun pierces the horizon, and still others have felt it in the passionate embrace of their beloved. I believe we have all known this glory in one way or another… This feeling of awe, of greatness, of what’s behind it all…

So we experience this reality of God in some small way and most of the time don’t recognize what it actually is before it vanishes. Then, in our attempt to recapture that feeling or moment we passionately pursue it in the venue through which it was presented. For instance a young woman who grows up in a broken home may experience this greatness in the intimacy she shares with her first true love. So instead of realizing the true source of this glory, she comes to believe that it was the intimacy itself that brought the experience, and in turn throws herself into relationship after relationship trying to capture that one moment, all the time mistaking the vessel for the contents, the relationship for the glory…

So what?

My point is this, when we say we long for freedom, rest, love or truth we are really mistaken. As much as we believe that attaining these things will bring us fulfillment, we fall that much further from seeing the truth. The letter of Colossians in the New Testament identifies the true source of fulfillment, the true reality that we so desperately long for. Paul writes,

“[Jesus] is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities – all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together… For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile himself all things whether on earth or in heaven making peace by the blood of his cross.”

The fullness of God was pleased to dwell in Jesus… He was fully God and fully man. God willingly took the form of a lesser being in order to bring His glory to us, since according to Romans 3:23 we all fall short of that very glory. According to Romans 1 the earth has been receiving glimpses of God’s greatness from the beginning of time, but according to this passage, the earth and all upon it received an opportunity to see the fullness of God. Jesus himself says, “Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.”

Jesus is the key to unlocking the mysteries of this life. He is the embodiment of that passionate light that shines through in various moments of our existence. We do not merely long for broken forms of freedom, rest, love, and truth. We really and truly long for the source of all of those thing. We long for God. While God is love, love is not God.

The reason that we desire so much to be accepted by our friends is because we really long for God’s acceptance. The reason that we want so badly to be free from obligations and restrictions is because we really long to be freed from sin, that which only God can offer through His Son, the Christ, the anointed one, Jesus. We long to make money, or art, or babies because in doing those things we reflect the very nature of God.

Heaven therefore is not about getting everlasting love or acceptance, its about getting God. It is not about receiving immortality, its about getting to spend eternity with God! People are not scared into heaven or out of hell. People either choose to pursue God or not to. Jesus’ call to his disciples is always “follow me.” We are called to follow the light of the world (John 1) to our deaths at which point we will be finally freed from the broken reality that entombs us.

The book of Ecclesiastes is King Solomon’s account of the pursuit of all pleasure in his life. He was richer than anyone else that ever lived, and lived the life of a pauper. He sought pleasure in sex, food, wine, work, religion and in the end he likens this pursuit to “chasing after the wind.” Solomon realized however that it was not the wind he should have been chasing, but rather source and creator of the “wind”.

My dear family and friends, I challenge you to examine your life. Search for the glimpses of God’s glory that you have known. Test your pursuits to see if you are in fact chasing after the wind or if you are pursuing the source of all goodness, God. Look to Christ, for he is the only full embodiment of God’s glory and has called us to follow him, to die to ourselves, and to be raised to new life with him, through him. Don’t mistake the vessel of God’s glory for God. Search for the source of all goodness, all life, all truth and you will find Him.

For God promises through his Word time and time again, “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”

May your heart long for the source of all goodness and beauty. May your recognize God’s glory in the world and pursue it with all of your heart. Amen

Revelation 21:23 “And the city has no need of a sun or a moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb.”

I have recently gone through some things in my life that have brought me to a new appreciation of God’s provision as well as his presence. I have felt pains in my heart that seemed to make the simple act of breathing feel like one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. I fought through sadness, anger, depression, and fear. I cried out to the living God and felt no immediate relief. Time slowed and the world outside me was overshadowed by the dark fog that hung over my mind.

I knew that this couldn’t be the end, that somewhere there was hope, that in some way God would deliver me.

The writer of Hebrews commands us to trust God in what he has given us because he has promised, “I will never leave you or forsake you.” And there amidst the loneliness and pain, there is hope in God’s faithfulness to unfaithful people such as me. The almighty God has made a promise to us and in his promise there is life.

In the last week I have come to experience God’s steadfast love and faithfulness in some amazing ways. He spoke to me reminding me of his love and peace.

Genesis 37 through 50 gives an account of the life of Joseph, a simple shepherd boy that becomes second in command in Egypt. While Joseph’s story in the whole seems to be a tale of success, it is scarred by betrayal, dishonesty, loneliness, pain and loss. Joseph is betrayed by the brothers he loved, thrown into a pit, sold as a slave, framed for a crime he didn’t commit, and forgotten for two years in prison. Yet somehow Joseph gets through it all. He doesn’t give in to the anger he felt towards his brothers, the fear he felt in the pit, the shame he felt as a slave, the bitterness of being framed, or the complete loneliness that must have come with being forgotten in chains.

Scripture doesn’t point towards Joseph’s inherit strength or positive attitude as the source of his ability to continue on, rather it states time and time again throughout the account of his life that Joseph moved along because, as scripture says, “the Lord was with him.” The powerful truth in this phrase is subtle, but profound. The Lord’s presence is essential to life and growth.

After all of his hardship Joseph is thrown into a position as second in command of the entire nation of Egypt. After interpreting the dreams Pharaoh has concerning famine, Joseph is put in charge of preparing for and surviving the famine of Pharaoh’s dreams.

It is during this time that Joseph’s brothers, starving and afraid, go to Egypt with the hopes of buying some provisions. When Joseph sees his brothers, instead of being overcome with anger and getting the revenge that most would say is due to him, Joseph shows them mercy and grace. He doesn’t punish them or kill them, but instead gives them great provisions and shares with them all of the benefits that God has bestowed upon him.

After everything he has been through Joseph says to his brothers,
“Come near to me please… I am your brother, Joseph, whom you sold into Egypt. And now do not be distressed or angry with yourselves because you sold me here, for God sent me before you to preserve life… it was not you who sent me here, but God. He has made me a father to Pharaoh, and lord of all his house and ruler over all the land of Egypt.”

Joseph recognizes that God was with him every step of the way, and now calls his brothers to draw near to him. As painful as it was God brought him to a place that he could help not only his family, but an entire nation. While his brothers would be tempted to live in depression about what they did to Joseph, he speaks against this telling them that God ordained what had happened.

There are two things that really come out of this that help me to focus on the grace that God has for us. First, as the writer of Hebrews says, God is with us and will not forsake us. In the midst of the darkness and pain God was with Joseph. While Joseph may have faced depression and loneliness in the pit, he was never really alone. When he was forgotten in prison by the servant of the Pharaoh, God never forgot him. God never betrayed him or judged him unfairly.

While at times it may be hard to relate to the stories of the Old Testament, great truths are often revealed in light of the New Testament. Throughout the account of Joseph’s life, scripture purposefully points out that the Lord was with Joseph and all that he did. This is a huge parallel with what we see God doing in the redemption of the world through his Son Jesus. When Matthew gives an account of Jesus’ life he makes reference to a prophecy concerning Jesus’ birth.

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord has spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us).

We were initially created to be in a relationship with the one true God, but sin changed our relationship. Essentially in our sin, we each say to God that we are in control and therefore have no need for him. We rebel against the way our lives were purposely ordered and in turn we rebel against the one who gave it order. However instead of giving us the punishment that we justly deserve, like Joseph in Genesis, God has mercy on us.

Michael Wittmer writes about this saying, “when [mankind] rebelled and got themselves in trouble, this God would do anything necessary to love them back to wholeness.” When we rebel against God we are rebelling against a part of ourselves, the part that gives us life and meaning. God will not allow us to continue on in our brokenness. Therefore He willingly sent Jesus, fully God and fully man, to restore our relationship. What man needs to fix his brokenness is God himself.

Immanuel… God with us… Jesus…

The entire land of Egypt as well as Joseph’s family was starving and in great need of sustenance, and God provided for them through Joseph. Joseph’s painful life ultimately led to God’s provision for Joseph and his family. Likewise all of mankind is spiritually starving for a relationship with the living God, and God in his infinite mercy provided. Jesus himself said, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.”

In the moments of my pain and sorrow that I have recently known, I have found great comfort in these truths. As God’s child, redeemed by the sacrifice of Jesus, I have never been forsaken. God has never abandoned me despite the appearance of my circumstances. I have never truly been alone. As beings created to live in community we long to be near others, however we often overlook the most important relationship, our relationship with our creator and redeemer, who has given us both his presence and his provision.

Before Jesus allowed himself to be arrested and crucified, he comforted his disciples saying, “I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. Yet a little while and the world will see me no more, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live.”

Though we are not able to physically walk with God in flesh in the actual man of Jesus Christ, God has provided his presence for us even today. Jesus’ words about not leaving us as orphans are a reference to his Holy Spirit that lives among us and within the heart of believers today.

In 1 Corinthians Paul writes to the church of Corinth against them blatantly living in sin arguing that the Holy Spirit dwells within them. He writes, “Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?”

God has given us a helper and guide and ultimately his presence in our everyday lives. And it is in this presence that God has really given us hope for a future.

While you may be suffering now, joy comes in the morning.  1 Peter 3:18 says, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit…” I pray that you would trust that He has given you the opportunity to be called a son or daughter of God for those that believe upon the name of Jesus. He will never leave his children.

In the darkness of your pain you are not alone. There is hope. God will provide. Jesus Christ provided a way for us to know God and to experience the same mercy and grace he showed to Joseph, which Joseph in turn showed to his brothers…

God’s greatest provision came in sending Jesus to live and die an innocent death in order to turn away the wrath of God. While we may be hungry, lonely, in pain, or poverty I pray that we would cherish and cling to God’s gift of salvation. In due time we will be delivered from the darkness and pain in this world, if only we give up trying to control our lives and allow Christ to work through us for his purpose. Let us all learn to love as he loved, believe as he believed, and live in a relationship with our Father in heaven as His perfect son lived. For it is only through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus that we are able to do these things.

Praise be to God for his abundant grace and steadfast love.

May the God of all provision bless you and keep you, make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you, and give you peace. Amen.

I’ve recently found myself completely broken and weak at the work of my own hands. At some point in my arrogance and pride I began living as if I could walk on my own, away from the strength and provision of God. I drifted away from God’s word and truth and honestly lived without a fear of God, which I have now come to see is vital to understanding salvation. I got along patting myself on the back and eventually awoke in a spiritual ditch unaware of how I got there. Even then I caught myself fighting to pick myself up and push myself along as if by my own might I would make a difference. Then when I finally got to the point where I recognized my total need for Christ as savior I beat myself up for not realizing this before and not submitting to his authority. The problem with this self abuse is that it again is me working to teach myself a lesson as if I could change on my own power. This is a vicious and brutal cycle that has caused me and those around me great pain and suffering. This is pride.

Some have written that pride is the beginning of all sin, but I would go on to say that our sin really stems from a desire to dethrone God in order to take his rightful place as king. We wage war against God that we might rule and then in our “kindness” or “grace” we offer God a place under our new order as a wise counsel or personal aid. However this goes against everything that Scripture reveals about the character and nature of God. I assure you that God will not be threatened by a weak and feeble creature as me, yet we still vie for his authority.

We see this from the very beginning of the story of man. Our nature has been tainted with this wicked desire from the earliest of days. Genesis gives an account of the creation and fall of mankind: God creates man in his own image, blesses man with woman, and then gives them a beautiful world not only to live in, but to rule and cultivate. They had dominion over “the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over everything that moves on the earth.” The entire world was submitted to their authority, giving them more power than any man after them, outside God incarnate in Christ Jesus. It was there in the midst of their earthy dominion that Satan comes to the woman and tells her God is a liar and tempts her saying, “For God knows that when you eat of [the fruit] your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Scripture goes on to say, “So the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and it was a delight to the eyes, and the tree was to be desired to make one wise, she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her and he ate.”

There are a couple of important things to note about this. The first is with what Satan tempts her. Woman’s fall comes in the belief that she could be like God. With all that God had given them, they wanted more and were willing to dethrone God in order to get it. Now remember Satan has planted the seed in the woman’s mind that God cannot be trusted, and I think that this is something that leads us down some very dangerous paths and must be addressed.

Throughout Scripture God not only encourages, but commands that we not worry. Jesus likewise commands us not to worry about what we will wear or eat, or what we will say when we are accused on his behalf. Worrying stems from our disbelief that God will provide when he says he will. It ultimately comes down to us not trusting God’s character. Worry then, while sinful in nature (for who are we to question God?), leads us to then act on our own behalf out of fear that God will not or cannot. This is Pride.

Now this act of pride can be identified in the heart of those who refuse to trust God with their salvation because of the belief that their moralistic lifestyle (good works) can save them. It also is seen in the heart of those who completely disregard morals and a need for salvation because ultimately they challenge the just and holy nature of God. Others still while they believe in his justice, doubt his ability to forgive or redeem. It also can be seen in the lives of believer’s lack of complete dependence on God when it comes to the deliverance from sin and judgment, which often leads to legalism, more pride, and more brokenness. All of this is pride for it is man saying that he knows better or can do better than God.

Against this I want to warn you with all of my heart. The majority of my writing to this point has been very encouraging and uplifting, but now I must be firm in order to stay true to the Gospel of Christ. We are by nature enemies of the cross of Christ. By this I mean that Jesus, fully God and fully man, came to live among us and teach us, and voluntarily sacrificed himself only to rise again to free us from the bondage of sin, and yet we daily make light of this, if not disregard it all together.

Instead of disregarding our sin, we must come to realize that the pain we suffer now is a consequence of our own actions. The responsibility lies with us.  The book Lamentations gives a good example of what a righteous acknowledgment of our faithlessness looks like:

“My transgressions were bound into a yoke; by his hand they were fastened together; they were set upon my neck; he caused my strength to fail; the Lord gave me into the hands of those whom I cannot withstand… The Lord is in the right for I have rebelled against his word…”

How often do we come before the Lord and honestly accept our sin and its consequences as the result of our own actions? In this, my prayer is that for those now living in the dark valley burned by your actions that you would first come to realize and accept your part in your situation. I had a high school teacher that made us all memorize the definition of responsibility: “Responsibility is the acceptance of oneself as the cause of one’s current situation, and it is the willingness to cope with that situation.”

Now here is where my biggest struggle comes into play. I will admit to you now that I am sinful and broken. I will even acknowledge that I have lived in direct rebellion to the living God, fighting against him, for his position as Lord and King. In the moments after my rebellion and sin, when the dust is settling, and the reality of my actions set in, I am almost always VERY aware of my wickedness. I am usually very convicted and sorry for what I have done. I find myself disgusted at my actions and character, which I believe is an appropriate response. However, I often become stuck in that moment. I don’t know where to go or what to do with my guilt. I know I must go to God, but I feel as though I must do something first. I feel as if I must earn his forgiveness or merit his mercy (which be definition can’t be done, google “mercy definition”), but that feeling never leads to anything.

I think that it’s important to look back at Genesis and continue with the story of woman and her husband. So after they had openly decided to act against God’s command and plan for them, something happens. Scripture says, “Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked.” For them, this was that moment when they realized what they had done. They originally acted believing that this fruit would make them more than they were, only find themselves naked and ashamed… They were ashamed because they were now broken and marred creations. They were ashamed and wanted to hide their now imperfect forms. And here you have the birth of all insecurity. Ever since then, mankind has fought to produce something beautiful in order to cover its deformities. Men’s need to be strong providers for their wives, and women’s need to be seen as beautiful are both forms of the insecurity that began that day.

And like the men and women of today, man and woman acted to cover up what was now undesirable. “And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.” Then they hear God walking in the garden and the man and his wife hide. (Note that sin drives people further and further into the darkness.) God then calls to them asking them where they are. This is vital because God knows where they are, just as God knows where we are when we fall in our sin. He knows exactly where we are and what we have done, but he calls to us inviting us back to him.

Eventually man and woman come out and confess, after passing the blame where they could. They have come out of hiding and presented themselves as they are before God, then comes the judgment. Now this is key. While God makes clear the consequences of their sin and the actions he will have to take because of them, He does NOT abandon them. Rather, take a look at Genesis 3:21 which reads, “And the Lord God made for Adam and his wife garments of skin and clothed them.”

In the moments after their sin man and woman acted to cover up that of which they were ashamed, but their coverings were not sufficient. God sacrificed an animal, the first death, in order that man and woman would not be naked and live in their shame. In his love he acted on their behalf to cover them since they were unable to appropriately cover themselves. God then puts man out of the garden in order to protect him from living for eternity in a fallen state, and puts him to work. And I think that this is where we must find our hope.

As I said, my struggle is often what I do after I have fallen in sin and rebelled against God. I am ashamed of my wickedness and am afraid to go to God. However, God already knows my brokenness and my sin. He knows what I have done. Scripture says that God demonstrates his love to us in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us. He knows. I cannot cover what I have done. I cannot hide from him when He calls. I must give up my weak pathetic attempts to cover what I have done and allow God to cover me, for this is pride even amidst my brokenness.

1 Peter 3:18 says, “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit.” Jesus the Son of God died to cover our shame. He willingly sacrificed himself that we might have life. So whenever I punish myself after my rebellion, in order to earn God’s forgiveness, I am essentially saying that the sacrifice He made to cover me was not good enough, and again is pride saying that I can do better. Therefore I must allow Christ to cover me with his grace and accept his forgiveness despite the arguing of my flesh.

The reason that this is hard for us is because we desire power. We desire to be a part of our salvation and forgiveness. If we can somehow “help” God forgive us then we have some control and don’t have to fully depend on God, and this is wickedness and pride all over again. In the beginning, before the fall, God provided the man and woman with all the food they could eat. He gave them a task to accomplish and gave them the tools with which to accomplish it. We must realize that God is unchanging and that his provision then is the same provision he offers us now.

So what? I understand that at this point it seems that we should do something… I mean we have to have some sort of action, right? And I will say yes, BUT I very much want to clarify. Jesus says that the greatest commandment is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.” He goes on to say, “And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”

So what do we do? We immerse ourselves in God. We become completely dependent on everything that He has to offer. How do we do that? Jesus quotes Scripture when tempted by Satan saying, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” God’s Word is Essential to our walk with God. It is to be our sustenance and our strength. So I very much challenge you to think about how often you feast upon the Word of God. How strong will you be spiritually if you simply snack upon His word for a few minutes in the morning or less? I will admit that I am very guilty of being spiritually malnourished because of my own unwillingness to partake in what God has prepared for me.

And along with that, I believe that service is important. I’m not talking about a service project you do once a month. I’m talking about a way of living your life in which you genuinely serve those around you in real ways, encouraging, uplifting, providing, feeding, clothing, teaching… When the man and woman fell and faced the consequences of their sin God placed them to work outside of the Garden. They were not simply left to contemplate their actions as a kid in time out, rather they were given the duty to continue the mandate they had been given. Likewise Jesus says that with loving God with our everything, we are to love each other as we love ourselves. So in a culture that tells us that we should do everything to ensure our own survival and profit, God says that we should do everything to ensure the survival and profit of our neighbor, friend or enemy. How are you legitimately serving as God has called you to serve?

See there is something that comes with living out God’s word and serving as he has called us to serve. Both of these things reveal our selfish sinful nature and create a need for Christ in our lives. When we avoid Scripture we are more likely to cover our sin from those around us and even ourselves, which leads us to pride that says we can continue on in this life without God. We begin to believe that we do not need salvation or forgiveness or God’s daily provision. And for believers we actually get to the point where we believe that we are doing a good job at following God. If you would say to yourself right now, “I struggle with this and that, but overall I’m not doing too bad of a job,” you seriously need to evaluate how much you are depending on God. I know. I’ve been there. We are constantly failing and constantly betraying a God who loves and provides for us. We must recognize our complete inadequacy and go to our Loving God to work on our behalf.

Likewise when we serve others we realize our own selfishness and pride, which again must lead us to throw ourselves at the feet of Christ, dependent on his supernatural mercy and grace. And if we ever believe that we are doing a good job of serving, let us consider serving our enemies as Christ served us.

Now I know that this is a lot to deal with. I thank God for allowing me to share this. In all of this, here is my prayer: That we would be overcome with our fallenness, that we would come to realize how hopeless we really are on our own. I pray that we would no longer try to live independent of God, but that we would through the reading of scripture and obedience to his word become painfully aware of our need for a loving and merciful God. I pray that we would realize that outside of the cross, there is nothing that we can do to cover our sin, our wickedness, or our shame. I pray that we would all be brought to a place where we realize that God is great and mighty and will not be taken off his throne, and that He is also merciful and offers forgiveness to every rebel that is willing to accept it.

I love you friend and pray that this edifies and encourages you. To God be all the glory, forever and ever. Amen.

I have lived my entire life behind walls I constructed in order to protect myself from the pains of this world. At a young age I came to believe that it was better to keep everyone as far away from my heart as possible rather than letting them get the chance to hurt me. I made an observation that I am warring against to this day. “People leave.”

My parents got divorced when I was about two, they remarried and then divorced those spouses. I lost step parents, step grandparents, and step brothers and sisters. Along with this, I changed schools a lot between the third and seventh grade which meant losing friends, making more, and moving again. Now these moves and changes had positive effects along with the negative. I learned to be outgoing, charismatic, and extremely friendly in order to never be fully “alone.” However while I was making a ton of new friends I never really let anyone beyond the walls that I was building in order to protect myself from the next move, next divorce, or next loss. There are some obvious problems with this. In the end I felt like no one really knew me, so I began to try and share myself.

God has been very gracious to deliver me from a great deal of sin and pain in my life and because of this I find it rather easy to talk about many things that most would struggle to share. I have always been able to talk about the pains of growing up in a broken home, struggling with addiction, and my constant need to be in a relationship. However this sharing of my struggles and dark past never brought me the satisfaction in relationships that I thought it would. I found that while I was able to go deep in conversation with others, I still felt… unknown.

I once had someone say to me that the first thing Satan will do when he is attacking you is get you away from everyone and everything that will point you back to the one person who has the power to deliver you from your troubles. Scripture affirms this saying, “Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” The interesting thing about lions is that they never attack the main group head on, but rather attempt to get a single victim away from the protection of the herd in order to take it down alone, when the prey is the most vulnerable. Likewise Satan often attempts to get us alone when we are at our weakest in order to devour us.

I think that most of us can identify with this. I remember in high school, I was attending a teen community bible study that met at a local church. I found that the nights that I least wanted to go were usually the nights when I probably needed it the most. When things weren’t going well at school, or work or with my family I dreaded the idea of going to that bible study. Satan was keeping me in that darkness, away from everyone that would point me back towards Christ.

This is one of the biggest places that modern American Christians have left the door open for Satan to attack in their lives. I of all people understand that “organized religion” and “church” has been responsible for some very wrong and ungodly things. However, simply because some people got it wrong along the way doesn’t mean that we should simply abandon it all together. Rather, we should take in to account how people have messed it up, gotten it wrong, and gone astray so that we can make sure that we do not follow those paths.

Scripture makes it clear that the Christian faith is NOT an individualistic belief system. We are called as a body. The word church itself comes from the Greek word ekklesia which means “the called out ones.” We are, as a group, called out of the world to be the image bearers of Christ in a world that is so desperately searching for His love and truth in their lives.

We are called as a body…

Paul writes about this over and over in his letters in the Bible. In Ephesians chapter 4 Paul writes,

“I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace… Speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.”

We all have been given gifts and talents by our Creator and each have a specific role to play within the body of Christ. You are important. You are important to the body of Christ.

I am tired of people saying that they believe in God but don’t believe in organized religion. The writer of the book of Hebrews in the bible actually speak against this mentality. “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

We were created to be in community. From the very beginning in Genesis 2, God says, “It is not good for man to be alone…” So don’t tell me that you can do it on your own without the fellowship of brothers and sisters walking along side you. I tried and I will tell you now that it doesn’t work. We are all members of one body, and there is no way that a foot can do what it is supposed to do if it is not connected to the leg. There is no way that an eye can do what it is supposed to do without its place in the head.

Now before I go on, I think its important to address some of the reasons why we hesitate to take our rightful, God-given place in the body of Christ. For some of us, we are afraid. We have done things that while we know that we are forgiven by Christ, we do not believe that our brothers and sisters will be able to forgive. But 1 John warns us against fear. “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. We love because he first loved us.” The idea here is that we all have fallen short (rom 3:23) and that we all have been saved from the same judgment that we deserve. Fallen brother or sister, let me encourage you that whatever it is that you have done, if Christ has forgiven you (and he has) then you have nothing fear. There is no judgment for those saved by the everlasting, abounding, and steadfast love of our Lord Jesus Christ. I, like you, have sinned and spit in the face of God, and like you have been graciously forgiven… Be freed from your shame and take your place in the body of Christ.

Others may find themselves in a situation like mine. I have always been so afraid of being abandoned that I would never let anyone near enough for me to get attached. However, this again leaves me in a very vulnerable place when it comes to Satan’s attacks. I have had to learn through counseling both professional and spiritual, that I HAVE to tear the walls down and let people close to my heart. I’ll admit that I have had a very broken understanding of what family is growing up. I saw a group of people bound together by obligation and tradition, and even that didn’t ensure that people would stay together. However, the apostle Paul paint’s a different picture of what God intends for family, both spiritual and relational.

“Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you must also forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.”

God’s family is one that bears with one another through our weaknesses and flaws. It is a family that goes out of its way to build one another up, challenge one another, and encourage one another. It is not bound together by obligation or legal bonds, but rather is held together by love. It is important to note, however, that it is not our love that holds it together. It is the perfect sacrificial love that Christ demonstrated on that cursed cross that allows us to love one another beyond ourselves. Do you understand what I’m getting at here?

We must allow ourselves to be broken and weak with one another in order to share the healing love of Christ in each other’s lives. So if you’re like me, afraid to open up, afraid to be weak, I challenge you to really evaluate what it is that you are afraid of losing. If you are anything like me you know that living behind the walls, while bearing the illusion of safety, is a very lonely and dark place… Allow the walls to come down and step into the beautiful light of the fellowship of Christ.

John writes, “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.”

On that cross, Christ allowed himself to be weak, naked, and broken. He shared all of that with us, so that we may come to him in our weakness, our nakedness, our brokenness and not feel ashamed. For as says it says in Hebrews, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”I have recently begun to tear down the walls of my heart with great vigor and passion, only to find the grace of God flooding through… I have found new meaning in relationships. I have found new beauty in life. I have found a new appreciation for my place given to me within the body of Christ. My prayer is that would you step beyond your fear, out of the darkness, and tear down your walls in order to find Your place among the body Christ. He has called you by name… Come, my dear child…

Just Sayins All…

Rusty

resting

One of my mentors recently said to me, “Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is rest.”

I don’t know about you, but I’m the kind of person that needs to have something going on every hour of every day. There are so many people that God has given me the wonderful opportunity of befriending, that I don’t have enough time to spend with all of them. If I could, I would stop working and simply spend my time listening to their stories, adventures, dreams, hopes, goals, fears, worries, concerns, and doubts. However, I cannot simply quit going to school, or working, or ministering at my church. So I often find myself juggling a ton of things at one time. Unfortunately this leaves me with very little time to rest.

A couple of semesters ago I found myself taking a full load of classes, working three shifts a week at a coffee shop, and serving at my church at least twice a week (which is about an hour away). On the mornings I had to work at the coffee shop I woke up at 5:30am to open, worked till noon, and then headed back to school for class. Along with all of these responsibilities I usually didn’t go to sleep till 2 am because late at night was the only time I could see friends. I was actually able to keep this up for a couple months without missing a beat, or dropping any of the things I was juggling. Then out of nowhere (or so it seemed) it all came crashing down. My body rebelled against me. For two weeks straight I slept through every shift I was supposed to work and was late to nearly every class. It didn’t matter how many alarms I set I simply could not wake up. I felt like I was in a walking coma. Needless to say my grades suffered, my boss was (unhappy), and I was practically incapable of social interaction.

I wouldn’t slow down… So God slowed me down.

See I had the mentality that I needed to be doing all of these thing or else I would let somebody down. I wanted to make my Mom proud in my school work, I wanted my friends to know they were important to me, and I wanted to serve at my church to help where ever I could. Above all I felt that if I was going to make God proud I needed to do as much as possible with what he had given me.

But I realized later that I wasn’t in control and that nothing I can do on my own would make God proud. Jesus tells his disciples, “I am the vine; you are the branches, Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.”

This one of the biggest differences between the Living God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ and the leaders of all the other religions of the world. While other religions are based on what we do or what we have to offer, God simply asks us to depend on him, to trust him.

One of my favorite passages from the book of Psalms is this:

For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart…”

Eugene Peterson translates this passage like this:

Going through the motions doesn’t please you, a flawless performance is nothing to you. I learned God-worship when my pride was shattered. Heart-shattered lives ready for love don’t for a moment escape God’s notice.

See, the root of our falleness is in the belief that we don’t need God. We get ourselves into trouble whenever we choose to live our lives our way, disregarding what is that God has called us to, a life of dependence on him.

One of the greatest passages that shows God’s understanding of our need for rest is when Jesus is calling people to himself. He cries out to us offering us something real, something that we all are longing for, rest.

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

And you will find rest for your souls…

While walking with Christ is about being obedient to his commandments of love, and sharing this truth with others, ultimately it is about finding rest in Jesus Christ. It’s about coming to rely upon God in our complete weakness and brokenness. It is then that we realize that when we are weak, HE is strong. And He is VERY strong.

I was recently reminded of this great truth by a friend of mine. I was sharing some of the struggles I’ve been through and talking about how grateful I was to have a morning off. My friend replied with a poetic revelation.

God is good to give those days that you need so much
days that refresh your soul and give you strength
He is faithful all the time

So if you are weak, or tired, or struggling, or burdened, or worried, I pray that you turn to the living God, the sculpture of the heavens and earth. I pray that you would realize God is crying out to you, offering you rest for your soul.

May we all come to fully depend on the God that gives life and breath to all the earth. May we put aside our pride and seek help in the one that gives us peace.

Philippians 4:4-7 “Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Just Sayins All…

Rusty

A while back I was in a book store and I came across this book entitled the “Bro Code.” Based off of a character from a prime time TV show, the Bro Code lists tons of rules to be followed by all men who consider themselves, “bros.” The code has rules on the topics of everything from dating to dancing, such as: “A Bro never dances with his hands above his head.” and “A Bro never wears pink; not even in Europe.”

Now while I hate to admit it, I have broken many of these rules… I often dance with my hands above my head, and have (on occasion) worn pink…

Now there is one rule though, that I realized I have faithfully carried out… to my detriment at times. Bro Code #20 “When asked, “Do you need some help?” a Bro shall automatically respond, “I got it,” whether or not he’s actually got it.”

I don’t know exactly when it began, but I feel like I’ve had the need for independence from a very young age. It doesn’t matter if I’m carrying a hundred and fifty pound sack of concrete and my back is about to shatter into a thousand pieces, I will almost NEVER ask for help. Maybe it’s pride, maybe it’s insecurity, but whatever it is, it’s not good.

Time and time again we find people throughout scripture that do whatever they can to distance themselves from God and do things on their own, only for them to fall flat on their face. For example, let’s look at the story of Samson. Before his birth Samson was set apart for God’s purpose. He was to be the one that freed God’s people from the Philistines. God had blessed Samson with an incredible strength to equip him for the fights ahead of him. However Samson’s story goes on to show that his entire life was spent after self-centered pursuits. Eventually Samson ends up in a relationship with a woman from the very people he is to save Israel from. Delilah, being one of the enemy, plans to figure out the secret of Samson’s strength in order to hand him over to the Philistines for a pretty penny. She asks, he lies, then when the captors come, he breaks free and kicks some philistine tail. This same pattern happens two more times and Samson in his arrogance stays with this crazy woman. Eventually she drags the truth out of him, and this time when the captors come scriptures tells us, “… he awoke from his sleep and said, ‘I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.’ But he did not know that the Lord had left him.” Samson is then tortured, humiliated, mocked and set on display for all to see.

Samson’s mistake was not recognizing God as the source of his strength, and using it as such. When he woke up and saw that he was being bound and attacked again, he says, “I will go out as at other times and shake myself free.”

I have come to realize that I do exactly this every day of my life. No matter what situation I find myself in, I in my fallen delusion think that I can get myself out of it. When I’m struggling with sin, I often believe that I can free myself from its bonds. When I am pressured and stressed, I often think that I can get myself through it by my intellect, perseverance, or charm. And more times than not I find myself like Samson, a broken prisoner to sin, to pain, to burdens…

Last night I was sitting thinking about how I should handle a particular situation in my life, and how I could fix myself in order to stop falling into the same trap. And then God, in a voice almost audible reminded me of a truth that I often forget, ignore, or deny. He said,

You can’t fix you…

I sat stunned at the immense depth of this simple truth. I mean this goes beyond asking for help when carrying something too heavy… This is about the reality that as people upon this earth we are constantly facing the chains of sin in our lives. We are constantly seeking to overcome the darkness in this place. I am constantly trying to make myself grow: spiritually, emotionally, and intellectually.

In his first letter to the Corinthians Paul writes about the faith that they have there, and then presents another foundational truth:

“I planted, Apollos watered, bud God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he how waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.”

Modern American Christianity has lost so much of this truth. Go into ANY book store, Christian or secular alike, and you will find more books on becoming a better leader, speaking with passion, being a better parent, getting a more defined six pack, saving money, getting a promotion, and a million other how-to books.

Now let me clarify that these books in and of themselves are not bad or evil, they have simply gained too much importance in our day to day lives. See Scripture says very clearly, “lean NOT on your own understanding.” Rather it gives us a clear command to trust in God with all our heart and acknowledge him in everything that we do.

I’m convinced that we must come back to the point in our lives where we realize that we are COMPLETELY dependent on God. Jesus says to his disciples, “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” See a child is completely dependent on his parents. They younger the child the more dependent, and in a culture that worships independence, this is a bad thing. However, God calls for our utmost dependence on Him. A new born baby relies on his parents to feed him, clean him, protect him, and love him. This is how we are to rely upon our God.

It is not my job to fix myself. I cannot fix me. I am broken and only brokenness with come out of my solo efforts. I must fully rely upon God and trust Him in all my ways if I am to change in any way shape or form. I must reach out to those who have opened themselves up to Him, to be used as His vessels, as His tools.

I pray that we would all come to realize that we are all in need of help. That we all must rely upon the goodness of our Great God to give us life. May we sacrifice our pride, our insecurities, our doubts, our fears, and our selfishness, at the feet of the cross of Jesus Christ our Lord. Let us turn now to face the glory of our God. Let us simply be captivated by His love, His light, His life… And He’ll take care of the rest. He’ll take care of us. He’ll bring growth, freedom, restoration, hope, joy, peace, life…

Whatever it is that you want to change in your life, I pray that you would come to realize that all things that were made were made through Him… Only God Brings Growth…

Just Sayins All…

Rusty

captivating

“Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; and where there is sadness, joy. O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.” -Saint Francis of Assisi

Two thousand years ago Jesus came to this place taking the form of a poor Jewish carpenter, born to lowly parents, in a small town in the middle of the desert. As the one who will eventually come to judge the living and the dead, Christ entered our world as a humble servant, sent by love and led by compassion. Setting aside His right to demand our loyalty and worship, Jesus lived to die on our behalf. This sacrificial love changes everything. It changes lives. It changes people.

Because of this love, we don’t have to earn our way in to heaven. Because of this love, we are no longer slaves to our sin or death or the fallen ways of this world. Because of this love, we no longer need to be afraid. In fact, according to 1 John, this perfect love casts out fear.

This love is something that is completely different from anything  that this world has to offer us. Anyone who truly comes to experience it cannot help but be changed by it.

The book of Exodus tells the story of Moses leading the people out of slavery in Egypt. When they had been freed and were wandering through the middle of the wilderness Moses would meet with God for instruction and truth to then pass on to the people. After meeting with the Most High God, Moses would return to the people, his face shining like that of the glory of God. In fact, it was actually so bright, so glorious, that Moses had to wear a veil in front of the people.

When Moses entered the presence of God, he was changed in a powerful way. Likewise when we encounter the living God, we cannot help but be changed.

It’s for this reason that Jesus says, “No good tree bears bad fruit, nor does a bad tree bear good fruit. Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers.” It’s also the reason that John writes that, “No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.”

It’s not a matter of our actions determining our salvation. Rather is a matter of being transformed by the power and glory of God. It’s the idea of being so captivated by the life that God is offering us that we are willing to completely lay down the ways of our flesh. And what life could be better than the one lived centered in this amazing love of God?

In Ephesians 6 Paul writes about the full armor of God, a metaphor he uses to illustrate key elements to following the way of Christ. He begins the section by first pointing out that it is by God’s strength and God’s might that we are able to even stand in battle. He of all people understood that when we are weak God is strong. This being the case, it only makes sense that we would set aside our limited, flawed view of life and allow God to take control of our entire being in order to accomplish His work in the world.

Jesus as a lowly carpenter came and changed the entire world. He changed the way we interact with God, and He changed the way we interact with each other. We are called to love every person on this earth as ourselves. We are called to put aside our desires, our dreams, our goals, in order that others may come to be captivated by this truly wonderful God that we serve. In turn they too are called to love and serve which will only continue to spread God’s beauty throughout the ends of the earth.

Paul writes in Philippians, “Do all things without grumbling or question, that you may be blameless and innocent, children of God without blemish in the midst of a crooked and twisted generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world…”

When we encounter and embrace God’s love we cannot help but shine in a world so desprately searching for the light. God’s love ends hatred; his power heals wounds; his truth gives birth to faith; his promises bring hope; his joy leaves no room for sadness, and when we embrace the death and ressurection of His Son, Jesus Christ, His love, power, truth, promises, and joy are spread to those around us. It is the joy of the Lord which is our strength.

Have you truly come to experience the divine love of the God of the universe? He is just waiting to pour His blessings out upon your life. He longs to spread His goodness in the world, through you.

It is in giving that we receive…

What is it that God has called you to? How has He called you to share this love, power, truth, promise, and joy with the ones around you? How has the revelation of this amazing love changed you? How has the power of God worked in your life to make you more like Christ?

My prayer is that we would all come to fully know the glory of the one true God and allow ourselves to be completely transformed by His neverending love…

May you be blessed by His word, encouraged by His steadfast love, and led by His Holy Spirit.

It is in dying that we are born to eternal life…

Just Sayins All…

Rusty

In 1936 the phrase, “total war” was coined by General Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff in his memoir of World War I called, Der Totale Krieg. The phrase referred to the instance in which an entire nation would make the war at hand their number one priority. Every person, every policy, every single thing worked towards victory in the war. Factories stopped making refrigerators to produce tanks, women left kitchens to be nurses, everybody did their part. Total war, however, was something truly rare. It meant complete dedication and sacrifice on everyone’s part to achieve their goal. It meant total devotion to their cause…

What cause are you fighting for? What has your complete dedication? For what are you willing to sacrifice?

Ever since I was a little kid my Mom has always reminded me of a very real truth that I often struggle with even to this day. I’m an only child and the only grandson on my dad’s side of the family. Because of this, I have always reveled in being the center of attention, yet when my Mom would see me in selfishness, she would pull me aside and in love remind me, “Rusty, this world doesn’t revolve around you. It’s not all about Rusty.”

While I often disagreed with my Mom, I have come to realize that she’s right about this. It’s actually one of the greatest truths that I think my Mom has ever shared with me. This world isn’t about me. It’s about God.

In the first chapter of the Gospel of John, he writes, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.” He goes on to write, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

John pointed towards Jesus as the Christ, the long awaited savior that would come to restore order to the world, to restore our relationship with God, to bring us out of the darkness, to bring us life. Jesus came by God’s plan to give us redemption from our pain, from our sadness, from this broken world.  John writes that everything that was created, was created through Jesus. My Mom was right, this life isn’t about me, its about God’s goodness. We must see life through this truth if we really want to know life.

Facing this amazing truth, what greater cause could we give our life to?

Before Jesus was crucified his disciples questioned him about where he was going and why he had to leave them and he responded, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Jesus’ response isn’t about him being some kind of bouncer at the gates of heaven. Its about him being the key to it all… “In him was life, and the life was the light of men.”

For many people heaven is a place that they want to go, simply because they don’t want to go hell, and to them Jesus is their secret password out of punishment. This couldn’t be more far from the truth, and is tragic in light of what God intends for us. Heaven is about so much more than escaping punishment. We shouldn’t want to go to heaven because we don’t want to go to hell. We should long for heaven, because it is there we will finally be restored in our relationship with God.

Jesus is the embodiment of all of God’s love, mercy, justice, goodness, kindness, hope, joy, and peace. We should cling to Him not for what he does, but for who he is. Paul writes in the letter to the Romans that, “the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating or drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.”

The Christian faith, following Jesus, isn’t about the rules and regulations that we put upon ourselves. It’s not about being a good person, its not about going to church, its not about me, its not about you. It’s about God and who he is. Its about his righteousness, his peace, his joy. The passage from John points out that everything in this world was created through Jesus Christ. Life was meant to be experienced and lived through the truth that we have a God that could not leave us in the darkness. “Everything that was made, was made through Him.”

Jesus came to bridge the gap between us and our Heavenly Father. He came and paid the price of death that was ours to pay. He deserves our total devotion. Jesus tells us that the greatest commandment of them all is to “Love God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength…”

We are called, You are called to give your everything for the cause of Loving God. It means like the nations at war, putting aside your own desires for a single cause. It is painful, but that’s the nature of sacrifice. We must realize that this life isn’t about us. God has called us to Total Devotion. Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

My prayer is that we would all take a deep look into our lives and at our priorities to see what it is we have devoted ourselves to. I pray we would come to realize that it is in Jesus that we find the true meaning of life.

The Light shines in the darkness; the darkness has not overcome it.

Just Sayins All…

Rusty

I have recently found a great deal of meaning in the seemingly small word: joy. This small but significant three letter word is terribly easy to overlook, and minimize to simple happiness or glee. However, I find that joy means so much more and is actually integral to our faith in a loving God.

Be glad in the Lord, and rejoice, O righteous, and shout for joy, all you upright in heart. Ps. 32:11

This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. Ps. 118:24

Both of these verses seem to speak to something much more than happiness, a fleeting emotion, derived often from simple pleasures. At first glance I would say that these two verses speak to a deep appreciation and gratitude for who God is. It is an overflow of thankfulness and peace that spring up from a heart touched and moved by the love of a true personal, all-powerful God.

Another passage that comes to mind is in the first letter written to Timothy by the apostle Paul. Paul writes to his young son in the faith, instructing him to set his hope on the God, “who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.”

Now I think it is important for me at the point to explain, perhaps, why this message has been so powerful to me in the last month or so. Here are a couple of lessons that I have learned and the misconceptions they came from.

1st misconception) The world is evil… escape. focus on heavenly things… then you’ll have peace and know truth…
Now I have actually just finally come to understand how wrong and dangerous that this thought process can be. I have had the distinct privileged to dialogue with author and professor Michael Wittmer who wrote a book by the name of Heaven is a Place on Earth. In our discussions he pointed out that too often we as christians focus on the fall chapter of the creation, fall, redemption narrative. Perhaps you have caught yourself believing that one day we will be free of this evil earth and all of the evil things upon it, and float away to paradise in the sky. Wittmer (and scripture) point toward the fact that Christ is bringing redemption to this earth. Revelation describes a new heaven and earth decending upon this one. When we miss the fact that we are created beings placed on this created earth, we find ourselves longing for home in outter space. The truth of the matter is that we are created to live here and therefore abandoning everything earthy goes against our nature, creation, and purpose. The truth to take out of this is while the world is fallen, it is being redeemed… we can still find good on this earth, and I would take it a step further to say that it is our job and mission to find the good the earth and claim it as our own.

2nd misconception) God gives us things to give away… get then give, get then give, get then give… forever, and ever, and ever.
I was sitting in my weekly staff meeting with my pastor and music minister when I asked the question: To what extent should we enjoy the blessings that God gives us? Now at the time it seemed a legitimate question, yet both my pastor and music minister stared puzzled at the meaning of my inquiry. After a moment my pastor replied, “100%.” I could barely even consider the response. We are called to share, and bless others… not enjoy… or so I thought. I was wrong. God has gently but firmly adjusted my understanding of his blessings and gifts. It seems that joy was always left out of the equation when I considered blessings. For me giving and sharing was always out of a sense of duty which, don’t get me wrong, came from a sense of love for my heavenly father.

Here’s where the truth got me though. Jesus says in his infamous “Sermon on the Mount” to a crowd, “If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!” I’ve come to realize that God give us some gifts to build up the body, he gives us others to share with those in need, and sometimes God simply gives us gifts just because He loves us and wants us to know it. The truth is that if we believe that every gift and blessing is the same, we’re going to mess them all up. We have to use discernment which means there will be times when I should give away, and as hard as it is for me to believe, there are times when I should simply enjoy the goodness of God. My self-righteous humility must be put aside at times to find God’s will and purpose.

3rd misconception) The only fulfillment in life comes with purpose, mission, and vocation… get to work.
What are your spiritual gifts? What are your passions? What are your talents? How can you use those things to win souls for Jesus? Get to work… time is of the essence. I really used to live my life based off of these questions. I felt that my calling was a based on my “spiritual efficiency.” God placed me here with a purpose (see Jeremiah 1) and I only have so many years to live that out… So I got to the point where any “free time” had to be spent in preparing ministry, streamlining ministry, or in actual ministry itself… my calling became my life… and it can get a bit overwhelming. See the problem with this, is that it turns any unused time into a feeling of guilt. When I decided to rest and lose myself in the Scrubs marathon on any given Saturday afternoon, I was overwhelmed by all of the things that I could have been doing. Now don’t misunderstand me, I definitely enjoy ministry, I love it, I’m passionate about it, and as humbly as I can say this, I think I’m pretty good at it. But again I realized that there are definite scriptural proofs against this Christian work-aholism. One of the Big Ten (10 commandments) addresses this for crying out loud… “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy… For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them and rested on the seventh day.” A mentor of mine once said, “Sometimes, the most spiritual thing you can do is rest…”

So… we can have joy in work… AND joy in rest? It really was a foreign concept to me. Yet, this idea of joy in rest has been central to our faith from the very beginning… literally. Yes, we should work to the purpose that God has given us and strive to fulfill the depth of our being. But sometimes… we can enjoy taking a break…

So what does it all mean?

I recently heard a term that coined by Psychologist Erich Fromm known as Biophilia. Biophilia when literally translated means the love of life, and the love of all things living. When I heard this term and its meaning in raw form, I was estatic. This ecompassed what I believe God wishes for us. It has also been known in some circles as Christian hedonism: the pursuit of all pleasure through Christ.

So here’s how it all ties together in light of the lessons I have recently learned and the misconceptions that I have overcome. God loves us and has blessed us. We should find joy in that, deep rooted, passionate, meaningful joy. God created the world in preparation for us, and though it is fallen, he is constantly redeeming through the grace of his Son. We must search out the good in this world. We must claim all good as our own. We must recognize that heaven in a place on earth… not in outter space. At the same time, we should recognize that God, as a loving Father, gives gifts out of his goodness, and we should enjoy them 100%. This means enjoying the opportunity to share them, enjoying the opportunity to give them away, and also enjoying the priveledge of simply recieving them. To do this, we pray what God would have us do with these blessings and by being obedient to his will. Following this understanding, we can enjoy rest. We can enjoy taking a break, and know that God actually commands us to step aside from our socially-acceptable work-aholism, to experience joy.

So what about you? Where you do you fall in all of this? Are you so focused on completely your mission, or growing spiritually, or being a Christian allstar, that you forget to enjoy the life that God has given you? When is the last time that you have seriously experienced joy in your life? When you were so completely engulfed in God’s joy that you couldn’t contain it?

What have you done to enjoy this day? What gifts have you been blessed with? To what extend have you enjoyed them?

My prayer is that you would come to embrace Biophilia… that you would love this life God has blessed you with. I pray that you would come to know joy in a new and exciting way, and that you would see God as your loving Father. I pray that you would come to trust Christ and the life that he makes available. Enjoy Life… Trust God… Know Joy… I think it’ll make a big difference.

Just Sayins All…

Rusty