Grace

If we really knew what grace was, if we really took advantage of it, what would happen?  It’s amazing to think about.  If we really had the faith to fully surrender our lives to God, giving everything into His kingdom, we could transform the world.

But of course, most Christians in America are content just to live their lives.  I don’t think I can do that any more.  I don’t want to be like everyone else.  I’ve signed my life away.  It’s gone.  I have no say in how it’s run.  And that’s the most liberating thing that could ever be.  When He is in control of a life, His grace flows through it.  I believe in that. Jesus gave His life for that.  So, what can His grace accomplish when it’s working through our surrendered lives?  How about we find out together.

“Whoever seeks to preserve his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life will keep it.”
–Luke 17:33

Everything

Sometimes, we think we can live however we want and still have God bless us.  This is a deception.  God has given us His law so we can follow it.  It doesn’t matter how much God forgives; He still expects us to follow His ways.  God hates sin.  But then we think we can keep on sinning?  Eh, I don’t think so.

What is the cure for this spirit of “religion”?  It’s faith.  Real faith.  Faith isn’t excusing your own continuous sin because of a belief in a “loving God.”  Faith isn’t doing many good works to try to gain God’s favor.

This is faith: doing what God wants you to do, not just enough to “get out of hell,” not out of resentment or obligation, but out of love for Him.  Faith is believing that even while we were still dead in our sin, God loved us and came and died and became sin for us.  But death couldn’t hold God, because God is Life.  And if He has that kind of power, to redeem the entire world, He can bring that power to you.  That’s why perfect love drives out all fear.  That’s why we don’t worry about tomorrow.  That’s why we don’t feel insecure in our talents and abilities.  That’s why we don’t act out of selfish ambition.  That’s why we have joy in pain.  It’s because we know where we were, dead, and where we are now, alive in Christ.  It is only by His grace that we have hope and a future.  It is only by Love that we can truly love others.

So why not give everything, everything you’ve got?  All your money, every ounce of energy, every minute?  What God can do with your life is infinitely more than you could ever dream of doing with it.  Give it up.  Die to yourself, and truly live.  Take the hand of your creator, and let Him lead you on to everything good.

“The Spirit and the Bride say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who hears say, ‘Come.’ And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.”–Revelation 22:17

Oil and the End Times?!?

Okay, so I was watching TBN today, and John Hagee was doing his show about Revelation and the end times.  I think the point of the whole thing was that we should war against Iran, Russia and other Islamic nations for oil so they won’t have enough money to destroy Israel.  To get to that point, he stated a few dozen big assumptions about the meaning of different passages in Revelation, then said stuff about how all the Christians will get raptured before this stuff even happens.

It was seriously the strangest sermon thing I’ve ever seen.  It was actually kind of dumb.  He was just trying to justify violence with the Bible.  I think he said something at the end like “Because of this situation, now we should pray even more for America, for our freedom.”  One thing you missed Pastor Hagee; we have our freedom in Christ, not America.  I wonder if it’s because of guys like this that people hate Christians…

“It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”–Galatians 5:1

With a Broken and Joyous Heart

Why am I lying here immobilized?  Because when you revealed your face to me, it hit me like a speeding train.  I was sent flying backwards, carried into eternity, bone to metal.  I faded away into death, but not darkness.  It was a most beautiful light that enveloped me.  My spirit was torn apart at the seams as my soul moved too fast for my nature.

Now I’m here, in this place, with you.  I can’t stand due to the weight of the glory.  But look now: tiny roots, growing from the pores of my skin, sinking into the sacred earth beneath me.  They drink in the holy water of life, strengthening me with the nutrients of the Kingdom.  I can stand now; I’m alive; I am new.  Your blood pumps through my arteries, and I am indestructible.

As I open my eyes, I find I am back again, kneeling in the back row, sleeves soaked in tears.  I wonder, what have you done to me?  My problems haven’t gone away.  Although, I suppose you will be dealing with them now.  I can’t give up anymore.  I think I left my free will in that pool of tears.  Did I just die?  Or did I just now become alive?  I guess both.  Here is something amazing.  I think, I can love now.

“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”–John 3:8

The Difference

I just finished reading a book by C. S. Lewis called The Great Divorce.  It’s fiction, and highly allegorical like a lot of other books by him.  I highly recommend it.  Anyway, what I really got out of the book was that sin and God’s love are entirely opposite to each other.

The book starts out with a bunch of people taking a bus from hell up to heaven.  Once there, each one is met by a glorified person whom they had known on earth.  Each chapter of the book is basically a conversation between two people: the citizen of heaven, in love with God, and the citizen of hell making excuses for his own misery.  The ghosts from hell were content to believe lies and do what they wanted, even if it meant giving up a chance of eternal love.  Their sin defined them, gave them security.  On the other hand, the righteous ones were completely different.  God’s perfect love had removed all bitterness, self-consciousness, pride, lust, greed and the like.  They were shining examples of what we should be as Christians, full of real love, joy, peace and faith.

This book really encouraged me and gave me a greater grasp on the hope that we have in Christ.  It also served as a great reminder of just how much we need to reach this world with the love of God.  This world is dead and dying, and we have the answer.  And we sit around, distracting ourselves with the same worthless entertainment the world does?  There is a difference between truth and lies.  What will we believe?  What will we live for?

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”–Matthew 5:10

The Lost Bible Adventure

Okay, so here’s how it went down on Saturday.  I had just left a prayer meeting at IHOP, and I was planning on going to a friend’s apartment to watch the FSU game.  I walked over to my station wagon, put my Bible and notebook on the roof and called my friend Othniel for directions.  After a short conversation, and the subsequent receiving of the directions, I hopped into the driver’s seat, started the car and drove off.

After driving about a block down the road, I noticed in the rear-view mirror a white paper thing flying off into the street behind me.  “Hmm,” I thought.  “I hope that wasn’t an important paper or anything.”  I turned and looked into the back seat to see what was missing, but then realized that my back windows weren’t even open.  So I checked the front seat beside me and found everything in it’s place.  “Oh no.”  I realized what it was.  I’d just bought that Bible a few months ago, and the notebook was full of spiritual notes from the last two years: sermon notes, personal thoughts, little poems and such.  You know, I was scared.

Thoughts racing through my head like “what will I do without those notes?” and “I’ll have to buy a new Bible,” I took the first u-turn I could, waiting for what seemed like an eternity for traffic to pass by, all the while staring in my mirrors, hoping that my books wouldn’t be destroyed.  I finally made it back to the intersection where my books lay, and had to watch in dispair as my notebook was run over several times and the pages of my Bible looked like they were about to tear out every time a violent gust from a passing car blew over it.

I pulled in to a Shell station right next to the intersection, jumped out of the car as fast as I could, and ran into the street.  I grabbed my notebook first, since it was closer and because it was more irreplaceable.  Then, throwing it into the grass by the sidewalk, I rushed back out to get my Bible.  Thank God there was hardly any traffic at the time I was running all over the street.  That would have really sucked to have been hit by a car while trying to rescue a Bible.  So I got my Bible and devotional handbook, which had flown out of the Bible a little ways, and made it back safely to the side of the road.  I was happy.

As it turned out, some pages in my Bible got a little wrinkled, and there were a few scratches where it had hit the road going 35MPH initially.  The notebook was perfectly fine, but the pen attached to it was cracked a little.  The devotional handbook had some tread marks on it, but that’s it.  All in all, I got some really fun memories out of the whole situation.  Hopefully it won’t happen again, though.

“Forever, O LORD, your word
   is firmly fixed in the heavens.”–Psalm 119:89

November

It’s official!  The best month of the year has finally arrived.  The weather is starting to cool off, and my birthday is coming up soon.  Then comes Thanksgiving, my absolute favorite holiday ever.  I mean, Christmas and Easter are great too, because we can celebrate two specific awesome things Jesus did for us.  But Thanksgiving is a special day for thanking God for EVERYTHING that He has done for us.  Not that we shouldn’t do that every day of the year, but Thanksgiving has amazing food.  Anyway, November dominates every other month, and I’m glad it’s here.

“Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name;
    make known his deeds among the peoples!”–1 Chronicles 16:8