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

The saying “too much to do and not enough time” has become more than a familiar phrase to many of us. A lot of times it becomes our life motto. I don’t think the world was always so concerned with trying to fit so many trivial things into each day.

I spent thanksgiving with my grandparents and at one point they were showing me pictures of their families when they were children. In the pictures I saw my great grandparents when they were still just young adults. Both my grandmother and grandfather’s parents came from rural east texas and south louisiana, and lived meager lives farming and the like. I don’t think they ever really worried about such unimportant things as we do today. For them the length of their days was ruled by the rising and the setting of the sun. They didn’t have any electricity till later on in life, so they didn’t stay up much past dark, and got up with first light. By no means did they have an easy life. A great deal of their well being depended on the crops of that season. Their work was nearly all heavy manual labor, working in the barn or in the fields. They worked long hard days and they were faced with a great deal of burdens and struggles, but I don’t think they worried about making time for the hitting the gym, the big game, or a round of golf. The determining factor of whether their days were good or bad was usually whether they got the work done for that day or not. The good and bad of our days are based on whether we get our triple shot non-fat sugar-free hazelnut latte or not.

I bring this up simply because I have spent the last couple of things worrying about trivial things that really aren’t going to make a difference in how things end up in my life. God is comepletely in control of every little thing in our lives, both big and small. I think that we often believe that we can handle a few of these little worries in lives all on our own. And I think at times we can do and handle everything. But I also think that these little worries and trivial matters have a tendency to build up and overwhelm us. I think that it’s important that we remember to give God everything.

We all need reminders from time to time about what is important in this life. When Jesus was with his disciples, he was always trying to correct their mindset. They were always concerned with these unimportant things that didn’t really make a difference one way or another. He was always trying to get them to recognize that which was right before them… him. He was trying to make them realize HE was what was important. We like them must remember what is important.

Even in our spiritual life, we get caught up in the trivial things, forgetting what is really important. As one the great mentors I have ever had once said, “It’s all about Jesus. It’s a shame that you don’t see that yet.” These words have been an encouragement to me ever since then. Why? Because none of us truly see that yet. We all fall away and forget at times. Yet, one day will all see it, regardless of where our focus. One day every knee will bow… I can’t wait. It’s going to be brilliant.

So let us work towards recognizing the important things in life. And may focus be solely on Christ.

Just Sayins All…

Rusty

When I was little my dad used to take me out fishing all the time. It was pretty much our summer pastime. We would load up the cooler full of Dr. Pepper and Diet Coke, hitch the boat to the truck and head out for a day on the lake. Often, more so when I was really young, it would become more about swimming than fishing, but as I got a little older I grew to appreciate it. And as I got older I began to realize that there is a lot more to fishing than just throwing a line in a water with hopes of a fish randomly swimming by. You learn that different times of day, seasons, and weather all play a huge role in where the fish are. I remember one of the first times my dad explained all of this to me. He told me that every time that he went out to the lake, he made it his goal to learn at least one thing. Whether it be where the fish are at 10 in the morning or what bait bass don’t like. He made it clear that no matter how much he knew about fishing, there was always more to learn.

I think that even when we realize that we don’t know everything and that there is so much that we don’t know, we still don’t use the opportunities around us to learn. I truely love my dad’s goal of wanting to learn something every time he went fishing and I think that we should adopt it as our own but on a much broader level. I think that there is something to learn from every situation that we find ourselves in, even the difficult situations. Thomas Edison once said, “I haven’t failed, I’ve found 10,000 ways that don’t work.” I wish we were all able to have this kind of mindset in our lives more often.

Today I went to my general Psychology class only to find that I had completely forgotten to do the assignment due. When I realized this I had a couple of options. I could have very easily focused on the negatives of my teachers disappointment in me and the lowering of my grade. Or I could have just as easily let it roll of my back. I chose the later. I just took a deep breath and told myself that I was going to look at this as encouragement to do better next time when it comes to remembering my assignments. It was an opportunity to learn and grow.

Like I said I think that it is our duty to learn from things like this. Jesus says that the greatest command is to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls, and minds. We are commanded to use our brains to love our Lord. We are to use the intellect that God has given us.

“To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift” – Steve Prefontain

God has called us to be fishers of men. For many of us when we are young in our faith, it can easily become more about swimming. While we enjoy going out, we can forget why we’re there in the boat and make it about other things. But as we mature and grow we learn that there is a lot more to it than sitting in the boat. There’s sacrifice and service, love and patience. And even when we get to that point we will start to learn more and more about what it means to be a fisher of men. But no matter how much we know about fishing there is always more to learn…

God holds the entire universe in His hand. There is no way that we as finite beings can understand such an infinite being. But with every day that passes, and every situation that we find ourselves in, we can learn a little more. I pray that we would all be able to learn something every time that we go out into another day, out on the lake, and out into the world. May we all realize that there’s still more to learn…

Just Sayins All…

Rusty

Thomas Jefferson once said, “The happiest moments of my life have been the few which I have passed at home in the bosom of my family.”

Personally some of my best memories are of Christmas mornings… I remember waking up to the crisp chill of winter throughout the house. The jolt of excitement at the realization of the morning’s significance led to a mad dash to the tower of ornaments that was the Christmas tree. Then the warmth of family and laughter seemed as if it could solve all of the worlds problems… maybe it can.

Joy can be such a powerful thing. Have you ever gotten the giggles? I mean have you ever laughed so hard that your sides and cheeks hurt? A good laugh can change your mood for the rest of the day. I’ll go as far as to say that laughter can even change the mood of your life. I mean as soon as someone learns to laugh at life, it can really make a difference. Not only can it make a difference in your perspective and the mood of your life, but it has an effect on those around you. There is an amazing passage from Psalm 126 that shows what the joy of God’s people should look like.

1 When the LORD brought back the captives to Zion,
we were like men who dreamed.

2 Our mouths were filled with laughter,
our tongues with songs of joy.
Then it was said among the nations,
“The LORD has done great things for them.”

There are so many Christians out there that have this mentality that it is there job to convert the entire world. Yea… I remember when Christians tried that a long time ago in a little something called the Crusades… didn’t turn out all that well. Some people feel that it is our job to save the entire world… but yea I’m pretty sure this guy named Jesus took care of that. Now aside from the fact that those are just bad goals in the first place, they are also what a professor of mine would call blockable goals. You cannot control whether someone believes or not, therefore it would be silly to try and then set a goal of doing just that. God calls us to be His witnesses… not His army of converters. As the verse in Psalms says, if we are just joyful about what God has done for us, then people will know God. He came down from His heavenly throne and out of pure and full fledged love sacrificed Himself to save us from this world. I think that’s definitely something to be joyful about.

Even if you don’t see it or don’t believe it, God has done and is doing great things in your life, for your life. He loves you so incredibly much. Even whenever you turn your back on Him, He loves you. Even when you spit in His face, He loves you. He accepts you as His child and wants only good things for you. So as the song says, Don’t worry… Be happy! If you want to make a difference for the kingdom of God, be thankful for what He’s done for you. One of my favorite verses of all time is Colossians 3:15

Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.

AND BE THANKFUL! Live in the peace that is given to you by the love of Jesus, and be thankful for it. Smile, Laugh, Sing… Shout to the Lord. He is good. All the time, He is good. Amen.

Just Sayins All…

Rusty